We Wrestle Not Against Flesh & Blood / Spiritual Warfare - Part 1

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts.

Morse Corner is a non -denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist

D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's Word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message.

The topic for this morning's message is spiritual warfare because we are in, we are in a spiritual war.

What does the Apostle Paul say in 2nd Corinthians 10 verses 4 and 5?

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for the pulling down of strongholds, casting down arguments in every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

So starting here in chapter 10 we start to see a shift in the book of 2nd

Corinthians. Throughout the letter you remember that Paul at times is praising the church at Corinth.

They had repented, they had righted many of their wrongs, so overall the church had made great progress.

However, there were still some holdouts in the church that had been remaining loyal to the false teachers.

So it appears that chapters 10 through 13 are more directed at them.

They were saying things like, you know, Paul, he's all talk. He's all talk.

You know, he's bold in his letters, but you remember when he was here among us? He was weak and his preaching was lousy.

They would have pointed probably to the false teachers and false apostles and said, look, they are much more eloquent than Paul.

They have a much more impressive physical stature. You know, they have charisma.

Paul didn't have any charisma, remember? So even if some of these things were true, what really matters?

The content of what's being taught and preached. Because that's what counts in the end.

What are they saying? Saying all this slander against Paul, attacking him personally,

I'm sure. But were the false teachers who are much more impressive, he's going to call them, Paul sarcastically calls them super apostles in the next chapter.

Were they handling the Word of God accurately? Was their preaching causing sanctification or was it a cause for stumbling?

No, it was the latter. So you see, I think the carnal mind looks at things this way.

You say someone is maybe tall, dark, and handsome. They speak with confidence. They have degrees and the letters after their name.

That's what impresses people. You know that that's true. But what they're saying, is that the truth?

That's the real issue. Paul apparently didn't have some of these things. He did receive an education and was very knowledgeable about God's Word.

But you know it's funny, if you've ever saw these paintings and depictions of the Apostle Paul, have you seen this stuff?

You know that's not really him in the paintings. But Paul is always depicted as a short, kind of little guy.

And he's usually balding. And of course we know he did have bad eyesight.

So Paul probably had to squint when he was reading. You know Paul probably, as a man, just to look at him, he probably didn't seem all that impressive to people.

And it looks like that was one of the lines of attack that the false teachers were using against him.

Look at verse 10. They say for his letters, or this is Paul speaking, for his letters they say are weighty and powerful.

But his bodily presence is what? Weak. And his speech, contemptible.

I mean that is a carnal assessment. Who cares if Paul was short?

I mean who cares if he was not the most eloquent man in the room? What does that have to do with his godliness?

With the content of his his preaching? The scripture says also about Jesus that he had no form nor comeliness about him.

You know the average person even looking at Jesus wouldn't have thought that he looked all that special.

But Jesus had power. The Apostle Paul had the power of God. And the gospel is the power of God unto salvation.

So the weapons of our warfare. Okay this is what the sermon is titled. The spiritual war and the weapons of our warfare.

What are the weapons of our warfare? Or if we had to narrow it down to one thing, what is the weapon of our warfare?

It's the truth. It's the gospel. The truth of the gospel. The sword of the spirit which is the word of God.

Because again we are in a spiritual war. Today Christians our beliefs more and more are being viewed as dangerous.

A generation or two ago being a Christian believing the Bible was somewhat respectable.

Somebody might say well you know it's not for me but that's good. What you're doing is good. Today it's being viewed as dangerous.

Why? Because we have the truth. And the enemy hates the truth.

2nd Corinthians 10 verse 1. Now I Paul myself am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ who in presence am lowly among you but being absent and bold toward you.

There may be a little apostolic sarcasm in this statement. Paul is simply repeating what his critics are saying.

So Paul was meek and gentle when he was among them. That's true. Just as Christ was often meek and gentle with the people that he came across.

But what was the church doing or what were the false teachers doing? They were mistaking meekness for weakness.

Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount that the meek shall inherit the earth.

You know when a nation conquers another nation or conquers a territory they do it by using what?

Tanks, planes, bombs, guns. He who has the best trained military they win by violence and force.

But our faith which shall overcome the world does not do so in that manner.

We do not conquer in that manner. Those are not the weapons of our warfare.

