I want us, if we can, to turn to 2 Corinthians
chapter 10, and we're going to start in verse
1. We're going to read down through verse 6.
And this verse, I'm preaching this verse today
because this verse came as a word from the Lord.
Actually, Kay felt this scripture impressed on
her about 10 or 12 days ago. And released it
into our seniors group. Our seniors meet for
prayer every Wednesday at 1 p .m. And if you'd
like details on that, I'd be happy to give that
to you. And then she released it. I had her release
that same word on our Wednesday night prayer
meeting. And I have felt like it is a scripture
for our church for this time. And it might be
that this morning God wants to just apply it
to your situation and your life right where you
are. And so let's read the word of the Lord,
2 Corinthians 10, 1 through 6. Now I, Paul, myself,
am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness
of Christ. who in presence am lowly among you,
but being absent am bold toward you. But I beg
you that when I am present, I may not be bold
with that confidence by which I intend to be
bold against some who think of us as if we walked
according to the flesh. For though we walk in
the flesh, We do not war according to the flesh,
for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal,
but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,
casting down arguments and every high thing that
exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing
every thought into captivity to the obedience
of Christ. and being ready to punish all disobedience
when your obedience is fulfilled. Lord, we thank
you for your word. Your word changes us. Your
word, when it takes root in our hearts, produces
the effect in us that you have desired in our
lives from the beginning. God, the people have
come here today to worship you. They haven't
come to hear the voice of a man. God, they've
come to honor your word. And so, Lord, as we
honor your word this morning, I pray that it
will take root in our hearts. In Jesus' mighty
name. Amen. Amen. Now this passage of Scripture,
in context, is about Paul really defending himself
against some people in the Corinthian church
that had come against him. The majority of the
church was with Paul and recognized him as an
apostle. But if you skip down to verse 10, you
see that some in the church were accusing Paul.
In fact, they said in verse 10, you read it,
for his letters, they say, are weighty and powerful,
but his bodily presence is weak and his speech
contemptible. And so they were accusing Paul
of not being the real deal. Of hiding behind
Facebook. But not being genuine in person. He
could write well. But when he's here, he's weak.
And he's not the real deal. Well, really what
they were doing by slandering Paul. was dividing
the church. That's what they were doing. Now,
no leader is perfect, and there are ways to deal
with issues and failures in the church, but slandering
people behind their back is not biblical. And
it only does the work of the enemy and divides.
And so in this context, Paul is saying, That's
where this quote comes from. Among Pentecostal
believers, this is an awesome verse. The weapons
of our warfare are not carnal, but they're mighty
in God. Well, Paul was saying, I have weapons
of spiritual warfare that go way beyond the flesh
and things that are normal in this world, and
we will see the stronghold of this divisive spirit.
torn down in Jesus' name. And the things that
come against the church, Ephesians 6 tells us,
we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
powers and principalities and rulers of this
dark world. How many of you know that there is
an enemy in Lincoln, Illinois that hates the
church? And that's the church at large preaching
the gospel, but he also hates faith church and
is trying to destroy this church from the inside
out so that it is of no effect in our community.
But Paul was saying, I have weapons of our warfare
that are not carnal, but they are mighty in God.
And because they're mighty in God, I can pull
down the strongholds that are trying to divide
the church. Isn't that good? And so, it is important
that we realize that God has equipped us with
tools to promote unity in the church. Now, Paul
said it was the weapons of our warfare. Everybody
say our. He didn't say this is the weapon of
my warfare. I am the only one in this. No, he
said these are weapons of our warfare. We are
in this together. And so the first thing that
I believe that God wants to highlight is that
I think it's an awesome thing to pray for the
unity of the church. In fact, Jesus, before he
went to the cross, he prayed that. He said, I
pray that they may be one, Father, as we are
one. And the unity on the house is a beautiful
thing. I'm not preaching this today because I
sense any disunity. I'm preaching this today
because I know the wiles and the schemes of the
enemy that he would try to create disunity. Do
you know that the enemy does this in homes? He
does this in marriages. He does this in relationships
and friendships, trying to steal, kill, and destroy.
That's what the devil came. John 10 .10 says
that the thief comes to steal and kill and destroy.
And that's the schemes of the enemy. He wants
to destroy your marriage. He wants to destroy
your household. He wants to destroy the relationship
you have with your children. Jesus came, the
last part of John 10 .10, that we might have
life and life more abundantly. Amen? And so this
morning, we speak life into every marriage that's
represented in this room right now in the name
of Jesus. Hallelujah. In fact, I wasn't planning
on this. This isn't in my notes, but I want to
pray for every marriage represented in this church
right now in Jesus' name. If your spouse is with
you, Just grab them by the hand in Jesus' name.
