Let us turn again to the 10th
chapter in 2nd Corinthians and I'll read verses 3, 4 and 5. In 2nd Corinthians 10 verses 3,
4 and 5. For though we walk in the flesh,
we do not walk after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal, but mighty through God, to the pulling down of strongholds,
casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalted
itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity
every thought to the obedience of Christ. and I want in particular
to take the words of verse 3 for our text this morning and to
consider something of the believers walk and warfare the believers
walk and warfare for we walk for though we walk in the flesh
we do not war after the flesh says the apostle We observe as we read particularly
in this second epistle to the Corinthians how Paul is having
constantly to defend himself and to defend the ministry that
he had received from the Lord. He has to begin to do that even
in the first epistle that he addresses to that church at Corinth. Remember out there in chapter
9 he says, am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen
Jesus Christ our Lord? Are not ye my work in the Lord? If I be not an apostle unto others,
yet doubtless I am to you. for the seal of my apostleship
are ye in the Lord." He was that one who was instrumental in the
hand of God in first preaching the gospel amongst them instrumental
in establishing that church of the Corinthians and again there
in the 11th chapter of that first epistle he defends himself and
defends his own ministry amongst them. Look at the language that
we have in chapter 11. Chapter 11 really in the second
epistle He says, are they Hebrews? Speaking of the false teachers
who had come in amongst them, who were turning their affections
away from the Apostle, are they not Hebrews? So am I. Are they
Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of
Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of
Christ? I speak as a fool. I am more
in labours, more abundant in stripes, more above measure in
prisons, more frequent in deaths. He has to defend his own character, the
very nature of his ministry, because they were so apt to follow
the teachings of these false apostles who had crept in there
at Corinth. And as he defends himself in
this fashion, we see how he reminds us that as a minister he is not
to rely in any sense on fleshly wisdom or on human reasonings. He speaks constantly of the spiritual
nature of that minister that had been committed to him. Look
at chapter 4. There at verse 1, Therefore,
seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we
faint not, but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty,
not walking in craftiness, not handling the word of God deceitfully,
but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every
man's conscience in the sight of God. He is so conscious then that
the ministry that he has is that that he has received from the
Lords. And as he has received it from
the Lord, as it is a spiritual ministry, he is not to look to
any abilities in himself. He was a man of great learning. He had been brought up at the
feet of Gamaliel, one of the great Jewish rabbis. but he doesn't
in any sense look to himself and his own ability. And what is he saying here in
the verses that we've read for our text? The weapons of our
warfare are not carnal, not fleshly, but mighty through God to the
pulling down of struggle. Well, this is the way in which
he engages in the ministry. Verse 5, he says, "...casting
down imaginations, or as a margin says, reasonings, and every high
thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing
into captivity every thought through the obedience of Christ."
Now, he is constantly then emphasizing the ministry, the ministry that
he has received from the Lord. Not that he wants to draw this
attention to himself, yet in the strange dealings of God,
the strange providences of God, it was so necessary that he should
write in this fashion to this church at Corinth. God is in
all of these things. And so Paul is the one who reminds
us of what the real work of the ministry is about. He says there in the opening
epistle, the first epistle in chapter 2, I brethren, when I
came to you, came you not with excellency of speech or of wisdom,
declaring unto you the testimony of God? For I determined not
to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness
and in fear and in much trembling, and my speech and my preaching
was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration
of the Spirit and of power." Oh, this is how he speaks then
of his own ministry. And the intent that your faith
should not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. Going there in that opening,
that first epistle what does he say at the end of
chapter 4? I will come to you shortly if the Lord will and
will know not the speech of them which are puffed up but the power
for the kingdom of God is not in words but in power And again,
in that portion that we were reading just now, in the 5th
chapter of the 2nd epistle, look at the language that he employs
there at verse 11. Knowing therefore the terror
of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest unto
God, and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. For we commend not ourselves
again unto you, that give you occasion to glory on our behalf,
that ye may have someone to answer them with glory in appearance
and not in heart. For wherever we be beside ourselves
it is to God, or wherever we be sober it is for your cause."
