Alright, well if you would please open your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 10 and please stand. We are going to be reading verses 1 through 12. 2 Corinthians chapter 10 verses 1 through 12 and this is the Word of the Lord. I, Paul, myself, entreat you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold towards you when I am away. I beg of you that when I am present, I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience when your obedience is complete. Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ, let him remind himself that just as He is Christ, so also are we. For even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed. I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters. For they say His letters are weighty and strong, but His bodily presence is weak and his speech of no account. Let such a person understand that what we say by letter, when absent, we do when present. Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves, but when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding. This is the Word of the Lord. May He bless it in our consideration of it today. You may be seated. Though we read 12 verses out of 2 Corinthians 10, we are actually going to focus on the first six. That's going to be our prime focus. I will reference a few verses in the sections 7 through 12. That's why I wanted to read that whole part. But I'll probably cover some of that in the rest of the chapter in the next message. So they'll kind of overlap over, say, five or six verses here. But our focus is going to be the first six verses. Let me give you a little comment here, a little background of some of the thoughts about what we're getting into in this part of 2 Corinthians. this final section of chapters, I guess it's four chapters, 10, 11, 12, and 13. And with chapter 10 and going through the rest of this letter, Paul's tone changes. It's kind of varied some between joyful and pleasant and a little upset, but there's a major change that takes place as we get into this section. Most recently, his tone was more of a pleading and a prodding. You remember, as the last couple of messages from 2 Corinthians have been about giving and about a commitment to give and follow through. on that commitment. He's been more of a pleading and a prodding type of tone in his letter as he called upon the Corinthians to step up and follow through with their commitment to provide that financial support to the needy believers in Jerusalem. Over the past two messages I mentioned, we deal with that, and we deal with a theme that was there, pretty much, that a giving heart, one that has a giving heart, is one that has a heart that's truly been given to the Lord. And so what I want to point out here in the beginning of chapter 10 is that we have not only a dramatic change of topic, he's not talking about giving anymore, there is a very noted change as far as tone. The topic is going to be battles. that we enter into in this life and he's going to address battles that he was fighting and the Corinthians facing in their situation. The battles specifically in Paul's life. He's going to talk about battles in his life that he's endured and been a part of. He's going to talk about battles against what is known as the false apostles that have come into the church. His tone here over these next four chapters shifts from that pleading and prodding that I just mentioned to really, if you read through it all, you hear exasperation. on his part, and you hear some rather harsh statements, harsh tone that he carries. Because of this dramatic change in tone, some have thought maybe this last section really doesn't belong as a part of this letter. Maybe it's an added portion to Paul's second letter. They don't doubt really necessarily that Paul wrote it, just that it doesn't in their mind seem to fit into what he has been saying in the tone. Why would there be such a dramatic change in tone as he comes to the close of his letter? They just have difficulty with that. Some have even thought that these last four chapters are actually that harsh letter that we mentioned that Paul wrote to the Corinthians and is referenced earlier in the chapter that this is that harsh letter and somebody just tacked it on here at the end of the chapter. You remember that letter that Paul stressed over so much, waiting for Titus to show up and looking for Titus and finally connecting with him in Macedonia, where he gets a good response from the Corinthians on that particular letter that he stressed over. What should we think about it? Well, I don't think there's any reason to think that this is some addendum that has been added by finding another writing of Paul's and put there at the end of this book. There's not a necessity for us to even consider that, but to consider it as a whole of the second letter, for when you consider the whole of the letter, this isn't out of place. It's true Paul has made a dramatic turn as far as tone and topic, but it's not like he's never talked about this already in this letter. It fits what he has spoken of. Before going to that part of it, There is no historical record. A lot of times when you think about the continuity of a letter or something's been messed with, you would look and see, did any early church father ever say, that they thought it was an addition that has been added to this letter. And there is no record of any early church father making reference to some division that has occurred here or addition. Secondly, the reference to the harsh letter that appears in the early portion of this letter is clearly dealing with one individual that needs to be disciplined and addressed. Whereas now he's going to talk about a larger group, but it's not the same