Paul Confronts His Critics - 30

Well, today we return to our second Corinthian series from which we departed in early March because of the COVID interruptions, and at that time for several weeks we did not meet at all with people present, and we did not have any idea that we would still be dealing with this in January, a year later.

It's been almost a year. The circumstances which God has designed and appointed for us. We did return briefly to chapter nine where we had broken off in November for two sermons because chapter nine deals with the subject of giving, and that fit perfectly into our missions month emphasis. And then we moved on to other things, but now we are returning to second Corinthians chapter ten. If the Lord wills, we'll just continue right here in second Corinthians until we complete this epistle by the Apostle Paul directed by the Spirit of God.

Now when we come to chapter ten, we find that there's a major shift in subject matter. Paul is going to defend himself to his critics. In fact, the title of my sermon today is Paul Confronts His Critics. And that title could apply pretty accurately to the remainder of the book because that's basically what Paul is dealing with from chapter ten to the conclusion of this epistle, which seems like a long section, an awful lot of material to be devoted to this one subject, but apparently it's important enough for the Holy Spirit of God to include that much material. On this particular subject, there's something here that he wants us to learn. Now coming to this subject of Paul defending himself in front of his critics is not totally new.

We've seen scattered statements to this effect in both first and second Corinthians from time to time. Paul has made reference to critics and to his response to them. But now he's going to give this subject a thorough treatment.

It's like he's saying, all right, I've dealt with everything else. Now we come to the last matter, but it is an important matter. Let's get this matter settled once and for all. Let's address these criticisms. Let's correct the record.

Let's get things back in proper God-ordained order. And why does Paul address these criticisms that have been directed to him? Is it because Paul doesn't like to be criticized?

Well, I'm sure that's true. If I would say anybody here that likes to be criticized, could I see your hand? I don't think I would see very many hands unless Callie perhaps would raise hers.

But other than that, we probably wouldn't see many hands raised in response to that. But that's not Paul's concern. He's too Christ-like for that. He knows that criticism is part of the life that God has appointed to him as an apostle of Jesus Christ. But Paul also recognizes that people who are in a wrong relationship with Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, are not in a proper relationship with Christ himself. And he realizes, therefore, that for the health of the church and for the health of the individuals that he's addressing in this epistle, he needs to deal with this issue.

That's exactly what he's going to do. Because a proper relationship to divinely ordered authority is important. Even as he took two chapters, chapters 8 and 9, to deal with the subject of giving, because learning to give is very important to our spiritual health. Those who don't respond in a biblical way to instructions about giving are always going to be lagging behind in spiritual development. Those who are not rightly related to God-ordained authority are always going to have defects in their Christian development.

That's going to be emphasized over the next several weeks. Now, in looking at verses 1 through 8, I have a three-point outline, so let's put that in front of you and then we'll move forward. We have number 1, an urgent appeal, verses 1 and 2. Number 2, an insightful explanation, verses 3 through 6. And third, a defended authority, verses 7 and 8. First, an urgent appeal, and I read again verses 1 and 2. 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, 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.

An urgent appeal, and what's this appeal about? Well, we have in verse 1 Paul's preferred approach, and I'll explain that more in a moment, and we have in verse 2 Paul's clear communication. Now, Paul's preferred approach, as he makes clear in verse 1, is not to have to forcefully exert his apostolic authority. He doesn't enjoy doing that. He would prefer not to do that. He would prefer that it not be necessary.

That would be the preferred condition, and he appeals to them to respond to his letter in such a way that he will not have to come in sternness, in boldness, in a confrontational approach. And this is a very significant issue, as indicated by those opening words where he says, Now, I, Paul. That expression, I, Paul, is used only three times in his 13 epistles. It's used in Galatians 5, 2. It's used in 1 Thessalonians 2, 18, which I'll not refer to directly at this time, and then it's used here.

But every place it's used, it introduces an especially significant issue. So that very language tells you, This is important. Listen up.

Similar, I suppose, in some respects to Christ's, Verily, verily, I say unto you. Paul says, I, Paul, say unto you. It's an urgent matter. The urgency of it is also indicated when he tells us, I am pleading with you. It's a very urgent matter.

I'm begging you to hear what I'm saying and to respond properly. And Paul tells us that what he prefers to do is to employ a Christlike demeanor. I, Paul, myself am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ.