All of this that he is saying with regards to himself and the
very character, the nature of his ministry is so necessary
that the Corinthians might understand what the gospel is and what the
life of faith is. And this is really what he is
coming to in the portion that we have before us and especially
what we read here in this third verse. Though we walk in the
flesh, he says, we do not walk after the flesh. as I've sought
to emphasize, what is he doing with the Corinthians? He is reminding
them of himself and those associated with him and the nature of the
ministry. But there's a wider application. We know that this
man, Paul, is in many ways set before us in Holy Scripture as
a remarkable type of a true believer. He's not just a faithful minister
of the gospel, but he is one who is a true child of God, a
pattern. That's the very expression that
he uses, remember there in 1 Timothy 1.16. He is a pattern, he says,
a type, to them which should hereafter believe on Christ to
life everlasting. And so as we come to consider
this text in 2 Corinthians 10.3 this morning, I want not so much
to speak about Paul the minister, but to speak of Paul the Christian,
Paul the true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. And to observe,
as I said at the outset, these two basic truths. He speaks to
us here of the believer's walk that is the way in which the
believer conducts himself, the way in which the believer is
to live his life, but also he speaks of the believer's warfare. The believer is one who is engaged,
of course, in a spiritual conflict, the good fight of faith. But
first of all, to observe how he speaks of the believer's walk
in this world. What does he say? here at the end of verse 2 and
through to verse 3. He says, Some which think of
us as if we walked according to the flesh. For though we walk
in the flesh, we do not walk after the flesh. Now it's interesting that he
makes a contrast here and we see the contrast in these prepositions
that he is using he speaks of those who think of us he says
walking according to the flesh or after the flesh because in
fact that expression according to at the end of verse 2 is the
same that we have at the end of verse 3 where it's rendered
after, according to, or after the flesh. That's one and the
same thing. There's a contrast between walking
according to, or walking after the flesh, and what he says at
the beginning of verse 3, though we walk in the flesh. Now, first
of all, he makes it quite clear here As a negative, as he lives
his life, as he lives a life of faith, he is not walking,
he is not living that life, conducting himself according to the flesh,
or after the flesh. Though that might be what some
were thinking of him. Some of those who were opposed
to him and his enemies at Corinth, they were saying these things
of him. But that was untrue. What is
the life? that he is saying he is not living. What is it that
he's denying here? Well, in this negative he is
saying that he is not living his life after the flesh in any
sense. His life is not governed by any
sinful passions. His life is not governed by any
corrupt nature. It's not according it's not after
the flesh. Now he makes that quite clear
in what he says when he writes to the church at Rome, there
in Romans chapter 8. He says, There is therefore now
no condemnation to those which are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh, they do not walk according to the flesh,
but they walk after the Spirit. And there in Romans 8, he is
very much emphasizing that particular truth. He goes on to say in verse
5, those that are after the flesh, those that are according to the
flesh, do mind the things of the flesh. But those that are
after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. Again at verse
13, if ye live after the flesh, according to the flesh, ye shall
die. But if ye through the Spirit
do mortify, crucify, put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall
live. Paul is emphasizing then the
truth that the believer is not living his life here, he's not
conducting himself in his his daily conduct in any way according
to the principles of the flesh. He is not governed by sinful
passions or his own corrupt nature. And now Paul has to defend himself
very vehemently against those who would say such things of
him. Go back to the opening chapter
of this epistle and there at verse 12 he says, how rejoicing
is this the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity
and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace
of God, we have had our conversation, our manner of living in the world,
and more abundantly to you would. Oh, this is the life, you see,
of the child of God, simplicity, sincerity, nothing to do with
fleshly wisdom. or not following after the principles
of a fallen world, and the reasonings of wicked men? Or what was the
manner of the life that this man was living? How he constantly
has to speak of this. And it's all, as I say, because
of what had transpired in the Church at Corinth, his false
teachers coming in, and so many in that church following the
false teachers. Paul has to write And these things are left on
record for our learning, for our instruction. Well, remember
the language that we have later here then in chapter 11, as he
defends himself and his ministry of the false teachers. Are they
ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool, I am more
in labours, more abundant in strikes above measure, in prisons
more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received
I forty stripes, save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods,
once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day
I have been in the deep, in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in
perils of rubbers, in perils by mine own countrymen. in perils
by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness,
in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness
and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst,
in fastings often, in cold and nakedness, beside those things
that are without. Well, this is all the trials,
all the troubles, all the difficulties that he was having constantly
to wade through as he sought to exercise his ministry besides
those things without that which cometh upon me daily, the care
of all the churches. He had such a pastor's heart.