as what Paul is speaking about here. Titus had informed Paul that the Corinthians had responded and properly brought about church discipline. A third thing as to why we can just rest in the fact that this is actually part and content It's a continuous letter. The main topic that Paul's turning to here now in chapter 10 is one he did address earlier. Chapter 2, verse 17, he talked about the Judaizers, the peddlers of God's Word that he referenced. He had some pretty harsh things to say toward or about them at that time. That's really the group he's coming to speak about again. It was the group that really led him at that part, or a little bit later in the letter, to speak about the necessity of the Corinthians to be conscious of the yoking that they are entering into. They need to be not unequally yoked. That unequally yoking was with those who taught falsehood. That whole chapter 6 was addressing this. Paul has addressed this early in the letter. He then went through other things that he wanted to talk about. What it appears is Paul's saying, I'm not done with this other topic. The reason he's not done with it is the concern Titus had brought to him. When he brought the information of how they responded to his harsh letter, he actually brought three main bits of information. They responded positively to your harsh letter. They followed through properly in their discipline. By the way, Paul, they're not really getting the collection together like they said they would. And you know, Paul, there's a group down there that's really attacking you. and trying to undercut your authority with them. These are the three things that Titus came back with as he spoke to them. Paul is simply returning to an issue that he's addressed rather concisely and applied in calling them to not be unequally yoked, but he knows that it's not over. And it's not over and may not be over until he goes and has a face-to-face confrontation with these individuals. And so he is pretty going to get pretty worked up about this attack upon his apostleship and the ministry that God has given him. And so he's coming down to tell them there's a war going on. There's a battle going on. There's assessments that need to be made. Are they of God or is Paul of God? And these are the type of things that are going to be spoken of. So I would say Paul has realized at this point, having completed his one purpose, or one of his purposes, and telling them that Titus is going to show up and he's going to help you guys get this together in giving, he's realized, I'm not done. I'm not done addressing, really, maybe even a more vital issue concerning the Corinthian church, because it's going to deal with the life of the church and the health and the faith of this church. It's a threat to the work of God there. Now he wants to address this because it's dealing with the purity of the church. Let's take a look at what Paul says, particularly in these six verses, or the first six verses, You're going to notice, possibly, if you didn't, I'm going to point out that Paul uses some sarcasm in this first verse. Here he says, I, Paul, myself entreat you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ. I, who am humble when face to face with you, but bold when I am away. Yeah, it's going to be that second part, but let's kind of walk through it in order here. He starts out by referring to himself and he emphasizes that he's talking for himself and about himself. I, Paul, myself. Okay, you got to realize I'm not dealing with anybody else. It's just me that I'm talking for and about. Prior to this, much of his references have been to the we and the us, as he's talked about Titus and Timothy and others that are ministering with him and the work that they've been doing. Paul has done a transition here to say, now I'm the focus in my reference to you. Then he moves from there to note that he's speaking from a certain attitude of heart. speaking from a certain attitude of heart. As he says, he speaks from meekness and gentleness, meekness and gentleness that only Christ can supply and is reflective of Christ in his life. Paul knows he's going to be saying some pretty strong things. And when you say strong things, it's easy for others to interpret that you're just mad and you don't like us or something like that. And Paul wants them to know up front his attitude is one of meekness and gentleness. He wants them to know that internally, He's actually humble. That word meekness there emphasizes the internal humility. Externally, the way he is trying to come across and the way he does try to come across with them in person is gentleness. That refers to the external quality in dealing with others. There's something to note here in terms of our own benefit from what Paul is saying as we address and deal with fellow believers, particularly in areas of difference of understanding or an error being promoted or talked about by someone else. We may need to exhort, we may need to rebuke, we may need to say something rather strongly, but whenever it's dealing with those of the faith or in the body, we're always encouraged to do it with a qualification, to do it in love, or as Paul is saying here, to do it with meekness and gentleness. And that should always be borne in mind in dealing with others, that our actions should proceed out of love and care and concern. That doesn't mean you can't be strong and you can't be forceful and you can't be clear. You don't need to beat around the bush or anything like that. But in some fashion, the genuine love and concern of another in their welfare should always be present. It's not always the case when you're dealing with someone outside the church that's just blatantly attacking the faith and purposely