That may seem like a strange thing to insert at this point, but it's very important to understand what's going on. That's one reason I read the entire chapter so we could get have some additional verses than the ones that we are examining this morning. But as we read the chapter, it becomes clear that one of the things that Paul's critics were harping on was the fact that Paul was so meek. Paul was so mild. Paul was so gentle. Paul was not forceful. Oh, yes, he sounds forceful enough in his epistles.

Those letters he writes, they shoot out lightning and thunder. But Paul himself, when he comes, is just a quiet, mild-mannered, meek sort of guy. Doesn't seem like much of a leader. Doesn't seem like a very strong personality. Doesn't seem like a very effective minister. Paul says, I am coming in meekness and gentleness, not because I can't do it the other way that you seem to prefer, but because I'm following the example of Christ.

You who? Where are you getting your ideas of what my demeanor should be like? Where are you getting your ideas of how a leader ought to act? There's never been a greater leader than Jesus Christ, and his characteristic demeanor, not his universal, always employed demeanor, but his characteristic demeanor was one of meekness and lowliness. As we know, there were times when he could scold, he could scave, he could denounce, he could be forceful when the situation required it, but his general approach was meekness and gentleness.

He's known for that. And Paul says, that's my preferred approach because that's the most Christ-like approach. And so that's how I'm coming to you. I'm pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence, speaking of himself now, am lowly among you, but being absent and bold toward you. And what's that last phrase of verse one all about? Well, he is simply repeating what his critics are saying.

I'm coming to you in the meekness and gentleness of Christ. I who, as some of the critics say, some of you are saying, come very meekly and quietly and gently in presence, but in my letters I am very bold to you. And Paul is really, in the last part of verse one, using a sarcastic rejoinder. He's using the words that are spoken by his critics to reveal what's wrong with their thinking and what they're saying. It is a legitimate use of sarcasm.

Sarcasm has to be used carefully and sparingly, and it is often used sinfully, but it is not automatically an illegitimate tool in the arsenal of propagating and defending truth. And that's what Paul is saying in the last part of verse one. Who, and here's what the critics say, so I'll accept it, who, when I'm present I'm lowly among you, but when I'm absent I'm bold toward you. He's going to go on and say that's not actually correct in all cases, but that's what you say.

So let's run with that for the moment. My preferred approach is to be gentle, meek, and lowly like Christ. But, and he clearly communicates some very important information in verse two, 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. Paul's request is please don't make me assert my authority when I come to you. But his resolve is when and if it is necessary I will be bold in person if you make me. I'll only do it if you don't submit to truth.

I'll only do it if you don't cooperate. I'll only do it if you don't respond to what I tell you as you ought, in which case when I come I will boldly confront those who fail to submit. And he basically categorizes the members of the church into two different classes in verse two. Number one, those who will submit to his divinely given apostolic authority and those who don't, those who will not.

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. Those who think that Paul is just like them, they think Paul walks according to the flesh because they walk according to the flesh. They seem to be judging Paul by themselves. Later in the chapter he says those who compare themselves by themselves are not wise.

That's what's going on here. They think Paul acts like they do. They think Paul thinks like they do. And because they have certain concepts that are wrong and Paul doesn't seem to reflect those but they think he should and they think he does but somehow just isn't able to carry them out the way they do, then they judge him defective because he doesn't act the way they think he should, according to the flesh.

Paul says what this does is really reveals their lack of spiritual discernment. So when I come, if there are some of you who have not corrected yourselves, you'll find out I can be bold, I can be strong, I can be confrontational, I can be authoritative, I can be a disciplinarian. I'd prefer not to be any of those things. Please, don't make me.

That's my appeal. Please, don't make me. Rather submit to divine authority and divinely appointed human authority. Align yourselves with truth or I will be forced to take unwelcome action when I come. Your choice.

What do you want from me when I come? You say I'm not bold. You'll find out when I use my boldness to correct and chasten those of you who will not submit to truth.

That is an urgent appeal. But then in verses three through six, he explains this more fully. We find an insightful explanation. And he begins with this important distinction in verse three. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. We walk in the flesh, but we do not war according to the flesh. We walk in the flesh.

Why? Because we are in the flesh. We walk in the flesh.

Why? Because we are human beings, members of the human race. We are fleshly. We walk in the flesh.

Why? Because we live in this present world. We're not in heaven yet. And so, yes, we walk in the flesh, but we do not war according to the flesh. Something's changed.