Father, I just thank you. I thank you for the
blessing on marriages in this room right now.
And we recognize, God, that the enemy has a scheme
and a plan to destroy and break up marriages.
God, I pray in Jesus' name. I pray in Jesus'
name the favor and the blessing of God on marriages
in this house right now. the name of the Lord.
We thank you, Father, for the unity of the Spirit.
We thank you for the unity in husbands and wives
in the name of Jesus. Hallelujah. Praise the
Lord. Praise the Lord. Somebody give praise to
God right now. He preserves. He unites. He causes
husbands and wives to grow together in Jesus'
name. Cammie told the story of what happened
to our vehicle last week. As I was driving down
the road and a tire came flying at me and I hit
that tire at about, I braked some, I hit it probably
at 60 miles an hour and that tire that was rolling
did not go flat. It catapulted our vehicle up
into the air and then the trailer behind us up
into the air and then after we had gone completely
over the tire, that tire continued to roll down
the road and then into the median. It was a pretty
incredible thing. I'd never experienced anything
like that in my life. I'm thanking God for his
protection, amen? Thanking God for his protection.
But when I had the vehicle examined, because
after that, what happened is there was no shimmy
in it before. It drove smooth and perfect. But
after it hit that tire, when I got it up to about
50 miles an hour, the vehicle just started shaking.
And when I took it to the collision place, the
collision guy told me, in fact, before he even
elevated it, he said, oh, I see why it's shimmying.
It's because the frame has been knocked out of
alignment and the right half is fighting against
the left half. And I thought, wow. And it hit
me as I was preparing for this message. That's
what was happening in the Corinthian church.
The right half was fighting against the left
half. And that can happen in a marriage, in a
home, and in a relationship. It can happen in
a nation. But when God shows up, when the church
shows up with the weapons of our warfare that
God has provided, he puts things back in alignment
so that we can drive down the road and get where
we need to go. He wants to keep the church in
unity. That's a great thing to pray. Add that
to your prayer list every day. God, give great
unity to the church. Doesn't mean we always agree
about everything, but we deal with things well,
and we walk together in love. Amen? And we move
forward in Jesus' name. Secondly, what I want
to say from this passage is the weapons of our
warfare are not carnal. Everybody say carnal.
Now carnal, carnality is not the same thing as
evil. In fact, carnality is not the same thing
as sinful. Carnal simply means of this world.
Okay? So when I'm operating carnally, I am just
using, the tools I have at my disposal on my
own. My own thinking. My own solutions. When
you are not a believer and you don't have access
to God, this is the only mode that you have to
operate in. Carnal. It's of the flesh, not in
the sense of sinful flesh, but just of this world.
Does that make sense? That's what carnality is.
Sourcing. So, I know one thing from all of my
wife's study on food. That sourcing matters.
Where you get things matter. Not all meat is
created equal. Is that right? So there are places
that if I report to her that I ate at, she is
immediately thinking of the source of that food
and what that is potentially doing in my body.
She doesn't like any chemicals injected into
meat. Sourcing matters. Where you get things
from. She liked it that Steak and Shake just
announced that all their meat comes from grass
-fed beef. I like that too. I have permission
now. Sourcing matters. Where you get something
matters. And this whole verse, the weapons of
our warfare are not carnal. It means their source
is not of this world. Their source does not come
from humanity. The source of these weapons is
not your pastor. The source of these weapons
is not how well we understand things in our own
mind. The source of the weapons of our warfare,
we're going to get to what they are in a moment.
The first thing that Paul says here is that the
source of these weapons does not come from man,
but from God. They are sourced in heaven. And
you as a believer, my friend, you have the opportunity
to get resources that are beyond what you can
see with your eyes. You have the ability to get
resources that are beyond what you can buy at
a store or are tangible with your hands. You
have access to the heavens. Hallelujah. And that's
good news. Every son and daughter, you have access
to sourcing in heaven. Glory to God. Glory to
God. You know what carnality produces? People
think that these are in the Bible. God helps
those who help themselves. Did you know that
that is not a verse in the Bible? That comes
from carnality. That comes from thinking, human
thinking. God helps those who die to self and
look to him and trust him. Amen? Here's one that
Shakespeare wrote that people think is in the
Bible. To thine own self be true. Have you ever
heard that? Have you ever read a form of that
on Facebook? I've just got to discover myself
and be true to myself. And if you love somebody,
you know, and they're going through a decision
process and you tell them, just be true to yourself.
