2 Corinthians - Spiritual War; Spiritual Authority

In the last section of 2 Corinthians 10-13, we find Paul vindicating his apostleship. And in these chapters, he's answering the accusations of his enemies at Corinth.

Now as you read 2 Corinthians 10-13, you can pretty well discover the lies they were telling about Paul: that he was not a true apostle—in fact, some suggested he wasn't even saved—that his motives were insincere, that his physical presence was weak and he deserved no respect, that his speaking ability was just not good at all. His letters were very bold when he was far away from you, but when he came in person, he was very meek and very humble, and you couldn't depend on the apostle Paul.

Now keep in mind that Paul is not defending himself personally. He's not promoting himself. He is defending his apostolic office, and therefore his authority, and therefore the message that he was preaching. The lies that were being spread by these false teachers had won over a part of the church, and Paul had to try to win them back.

You'll recall that 2 Corinthians can be divided into three sections: In 2 Corinthians 1-7, Paul explains his ministry. And then in 2 Corinthians 8-9, he encourages their generosity. And now in 2 Corinthians 10-13, he enforces his authority.

In 2 Corinthians 10, the apostle Paul explains and deals with three misunderstandings. You see, the crowd at Corinth didn't really understand Paul's ministry. Now he's going to talk to them about this. In 2 Corinthians 10:1-6, he explains how he wages spiritual warfare. They just did not understand Paul's approach to spiritual warfare. And so in 2 Corinthians 10:1-6, Paul corrects the first misunderstanding: how to wage spiritual warfare.

They thought that because Paul was meek and quiet, he wasn't really a Christian soldier; he wasn't really on the battlefield. This outside crowd came in and they were dynamic and they were personality plus, and Paul wasn't that way. And they said, "Well, Paul's kind of weak, you know. He doesn't know what he's doing."

Then in 2 Corinthians 10:7-11, he corrects the misunderstanding on how to use spiritual authority. See, a lot of folks think that unless you throw weight around, unless you have a big mouth and a heavy hand, you aren't really a leader. But in 2 Corinthians 10:7-11, Paul explains how he uses spiritual authority. And then in 2 Corinthians 10:12-18, Paul explains how to measure spiritual ministry. The church at Corinth didn't know how to measure the ministry.

Now 2 Corinthians 10:1-6: How to wage spiritual warfare. First of all, you have to have the right attitude, 2 Corinthians 10:1-2. "Now I, Paul, myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ." Now there's the right attitude: the Christlike attitude. The tragedy is too many pastors today and too many Christian workers today are patterning themselves after Madison Avenue or some television personality or some big leader. We're supposed to pattern ourselves after Jesus Christ in meekness and gentleness.

Now meekness is not weakness; you have heard me say that many times. Meekness is power under control. This is a word that was used for the horse that had been broken, the colt that had been broken. There's power there, but it's under control. Now a leader has to have power, but that power is under control. Power that's not under control could be very destructive.

And gentleness, the meekness and gentleness of Christ. Paul did not throw his weight around. In fact, the name Paul means "little." Paul said, "I'm just the little fellow." J. Hudson Taylor, the missionary leader, the founder of the China Inland Mission, was being introduced one day at a meeting, and the man introduced him as the great servant and the great this and the great that, and Hudson Taylor got up and said, "I am just the little servant of a great God."

Paul said you've got to have the right attitude. Now this crowd that had crept into the church was a crowd filled with strength of character in terms of pushing themselves on people. They were important people. They threw their weight around. And Paul says, "No, I have the meekness and gentleness of Christ. You don't understand that, do you? You don't realize you don't wage spiritual warfare with physical methods."

"I, Paul, who in presence am base among you"—that word base means timid—"but being absent am bold toward you." He's quoting what they accused him of, isn't he? "But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that boldness, that confidence, with which I think to be bold against some, who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh."

Now Paul is saying, "I have the right attitude. I have an attitude of meekness and gentleness, not authoritarianism. My authority is balanced by humility." If you're going to wage spiritual warfare, you've got to have the right attitude.

You also must use the right weapons, 2 Corinthians 10:3-6. "For though we walk in the flesh"—that means I walk in a human body; I live in a human body—"we do not war after the flesh." We do not use fleshly means to accomplish spiritual purposes. And we do not use fleshly weapons to fight spiritual battles.

This comes as a shock to some board members. They think you can manage the affairs of a church the way you do a bank or a store or a filling station. Oh no, no. You have to use spiritual methods.

And what are these spiritual methods? "For the weapons of our warfare"—and that word warfare means campaign; his whole life was one big campaign against the devil—"for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal," they're not fleshly. We don't use worldly, fleshly means. When you start scheming, my friend, you have stopped believing. Faith is living without scheming.

The weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, carnal, "but mighty through God." In what way? "To the pulling down of strongholds." Now what are these strongholds? The minds of men closed to the truth of God. "Casting down imaginations"—or reasonings—"and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God."

You see, the people in Corinth were proud of their knowledge. When you read 1 Corinthians, you find this out. Paul wrote and said, "Now knowledge puffs up, but love builds up." They were so knowledgeable. They didn't come behind in any gift; they had gifts of knowledge and they were proud of it.

Now the mind of man, even the mind of saved man, can put up walls of prejudice and bigotry, walls of pride, walls of false reasoning against the truth of God. "My mind is made up, don't confuse me with facts." Oh, I've lived through some of these experiences where church officers are so stubborn—they call it conviction—but they're just so stubborn. They've got their mind made up on something and they won't listen to what the word of God has to say about it.

Well, not only tearing down these walls, but "bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." He pictures the human mind as a fortress, and they have built walls against the truth of God. Now he said, "I'm going to storm that fortress, but I don't use fleshly weapons. No deception, no strong personality push, nothing like that. I'm going to use the truth of God. I'm going to pray. We use spiritual weapons to fight spiritual battles."

What are these weapons? Christian character, faith, prayer, the word of God. That's how the church got started. "And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled." Paul says, "I'm going to deal with these false teachers once the church gets squared away, once the church gets straightened out." When the church is where it ought to be, then the church and I together will deal with these false teachers. Paul realized he couldn't deal with the enemy until he had some allies in the church.

And so here he corrects the first misunderstanding: how to wage spiritual warfare. The Corinthians thought that because Paul was quiet and meek and gentle, he was not a real Christian soldier. Because he did not come in and argue and fight and throw his weight around, he was not really doing God's work. He says, "No, the weapons that I use are spiritual. I'm going to pray that God will tear down the walls that are in the minds of people." You know, this works.

When I was pastoring in Chicago, a small group of pastors used to meet together, and I was privileged to be among them. We'd meet once a week privately to do what we called "warfare praying." Warfare praying, where we would focus on a particular person or need and we would claim God's promise to tear down these barriers and to get the thoughts of that person captive to Jesus Christ. And we saw God do some great things. We saw people delivered from the power of the wicked one. We saw minds completely changed because of prayer.

And so let me urge you to be a part of a spiritual battle. You don't use fleshly means to accomplish spiritual purposes. You use prayer and the word of God. You put on the armor that Paul mentions in Ephesians 6, and you trust the Captain of your salvation to give you the victory. How do we wage spiritual warfare? By using spiritual weapons provided by the Lord.

It's so easy for those of us who teach and preach the word of God to be misunderstood. Paul is dealing with this in 2 Corinthians 10:1-6: the misunderstanding on how to wage spiritual warfare. The Corinthians didn't understand Paul's attitude and Paul's methods. And then beginning in 2 Corinthians 10:7 through 2 Corinthians 10:11, Paul deals with the misunderstanding on how to use spiritual authority.

You see, Paul had authority. He was an apostle. He had seen the Lord. In fact, he'd been to heaven and back, hadn't he? He had a special commission from God, and Paul could have thrown his weight around and been authoritarian, but he refused to do so. In 2 Corinthians 10:7-11, he deals with the misunderstanding on how to use spiritual authority.

In 2 Corinthians 10:10, he picks up their quotation again, when they start talking about how he is in presence very weak, but in his absence he writes these weighty letters. You see, they misunderstood what he was talking about. Well, 2 Corinthians 10:7: "Do ye look on things after the outward appearance?" And there is the whole trouble.

Remember Paul had talked about tearing down the strongholds in the mind and getting the thoughts in captivity. When your mind is prejudiced, when your mind is filled with lies, you see what you want to see. "Do you look on things after the outward appearance?" The answer is yes, they did. They had a surface examination of Paul's ministry.

"If any man trust to himself that he is Christ's, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ's, even so are we Christ's." There were some among his enemies who said Paul is not even a saved man. Their argument went like this: he's not really an apostle, but he claims to be an apostle; therefore he's a liar; therefore you can't trust his message, and he is not a saved man if he goes around preaching a lie. It's awful the way people accuse the true servants of God.

Paul is saying to us, "Don't go by the outward appearance. Don't judge things by the externals. God sees the heart." "For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord hath given us"—Paul did have authority to do what?—"for edification"—for building up—"and not for your destruction"—for tearing down. A little hint here: these Judaizers have gotten into the church, and they are not building you up, they're tearing you down.

Let me ask you: the spiritual leader that you are following, is he building you up or tearing you down? Is he tying you more closely to Jesus Christ or to himself? Is he building his own kingdom and using you as part of the support? There's a parenthesis here: "I should not be ashamed"—I should not be put to shame. Paul said, "I'd be ashamed if I were guilty of tearing you down instead of building you up." "That I may not seem as if I would terrify you by letters."