Now, we used to. Saul, the Pharisee, warred according to the flesh. Oh, how he warred according to the flesh. Oh, how he used the arsenal of fleshly weapons against Christians.

How he harassed them, how he jailed them, how he even brought about the deaths of some of them. Oh, yes, he carried out his warfare in those days according to the flesh because, of course, he was in the flesh. He was of the flesh.

He had not yet been changed by the Spirit of God. But we do not war according to the flesh because we have become children of the light. We are no more walking in darkness. We war not according to the flesh because we no longer belong to this world. We are in the world but not of the world, as Jesus said in John chapter 17.

That's an important distinction. And therefore, a necessary understanding follows in verse 4, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. Our weapons, the tools, the weapons we use to engage in spiritual warfare, in which we are all engaged, are not carnal. They're not fleshly.

They're not worldly. What would that be? Well, I've already suggested several extreme ones, as Paul went about arresting people, putting them in prison, putting them to death. In other words, forcing them to renounce Christ, forcing them to embrace Moses in the way that he understood it. But even short of that kind of coercion, we see fleshly weapons being employed all the time.

They could be a number of things. We could be talking about emotional persuasion, where we persuade people to do things not based upon their response to truth but based upon emotional manipulation. I learned many years ago to understand the altar call in that category because that basically is what it is. It is a fleshly technique to try to enlist spiritual decisions that aren't made that way. Well, I know people who were saved at an old-fashioned altar.

Maybe some of you were. Yeah, but it's not because of the altar. It was because of the work of the Spirit of God in your heart. And you would have been saved sitting in that pew by the work of God's Spirit in your heart. It wasn't coming forward that sealed the deal.

It wasn't coming forward that made you make the right decision. And what happens in about, who knows, 90% of the cases or so is that people make false professions and are then harder to deal with after all because they think they have responded to truth because they've responded physically to an altar call, to an appeal. Emotional persuasion, that's a carnal weapon. Personality, as it's carried out in various ways, is a carnal weapon. Reliance upon visible impressions, the way we impress people with what we see, that's a great temptation, it's a great danger, but it's a great carnality. That was one of the issues, one of the huge issues in the Protestant Reformation was to get out of the churches a reliance upon visible manifestations of all kinds in order to aid people in their worship.

All these statues, all these symbols, all of this ceremony, all of this pageantry, all designed ostensibly to teach truth turns out to be a barrier to truth because it keeps trying to impress people and to persuade people and to move people about what they see and what they feel in their emotions rather than by the truth of God's word operating in their soul. Fleshly carnal weapons. Paul says our weapons aren't like that, our weapons are powerful. And what are our weapons?

He doesn't spell them out here, but basically two things. The word of God in prayer. That's what accomplishes God's work. The word of God in prayer. The proclaimed word undergirded by the prayers of God's people. That will accomplish eternal victories, as Paul goes on to explain. The word of God in prayer. But how many of God's people are just not convinced that that's enough?

It takes something more, it takes something more. Yes, yes, we understand that it takes the word of God in prayer, but in addition to that we've got to have this and this and this and this and this if we're going to succeed. And Paul is saying until we are willing to get rid of all the other things so that it's clear that we are relying only on that which God has given, then in effect we're not relying at all on that which God has given.

You want to mix it together. We're going to rely upon the word of God in prayer plus. And here go the whole list of other things that we use to help the word of God in prayer along so that it will become effective. And Paul is saying until you are willing to get rid of everything else and rely only on spiritual weapons upon the word of God in prayer, then you haven't really relied upon the word of God in prayer. It's like salvation is by faith, by grace through faith in Christ, right? But don't leave out the word alone because if you understand that to mean it's by God's grace with our help and it's by faith with our help and if it's by Christ with our additions to it, then you've spoiled the whole thing.

You can't mix those two things and have anything left to the reality. It's by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. And if it's not that, then you are not relying upon God's grace. You're not relying upon faith alone. You're not relying upon Christ alone. You are relying upon other things. And here in this instance, it's the same.

If you are not relying upon spiritual weapons alone, then you are not really relying upon spiritual weapons at all. You know how easy it is for us to mix these things up? When our church was only about probably less than a year old, we had a number of people back in those days who loved gospel quartet and Southern gospel music, and I'm sure some of you still do. In fact, if we're going to raise hands for people who like it, I'll put mine up. I like it.