promoting, well, they may think it's a truth, a falsehood, or a lie. I mean, Jesus didn't say to the Pharisees, now with meekness and gentleness, you children of the devil. I mean, he was strong out front. And that's where the warfare takes place so much more aggressively. with others. Internally what we might call the battles here are more like boot camp. They're more like a rebuke with the purpose of correcting and training and equipping. Whereas outside, so often, it is head-to-head combat that is being done. And that's kind of what Paul is encompassing totally under the heading of warfare he's going to be talking about. He's talking about both the preparation and internal actions that you be properly equipped for it and the actual outside interaction. He wants the Corinthians to know that he's dealing with them in the boot camp sense, that he is here to address, air, and correct, and train, and equip, and that's how we ought to with believers. But he's also very willing to hit head-on blatant falsehood. But because Paul comes at things with believers from meekness and gentleness, those who are opposed to Paul have taken that characteristic and tried to twist it to bring about an idea that Paul is hypocritical in his action, that he's two-faced, he's vacillating and he's weak and so forth, and that is what they grab upon. And so that is why Paul sarcastically says what they say of him when they attack his character. He says, I, Paul, myself entreat you. And then he says, I, who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away. He knows he's bringing up, because of Titus' report, what others are saying about him. They're saying that, oh, when he's at a distance, oh man, Paul can sound so bold and strong. But when he gets up close, he kind of just becomes meek and kind of hesitates and doesn't speak forcefully and well. They accuse Paul of being two-faced, humble and lowly and timid when he's face to face, but oh, so bold and confident. at a distance. He's like the roaring lion that's had his teeth pulled, or the dog that's bark is so bad and has no bite. Strong and bold at a distance, but weak and insecure in person. Jump down to verse 10. This is why I read on, so we would have read over this part. In verse 10, look what it says there. For they say his letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak and his speech of no account. Yeah, when he's awake, he can sure write those hard sayings and challenging statements and attacks and so forth, but he comes present and he's weak. He can't talk. But the reality is that Paul endeavors in the presence of the Corinthian church to work with them and to love them as Christ would love them and present a Christ-like character of sharing the truth in love. And in the letters, he doesn't have that opportunity. He has something that needs to be addressed, something needs to be said, and he's got to make sure it's said clear, concise, and direct, so they come across much stronger. And his hope is he doesn't have to be that way in their presence. But those who are there trying to indicate his authority are characterizing him as wishy-washy, as two-faced. Go to verse 11. And Paul, speaking of his accusers, says this, let such a person who says those things about me, that my letters are weighty and strong, but I'm so weak in person, let that person understand that what we say by letter, when absent, we do when present. He says, don't make any mistake about it, I am saying the way I live, I am writing, The way I walk, my walk and my talk do not differ. The difference is how I feel like I need to deal with others, but I tell you, I will deal with others with this strength in person if necessary. That is where he goes with it. He does hope that he's not called to address the Corinthian congregation in this fashion directly, but he's willing and he knows that he will address those who are accusing him with this boldness. And that's where he goes in verse 2. In verse 2 he says, I beg of you that when I am present I may not show boldness with such confidence. I don't want to behave that way face to face with you and I beg that I will not. As I count on showing, I plan to be this way against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. So here Paul again, more than once, is begging. He's entreated, verse 1. He begs of them here in verse 2. He's pleading with them to hear what he has to say and to respond positively to what he has to say so that he doesn't have to come across with the harshness that he will in this letter. But he has every intent of being bold and confident against the false accusers. And he hopes that they're the only ones that he needs to speak in such a fashion face to face. And those who have accused him of the things that we've talked about here, being bold at a distance, weak when he's present and so forth, they've actually summarized it up by saying, Paul walks according to the flesh. That's where they're going with it. He walks according to the flesh and that's why he's that way. Paul says, I will speak this way against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. That's, you might say, what is the premise or presupposition behind their argument against Paul. They believe that they are the spiritual ones. He's the one that's walking according to the flesh. fact of life, a truth you find out if you get into counseling, especially of relationships in which there are accusations against each other, which happens in relationships. More often than not, the accusation that one makes of the other is actually the behavior of their own. They project this upon the other to make them look bad. They're actually the ones. Often people see the supposed and possible heir and others so clearly because it's