Calvary Road Baptist Church

“GOSPEL WARFARE”

Second Corinthians 10.4

The Apostle Paul met with opposition whenever and wherever he preached. We see testimony to this fact in all his writings. And though he didn’t know all the details of the events in his life that would await him, yet one thing was sure. He knew that opposition would follow him wherever he went.

The Lord Jesus said these words about Paul to the man who baptized him, in Acts 9.15-16: 

15 Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:

16 For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake. 

Years later, on the occasion of his last meeting with the Ephesian elders, while traveling to Jerusalem, Paul uttered these words in Acts 20.22-23: 

22  And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there:

23  Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. 

The same kind of thing had earlier happened in Corinth. During his time spent in that city, we are informed that he was not only vehemently opposed but that the Jews of that city rose up and brought him to the judgment seat.[1] Though the apostle was living a life that was blameless and without offense, and though he was a hard-working and useful man in his trade, people opposed him and did what they could to undermine his influence and reputation.

In Second Corinthians chapter 10, Paul responded to false charges humbly and spiritually. Despite all the reproach he suffered, Paul was able, by God’s grace, to maintain a Christian temperament. He begins in Second Corinthians 10.1, 

“Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ.” 

We can tell that to oppose Paul, they impugned his motives and tried to portray him as a wicked man. “Some,” he wrote, “which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh.” That means they tried to convince people that the apostle behaved as unsaved people behave. Notice his response in Second Corinthians 10.3: 

“Though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh.” 

Although he and his co-laborers were ordinary men, though they lived in human bodies just like ours, by God’s grace, they did not war after the flesh.

“True, we are engaged in spiritual warfare,” he was saying, “but we do not conduct our warfare like men of the world conduct warfare.” Paul wanted his readers to know that how he and his co-laborers fought spiritual battles was entirely different from those in Corinth had been. It was markedly different than the approach to the ministry that is commonly seen in Churches of our day.

In our text, Second Corinthians 10.4, Paul informed his readers how the Gospel ministry was supposed to be conducted: 

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.” 

This verse unmistakably reveals to us that the work of the Gospel ministry is warfare. And in this war, every Christian is a soldier. Every believer is engaged in a fight against sin, against Satan, and the world. But please make no mistake about the critical fact that the work of the ministry is warfare.

Paul reiterates as much in his charges to Timothy. In First Timothy 1.18, he writes, 

“This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare.” 

In Second Timothy 2.3-4, he writes, 

3  Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

4  No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. 

That the work of the Gospel ministry is warfare is obvious. Therefore, consider the following particulars: First, the enemy which the Gospel ministry encounters. Second, the victories which the Gospel ministry achieves. And third, the weapons which the Gospel ministry uses. 

First, CONSIDER THE ENEMY OPPOSED TO THE GOSPEL MINISTRY 

Three identifiable but intertwined components combine to oppose the Gospel ministry:

First, there are sinners. This world we live in is populated by sinners who have revolted from God. If you are here without Christ, you live in open rebellion against God. You need to know that the grand object of the Gospel is to bring you into subjection to Christ. For you see, you have not only cast off your allegiance to God, but you have also gone over to the kingdom of Satan, who is “the god of this world,” “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.”[2] The Bible shows that Satan has established his kingdom in this world. But a kingdom is nothing without subjects. This kingdom of his is established in the hearts of all sinners like you. Nothing can be done towards recovering you to God without invading this “kingdom of darkness,” as Paul describes it.

The adversary has a tenacious hold on you. And nothing can be done for you without awakening his jealousy and arousing his opposition but by the Gospel. Satan will exert his power to the utmost to keep your lost soul in his kingdom. Paul was sent to sinners to “open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God.”[3] So, you who are lost are to be instructed, so that you may recover yourselves out of the snare of the devil, who has taken you captive at his will. This is why Paul described saved people as those who have been delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of God’s dear Son, Colossians 1.13.