Once in a while I'll run across a Gaither concert on the television and I'll sit there and take that in. I can enjoy that, okay? So don't misunderstand what I'm saying here. But we had people come to me and say, Pastor Barkman, if we could get some gospel quartets in here, we could really make this church grow. And I said, yes, we could, but we're not going to do it. Why not? Because we're going to rely on the Word of God and prayer. Well, that'll be slow, I know.

That won't work as fast, I know. But if we start relying on other things, then we're going to lose God's blessing upon His Word. We're going to lose that which really does produce eternal results, and we're going to accept counterfeit evidences of success in the place of genuine, true spiritual success, and we're going to really make a mess of this thing. So you can go off to your Gaither all-night gospel sing at the Greensboro Coliseum on Saturday night if you want to, but just be sure you're back in time for church on Sunday morning, and we're not going to have it here.

We're just going to sing the old hymns, and we're going to preach the Word of God. Sorry. Well, how come? Because that's the way I've decided it needs to be. Well, who made you the one to decide?

Who else? Have you got any alternative suggestions of how you think this ought to be done? I think because God placed me in the position of spiritual leadership. It kind of gets back to the authority that Paul is talking about here.

Well, what makes your decision the right one? It may not be, but it's the one that God's appointed for this time because He put me here to lead this church in paths of righteousness as I understand them, and that's what we're going to do by God's help and grace. Our weapons are not carnal. They're spiritual.

They're spiritual. It's a necessary understanding, and that employed will bring a victorious strategy to success. Verse 5 actually is a continuation of verse 4. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds and casting down arguments in every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. The word of God and prayer is all that is needed to destroy defective arguments, casting down arguments against the truth. The word of God and prayer is all that is needed to defeat ungodly reasoning, every high thing that exalts itself against God.

The word of God and prayer is all that is needed to capture disobedient rebels, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, that is, every thought of the person who is captured by the grace of God. It changes our thinking. The battle's in the mind. The battle's in our thinking. Our thoughts are wrong. They need to be changed.

They need to be corrected. What's going to do that? The word of God undergirded by prayer, that's what's going to do it if it's going to get done. And when God does it, it gets done thoroughly.

It's a victorious strategy if we'll just rely upon it. But sometimes in the pursuit of this kind of ministry, we read in verse 6, there is an unwelcome necessity and in addition to employing the weapons of spiritual warfare and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. An unwelcome necessity, may it be rare, may it be occasional, may it be never, but unwelcome necessity in this world is punishing unyielding disobedience in the church, being ready to punish all disobedience after sufficient time has been given for self-correction. When your obedience is fulfilled, in other words, when you've all heard this, thought about it, considered it, and lined yourselves up according to it one way or the other, when you've all had time to take sides, we hope everybody will be on the side of truth and nobody will still be on the side of defending error, but if there are still those who are unwilling to yield the truth, then when I come, I'm going to employ not carnal means of chastening and discipline, this will be church discipline, this will be spiritual discipline, that's what's been given to the church, but it needs to be employed sparingly, hopefully never, but realistically, yes, there are times, so you've got to be willing to do that as well.

It ain't all positive, there are some negatives. That brings us finally to a defended authority in verses 7 and 8. Do you look at things according to the outward appearance? If anyone is convinced in himself that he is Christ, then again consider this in himself, that just as he is Christ, even so, we are Christ's. For even if I should boast somewhat more about our authority, which the Lord gave us for edification and not for your destruction, I shall not be ashamed. We see a mistaken perspective in verse 7, a fleshly confidence in verse 7, and then godly authority in verse 8. And the mistaken perspective is to look on things according to outward appearance.

We've already touched on that, but Paul makes it very clear here. Do you look at things, verse 7, according to outward appearance? Is that the way you evaluate? Is that how you decide what is right and wrong, what is good and bad, what is effective and what is not effective in the work of God? Now, interestingly, this statement translated in my Bible, do you look at things according to the outward appearance as a question, the statement can be, according to the Greek form, either indicative, imperative, or interrogative. In other words, it can be a statement, it can be a command, or it can be a question. And I won't go through all the possibilities and how they would be translated and apply, but each one of those brings a little bit different nuance to this statement, but the basics remain the same.

And what Paul is saying is the most common way by which people evaluate things is outward appearance. Why? Because that's the way the world evaluates things.