Now how were they judging Paul? They were judging Paul's authority by his attitude—he was meek and gentle—by his letters. They say, "Well, these letters are weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak"—that word weak means unimpressive—"and his speech contemptible." That's interesting, isn't it? 2 Corinthians 11:6: "But though I be rude in speech." Paul was not the eloquent orator that Apollos was.

You know, many people evaluate a preacher by his gift of gab, by his eloquence, by his glib speech. And sad to say, there are some people who sound so good, but five minutes later you say, "What were they talking about? What did they say?" Nothing gets into your mind and heart. There's nothing you can really hold onto.

"Well," says Paul, "let such a one think this, that, such as we are in word by letters when we are absent, such will we be also in deed when we are present." They accused Paul of being a hypocrite. When he's at a distance, he's so brave, but when he's present, he's so weak. Paul said, "You just wait. When I show up, we'll take care of these things, and you'll find out how much power I have." Oh, it's such a dangerous thing to judge things externally by the outward appearance, to measure the ministry in the wrong way.

And this is the third misunderstanding Paul deals with: 2 Corinthians 10:1-6, how to wage spiritual warfare, and then 2 Corinthians 10:7-11, how to use spiritual authority, and then 2 Corinthians 10:12-18, how to measure spiritual ministry. How do you measure the ministry?

These Judaizers who had taken over the church were comparing themselves with Paul, and they were saying, "You know, we're greater than Paul is. I mean, Paul may have founded the church, but here we are, we're important." Look at 2 Corinthians 10:12. Here is the false way to measure the ministry: "For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves."

Watch out for those religious leaders who are always bragging about themselves—the souls that they have won, the work that they have done—without giving glory to the Lord. "But they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise." These people who write their own press releases are not wise. They had a mutual admiration society. They set up standards and said, "We have reached these standards, we are spiritual."

But each situation is different and each ministry is different, and we better be careful about a mutual admiration society, just trying to encourage each other to reach the standards that we have set for ourselves. God knows what ought to be done. Every church has to work out its own salvation with fear and trembling.

Now what are the true measurements of ministry? 2 Corinthians 10:13-18, he talks about this. Let's just ask three questions based on these verses. Number one: Am I where God wants me to be? "But we will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you."

What was Paul's rule? Paul's rule given to him by God was to go where no other apostle had gone. That's why he went to Corinth. "Now," says Paul, "this is my measurement for ministry: Am I where God wants me to be?" Are you where God wants you to be? That's the first test of the measuring of the ministry.

Secondly: Is God getting the glory? You'll notice in 2 Corinthians 10:14-17: "For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you"—a little sarcasm there—"for we are come as far as to you also in preaching the gospel of Christ." You're criticizing me and saying I'm not an apostle. I got as far as you; I brought the gospel to you.

Now these Judaizers have come in, they're trying to steal you away. Did they bring the gospel to you? You know what Paul is saying in 2 Corinthians 10:14? "If I am not an apostle, then you are not Christians." Better think that through.

"Not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men's labors; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly to preach the gospel in the regions beyond." He's saying the only reason I am having to stay is because of you. Once we get the problem settled in the Corinthian church, then I can go out other places where the gospel is needed.

"And not to boast in another man's line of things, another man's rule made ready to our hand." What Paul is saying here is simply this: God is getting the glory in my ministry. I'm not stealing somebody else's work. I'm not going where I'm not supposed to be.

And then 2 Corinthians 10:18, here's a third question. Question number one: Am I where God wants me to be? Question number two: Is God getting the glory? Question number three: Am I ready to face the judgment? "For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth." Am I willing to stand at the judgment seat of Christ and have my ministry examined?

You see, it makes little difference to Paul whether or not they criticize him. Oh, we occasionally get letters of criticism, people telling us what to do and how to do it. We're always open to honest criticism, but you know, we have to answer to God, not to man. We have to do the thing God wants us to do. Now He may call you to do it in a different way. He may call you to do it at a different time.

Each of us has his own lane to run in. That word rule in 2 Corinthians 10:13, 2 Corinthians 10:15, and then line down in 2 Corinthians 10:16 is an athletic word. It means the lane measured out to the runners. Now don't you run in my lane, and I'm not going to run in your lane. Let's not knock each other down.

Each of us has a goal to reach, a race to run, a work to do, and we're going to be measured according to whether or not we do it, and whether or not we do it for God's glory and whether or not we do it seeking to please Him alone. That's how you measure the ministry. You do the job God's called you to do, my friend.

Get your eyes off the other runners, the other workers. Just do the job God's called you to do. Stick with it. Don't be discouraged. You may be doing a lot more than you think you are, and in the end, it is God, not man, who will give you the reward.