Sermon Tone Analysis

“*DEMOLISHING STRONGHOLDS*”

                   (A Sermon Series from 2 Corinthians)

 

Westgate Chapel 2-10-08                          2 Corinthians 10:1-6

 

Proposition:      Defensive spiritual warfare, protecting marriage, family and the family of God, requires taking the gloves off, picking up the appropriate weapons, and punishing disobedience.

! i.    introduction

!! -     MAKE no mistake about it, at the time that 2 Corinthians was being written,

!!! ~*     by the apostle Paul,

!!! ~*     in the city of Philippi,

!!! ~*     quite a distance north of Corinth….

!!       …the church in Corinth was in the middle of serious spiritual warfare, the outcome of which would determine whether God would be known in their city.

!! -     IN the first six verses of the tenth chapter alone we read words like war, weapons, courage, boldness, warfare, destruction, captive and punish.

!! -     IT is quite natural for most of us to recoil from any threat of violence and want to avoid or retreat from battle.

Most of us love peace.

!! -     BUT when it comes to spiritual warfare, we are all in it, and,

!!! ~*     avoidance or denial will not make it go away.

!!! ~*     retreat will simply delay the inevitable.

!! -     THE reality of the spiritual war we all find ourselves in is summed up in God’s own words in Genesis 3. Speaking to Satan after the fall of humanity, God said, there will be…

!!!       “…*hostility between you *[Satan]* and the woman*[us]*,** **and between your offspring and her offspring.

**He will strike your head, **and you will strike his heel*.”

(Genesis 3:15 NLT)

!! -     THAT has been the vortex of the battle ever since.

Every battle you and I face is connected to this battle.

!! -     NO wonder Paul writes, in Romans 8:22, that all creation groans.

It groans because we are at war.

!!! ~*     Maybe you are a casualty in this war.

!!! ~*     If you don’t have a few wounds yet, it is likely that you just haven’t lived long enough.

!!! ~*     But one thing is certain.

You are a combatant in this war, like it or not.

!! -     SO, if war is inevitable as Christians, what are we to do regarding our role in spiritual warfare?

!

ii.   two theaters of war

!! -     THE first thing you and I must know is that there are two theaters, or arenas of spiritual warfare.

!!! 1.

The first theater of war is when we are called by God to go out and take or re-take territory that is not our own and is under enemy control.

!!! 2.   The second is when the enemy has broken inside your borders; the border of marriage, family, ministry, or church.

!! -     AND, believe it or not, the Bible describes two and very different battle plans for each of these two theaters of war.

!!  

!! A.  TAKING NEW TERRITORY

!!      

!! -     GOD’S methodology for taking new territory or reclaiming territory that has been stolen…is always the same and is clearly seen all through the Bible story.

!! -     GOD always wins this victory through what we, as humans, would call weakness.

!!! ~*     In Joseph’s life, in the Book of Genesis, God raises him up as a leader to deliver His people in Egypt, out of a position of weakness.

!!! ~*     Gideon, in the Book of Judges, is surrounded by an army of 120,000 Midianites, and goes out against them with 300 men armed with lanterns and trumpets.

!!! ~*     A boy named David, in 1 Samuel, goes against a giant with a sling.

!!! ~*     The Christian Church in the New Testament, is 120 unarmed, uneducated, frightened disciples full of the Holy Spirit confronted with the might of the Roman Empire.

!! -     ALL the way back in Deuteronomy 20, God gave His people the rules of war that still apply…when going out to take new territory from the enemy or to re-claim territory that has been lost to the enemy.

!! -     EVEN though as a New Testament people, our battles are not against flesh and blood, God’s rules of engagement still apply for our battles today:

!!! 1.

In Deuteronomy 20:1, God tells us to never allow the size of the enemy’s forces arrayed against us to frighten us, because He is with us.

!!! 2.   In verse 20, God will tell us which battles to fight.

!!! 3.

And finally, the rest of the chapter is about going out to fight these kinds of battles in weakness.

!!!! ~*     Those with a new house were sent home from the battle.

