INTRODUCTION

Is this the Third World War? Are we living through the beginning of the third global conflict in world history? We don’t know the answer to that yet. But whether the Russia-Ukraine conflict does eventually engulf our world or not, there is another world war we are all in already. It’s the conflict in 2 Corinthians 10:1-6 and every living person is a combatant whether they know it or not, whether they admit it or not, whether they like it or not. There are no civilians in this war, there are no pacifists, there are no conscientious objectors. How can I win the biggest, longest, and worst world war?

BACKGROUND

In 2 Corinthians, Paul is teaching us how to get strength through weakness and how to strengthen the weak. In chapter 10 verses 1-6, he encourages the Corinthians that although they are facing many enemies both in the church and in the world, God has provided the weapons to defeat even the strongest enemies. Paul exemplifies Christian boldness (1-2) and confidence (3-6) in this battle.

What’s the battlefield?

1. THE BATTLEFIELD IS THE MIND

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 (4-5).

The battlefield is not the flesh

‘The flesh’ refers to the physical world and stands for the normal way war is waged and won. Although Paul ives a normal physical life in this world, he’s not using physical strength or resources in this battle. Human strength, might, and power are not the enemies. It’s not about human muscle or national militaries. We’re not fighting over soil or cities.

The battlefield is the mind

The enemies are identified as arguments, opinions, knowledge, and thoughts. Paul’s focus is our mental world, the intellectual arena. Throughout the world, a battle is being waged for every single human mind. It’s a life-or-death daily battle. Words and ideas are the bullets and bombs, the missiles and rockets, the grenades and shells. Every letter, syllable, sentence, paragraph, and page is aimed at shaping morals and beliefs about self, sin, world, God, future.

On the one side is God’s Word and on the other side is every human word that contradicts it. On the one side is the God of truth and on the other side is every journalist, teacher, CEO, politician, judge, philosopher, speaker, author, influencer, and YouTuber whose words and actions contradict God’s Word. Their launching pads include schools, social media, movies, music, news, opinion, social media, friends, family. Their aim is to establish their stronghold in your mind, to fortify you against God’s Word.

CHANGING OUR STORIES WITH GOD’S STORY

Guard your mind. The mind is the way to the heart (Proverbs 4:23; 24:3; Phil. 4:7). Every word (and image) that enters your eye-gate or ear-gate is on a mission to either defend or destroy you, suddenly or slowly. There is a ferocious battle for your brain with the Devil on one side and God on the other. Learn where you are vulnerable and plug the gaps.

Strengthen your mind. Equip yourself with word, truths, arguments, evidences. that can give you the strength and stamina for not only defense but also offense. Don’t wait until the attack comes to get a strong defense in place. The mind has many territories and routes: facts, understanding, opinion, discernment, memory, imagination, conscience, etc. All of these need strengthened. But the citadel is our moral values. Our moral mind is the most influential force in our lives. Our moral determine the facts we accept, our understanding, our opinions, our discernment, our memory, our imagination, and our conscience. That’s why the ten commandments are so important for our mental health

THE MENTAL BATTLE IS A MORAL BATTLE

So all that matters is the desire? No, desires must be backed up with actions.

2. THE WEAPONS ARE SPIRITUAL

…For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds (4).

The weapons are not fleshly

Fleshly weapons include coercing with aggressive force, bribing with false promises, and deceiving with half-truths. We look at the tactics that some politicians, armies, and corporations use — threats, trickery, talent, entertainment, manipulation, people-pleasing, celebrity — and say, regardless of their success, “We refuse to use these weapons.”

The weapons are mighty

What then are our weapons that have so much power that they can destroy strongholds? The Word, prayer, and the Holy Spirit are our special forces. Holiness, worship, and fellowship are our support troops. These together are mighty with God’s blessing.

CHANGING OUR STORY WITH GOD’S STORY

Refuse to use any fleshly weapon. They look impressive but can only accomplish fleshly ends. So many churches have been built using fleshly weapons and ultimately implode: Mars Hill Seattle (Mark Driscoll), Mars Hill Grand Rapids (Rob Bell), Harvest Bible Chapel (James McDonald), Willow Creek (Bill Hybels), Tullian Tchividjian (Coral Ridge), and many others.

