Message of the Week

The Little White Community Church

Scripture:  II Cor. 10:1-18

June 23, 2024

Message: “The Battle for the Mind!”        

By Pastor George Gnade

Intro: 1. In this passage, Paul is appealing to those in Corinth who were being drawn away from the true gospel to follow some false teachers, who were well off and very influential speakers.

2. Humanly speaking, that gave them an advantage over Paul. He was not a handsome man, did not claim to be a good speaker and had often been persecuted, even thrown into jail, and lived one day at a time. His enemies, who were trying to rob this church from him and teach things contrary to God’s Word, used all of this to put him down.

3. In II Cor. 7, we learned how Paul had sent Titus ahead of him to clear the way and see how open the people themselves were to his ministry. To his joy and surprise, the vast majority in this church were behind him and open to what he was saying to them. But that left this small group whom Paul seeks to address in II Cor. 10-13. 

4. This morning we are going to look more closely at what Paul had to say to them.

A. First of all, his approach was different than theirs.

1. In II Cor. 10:4, Paul wrote: “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of this world.”

a. Like in our political campaigns, his enemies were being argumentative and putting him down and trying to destroy him.  That is the way the world fights.

b. Paul sought to reach them using the “meekness and gentleness of Christ” (Vs. 1).

2. Paul’s weapons were spiritual. His primary weapon was God’s Word, “the sword of the Spirit.”  He simply would present what God said and let God defend Himself.

a. The world wants a good fight; they want to hurt each other. Paul let that up to God. 

b. In II Cor. 10: 4-5, Paul writes: “We demolish arguments and every pretention that sets itself up against the knowledge of God.” 

c. When Jesus warned His disciples about opposition and persecution, He also told them not to worry about what to say. He said the Holy Spirit would give them the right words to say. Christians throughout the ages have found this to be true.

3. Jesus gave us the best example on the cross. Sometimes, like during His trials, He was led to say nothing. Other times, He addressed those who were present.

a. His seven sayings from the cross have never been forgotten. In meekness and gentleness, He said the most loving things, even to His enemies.

b. He offered salvation to one of the thieves, forgiveness to His enemies who “did not know what they were doing,” and provided love and protection for His mother.

c. On the cross, Jesus didn’t lose the war, He won the war. Today, millions have come to believe in Him.

4. When we are attacked, Jesus will give us the right words to say. The rest we should leave up to God.  In plain words, the victory then rests in His hands. 

B. Secondly, it says in II Cor. 1o: 5, “We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

1. Remember what Paul said in Rom. 12:2? He said: “Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

2. As we fill our minds with what God says in His Word, it will change how we think and how we live. As we share what God is teaching us, it will take captive the thoughts of others as well.  

a. The Christians task is not to destroy the enemy, it is to build up the church and win people to Christ.

b. As Paul put it: “God has given us the authority to build you up rather than pull you down” (II Cor. 10: 8). 

c. That does not mean we compromise the truth. It does mean we share the truth in a polite way, then simply rest our case.  

3.  Raising our voices or getting into a prolonged argument will only make things worse, not better. That is why I like what Paul wrote to Timothy in II Tim. 2:24- 26. “The Lord’s servant must not quarrel, instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, but not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance, leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.”

4. Our world tells people to rebel and demand the freedom to do whatever they want to do, regardless of what God says. The Bible says that kind of freedom only leads to spiritual slavery and ultimately spiritual death. 

5. Only Jesus can set us free from spiritual slavery. It is a gift He gives to those who will believe in Him and humbly begin to live by God’s Word instead. 

C. Thirdly, Paul warns us of the way the opposition often “commends themselves.”

1. In vs. 12, he writes: “When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves to themselves, they are not wise.”  Again, this is the world’s way of doing things. How convincing they may sound.

2. In contrast, we compare ourselves to Christ and His Word. That not only keeps us humble, but always gives us a higher plain to aim at. 

a. I often hear people say things like: “So and so was a good man. I think he was good enough to get to heaven.” 

When they talk like that, they are comparing themselves with themselves.  In the world, everybody thinks they are good enough.

b. But according to God’s Word, none of us are good enough. We have “all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23).  Anyone who compares himself to Christ knows he is not good enough.

c. That is why we need a Savior. That is why we need Jesus. Only He can forgive us. Only He can save us. 

3. Listen to what Paul writes in II Cor. 10:17-18. He says: “Let him who boasts, boast of the Lord. For it is not the man who commends himself who is approved, but the man whom the Lord commends!”

In conclusion: 1. The false teachers were teaching the Corinthians what laws to obey and what things to do to save themselves.

2. What really matters is that we humble ourselves before the Lord and find our freedom and salvation through our faith in Him. “If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36). 

3. I pray this message will be of help to you as you face criticisms or challenges from those around you. Amen.