Guarded Authority, Part 2

Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. As an apostle, Paul had authority to boldly present the truth he received from God. In 2 Corinthians 10, 1-11, some were seeking to minimize Paul's influence in the church, questioning his right to give them instruction. In this message, Pastor Rich examines not only the authority that Paul was given, but also the authority the gospel has in the life of a believer and the ideas that can rise up in our own sinful hearts against that authority. This is the third part of a sermon titled Gospel Authority, which was first preached at Grace Bible Church on July 20th, 2014. Does it meet my needs? How do I know it is truth?

How do I know that it has authority, that it's reliable, that it's even sufficient for me? Third question. Here's the third statement, I should say, the third idea. Well, that follows, I, more than God or anyone else, know what's good for me.

Point number one, doesn't it? I'm good. Therefore, I know what's good for me. I know better than God or anyone else.

No one, including God, knows better what is good for me. It is what the Proverbs speak of leaning on your own understanding. Paul in Romans 1 says, professing to be wise, they became fools.

He describes this to the church at Ephesus. He says, those that walk in the futility of their darkened minds. What is this idea?

It is an idea that comes from the adversary where sin originated, the wicked one. And it was the idea to think with one's feelings and to follow one's passion. Do you know when you follow that out logically, if all I do, and we have a whole generation in America today that knows only that, they simply think with their feelings. What is the logical outcome of that?

If you take it to its logical... If I only think with my feelings, that means all I do is just simply follow my passions, which would make sense if I believe that I'm nothing more than some giant chemical reaction, right? My feelings are not really my choice. They're there. They're my feelings. So I just follow them. And what does that make me?

Nothing more than a wild animal. This is an idea that comes straight from the adversary. I, more than God or anyone else, know what's good for me.

This is an idea that exalts the self and minimizes God, and makes Him unnecessary, even in the way. You know what's interesting? All three of these ideas were in the Garden of Eden. Every one of them was there. You see, the adversary hasn't changed in all these years. His mission is still the same. And this is why we must understand that there is a war going on for your trust and allegiance.

There is a war going on. And here's the question. What feeds your heart and mind? What is feeding your conscience? What is feeding your understanding?

This is Paul's concern. Is it the Gospel of Christ and its authority to transform a life, or is your allegiance somewhere else? These fortresses, these strongholds, these arguments, these high things, these are ideas that are perpetrated in the halls of academia. These are even ideas that are presented in your pulpits of high churches. There is a war going on for your allegiance.

What's feeding your heart and mind? Paul even said that this was manifested in his detractors. These men who were fighting him, who were his rivals, considered him a rival for influence in the church, were not influenced in the church. For them, it was all about their right to influence the church. For Paul, it was about the power and the authority of the Gospel.

And you know what? The adversary is okay if you're a religious person and a moral person, but you think this. If you have these ideas informing your attitudes and your behavior, but you're still a religious person and a moral person, he's okay with that if these ideas are directing you. And it's very common today, very, very common, for you to have a form of godliness, a form of religion, but deny its power. You can be a good moral person, you can be a church attender, you can be a giver, you can be a philanthropist, you can be going on missions trips, you can be doing all those things, but if you are being guided by God, if you are being guided by these ideas, you have only a form of godliness, but it's an empty shell. It's only a form and you deny the very power of God.

You deny the power and authority of the Gospel if these ideas are directing your thoughts. That's exactly what the adversary wants. So what are the weapons of our warfare? It's not the flesh. It's not people we're fighting against. It's not even us in ourselves.

It's not in our human calculating, in our intelligence. It is the Gospel's authority. The Gospel's authority, as he says in verse 7, for even if I should boast somewhat more about our authority, which the Lord gave us for edification, that's the word authority, exousia. What does the Gospel do?

There's a couple of my favorite verses, Colossians 1.13. Watch this. He has delivered us from the power of darkness.

What is that? Hostages that were in this fortress of false ideas. He has delivered that and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. That's the authority of the Gospel. That's the power of the Gospel. That is liberated rebels that were held hostage. Rebels that were held hostage have now been liberated. That's what a Christian is. And how does he describe one who is liberated? 1 Peter 2, 9-10. You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light, who once were not a people but are now the people of God who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. What is that?

What is he doing there? He is describing one who is set free, a freed hostage. You are now what God intended and designed you to be. Before you were held hostage by these false ideas, truths that were presented as truth but they are false, they are a lie.

They come from the adversary of your soul whose only interest is to consume you. And that's why Paul says, our authority which the Lord gave us for edification, to build you up. Our authority in the Gospel is to build you up and we're going to help you tear down these lofty ideas of false truth that minimize God and exalt self so you can be liberated in Christ. That's what the Gospel does. That's the power and authority of the Gospel. The Gospel tears down fortresses to set hostages free.

That's why he says that they are mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. It is our authority which the Lord gave us for edification, to set strongholds. It is our authority which the Lord gave us, meaning it is the Gospel authority. It is the authority that comes directly from Christ so when I present the Gospel I am presenting the authority and power of Christ to liberate a hostage and to tear down the fortresses of false ideas.

False ideas that keep people hostage. That's why we follow the apostolic doctrine. It is the authority of the Gospel which he says, the writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews chapter 2 verse 14, he says that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death. That is the devil.

What is that? That's the Gospel tearing down fortresses. Through death he might destroy him who had the power of death. The hostage taker with the ambition to keep rebels alienated from God. That's him who had the power of death.

The adversary of your soul. John says the same thing in 1 John chapter 3 verse 8, for this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. You see, the authority, the power of the Gospel and this is what Paul kept front and center. Truth, true truth, the Gospel truth has authority over false truth.

And that's what we have to understand. And so when he says bringing every thought into captivity, bringing every thought into captivity, this goes back to verse 5, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Every thought that is mentioned in verse 5, the term every thought is referring to those strongholds, arguments and high things.

All of these ideas that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God. What does he say? We take them into captivity. In other words, he says, we take them as prisoners of war.

That's what Christians are called to do through the authority of the Gospel and those ministering the truth of God do that. They take these false ideas and they take them as prisoner of war. So it happens in two places. First of all, it happens in your mind. Here you are in the course of the day. You're working, you're minding your own business, and all of a sudden an idea invades your mind.

It's one of these three ideas. I'm good. My problems are somebody else's fault. God doesn't really mean what he says.

He's not always good. One of those ideas invades your mind. What do you do with it? Thanks for joining us here at Delight in Grace. You've been listening to Rich Powell, the lead pastor at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. The Delight in Grace mission is to help you know that God designed you to realize your highest good and your deepest satisfaction in him, the one who is infinitely good. We hope you'll join us again on weekdays at 10 a.m.