Why? Because that's the only way the world can evaluate things. What else have they got? But the problem is there are way too many Christians who think like the world, evaluate like the world, they evaluate according to outward appearance and they're entirely wrong. The proper way to evaluate is according to the word of God, not according to outward appearance. I'd be a rich man if I had a dollar for every time someone has said to me over the years, boy, they must be doing something right, look at the way they're growing. At some particular church that seems to be growing and growing in a way that we're not, those churches are not, they must be doing something right, look at the way they're growing. Right. The Mormons must be doing something right, look at the way they're growing. Right? The Jehovah's Witnesses must be doing something right, look at the way they're growing.

Right? Is that really a biblical way to evaluate? There are a lot of reasons why churches, groups may grow. It may be true spiritual work of God, the blessing of God upon it, but in many cases it is something else again.

In many cases it is a fleshly, a carnal appeal that people are drawn to. You do know what is the largest church in the United States, don't you? It's in Texas, is it Dallas? I think it's in Dallas, Texas.

You see it on television occasionally, I suppose. The church meets in a stadium that seats 25,000 people and it's full every time. And the pastor has written books about your best life now and things like that. That church has grown like crazy. Is that evidence that this is a church that centers upon truth? No, actually it's a church that is filled with heresy. It appeals to people who prefer deception to truth.

They prefer an emphasis upon health and wealth and prosperity rather than upon the true gospel of Jesus Christ. And boy, that appeals to people and it grows. So is that a proper way to evaluate? Absolutely not. But it's the only way that the world can evaluate and it's the way that too many Christians evaluate. But it's not a proper way to evaluate. That's a mistaken perspective to look on things according to outward appearance.

You've got to look deeper than that. Now the text goes on to talk about fleshly confidence. People who are convinced that they are Christ's. If anyone is convinced in himself that he is Christ's, that he belongs to Christ, or that he belongs to a superior group of Christians.

If anybody is convinced about that, Paul is going to go on and say something about it. But the truth of the matter is that this could be a misplaced confidence. Just like you can be wrong about how to evaluate what's going on in the ministry if you're not using biblical standards. So you can be wrong about what's going on in your own life. You think you belong to Christ because of XX and X, but it's not biblical evaluation. You think you belong to a group that is the best group of Christians.

Why? Because of biblical standards of evaluation or because of something else. It's a misplaced confidence. Paul goes on to talk about a properly placed confidence that is in his belonging to Christ.

It's again kind of a, I don't know if I would call this one sarcasm or just irony, it's the same sort of thing again. If anyone is convinced in himself that he is Christ, let him again consider this in himself, that just as he is Christ, even so are we, or even so we are Christ's. In other words, do you think that your claim to being belonging to Christ is stronger than mine? Do you think your claim to being a proper representative of Jesus Christ is stronger than mine, Paul the Apostle? Now for the time being he just says, if you think you belong to Christ, just realize I do too.

We'll leave it at that for the moment. But he's saying that his belonging to Christ should be apparent to everyone, and his claim to that is certainly equal to theirs, in fact it's far superior as we know. And then he goes on in verse 8 to talk about godly authority and give three marks for proper godly authority. For even if I should boast somewhat more about our authority, which the Lord gave us for edification and not for your destruction, I shall not be ashamed. What does he tell us about godly authority?

Number one, it is reluctantly asserted. He's already made that clear earlier in the passage. True, godly authority is not something that is being wielded and exercised constantly.

It doesn't need to be. And furthermore, the person who is truly placed by Christ in a position of authority does not want to do that, does not delight in that. Not if they're godly. You see people who are constantly reminding others of their authority and demanding that they be given authority and asserting their authority. You are probably looking at someone who has usurped authority that was not God-given. That's a carnal exercise. But the first mark of true godly authority is that it is reluctantly asserted.

Number two, it is productively exercised. The authority which the Lord gave us for what? For edification, not for your destruction. The whole purpose for God-given authority is to build people up. There needs to be authority structures in this world.

You do realize that, don't you? Some people have a hard time with that. Everybody's equal. But according to God's design, some people are given positions of authority that others are not given. It's all the way through human society as God structured it. I know it's very unpopular, very unwelcome in our day to say that God made husbands to have authority over wives. Yes, He did. I hope that doesn't shock you. God made parents to have authority over children.