Use spiritual weapons alone. Our weapons look weak but with God’s blessing they have divine power to destroy the most impregnable strongholds. Learn to use the weapons in times of peace so that you’re ready for the next attack.

SPIRITUAL WEAPONS HAVE SPIRITUAL RESULTS

But will I win? Yes, the victory is certain.

3. THE VICTORY IS CERTAIN

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 (5-6).

The Victory

The church or Christian that uses the right weapons is assured of victory. No matter how many, great, high, scary the opponents, God wins in and through his people.

The Court-Martial

He is prepared to court-martial any who remain insubordinate after victory is accomplished. The aim is a peaceful, orderly, calm, rational mind. Any disobedient thoughts, any disturber of that peace, has to be captured, charged, tried, sentenced, and punished with death.

CHANGING OUR STORY WITH GOD’S STORY

Fight to win. “Destroy….capture…punish…” These are not half-hearted words. He’s not fighting with one hand tied behind his back. He’s all-in. He’s fighting to win and win big. He is merciless in his opposition to any opposition to Christ.

Fight for peace. Any time you find a thought that disobeys Christ, remember it’s a spy who is trying to sabotage you. Don’t tolerate it or live with it, even for an hour. Take it captive immediately. Punish any and every area of the mind that harbors any disobedient doctrinal thought, and especially any disobedient moral thought.

FIGHT FOR PEACE AND YOU’LL FIGHT TO WIN

SUMMARY

THE NEXT CHAPTER

• Gospel: We are saved by laying down our weapons and resting. You cannot win salvation by fighting or by effort.
• Jesus: Jesus won this mental battle, this internal war. He executed a perfect battle plan at every step of his earthly life and death. Every thought was captive even though every day was a battle, a world war in his mental world.
• Church: This is true not just on an individual level but on a church level. In the battle for the minds of others, our church must use God’s weapons alone.
• Monday: Identify one thought that you need to take captive this week. Write down when it appears and how it weakens your moral mind. What weapon(s) will you use to win?
• Heaven: In heaven the battle will be over. There won’t even be the possibility of a stray thought. What peace! What rest! What quiet. Imagine what our mental health will be like!
• Prayer: My God and General, commandeer my mind by commanding my thoughts and dominating every aspect of my mental world so that I can win the worst world war.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. How would you describe the battlefield of your mind? What areas are safe/vulnerable?

2. What fleshly weapons have you tried to use and what’s been the result?

3. Where is the devil attacking your moral mind/values/principles?

4. Which thoughts do you need to capture and court-martial?

5. How does this passage apply to evangelism?

6. How does this change your parenting?

PDF OF SERMON NOTES

INTRODUCTION

We’re living in a culture of death:

Murder

• Homicides increased 22% to 19,000 in 2020.
• An average of 7,000 black Americans were murdered every year between 2010 and 2019.
• In 2020, 9,941 black Americans were murdered a 43% increase on the 10 year average.
• In the same year 7,043 white people were murdered.
• This year alone (2022) there have been over 140 mass shootings, and 5 mass murders.
• This past week a 61-year-old woman became the 100th murder victim in Baltimore in 2022.

Suicide

• Suicide claims the lives of over 47,500 people in the US every year (@2.5 x murder rate)
• In 2019, @ 3.5 million Americans planned a suicide with 1.4 million suicide attempts
• More than 1 in 4 girls seriously contemplated attempting suicide during the pandemic (2 x boys)
• 20% of High School students seriously considered attempting suicide, and 9.0% had attempted

Abortion

• According to WHO, there are an estimated 40-50 million abortions in the world every year. This is about 125,000 abortions per day.
• There are over 600,000 abortions a year in the USA, with 20% of all pregnancies ending in abortion.
• There have been 63 million abortions in the USA since 1973.