Second, there is Satan. The craft, the malice, and the power of Satan are beyond your imagination. It is against a foe such as this that every faithful servant of God will have repeated encounters, Ephesians 6.12: 

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” 

Our text speaks of the pulling down of strongholds. Satan has many strongholds in his kingdom. A stronghold is a place fortified and prepared to defend against an attack. An allusion is made to a strongly fortified city, a walled city. It is a place of last resort where the enemy makes his final stand, entrenching himself in the walls, strengthening all his defenses and fortifications, and neglecting nothing that might render his fortress impregnable to attack. This, my friends, is the description of your heart.

Your heart is a stronghold of Satan. Here the devil holds his seat. The Lord Jesus Christ, remember, considered the heart of a sinner like you to be the devil’s palace. It’s the seat of the wicked one’s government, and the place in which he takes special care to fortify. The Lord Jesus once said concerning the devil, the strong man, and his palace, which is your heart, in Luke 11.21, 

“When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace.” 

Third, the stronghold of the sinner’s heart. The hearts of all sinners are the devil’s fortresses. There are several ways in which your hearts have been reinforced to become the enemy’s strong place of defense against the aggressive attack of the Gospel. The devil will do all in his power to keep his possessions. And you and your heart, my unsaved friend, are his possession. Satan is not only strong himself, but he is also armed with effective weaponry. It is by his subtlety that he is able to keep sinners like you very passive. He first tempts you to commit sins, and then he persuades you that what you did was not sinful. He blinds your mind, and hides from you the sight of your danger: 

3  But if our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:

4  In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them, 

Second Corinthians 4.3-4. As long as the adversary of souls can make you believe that you are not lost, for that length of time, he knows that you will not feel your need for salvation. Satan knows that Christ came to save people like you and only people like you. And so long as he can persuade you that all is well, he knows that you never will come to Christ, and therefore cannot be saved. Christ “came to seek and to save that which was lost,” and should you ever truly see the peril of your soul you would cry out for mercy, you would inquire, “What must I do to be saved?” This the devil well knows, and therefore, to more effectually fortify your heart against Christ, he labors to shut out from your consciousness the light of conviction, and to keep you very passive. I remind you again what the Lord Jesus said about the devil and your heart in Luke 11.21: 

“when a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace.” 

The devil has never awakened a sinner like you to a sense of his sins, and guilt, and danger, but always tries to soothe and quiet sinners in your sins. So, if he can keep you quiet and passive, he knows that you are forever his. And if by any means you were ever to become alarmed, if you were ever actively concerned about your soul, Satan and his foul spirits would rally to opposition lest they should lose one of his subjects. So, if possible, Satan will struggle to prevent any kind of interaction between you and God and those who represent Him.

His goal? To keep you indolent, to keep you unconcerned, to keep you passive. The grand design of the Gospel is to bring about your reconciliation to God. This is the business of an ambassador for Christ. So, along comes a child of God and brings you to Church, where a Gospel preacher pleads with you to be saved from your sins and to be reconciled to God through faith in Christ. Should you ever, then, begin to be alarmed about your soul, and should you ever think of beginning to pray, or even think of finding a secret place where you can seek God while He may be found, be sure that your adversary, the devil will at that time be most active against you. You see, a sinner typically decides on a time and a place to deal with spiritual matters when he becomes afraid to put things off any longer. That’s when he thinks that he must get on his face before God. So, the time arrives. But the deceiver of souls has also arrived, with an excuse. “If I try to pray or read my Bible or seek God somehow, someone will hear me or walk in and ask me what I’m doing.” Or the devil will tell you that you’re too wicked, or that it’s not the right time. Whatever the case may be, the devil chases you away from the throne of grace and prevents you from leaving his kingdom. Had you been permitted to deal with these issues, to consider the claims of Christ, or perhaps to talk with me, the devil knows that you would be in danger of revolting from his kingdom. And therefore, he will do everything he can to prevent it.