Jesus said in Matthew 10 16 behold I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents.

You need to listen to this. You need to, this is how you need to live. Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.

Just a few quick comments on that statement. The scripture says the fear of the

Lord is the beginning of what? Wisdom. And Christians we need to be wise.

We need to fear God, reverence God, stand for the Lord and his word, cling to his word.

Some people want to take a more pragmatic approach and think well if I just compromise on this issue here and this issue here it'll gain me an audience over here.

They'll be more likely to listen to me. It doesn't work like that. People see compromise they they recognize compromise.

So we need to speak the truth from time to time. That's going to upset some people.

Okay just just be ready for that. Now those of us just like Paul and just like Timothy.

Paul writing to Timothy he warns him and so you know you're gonna have to endure hardships as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

So the the preachers most likely will be the ones catching the most heat and we're we're happy to do it and that's okay because publicly proclaiming

God's Word is that's our job. So every every faithful preacher is going to have some people that just don't like them.

You know that's true. Dennis can I get an amen on that? You know there I mean it's true.

If you're a pastor, if you preach, if you go on the radio and express viewpoints, if you express your faith publicly you're gonna have some people that just don't like you.

That's the way it goes. And I have to say this it's important that fellow

Christians and church members back up their pastor. Okay and I'm not just saying that for my sake.

All right if you're listening online or on the radio later on and you attend another church back up your pastor.

Back up your deacons. Back up your elders. Back up whoever's out there speaking the

Word of God. Back them up. Back up your friends who are evangelizing. You know don't pick the preacher apart.

Listen if he's preaching false doctrine leave the church. Leave. But if he's not, if he's preaching the gospel, if he's preaching the truth back him up.

And pastors need to support their people. Pastors need to back up their people.

You know we're all on the same team here amen? If you're not on the same team you know there's the door don't let it hit you on the way out.

We're all fighting for the same cause. For the same spiritual cause.

You know if you're in the military you back up your fellow soldiers. If you're not doing that how is it going to work?

You don't side with the enemy. Especially when you're in the trenches. Christians we need to support one another.

So to the unsaved world we need to speak the truth. We can do that in a loving manner.

You know there is a time for boldness. There's a time to be gentle. You know when Paul came to Corinth he was no doubt gentle with them.

I mean that's basically what they're saying. And they thought it was weakness but still he was gentle.

But then what did he do? He departed and he found out that there was a rebellion.

There were certain men trying to stir up this this rebellion against the Apostle. And that led him to be what?

Bold in his letters. So we kind of have to figure out what the situation calls for.

Look at verse 2. Paul says, but I beg you that when I am present I may not be bold with that confidence by which

I intend to be bold against some who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh.

What is Paul saying? He doesn't want a confrontation. Paul does not want to fight or argue or have to do this.

He doesn't want a confrontation. So he's asking them, you know get these things right and then we don't have to worry about it.

And there were some, thankfully it seems to be the minority, there were some saying about Paul and Timothy.

He just repeated what they said. What was it? They walk according to the flesh.

Now if you read the book of Romans chapter 8 verses 1 through 8, you see that that's a very serious accusation to say this person walks according to the flesh.

It seems as though they were saying about Paul and Timothy. These guys aren't even saved.

Paul, he's the false teacher. But just consider this.

Paul founded the church. These other guys, they're trying to divide the church. Paul was in the midst of a spiritual battle.

And you know what? You are too. You are too. You say, well I don't see it. I don't think

I'm in the middle. Man, I don't know. That's sad. If you can't see it now, it's just a matter, consider your life temptation.

Day by day you're in a spiritual battle of overcoming temptation. You know, with the little things.

And then obviously there's bigger things. We're all in this battle together.

So when the world fights, here's the contrast, the weapons of our warfare versus the carnal weapons.

When the world fights, it's what? Flesh versus flesh.

When we fight, it's spirit versus spirit. Ephesians 6 verse 12, you know the verse, for we wrestle not against what?

Flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

You see if the early church fought physically, they would have lost.

Okay. And you know, Christians who decide we're going to fight physically, you'll lose.

You will lose. But the church, what did they do? They fought spiritually.

And then it was their enemies who said, these are they who have turned the world upside down.

Thanks for listening. I'm pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornet Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, morriscornetchurch .com.

And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, with the grace of God be with you.