To all this God’s word says two words in Exodus 20:13: NO MURDER. Two words. That’s all there is in the original Hebrew. Was God saying, “This is so obvious, we won’t spend any more time on it”? Or was he saying, “Let’s make this as simple, short, and stark as possible, NO MURDER!”? How do we obey this command? How do we love life in a culture of death?

BACKGROUND

The first four commandments are about finding pleasure in loving God. Although commandments 5-10 pivot towards how to find pleasure in loving our neighbor, they are still rooted in love for God. In the fifth commandment we are honoring God when we honor the authorities he has set over us. In the sixth commandment, we are honoring God when we honor the life he has given to his image bearers.

How does this commandment produce pleasure?

1. THE LAW OF LIFE IS A PLEASURE

Although the law cannot save anyone, it can improve the lives of everyone. Our reformed catechisms summarize the biblical teaching in this commandment as follows:

Shorter Catechism 68. The sixth commandment requires all lawful endeavors to preserve our own life, and the life of others.

Shorter Catechism 69. The sixth commandment forbids the taking away of our own life, or the life of our neighbor,

unjustly, or whatsoever tends to do so.

The Larger Catechism (135&136) and the Heidelberg Catechism (105-107) expand on these answers by giving us the ‘by’ or the ‘how-to.’ For example, Larger Catechism 135 begins: “The duties required in the sixth commandment are, all careful studies, and lawful endeavors, to preserve the life of ourselves and others by…” The catechism answers show how we obey the positives and prohibitions of this commandment in seven key areas of life:

Our thought life

Positive: “by charitable thoughts”

Prohibition: “by resisting all thoughts and purposes…which tend to the unjust taking away the life of any.”

Our emotional life

Positive: “quietness of mind, cheerfulness of spirit”

Prohibition: “by subduing all passions…which tend to the unjust taking away the life of any…sinful anger, hatred, envy, desire of revenge; all excessive passions.”

Our everyday life

Prohibition: “by avoiding avoid all occasions, temptations, and practices, which tend to the unjust taking away the life of any.”

Our civilian life

Positive: “by just defense against violence…comforting and succoring the distressed, and protecting and defending the innocent. Therefore also the magistrate is armed with the sword, to prevent murder.”

Prohibition: “all taking away the life of ourselves, or of others, except in case of public justice (capital punishment), lawful war (just war), or necessary defense (self-defense).”

Our spiritual life

Positive: “by patient bearing of the hand of God.”

Prohibition: “distracting cares.”

Our leisure/recreational life

Positive: “by a sober use of meat, drink, physic, sleep, labor, and recreations”

Prohibition: “immoderate use of meat, drink, labor, and recreations”

Our social (media) life

Positive: “by love, compassion, meekness, gentleness, kindness; peaceable, mild and courteous speeches and behavior; forbearance, readiness to be reconciled, patient bearing and forgiving of injuries, requiting good for evil, and by laying aside all desire for revenge.”

Prohibition: “provoking words, oppression, quarreling, striking, wounding”

Our bodily/physical life

Positive: “that I hurt not myself, nor willfully expose myself to any danger.”

Prohibition: “the neglecting or withdrawing the lawful and necessary means of preservation of life.”

CHANGING OUR STORIES WITH GOD’S STORY

Life is precious. As the sovereign over all life, and the maker of all people in his image, God alone has the right to direct life and take life (1 Sam. 2:6). With only two words he sovereignly demands respect for his gift and his image. It’s only two words but it’s immensely long, deep, and broad in its demands. How many people have you killed? How many skeletons are in your cupboard? (Matt. 5:21-22; 1 John 3:15)

Life is a pleasure. God issues this command because he wants us to enjoy life. Who can deny that obedience to this command would massively increase the happiness of our society and ourselves (1 Peter 3:10-11). The source of so much misery in the world is traceable to disregard for this law. We can extend the pleasure of life to others by keeping the law ourselves and calling others to do the same, by being peace-makers and reconcilers, rather than war-mongers and dividers, by opposing oppressors and supporting the oppressed no matter their color, culture, status, abilities.

THE LAW IMPROVES OUR LIVES FOR A TIME BUT IT CANNOT SAVE OUR LIVES FOREVER

Is the law the last word on how to enjoy life? No, the Gospel is the last word and the best word.