In the First Great Awakening, a revival in New England in the 1740s, the devil did it this way: when sinners began to be anxious for their souls, people would watch them. Many people who were worried about their souls, and who felt that it was their duty to get someplace in secret and pray, were monitored by neighbors or family members who never felt any concern for their souls. So, when a sinner became anxious, it was thought to be something strange. People were convinced that anxious sinners should not be left alone, but should be closely watched. They were convinced that people greatly affected by the Gospel were going crazy. But this was just one of many Satanic ploys to prevent sinners under conviction from dealing with their salvation and coming to Christ. Sometimes the devil attempts to fortify his stronghold in the hearts of sinners by stirring up people who are lost to soothe and flatter those of you who are beginning to be anxious. Many times promises are made, and great friendships are pretended, just to lure you away from the Gospel. And if this won’t do the trick to keep you passive, then harsher measures are adopted. People will say things against you. “You’re not going overboard, are you?” You will then be considered and treated as an enemy by those who won’t want you around while they plan and plot their sins. Satan will do everything he can to hurt you if you try to get away. In the Gospels, we read of one, who, on coming to Christ, was thrown down, Luke 9.42: 

“And as he was yet coming, the devil threw him down and tare him.” 

Another prevalent method Satan uses is to make your heart more resistant using strong and powerful prejudices or false opinions. Prejudices against the Gospel itself (“I don’t want to be saved. God will make me be a missionary.”), against certain Bible doctrines, against specific Christian duties (“I’ll never witness. Never.”), and sometimes prejudice against the preacher (“I hate him. He’s always against me.”). It was that way with Christ Himself. Some insinuated that He had only weak and ignorant followers: 

And they wouldn’t leave Him alone.

It was the same with the apostles. They spoke against Paul’s ministry all the time. And they did it to prejudice the minds of people like you against the Gospel. They even followed him from town to town, persecuting him and running him out of this city and that city. Listen to Paul’s words: 

“We are fools for Christ’s sake ... being reviled, we bless: being persecuted, we suffer it: being defamed, we entreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.”[4] 

People did these things to the apostles to create a substantial prejudice in the minds of sinners against them and in an attempt to destroy the effect of their preaching. This is how Satan fortifies the hearts of sinners like you against the truth. However, it is not all Satan, by any means. You who are lost harden your own hearts. You are in love with sin. And you’ll hold on to your self-deception no matter what to enable you to continue in your sin. When you hear of God’s anger toward you, you will bless yourself in your heart, convincing yourself that somehow everything will turn out all right. “It’s not that bad.” You’ll flatter yourself in your own eyes. You love darkness rather than light because your deeds are evil: 

“And every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.”[5] 

When the devil tries hard to convince you that you are not lost, you will try hard to believe him. When he tries to persuade you not to pray and suggests some excuse for your neglect of spiritual things, you will be glad to find a reason to act out the thoughts he has planted into your mind. When other people soothe and flatter you, and attempt to quiet your fears and tell you there is no danger to your soul (“Now, it will be all right. You’re not all that bad. Why, I know lots of people worse than you are.”), you’re pleased to hear it. You’re delighted that other people help to fortify your heart, and so you spend time with them and help them to deceive you. In such ways, as these, your heart becomes strongly fortified against Christ. Especially when you hear nice things from the pastors of new-evangelical and Charismatic churches. They are enjoyable to hear, and quite useful to remain ignorant, and the most effective means available for fortifying your heart against Christ. You see, you don’t want to have your heart searched and probed to the very bottom: 

“Thus saith the Lord, they have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, peace, peace, when there is no peace,” 

Jeremiah 6.14. You want to believe that everything is all right, and you are delighted to have others agree with you. And preachers who will tell you that all is okay is the icing on your cake. When other people try to prejudice your mind against the Gospel and Christianity, you will cooperate with them as a means of hardening your heart. Many times you will listen with keen attention to all the objections people have against the Gospel and Christianity and the preacher, and you may even remember and repeat those objections to others. In this way, you fortify your own heart and make it as resistant to the Lord Jesus Christ as possible.