in them. It's true. It's in their life. That's the case here. Those Judaizers are the ones that are walking according to the flesh and are accusing Paul of it. They're the ones that are trusting in the physical acts under the Mosaic law that have to be accompanied with the spiritual truths of Christ. But yet they're the ones accusing Paul of being guilty of walking according to the flesh, of trusting in the flesh. That's their accusation. They're exposing, really, their own heart. But Paul does an interesting thing here. He takes their accusation, and he plays with it, and he turns it into a teaching. as he deals with that word flesh to bring out the fundamental truth of the warfare and how it is battled, not according to the flesh. We are in a warfare, and it is a warfare that has to be understood spiritually. and not according to the flesh. That phrase, according to the flesh, is what Paul deals with here. He makes a turn on that phrase to illustrate a truth. It begins in verse 3. Four, though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. Paul was accused of walking according to the flesh. He's saying, okay, there are truths about the flesh and our walk, but there's a falsehood being asserted here about the flesh and our dealings. He admits he walks in the flesh, but then he asserts he does not wage war according to the flesh. I know the children, there's different ways the word flesh is used in the scriptures. I'm going to point out three. Possibly there's more, but I thought I'd just show variety here. illustrate three to you. Sometimes we think if flesh is ever used, it's negative because we want to put to death the deeds of the flesh type of a thing. It's true, but we got to be careful about grabbing onto a word and saying that's the way it is all the time. Just like, you know, the word leaven. Sometimes we think that's always a negative. Beware the leaven of the Pharisees. Remove the leaven from your house, but yet the kingdom of God is like That's put into a measure of meal and the bread is baked and it affects the whole loaf. So you've got to be careful what the difference is, is context in terms of how these things are used. And the expression flesh has various meanings in scripture. and based on the context immediately and as a whole. Sometimes you have to look at greater and greater context to understand things. We'll just quickly show a few things here. The word flesh can mean physical body. That's all it means. It's all it's talking about is just your physical body, that you're a physical being. In fact, it's used a number of times that way to talk about Christ It wasn't a negative. That was a positive. We're glad he came in the flesh. In fact, we'll just share a few verses. I'm sure you're familiar with most of them. You can write them down. I'm just going to flip quickly to them and read them. We know that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. We know that's talking about Jesus Christ in John 1 and then in verse 14 it tells us, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Speaking of who Christ was before this and what He set aside in a sense as far as the manifestation of His glory when He took on flesh, we read about this in Philemon chapter 2. Or sorry, Philippians. Philemon is one chapter. That's what I get for marking my chapters. I don't use my markers. Okay, Philippians chapter 2 verse 7. where it says, after speaking of Christ, that he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. This is all about taking on human flesh. In fact, this is such a critical truth. that to deny it is to be against God, Antichrist. In 1 John 4, 7, it says, Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. That's not the verse I want. Oh, I'm sorry. John will talk about that. denying that Christ has come into the flesh is antichrist. But I didn't find the right verse. We'll find it later. But the truth is that to confess that Christ has come in the flesh is fundamental to believing the truth. So the physical body. It was foundational to the incarnation and the whole truth of Christ was using the word flesh in that fashion. Secondly, it can speak of the ungodly and the worldly philosophies and ways of thinking and living. For example, Romans 8. Romans 8. Verse 5 tells us, for those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit set their minds on the things of the spirit. It's contrasted flesh and spirit. Whether you're living after the spirit or you're living after the flesh. Verse 13 of Romans Chapter 8 says this as well, "'For if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.'" So there again it talks about living out after a certain thing. In this case, flesh stands for worldly philosophies. But flesh can also just mean malleable or moldable, able to be fashioned. 2 Corinthians 3. Here it says, and you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts. This is all based upon, it may even say in some version, on hearts of flesh. Fleshly hearts is what the Greek literally is saying there. And this statement is drawing upon what was brought out by, for example, Ezekiel in chapter 11, verse 19, where it says, and I will give them, speaking of the new covenant, I will give them one heart and I will put a new spirit within you and I will take the stony heart of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh." And there you have flesh used twice, meaning actually two different things. Stoning the heart of their flesh, of their fallen nature that is in rebellion to me, and give them a heart of flesh, not stone, but soft and malleable, able to be molded after my fashion. So, you have a variety of ways in which flesh can be used, the point of our little diversion there. And Paul uses at least two of these