That is not scriptural. It is not in the Bible.
And so that comes from human carnality. That's
where that comes from. Did you know who said
this first? God hates sin but loves the sinner.
Do you know who said that first? Gandhi. That
is a statement that comes from Hinduism. That's
interesting, isn't it? Some of those elements,
how many of you know that God loves sinners?
And God hates sin. But did you know that it's
this kind of phraseology that makes people think
that, well, God's going to forgive me no matter
what I do. It is not the truth. There are people
on judgment day that God is going to assign to
darkness and utter hell. Carnality in the church.
As long as we operate in carnality, all's we
have is the best that man can come up with. But
when we tap into the resources of heaven, then
we rise way above. Why is that? Because God said,
your thoughts are not my thoughts, nor mine yours.
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so
are my thoughts higher than your thoughts. Now
the best ideas of man, do they compare with God?
I want the resources of heaven. I want what God
has for me. Hallelujah. I want to tap into his
thinking. I want to tap into his solutions. I
want to tap into what he has to say. Glory to
God. When we operate in carnality, then we limit
ourselves to our own solutions. We stay safe
in our Christianity. We're predictable. We're
sensible. But we are not following the Holy Spirit.
The weapons of God are not sourced in human reasoning.
They come from heaven. I want to give you, if
I can, find this really quick. I want to give
you something that I experienced through this
vehicle situation. One of my Facebook friends
recently posted this. Like a good neighbor, State
Farm is deceptive, greedy, and truly only cares
about making shareholders money. Well, you can
imagine the comments. But that has not been true
in my case. This was posted two weeks ago. The
accident. And here was my reply. State Farm has
paid me lots of money through the years. A new
roof that got me out of debt. They cleaned up
my yard after a tornado. Two different deer that
they... rewarded me with accidents that I did
not cause, that they have taken care of me. I
have never had any issues with State Farm at
all. I wrote that two weeks ago, and I hit this
tire. And I turned to claim in, and as we were
driving home, I said to Cammie, I really feel
like the Lord's going to take care of us. I really
feel like God's going to take care of us. And
so I filed a claim. And I got the word back.
That because the tire was on the ground and not
in the air, your claim is denied. And so I still
felt the peace of the Lord, but then when I got
the letter from State Farm, it said, we have
determined that you have caused this accident.
That kind of shook me a little bit. And so I
wrote an appeal. And I said, whether you cover
the accident or not, you have accused me of causing
this accident. And I am appealing. And then I
finished the letter. Forgot about it. Last Wednesday,
right before I went to the seniors meeting, I
got a call from a young man at State Farm. And
he said, you've appealed, and I'm the one that
decides whether your appeal goes through or not.
Tell me everything that happened. And I told
him everything that happened exactly like it
did. And he said, I'm going to call you back
in five minutes with my decision. And I said,
well, you better hurry because I got a seniors
meeting that starts in seven minutes. He called
me back and he said, sir, I have found, I have
examined your policy. I have found in your policy
that your vehicle is covered if a missile hits
your vehicle. He said, I don't know if a tire
is a missile or not, but we are going to cover
your vehicle. As if this tire was a missile.
And I want to say praise God for that. I want
to say praise God for that. What does the Word
of God say? Over and over and over again, the
Word of God says, bless and do not curse. Bless.
and do not curse. I had about five verses pulled
up here that teach us to bless and do not curse.
See, when all of this happened, it was later
on, I was praying and I felt the Lord whisper
to me that defense that I gave of State Farm.
And you see, we're used to letting things fly
out of our mouth, whatever we want to say. But
that's not blessing. That is cursing. You want
God to do great things through your life? You've
got to use the weapons of our warfare that are
not carnal, but are mighty in God. Your mouth
is one of those weapons. One of the things that
can work against you as a believer is that you're
cursing everything. You're cursing everything
all the time. You're more familiar with everything
that's wrong. What's wrong with this? What's
wrong with that? And really what it is is it's
a complaining, grumbling spirit. But if we will
use our mouth to bless instead of curse, God
will open up doors. It will break down strongholds.
It will move the hand of God in a situation.