When the truths of God’s Word are declared in a clear and convincing manner, there are times when you get alarmed for your soul. You are sometimes almost convinced, and you begin to think to yourself, “If this is so, then I am in danger of Hellfire.” The method you employ to avoid deep conviction is to cling to some prejudice, some false opinion. This is because if you discard your prejudices against either the doctrines of the Bible or the preacher of the Gospel, you’ll be in danger of being overcome by the truth and being converted. In this situation, a sinner like you will typically grasp at anything you can use to condemn others and justify yourself. “Those Christians are hypocrites. That preacher is on an ego trip. He has to have things done his way.” There is no alternative. You have to either argue against the truth in that way or submit to the truth and come to Christ. If you can’t condemn the message of God’s Word, then you must eventually feel the awful conviction that results from fighting against God. Sometimes, when God is moving in people’s lives, the opposition and prejudice are at its greatest. At such a time, sinners like you feel your hearts swell up and rage in opposition to the truth and the cause of Christ. That’s when you are most determined that you will not yield to Christ. There’s rebellion in your soul, and your thoughts and imaginations rise against the Savior in desperation. In Second Corinthians 10, we read of towering imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. These thoughts and feelings are the enemies and the strongholds which the Gospel ministry encounters. 

Next, WE CONSIDER THE VICTORIES WHICH THE GOSPEL ACHIEVES 

The grand object of the Gospel is to destroy the work of Satan in your heart, to bruise Satan under foot. As strong as Satan is, there is One who is infinitely stronger than he is. God is the mighty conqueror. “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God,” Paul writes. And the Lord Jesus Christ is the glorious conqueror Who comes to earth again as the King of kings: 

“When a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.” 

When Jesus Christ comes again, these people that I have described, the most potent and desperate enemies of the Gospel and the Lord Jesus Christ, will be brought down. But we need not wait until the Second Coming to see such glories. Even now, those who have been by universal consent the most unlikely subjects of God’s grace have been overcome by His almighty power to save.

When the apostles returned from the first preaching mission, they rejoiced, 

“Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.” 

Then the Lord Jesus said, 

“I beheld Satan fall as lightning from heaven.” 

See? Satan, with all his objections and obstinacy and opposition, was overcome. And with sinners just like you, proud rebels were brought low. They lost all their opposition. They were disarmed at once. They felt and acted entirely differently. Even their thoughts were changed and brought into subjection to Christ.

It is by the almighty power of God that the stronghold of the sinner’s heart is pulled down: 

“(Mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” 

This is Paul’s description of a Gospel victory over the heart of a sinner.

Picture this: 

What powerful results does the Gospel produce in the name of Christ! The Gospel “is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.”[6] Through the Gospel, the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled which says, 

“I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong.”[7] 

And so, in Psalm 45.3-5, Christ is described as a mighty warrior and armed for the field of battle: 

3  Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty.

4  And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.

5  Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; whereby the people fall under thee. 

The sinner not only lays his weapons at the feet of his Conqueror but joins His camp and cheerfully enlists under His banner. “Thy kingdom come.” The prayer is now answered in the life of one sinner come to Christ. For behold, the kingdom of God is within you. 

Finally, CONSIDER THE WEAPONS OF OUR WARFARE 

Our weapons are not carnal. They are not fleshly or in any way like the carnal. 

In this warfare, a servant of God should not render railing for railing in his combat with Satan. That would be taking carnal weapons, and we dare not do that. 

“Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil, he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, the Lord rebuke thee.”[8] 

It is the devil who is the accuser of the brethren. Such weapons as these the apostles never used. Nor did the apostles attempt to flatter sinners into subjection to Christ. They avoided all manipulative methods of influencing people. It is possible to get sinners to do almost anything by flattering and manipulating them. You can be persuaded to do anything from praying a sinner’s prayer to regularly and systematically tithe. But in this way, no one will ever become a Christian; no one will leave the kingdom of darkness.