in his three uses of this term over verses 2 and 3 of 2 Corinthians 10. Within those verses, he uses it in statements like, some suspect us of walking according to the flesh. When he says it there, he's saying they're accusing us of relying upon worldly reasoning. And then he goes on to say, for though we walk in the flesh, I do not deny we are physical. We are in our physical bodies. We are not waging war according to the flesh. We're not going to wage war according to worldly philosophies and tactics. So you can see the variety of ways in which he's drawn upon the uses of this term. And so with that statement in verse 3, Paul has brought forth a reality that I think is often lost in our hearts and minds of believers, especially in the Western world, where we can hide away in our churches in the comforts of our homes, and we can escape from the things of the world in a variety of ways so easily. But the reality is that we are at war. We are in a warfare, and that's not an option. You're in the battle, whether you know it or not, whether you think you choose to participate or not. You are in a battle, and you are either aiding one side or another. Even if you profess to be a Christian, you may not be actually helping the godly cause based on what you're thinking and doing. Even a professing Christian can, due to either slothfulness of mind or body or inappropriate decisions and action, can find themselves actually in opposition to the advancement of the kingdom of God. The fact that God's people are in warfare is the way it's always been throughout Scripture, throughout the Old Testament, and definitely into the New Testament. The idea of warfare and doing battle in order to actually obtain ground gain ground in this earth has been a part of God's people's lives. We will not cover everything, but just hit a few highlights, like in the Old Testament in Israel, primarily. They were continually at war. They started as a people in That's a warfare terminology of which they escaped from that captivity. Yet they were called to participate in further warfare. This was actual physical battling that was going on as they waged war on the inhabitants of Canaan in order to possess a promised land. That's what they were doing. But Paul tells us some very interesting things about the information we are given of the children of Israel and things that they went through. In 1 Corinthians 10, verse 6, he tells us that these things took place as examples for us that we might not desire evil as they did. In particular, he's talking about their lack of belief and their need to go through the wanderings of the wilderness. He talks about many other things that were there, like the rock and the water and these things that they represented. And I assert to you that what Israel was going through in time and history and in physical location were examples for us, including their warfare against all opposition of God in order to claim the promised land, land that was promised to Abraham. But was Abraham really promised physical geography of just a section of the earth, or was it a type of what belongs to all God's children because it belongs to God himself? I think Paul helps us understand that what was promised to Abraham was just a type of what is promised to all his children, and it's what belongs to God. the earth. In Romans 4 verse 13 it says, for the promise to Abraham and his offspring, and you would expect him to say that they would obtain Canaan or Palestine or whatever terminology at this point in history he would use for that small section on the, you know, What is that? Get my directions right. The eastern coast of the Mediterranean moving inland. You would say that would be it, but no, he says that he would be heir of the world. See, Paul understood that Israel was a type, entering warfare of a type, demonstrating in the physical of a type of battle. that all God's people enter into, and the promise is the world. The warfare is for the possession of that which is God's, the earth, and the fullness thereof, as Psalm 24 states. Throughout history, it is through the church and the proclamation of the gospel and its application to life that God's kingdom makes inroads in the possession of that which is rightfully his, and by heirs in Christ, are rightfully his children. But the victory's made not by weapons of flesh. The victory's made not by drone attacks. The victory's made not by, and I'm not saying yea or nay as to whether that action should have happened, but I'm saying that's not where our hope is. And it's not in physical cannons and guns and tanks and bombs. Why? Because it's in something far more powerful, and that's where we got to understand. More powerful than any physical weapon is what we will be using. Not by weapons of the flesh, but the weapons God has given to be used because the warfare is spiritual, as he says in verse 4. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds." He begins the statement here with declaring that the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh. Minimally, he's saying that the weapons we use are not of a physical or flesh-originated nature. They've not been created by human hands. But I think possibly he's saying even more. For he's saying that these weapons are not of human reasoning and not of worldly thinking. And I think if we look at the context, we'll find that that is where he's actually going. But before talking about the weapons here, let's look at what these weapons accomplish. The passage states that these weapons, which have divine power, the King James says, are mighty through God. So they have divine power, the ESV, mighty through God. The King James is what is being expressed here about these weapons, and they have divine power. They're mighty through God for what? To destroy strongholds. Now destroy is a pretty strong word, but literally that word means demolish. When you demolish something, you see the demolition crew. You've seen the big demolition ball hit the building. It is obliterated. That's what he's talking about here. It's the obliteration of strongholds. He's using it not only to talk about the force and the overall accomplishment, but to contrast it with what he's using here to illustrate what we're up against. The King James says, the pulling down of strongholds. Well, that probably doesn't really capture it. It destroys much closer. Demolish is the literal. But what is being demolished? What is stronghold? This is the only place in the Bible this Greek word is used apparently. It literally means a fortress. It's the word for the castle with the walls and the thick walls and the moat and the security that is there that can withstand attack. but it has a figurative meaning of arguments. And so he's talking about the strongest, most bold arguments that are like a fortress of which the unskilled and unknowing of God's Word could easily be just overcome with because it sounds so right. And the context, I think, bears out that he's dealing with arguments, though he uses the word for a physical fortress. And as we move on here into the first part of verse 5, we will see that that's what he's dealing with here. He says, we destroy. There's that same demolishing word. We destroy arguments. He tells us right away. That's what he's dealing with in every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God. What are the strongholds? He has defined them for us here. They are arguments. The Greek word literally means imaginations or reasonings. Actually, those are other meanings of it. It's literal is computations. What he's saying is that we are up against human calculated thinking that has purposely put together arguments that are against God. the minds of men and their fallen nature, putting together arguments, aligning premises, and drawing conclusions. Okay? I didn't put up a symbolic argument here, but every argument, whether fully articulated or not, has fundamental statements that are being held as true. Those are called premises of which a conclusion is drawn. And that's the position that the person is taking or asserting in their arguments. And he's saying there are those who have calculated premises to conclusions that are against God, the knowledge of God. But he also says lofty opinions. The opinion is the position held without argument, without thought. It's just what I believe. That's my opinion. Now there are actually reasons behind it, but a lot of times when people just say, well, that's just what I believe, they haven't taken the time to think about the reasons behind it. They don't want to take the time to think about the reasons behind it, because then they've got to defend their position. And so they just say, well, that's what I believe, and you can't change my mind. But there are premises behind it, and hopefully you can get them to see on what basis they're making that statement. Or if they absolutely do not have a basis, that they could change. But, you know, one time I heard someone say that, you know, they just always struggle with the idea that a loving God would send people to hell. And how could that be? And then one day, somebody, maybe a supposed minister or whatever, told the person that, well, you don't have to believe in hell and that freedom. Because they realized they didn't have to believe in hell. As if saying something doesn't exist causes it to go away. But that made them feel good. But they believed a lie, didn't they? Yeah, to just hold an opinion means nothing. To hold an opinion that something is or is not means nothing if it is not or it is. Well, Paul says that we destroy, we demolish arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God. The word knowledge is really interesting. I love the way Webster defines it. In his 1828 dictionary he says, knowledge is a clear and certain perception of that which exists. To think that something is and it's not so is not knowledge. But to know clearly and certain and accurately know that which does exist, truth and fact, that is knowledge. So Paul is telling us here that we are up against fortresses of arguments of men that are contrary to the clear and certain perception, the truths and the facts of God. That's our warfare. That which is clear and certain and that which is true of God can only be what God tells us about himself, what he has revealed to us. We can have no clear and certain knowledge of God. We can know that God is through the creation of the world. We can know things about him in a sense, but that clear and certain knowledge that is not disfigured by any shadows is what God says about Himself, and that is His Word. But even man, due to his fallen nature and faulty reasoning, can create arguments about God that are wrong using the Word. Because He's revealed Himself, it's called the perpiscuity of Scripture, in clarity in the Word doesn't mean we see it. How many times have you read parts of the Bible saying, I never did see that before? We're blinded in different ways and if we are already blind in our spiritual walk, in our disbelief, we do not see things. There are plenty of people who know the Bible very well. but don't know the Bible at all. Jesus came up against some of those people. They were called Sadducees. The Sadducees, you remember them? They were the religious group that did not believe in the resurrection. And they brought a scenario to Jesus of the woman who had married seven times to brothers. As one died, she married another, then she died. And they asked