This is why he is writing to the Church of Corinth. He is
so concerned for them. If he cannot be present with
them, he will minister to them. How will he minister? By these
letters, although they despise his letters. In none of his conduct,
then, is this man in any sense walking after the flesh, walking
according to the flesh. How is he walking? How is he
living his life? Well, he acknowledges it. though
we walk in the flesh. Here is the significance, you
see. It's not according to, it's not after the flesh. He's walking in the flesh. These
prepositions, these little words. I remember one occasion, at a
minister's conference, one of the speakers saying how important
the little words are. The theology often is in the
little words. The doctrine is in the little
details that we find in the Word of God and how important it is
here with regards to the way we live our lives. We're not
to conduct ourselves according to the flesh, after the flesh.
How are we to live our lives? Well, we are living our lives
in the flesh. Now what does this mean? Well,
the primary meaning, of course, is the simple fact that we are
living our lives in the body. We're in the flesh. We have a
physical body. And isn't that what Paul is speaking
of there in the 5th chapter, those words that we read at the
beginning of chapter 5? He speaks of the body as an earthly
house, a tabernacle. We know that if our earthly house
of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God and
house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this,
in this body, this flesh, this earthly tabernacle we groan,
earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is
from heaven." Here is the basic meaning then of the word that
he is using here to be living our lives in the flesh. It simply
means we're living our lives in the body. Now there's a secondary
meaning, there's a certain emphasis upon the weakness, the weakness
of our physical frame, the vulnerability of our lives in this world. And we know, Paul acknowledges
it, that with regards to his own physical presence, That physical appearance made
very little impression. Look at the language at the beginning
of the chapter. I, Paul, myself, beseech you by the meekness and
gentleness of Christ, who in presence and base among you,
but being absent and bold towards you. Now he goes on later, verse
10, his letters say they are mighty and powerful, but his
bodily presence is weak and his speech contemptible. He didn't
make a big impression, you see, with regards to any physical
appearance or his bearing when he was amongst them. He's in
the flesh. And there is that sort of idea
here of the weakness of Paul. Now, this human weakness is not
necessarily sinful. This human weakness is not necessarily
sinful. When God made the first man,
Adam, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and he became
a living So he was a real man. He was a sinless man. When he comes pristine from the
hand of his Creator, he's upright. And of course the Lord Jesus
Christ, who is the last Adam, the second man, he's a real man
also. Without controversy, great is
the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. It's the same word as we have
here in verse 3, we walk in the flesh. God was manifest in the
flesh. The eternal Son of God became
the Son of Man. Remarkable, is it not? He made
himself of no reputation. He took upon him the form of
a servant and was made in the likeness of men. And when it
comes to the death of the Lord Jesus Christ Isn't that a remarkable
verse that we find later in this epistle, there in chapter 13
verse 4, we're told how Christ was crucified through weakness.
Christ was crucified through weakness. Now, He is never, in
all the days that He's tabernacling as a man upon the earth in a
human body, He is never anything less than true Almighty God.
He never ceases to be God. And yet he is a real man. He's
the God-man. And there we're told he was crucified
through weakness. You see, as a man, he was subject
to all the sinless infirmities that belong unto men. As a man,
he would grow weary. You remember there in John chapter
4, he is journeying, he must need to go through some area.
There's a purpose in it. He must meet the woman of Samaria. There's a grace of God that's
going to be demonstrated in the life of that sinful woman. He
must need to go through Samaria, and he grows weary, and he sits
beside the well at Saika. Weariness, as a man, that's surely
a in the Lord Jesus Christ, that's a sinless infirmity. He knew
what it was to feel hungry, and as he was hungry, so he was tempted
of the devil. We have that record of the temptations. Strangely, really, so soon after
his baptizing, what an experience there at his baptism, the heavens
opened, The Spirit descends upon him in the form of a dove, the
Father speaks those words, this is my beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased. And yet, subsequent to that,
led of the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil. When
he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was after wood
and hungered." Isn't that human infirmity to feel hunger as to
feel weary and then the tempter came to him and said if thou
be the son of God command these stones to be made bread or God
had just said to him so plainly this is my beloved son in whom
I am well pleased and here is satan now with that impious if,
if thou be the son of God or the Lord Jesus he knew what it
was to be a real man And thank God
for that, we have not a high priest which cannot be touched
with the feeling of our infirmities, but was tempted in all points
like as we are, yet without sin. Or the believer's condition,
you see, in the body, is one of weakness. It's one of weakness,
it's one of exposure to temptations. You see what Paul is saying?