The stronghold of Satan can never be pulled down by flattering words, manipulative methods, Church Growth techniques, or feel-good services. Paul realized this when he wrote, 

“Neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know....”[9] 

Paul knew too well that converts made in this way were worthless: 

4  And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:

5  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.[10] 

Preaching mere external morality will never bring anyone to Christ. Preaching, which does not aim at your heart and take hold of your conscience, never attacks the stronghold of Satan in you. Such preaching never was and never will be opposed by Satan or his demons. The weapons used by Paul and his co-laborers were not carnal, but they were in every way opposed to the carnal heart. Paul and his men wielded the sword of the Spirit. They preached the total depravity of man; they openly declared that men were dead in trespasses and sins, they showed that all men are by nature children of wrath, and argued that the carnal mind is enmity against God. Remember Stephen’s sermon in Acts chapter 7? He said to the bloodthirsty crowd, 

“Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost as your fathers did, so do ye.” 

Think that does not apply to you? 

However distressed, however deeply pricked in the heart, you must be made to know the answer to the question, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

The apostles never altered their message, but seemed always to press upon sinners the need to repent immediately. Whenever a sinner was brought sweetly to submit, they always attributed the result wholly to God. When the glorious work is done, they would hide both themselves and the converted sinner in the dust: 

“Neither is he that planteth any thing, nor he that watereth, but God.” 

“Born not of blood, nor of the will of man, but of God.” 

“By grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” 

These are the weapons with which they drove sinners out of their strongholds of self-righteous deception and showed them their naked dependence on the sovereign mercy of God. These are the weapons that the apostles used, which were mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.

With these weapons, they commended themselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. With these weapons, idol temples were demolished, and sinners were pricked in their hearts and brought to bow submissively at the Savior’s feet.

These are the truths which used to be preached, from the time of the Reformation until Charles Finney’s heresy overshadowed the English speaking world. These were the weapons used by Luther, Calvin, Knox, Carey, Judson, and Spurgeon. Those men went forth with the sword of the Spirit, pressing the consciences of men.

Luther said, “I had the whole body of the papacy to oppose. I preached I wrote, I pressed on men’s consciences, with the greatest earnestness, the positive declarations of the Word of God. And what has been the effect? This same Word of God has, while I was asleep in my bed, given such a blow to papal despotism as not one of the German princes, not even the emperor have done. It is not I. I repeat it; it is the divine Word which has done every thing. Had it been right to have aimed at a reform by violence and tumults, it would have been easy for me to have deluged Germany with blood. The devil smiles in secret when he sees men pretend to support religion by seditious tumults; but he is cut to the heart when he sees them in faith and patience rely on the written word.”

These are also the truths which were preached in the revivals in New England 250-300 years ago. Truths which have awakened the enmity of thousands and have shown to sinners their opposition to God. Truths which many have opposed with all their hearts, but which have also seen multitudes converted.

These are the weapons which have been wielded by the hand of the divine Spirit of God, and have been mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. These are the doctrines which thousands have embraced, by their confession, at the very time when they submitted to God and began to love the faith once delivered to the saints.

However, with these weapons, beloved, we here at Calvary Road Baptist Church must not forget to add the prayers of God’s people. The Lord Jesus Christ is the glorious conqueror. He is so described and shown in God’s Word.

Let us plunge into the battle. Let us follow the Captain of our salvation into spiritual conflict. Let us make spiritual warfare that we might for Him gain the souls of men. But let us fight the battles His way. Amen?

Your heart is a stronghold of Satan that resists the attack of the Gospel if you have not trusted Christ. I urge you to fight no longer, but yield. Yield now to Jesus Christ.

__________

[1] Acts 18.12-17

[2] 2 Corinthians 4.4; Ephesians 2.2

[3] Acts 26.18

[4] 1 Corinthians 4.10-13

[5] John 3.20

[6] Romans 1.16

[7] Isaiah 53.12

[8] Jude 9

[9] 1 Thessalonians 2.5

[10] 1 Corinthians 2.4-5

Would you like to contact Dr. Waldrip about this sermon? Please contact him by clicking on the link below. Please do not change the subject within your email message. Thank you.

Pastor@CalvaryRoadBaptist.Church