2. THE GOSPEL OF LIFE IS THE GREATEST PLEASURE

However much the law improved and improves life on earth, through the Gospel, Jesus gives us even better earthly life and the best eternal life: The “Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel (2 Timothy 1:10). Jesus did this not only by modeling what it means to keep the law perfectly, but by dying to atone for our law-breaking and therefore securing a better earthly life and the best eternal life for us.

Jesus gives a better earthly life

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John. 10:10). “Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

The Gospel enhances and elevates every area of our lives: our thought life, our emotional life, our everyday life, our civilian life, our spiritual life, our leisure life, our social life, and our physical life.

Jesus gives the best eternal life

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36). “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25-26).

However much better our earthly life becomes as a result of the law or the Gospel, our eternal life is infinitely better as a result of the Gospel. Christ’s death gives us life. His dying the worst death in this world means we’ll live the best life in the world to come.

CHANGING OUR STORIES WITH GOD’S STORY

Receive life in Christ. Don’t murder yourself. Get life for yourself through faith in Jesus, life for the here and now, and eternal life for the hereafter.

Give life through Christ. The best way you can keep this commandment is by sharing the Gospel message of life with others. If we know how to help the dead and dying, but withhold that help, we are murderers.

IT’S A MATTER OF LIFE OR DEATH BECAUSE HIS DEATH GIVES US LIFE

A NEW CHAPTER

Gospel: The law improves life, but the Gospel imparts life.

Jesus: Jesus loved life – his own and others – and yet gave up his life to save others from death (John 10:18). In doing this, he shows us the Father. God is life, loves life, gives life, and alone has the authority to take life.

The Devil: Remember that the Devil is a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44). He is a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet. 5:8-10).

Church: The Church is a place of life not death, a place we find, sustain, and lengthen life.

Society: We are seeing Proverbs 8:36 fulfilled in our culture “All who hate me love death.” Also, as the unlawful taking of life rises (murder, abortion, euthanasia), the lawful taking of life (capital punishment) declines.

Monday: “A sober use of food, drink, medicine, sleep, labor, and recreations.”

Heaven: In contrast to hell which is eternal dying, heaven is life, life, life.

Prayer: Lord of life, help me to honor you by honoring those you have given as authorities.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Where else do you see evidence that we’re living in the culture of death?

2. What surprised you about the catechism answers? What did you learn from them?

3. How many people have you killed (Matt. 5:21-22; 1 John 3:15)? What now (Matt. 5:23-26).

4. In which areas of life (e.g. thought, emotional, spiritual) do you need to confess sins?

5. Who will you invite to life this week?

6. How will this commandment increase pleasure in your life?

PDF OF SERMON NOTES

How can we stop human boasting? God stops human boasting by starting God-boasting. Here’s how.

What makes our yokes easier and our burdens lighter? Here Jo discusses the power of vulnerability

Visit thestorychanger.life for more resources on changing our story with God’s Story.

What role has human power and human wisdom in salvation? Today’s podcast on 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 helps us answer this important question.

“These are the best years of your life. You’re going to miss this!” Really? In this podcast, Meribeth Schierbeek reflects on a comment that young mothers often hear from older mothers.

Visit thestorychanger.life for more resources on changing our story with God’s Story.

How do we stop or heal church divisions? In 1 Corinthians 1:10-17, Paul tells us to put on our gardening gloves and rip out the roots if you don’t want the bitter fruits of church splits. Listen how here.

Have you experienced trauma? In this podcast, Jo helps us go from “victim” to “survivor” by exploring the Bible’s teaching on post-traumatic growth.

Do you worry that your story of faith will not last, that you won’t get to “THE END”? Let the Apostle Paul encourage you as he answers our question How can I keep up the Christian Faith? (1 Corinthians 1:4-9).

And if science’s story has ever challenged your faith story, let Ty strengthen your faith with this meditation on Our Unlimited God (Hebrews 11:3).

Visit thestorychanger.life for more resources on changing our story with God’s Story.