This is what the Apostle asserts here in the text. Though we walk
in the flesh, unlike the Lord Jesus, we also know something
of sinful infirmities. Only the Lord could say, the
Prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me. or there
was nothing of sin in the human nature of the Lord Jesus. There
is sin in all our human nature. We are those who are directly
descended from the first man, Adam. The Lord is a real man,
but remember the miracle of his conception, how he is conceived
by the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin. That holy thing
that shall be born of the, shall be called the Son of God, that
human nature that was joined to the eternal Son of God. It
was free from every taint of sin. Alas for us, we have a sinful
human nature and we're exposed. But you see, we have one who
is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. Tempted, yes,
just as we are, yet without sin. And that's the one we have to
look to. And here is Paul, you see, he is so aware of all the
frailties that accompany him as he is seeking to live his
life, first of all as a child of God, a believer in the Lord
Jesus Christ, and then of course as one who is called to this
remarkable ministry that he has to exercise. And he says, we
walk in the flesh. And how he felt it. Remember
what his desire was. Think of those words that he
writes to the church at Philippi. There in Philippians 1.23 he
says, I'm in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart
and to be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless,
to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. Or to depart. to be with Christ. That's what
he really desires. And yet he recognizes how necessary
it was that he abides in the flesh in order that he might
minister to these believers. And that's what he is writing
of, of course, in that fifth chapter that we read. Look at
the language there at verse 4. He says, We that are in this
tabernacle, we that are in the flesh, in the body, do groan,
being burdened, Not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed
upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. He makes it quite clear then,
with regards to the child of God, the believer, though the
believer is continuing in the flesh, in this feeble, frail
body, Yet the believer is not to walk after the flesh. Not
to walk after the flesh. They that are after the flesh
do mind the things of the flesh. Are we those who are walking
after the flesh minding the things of the flesh? We're not to take
that path. They that are after the spirit
do mind the things of the spirit for to be carnally minded, fleshly
minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." And
that's the believer's calling. Oh, I beseech you, brethren,
by the mercies of God. Remember the language of Paul
when he comes to that practical part of the Roman Epistle. The opening words there in the
twelfth chapter. I beseech you, he says, I beseech
you brethren, by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies,
a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service. And be ye not conformed to this
world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that ye may prove what is a good and acceptable and perfect will
of God. That's the believer's calling.
That's the believer's calling. And this man, you see, a pattern.
To them which should hereafter believe. The believers walk. There are those, some which think
of us as if we walked after the flesh. For though we walk in
the flesh, he says, we do not walk after the flesh. And so, let us turn in the second
place for a while to consider the believer's warfare. The believer
does not war after the flesh, according to the flesh. How does the believer walk? How does the believer engage
in his warfare? Well, again, remember the words
that we read back in chapter 5, verse 7? We walk by faith. and not by signs. That's how
the believer walks, he walks by faith. Like Moses who sees
the invisible God. Now you don't see the invisible
God with the natural eye. That that is invisible we cannot
see with our natural eye. How do we see the invisible God?
We see him by the eye of faith. we walk by faith. And what is
that life of faith? Is it not a life of continual
warfare? Constantly the believer is engaged
in a spiritual battle. Fight the good fight of faith,
says Paul. Lay hold on eternal life. And this conflict is so evidently spiritual in
its very nature the Lord says concerning his
kingdom my kingdom is not of this world if my kingdom were
of this world then would my disciples fight it's not a physical warfare that
believers are engaged in When Paul comes to speak of that conflict,
at the end of Ephesians chapter 6, what does he say? We wrestle
not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high places. Always speaking, you
see, of that realm of the devils, the demons, multitudes of them. Satan, the chief of all the demons. And if we're engaged in warfare,
you see, we're to have good intelligence. We're not to be ignorant of his
devices. We're to know our element. That's
what he is saying. These are the ones we wrestle
with. And what of this conflict, this
spiritual warfare? Well, we're not in any way to
rely upon fleshly strength, or human wisdom. You see, the word that we have
here in verse 4, carnal, is from the same root as the word flesh,
that he uses previously at the end of verse 2, and in verse
3, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, or fleshly, but
mighty through God, to the pulling down of strongholds. Mighty through God. There is that complete and utter
dependence upon the Lord God Himself. No reliance upon anything of ourselves. Think
of the words of the old hymn Stand up, stand up for Jesus.