her whose wife would she be in the resurrection. I'm sure they thought that they had created as much of a complicated situation as possible to show the ridiculousness of the resurrection, that they would convince Jesus that, yeah, man, God doesn't know how to sort these things out, that's for sure, so there must not be a resurrection. No, they didn't do that at all. But how did the Lord respond? Well, he exposed the foolishness and falseness of their argument. One of the things that they assumed in there, it's not stated, but they have to be assuming is that the resurrection did not exist. Here was that the relationships in the physical here would have to be the same in the resurrection if it existed as a false premise, as a false starting point. And to them, since that was what they thought was true, then they concluded the resurrection must not be because they couldn't figure out whose husband she would be. But the truth is, The physical relationships of this earth are not perfectly mirrored in the resurrection. It's a different life, such as marriage is not. And you remember how Jesus responded to them. I love the King James in this response. He says, you do err. Okay, it's an err to say err when the word is err, just letting you know. You do err. Err is the verb, it's the act of committing an err. Jesus says, you have committed an err. You do err not knowing the Scriptures. There's the source of truth and revelation, nor the power of God. They didn't have a clear and certain perception. They did not know, know a clear and certain perception of truth concerning the Scriptures. That's why Jesus, after correcting their erroneous premise, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels. That erroneous perception that life on earth is mirrored in heaven. He clarifies that they don't know the scripture itself. And he goes on to say, haven't you read? Let's go to the scriptures. Have you not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. And he rested his whole case upon the fact that the Word of God speaks of the present relationship of God to dead people. who are actually living by saying, I am and not I was. And when you come up against arguments or people present arguments, there's two ways in which they can err or commit an error in their reasoning. is to not have valid reasoning. Invalid reasoning, that's where you draw a conclusion that does not properly follow from the premises. And there, the counter argument is to point out that if A is B and B is C, why aren't you saying that A is C? Why are you saying A is D? Or something like this. Why are you headed off in another direction? But a second error can have valid reasoning. The conclusion follows from the premises held. The conclusion is properly drawn. It is a valid argument, but it is not sound because one or more of the premises held is false. And that's where the Sadducees were at. The second error is you don't have the right premise. That's why in dealing with others, the battle is not always on the conclusion. The battle primarily is where are you getting this? Where is that coming from? What is your ground that you're standing on? Let me take it out from under you. Let me remove the false premise, the starting point that's so critical. That's why Paul warned the Christians at Colossae. because we can be captured by valid reasoning that's based on false premises and be taken away because we didn't know the untruth that was being held. But he told those at Colossae, beware, lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world. Here Paul is actually said after arguments and after lofty opinions. For he says here that there are arguments, there is philosophy and vain deceit after the rudiments of the world. The word rudiment means a first principle. the primary starting point. And there are arguments, worldly philosophies and vain deceit that sound so good, but they have started from a worldly premise that is a lie. That's a rudiment. And then there's always, well, that's just the way we've always done it. Worldly philosophies and vain deceit after the traditions of men. the lofty opinions. We're at warfare against arguments and lofty opinions. He told the church at Colossae that here. He is telling the church at Corinth and he's telling us as well. But what's the option? The option is to not be after the world, but after Christ. Isn't that what he says here? And not after Christ. A philosophy, a way of life, philosophically means the reasons of things. The reasons as to why things are the way they are. And the truth of things. After Christ. You might say after his rudiments. his fundamental first principles. And in those few words, he said to the church at Colossae, he captured in the second half of 2 Corinthians 10, 5, where he said, bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. The ESV, I think, misleads us a little bit here. I'm sure they didn't mean it this way, but if you take it exactly as it says in the second half of verse 5, it says, and take every thought captive to obey Christ. Makes it sound like the way you obey Christ is just, you know, don't let your mind run wild, but captivate your thoughts. Well, it's only half the game. There are well thought out arguments that are lies. It's not just having a mind that is disciplined, though a disciplined mind is essential in the Christian life. It is a call for all Christians. He told Timothy that God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of a sound mind, that is a disciplined mind, a mind that doesn't run here and there and is blown by every wind of doctrine, but is solid in its thinking. No, it's more than discipline, though. A deliberately constructed argument can be a false argument. And I do, as I put up