!!!! ~*     Those who had just planted a new vineyard were sent home from the battle.

!!!! ~*     Those just married were sent home.

!!!! ~*     Finally those who were frightened were sent home.

!! -     WHY?

Wouldn’t that pretty much rule out your youngest and strongest soldiers?

!! -     YES!

Because with God it has never been about a flexing of human force…it has been about God showing us who He is and what He can do.

!! -     THAT is why Jesus said, to the apostle Paul in the middle of one of his greatest battles,

!!!       “*My grace is all you need.

My power works best in weakness*.”

(2 Corinthians 12:9a)

!!  

!! B.  DEFENDING AGAINST ENEMY INCURSION

!!  

!! -     BUT there is a second theater of war, other than going out to take new territory.

!! -     THE second theater is where the enemy has broken through yours or my borders and is on the inside doing damage to our marriage, to our family, or to the family of God.

!! -     NOW that is an entirely different kind of battle, calling for an entirely different battle plan.

!! -     AND, believe it or not, Deuteronomy 20 anticipates this theater of war also.

!! -     REMEMBER, from Deuteronomy 20,

!!! ~*     Those soldiers with a new houses are back home, living in their houses.

!!! ~*     Those with a new vineyards are back home, tending their vineyards.

!!! ~*     Those with a new marriage are back home, enjoying their new family.

!!! ~*     Those who were frightened by the prospect of war are back home.

!! -     WELL, let me ask you.

Of these four groups of people back home, which ones will be most motivated to fight the enemy when he breaks through the perimeter of the battle and gets on the inside of Israel’s boundary markers?

!! -     EVERY one of these groups!

They will fight to the death to defend, home, livelihood, family….and the frightened ones can sometimes be the most fearsome when it is do or die at home.

!

iii.  the corinthian battle

!! -     THIS is all tremendously pertinent to understanding 2 Corinthians 10 and all of the references by Paul to war, warfare, courage, and boldness.

!! -     THE warfare in 2 Corinthians is not taking new territory.

!! -     THE enemy has broken through inside of the family of God at Corinth and is doing serious damage.

!!! ~*     The purity of the Gospel was under attack, being contaminated by teachers who had crept into the family in Corinth.

In the very next chapter, Paul writes,

!!!!       “…*I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity /of devotion /to Christ*.”

(2 Corinthians 11:3)

!!! ~*     The unity of the family of God was under attack.

A partisan spirit had broken into the church and the congregation was divided over which pastor they liked best.

!!! ~*     The worship services were under attack.

!!!! -     Arrogant people were abusing the gifts of the Spirit for their own aggrandizement.

!!!! -     Greedy people were abusing the Lord’s Supper as an excuse to lord it over others.

!!!! -     The preaching ministry was being disrupted by argumentative women.

!!!! -     And under the guise of tolerance and grace, open sexual sin was being condoned.

!!! ~*     And lastly, the one that God had raised up to guide the whole congregation, under his apostolic mantle and anointing, was being undermined and his leadership rejected.

!! -     THE enemy had broken through the boundaries and was having his way in Corinth, and what made their future so tenuous was that without Paul’s voice and influence…..the battle was about to go to whoever had the loudest voice.

!! -     SO, now it is time for Paul to take the gloves off and have at it.

!! -     LET’S see what we can learn from him.

!

iv. the corinthian strategy

!! -     PAUL reveals three elements of a defensive battle strategy in this passage when the enemy has broken through the boundaries of our marriage, our family, or the family of God.

!!  

!! A.  TAKING OFF THE GLOVES

!!  

!! -     AND the first part of the strategy is taking off the gloves.

!! -     THERE is a time to be meek, and then a time to be bold.

This is the time to be bold.

Look at verse 1 with me.

!!!       “*Now I, Paul, myself urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ— I who am meek when face to face with you, but bold toward you when absent*!* *[this was their accusation against Paul]” (2 Corinthians 10:1)

!! -     PAUL’S detractors in Corinth, the troublemakers in Corinth, had accused Paul to the rest of the congregation that he was bold when he was away from them (see 1 Corinthians), but meek in person.