Yes, He did. That needs to be exercised properly in a godly way. Right back to the first mark. It's not something that gets exerted continually. It's not overbearing. It's not something that is misused, but it's something that must be properly used. God gave authority to civil authorities in government that we ought to be in submission to. Not if we don't agree with them, not if we don't like them. That's not what the Bible says.

This is a real sore area for a lot of people. God gave spiritual authority in the church according to His design. All of these are there for a purpose. In the church in particular, it's there for your edification.

This is for your good. It's for your spiritual health. It's for your building up.

It's so that things can operate smoothly and without disruption the way that God intended for them to be so that the church can be ministering the word of God to God's people and building them up in the most holy faith and equipping them to do the work of the ministry. And Paul said that's what this authority that Christ has given to me is for and this is how I exercise it and why I exercise it. I exercise it for your edification, not for your destruction. So that's the second mark of godly authority.

It is productively exercised. And number three, it is spiritually sustained. The last part of verse eight. When I do this, when I exercise this authority that Christ has given to me, I shall not be ashamed.

That phrase kind of gets lost in obscurity, but if you study that phrase through the Bible, you realize that has the idea of that which will stand against assaults. Those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are told, shall not be ashamed. And Paul says, when I properly exercise my God-given authority, I shall not be ashamed. That is, my authority is going to be sustained by Christ. It's nothing to be ashamed of and in my exercise of it, I'm not going to put myself in a position of being shamed because I'm doing what Christ has appointed me to do and he's going to sustain me. He will see to it that I am sustained in that. I will not be ashamed. A defended authority.

Now we'll wrap it up by covering some lessons quickly. The first lesson I have out of this passage is a lesson regarding spiritual authority. Spiritual authority, when it's truly given by God and being exercised properly, is not asserted frequently or with delight, but it is asserted when necessary to be true to Christ, Christ who gave it. It is exercised when Christ is attacked. It is exercised when vital truth is attacked. It is exercised when souls are in danger.

In those occasions, Godly authority, God-ordained authority should be exercised and those who have been entrusted with it who are unwilling to exercise it at times like this are themselves being negligent, are failing to carry out their assignment. The second lesson we learn in all of this relates to ministry methods. What are the methods by which we carry out ministry? Or as some people prefer to call them, ministry philosophy. What's our philosophy of ministry? And I've already told you this passage makes it clear that our philosophy of ministry basically is that ministry is carried out by the word of God in prayer.

Yeah, but what's your five-year plan? Ministry is carried out by the word of God in prayer. Yeah, but what's your strategy? I'm not saying that it's wrong to make any plans or have any strategies, but you've got to keep coming back to this. Godly ministry is accomplished by the word of God in prayer.

If you're relying on anything else, then you're not relying on that. That is our ministry method. What it all boils down to is, do you have confidence in God's word? When you keep adding things that you think are necessary to help God's word do its work, what you're saying is God's word is not sufficient. God's word is not enough. God's word is not powerful. God's word is not really like a living sword that can pierce to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, the joints and marrow. You quote that, but you don't believe that.

You think it needs some help, some help from you, some help from others. And God says, that dishonors me. You do what I told you to do and trust me to do what I said I would do. You do it the way I told you to do it, relying upon the spiritual weapons that I have given to you, and trust me to accomplish with that what I intend. Ministry methods.

Number three, I touch on this one quickly and lightly. Political methods. Well, that's entirely different, is it?

For a Christian, should it be basically the same? What we want to see accomplished in the political realm is going to be accomplished by the word of God in prayer, or it's not going to be successfully accomplished. It's not going to be accomplished by storming Washington and breaking into offices and tearing things down.

It's easy to get caught up in the furor, the frenzy, the excitement. Better back up and think about this long and hard. The weapons of our warfare for whatever we're going to accomplish for good in this world are not carnal. They are spiritual. Spiritual weapons that will change thinking. Spiritual weapons that will pull down Satan's strongholds. Spiritual weapons that can actually accomplish change in this nation.

And if you are relying on anything else, you're barking up the wrong tree. This passage tells us something about how to advance truth politically. And with that, I close. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. Forgive us for not listening to it carefully, believing it and applying it as we ought. Thank you, Father, for your grace and mercy that you give us time to become obedient before you chasten us for our disobedience. Help us, O Lord, all of us, to hear your word with humility, with faith, with surrender, with obedience, that brings honor and glory to Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.