here, I put to King James, I think it captures it so much better. Casting down imaginations or reasoning or arguments, and every high thing that exalts itself, lofty opinion against the clear and certain perception of who God is, and bringing into captivity every thought, the King James says, to, that word can mean into, into the obedience of Christ. Your very thoughts are to be inobedient to Christ. How can we apply this? All thoughts, all arguments must be in submission to Christ. You start with yourself. You start with your own thought life, your own arguments. The little child, Hope, I don't know if she likes me calling her a little child. The young girl up here said, our warfare is our minds. And that's true. That is the first and foremost one. And Paul, who battled wanting to do and not doing what he wanted to do and that kind of thing, in Romans he said, with my mind. I love the law of God. Those are my fundamental premises on which I operate, he was saying. So our thoughts, we need to take captive and we need to submit them to the Lordship of Christ. But we're not called to stop there. We continue on with one another. In the body of Christ, we ought to be helping each other bring our thoughts into the obedience of his word, that we'd all have a clear and certain knowledge of God as he has revealed himself. We've got to captivate and bring that thought, whether it be with ourselves searching the Scriptures or with others within the body of Christ and even outside. When the falsehoods are presented in one fashion or another, our response, if it's a falsehood that's being asserted, is, you do err, not knowing the Scriptures or the power of God. We may not use exactly those words, but our response is from the Word, and if their response is contrary to the Word, they do err, not knowing the Scriptures or the power of God. That brings us, in a sense, back to verse 4, where it says, our weapons are not of the flesh. What are our weapons that are so mighty through God to demolishing strongholds? He doesn't tell us exactly what those are here, but he hits at them as he talks, and we've looked at verse 5 so closely, the process of what we're going through here against arguments and lofty opinions. The weapons are God's revelation. I've said it, actually. The revelation of God through His Word. That is what is under attack any time a falsehood of the truths of God is being asserted. And if it's the revelation of God that's under attack, then it's the revelation of God that needs to be offended by counter-arguments from God's revelation. We don't go outside of the Bible. The truths of the Bible are the truths that we assert. To go elsewhere and abandon that is to abandon your weapon, is to abandon the truth. Our weapons are our faith and God's Word, which should line up together. Go to Ephesians 6. We'll close with this. You know it. It's the only place Paul took the time to really lay out the warfare armament. And he speaks very much of what we put on ourselves, but there's two things that we put in our hands that we use in battle. He says, finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand firm. Stand therefore having fastened on the belt of truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness and as shoes for your feet having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. in all circumstances. Take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." We can't go through each part here, but you have two primary weapons. One defensive, and that's the shield, and one offensive, and that's the sword. It's the shield of faith. When you read that, it's not the shield of Belief. Though you must believe. But people have faith in faith. People believe all kinds of things. It is the faith that we're talking about here. You extinguish the fiery darts of the devil, the attacks of falsehood, when they hit the shield of the things you do believe. And it doesn't line up. It's done. It's over. It's not a truth. It is the faith, the truths of God's Word that extinguish the fiery darts. There it's talking about that you know your faith so strongly that when you are attacked with falsehood, it falls to the wayside. You don't get blown away. but you extinguish it because of what you confess and know is true. And now you apply the offensive weapon, the sword, which is the word of God. You wield it against the enemy, pointing out his falsehood and slicing and dicing it and showing him the ground that is true. The Word of God is our weapon of attack, and it's spiritual. It's spiritual because it came from God, who is spirit and truth. It's by captivating all the false arguments in our own minds first, in the interactions with our family and church body, and in the world, that ground is actually gained for the kingdom of our Lord. That's really what Paul is saying in that last verse that we close with here. Being ready to punish every disobedience. In other words, to deal with all falsehoods. When? When you're ready. When your obedience is complete. It all starts here. Our equipping for warfare in our own heart and mind. That we could be used of God for warfare in this world. We need to be ready in boot camp to enter the warfare that we do enter in each and every day. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your Word and its guidance to us. Help us, O Lord, to know your Word such that we would know our faith, your faith, the faith, that we could stand against attacks. But also, Father, help us to know your Word that we can convey it, that we can articulate it, that we can bring it to bear at the manner and matters at hand. that the lives of the enemy would be demolished and your truth would stand. And I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.