Stand in His strength alone. The arm of flesh will fail you. You dare not trust your own. It's nothing of ourselves. Nothing
at all of ourselves. Casting down, it says in verse
5, casting down imaginations or reasonings and every high
thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God and bringing
into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Oh,
that's the believers calling, every thought brought into captivity
to the obedience of Christ. We're so shut in and so shut
up to the Lord Jesus Christ alone, that while He was the great captain
of our salvation. How this emphasis is there right
throughout the epistles of the Apostle, right throughout the
Word of God. Salvation in every sense is of the Lord. There's to be that trusting in
the Lord Jesus Christ, there's to be that obedience to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Isn't that what he's saying here
at the end of this fifth verse? The knowledge of God. Well, we
have to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. There's such a thing as growth
in grace, you know. We deny progressive sanctification.
That doesn't mean that we deny such a thing as growth in grace.
There is a growth in grace. And what is growth in grace?
It's that realization of a greater and deeper dependence upon the
Lord Jesus Christ. progressive sanctification with
that suggestion that somehow rather our old nature is improving
by degrees, we're getting better and better. That that is born
of the flesh is flesh. That that is born of the spirit
is spirit. And now we see that there's a
conflict between those two natures. The flesh lusting against the
spirit, the spirit against the flesh. They're contrary one to
the other. Oh, what is that Spirit? That's the Spirit that is ever
looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. Complete and utter dependence
upon the Lord Jesus Christ. There's trust in Him, there's
obedience to Him. There's a striving, but that
striving has to be lawful. Remember the language that we
have in 1st Timothy rather 2nd Timothy there in 2nd Timothy
chapter 2 and verse 4 Paul says 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 And
if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except
he strive lawfully. What is it to strive lawfully? Well, where there's that lawful
strife, there's that recognition of our complete dependence upon
the Lord Jesus Christ. In all our conflict, we have
to be looking to him this was David, David the great warrior
king but David the man after God's own heart he was not only
a man who was in a literal sense a warrior you know they could
sing of Saul killing his thousands David his ten thousands he was
a great warrior but he was also a spiritual man. And he knew
this spiritual conflict of which the Apostle is speaking. And
what does he say in the Psalm? Blessed be the Lord my strength,
which teacheth my hands to war and my fingers to fight. All
his help, all his enabling came from the Lord. It was lawful
strife. It's not David. No, it's David's greatest son.
It's the Lord Jesus Christ. whom he is looking to. How God's
strength is constantly needed then in all the believer's weakness. Again Paul acknowledges that,
I know that in me that is in my flesh there dwelleth no good
thing. He's living his life in the flesh,
he's engaged in the life of faith, the good fight of faith. What
does he say? I know in my flesh there dwelleth
no good thing. It's nothing at all of himself. Of himself he is nothing but
weakness. This is the lesson that the Lord
taught him. Remember how he tells us later
here in chapter 12? He said unto me, My grace is
sufficient for thee. My strength is made perfect in
weakness. Most gladly therefore will I
rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may
rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in
infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions,
in distresses. All those things you see that
were coming from the Corinthians. How they distressed Him. How
they persecuted Him. But what does he say? I take
pleasure in all these things. For when I am weak, then am I
strong. And so when we come to the end
of this 10th chapter, verse 17, be ye the glorious, let him glory
in the Lord. This is the believers' conflict,
the believers' warfare. It's all to the glory of God.
We live our lives, if we're the people of God, the children of
God, by faith, we live our lives to prove daily our complete and
our utter dependence upon Christ. How do we war in this conflict?
We often sing the words of the hymn, 270, War in Weakness. dare in doubt. Though to speak,
thou be not able. Always pray, and never fight. Prayer's a weapon for the feeble. Weakest souls can wield it best. Oh, we're not to rest, you see.
We're to be those who, as we feel our complete and utter dependence,
we're those who are to be calling and calling, and calling, and
calling upon the name of the Lord. Though we walk in the flesh,
we do not war after the flesh. O the Lord be pleased then to
bless to us His truth. Amen. conclude our worship this morning
as we sing the hymn 235 the Tunis Grasmere 591 in all our worst afflictions when
furious foes surround us when troubles vex and fears perplex
and Satan would confound us when foes to God and goodness we find
ourselves by feeling to do what's right, unable quite, and almost
as unwilling, then to maintain the battle. With soldier-like
behavior to keep the field and never yield, but firmly eye the
Savior, to trust His gracious promise, thus hard beset with
evil. This is His faith, will conquer
death and overcome the devil." The Hymn 235.