Because we bless. Because we do not curse. It
got awful quiet in here. It got really quiet
in here. Because we bless. God has called us
to be a people in the earth. We are the salt
of the earth. But your speech is no different
than the people in your workplace. How are you
going to be the salt of the earth? If you look
the same as the people, if you walk the same,
and if you talk the same, God will not use you
in that. That's carnality. It's carnality. God
is calling you to rise above carnality so that
you can operate in the things of the Spirit.
Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I feel the presence of
the Lord in this this morning. We live in the
world, but we do not war according to the world.
The weapons of our warfare, they are not carnal,
but they are mighty in God. Hallelujah. God loves
you enough that he's given you access to heavenly
sourcing. These weapons that we wage war with,
they are sourced in heaven, and they have heavenly
results. Jesus told us to pray, Lord, let your
will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Hallelujah.
That's Matthew 6 .10. The weapons of our warfare.
What are these weapons? Well, Paul was referring
specifically to the authority that he has in
God. The authority that he had in his calling
as an apostle. Everybody say the word authority.
Now, there is positional authority that you do
not have. This past week, my wife was elected
as the assistant presbyter of our section. I
passed the baton to her. I was the assistant.
Now she's the assistant. Okay, so that is a position
of authority in the section. It is positional
authority. Paul had positional authority as an
apostle. And so you have been given... If you're
a mom or a dad, you have positional authority
in your family, right? You have positional authority.
If you are a business owner, you have positional
authority, okay? So some of you are thinking
about different roles in your life where God
has given you authority. Paul was defending his
authority as an apostle. But there is also an
authority that comes as a believer that is not
positional authority. It is spiritual kingdom
authority that you have as a child of God. Hallelujah.
You have authority that has been given to you
as a child of the living God. Let me read one
of them to you. Matthew 28, 19. the end of the
age. I want to read Mark's version of that. Let
me look that up in Mark chapter 16 because it
really highlights our authority that we've been
given in Christ even greater. He says this, Go
into all the world, this is verse 15, and preach
the gospel to every creature. He who believes
and is baptized will be saved, but he who does
not believe will be condemned. And these signs
will follow those who believe. In my name they
will cast out demons. They will speak with new
tongues. They will take up deadly servants. If
they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt
them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they
will recover. Hallelujah. Now this is your authority
that God has given to you as a believer. Amen?
It's a weapon of your warfare. I feel like this
morning that we need to open up our hearts and
receive the authority that God has given to us.
Look at your neighbor and say, you have authority.
Now look at your neighbor and say it one more
time like you really mean it. You have authority.
You have authority. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. When
people come to me and they say, Pastor, I need
healing. And I come to them and say, Oh, I just
want you to know I understand what you're going
through. I just want you to know that, you know,
you're going to get through this. You know what
I'm doing is I'm trying to empathize with them.
And some people might appreciate that, but they
didn't come to me for empathy. They came to me
to find healing in Jesus' name. And so if I only
console and if I only offer empathy and I never
step into authority, I forfeit the weapons of
our warfare. In the name of being a friend and
somebody people like, but I'm not operating in
authority. God has given us authority to operate
in. Oh, this is a good word, friends. Matthew
chapter 10. Let's go there. Matthew chapter 10.
We're talking about the weapons of our warfare.
And this is Jesus. And let's read verse 1. And
when he had called his 12 disciples to him, he
gave them power over unclean spirits to cast
them out and to heal all kinds of sickness and
all kinds of disease. And then you skip down
to, he's telling them to go out. In verse 8,
he just simply says, heal the sick, cleanse the
lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely
you have received, freely give. If a church would
awaken with authority, we would no longer need
advertising. You see, advertising is in the carnal
realm. It doesn't mean it's not effective. It
doesn't mean that we can't use it. God called
them to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise
the dead, cast out demons, freely you have received,
freely give. What if the church awakens to its
authority in the earth? What if the church starts
using the weapons of our warfare that are not
carnal but are mighty in God for the tearing
down of strongholds? What if parents start using
their authority in their homes? Not in an abusive
way, but in a real genuine Christian way. When
it comes to what they allow into their house.
Are you just going to keep tolerating that sickness
that just keeps coming and coming and coming
and coming? Are you going to rise up in the authority
that you have, Father? Mother? Jesus has given
us authority, a weapon of our warfare. I'm going
to stop right here. There are lots of other weapons
of our warfare. But I'm going to stop right here
because some of you are in situations where you
need authority to come into your home. You need
authority to come into your body. You need authority.
You need the authority of God to be released
into your situation. Jesus did it with the 12
here. But then we just read Mark 16. He didn't
just do it with the 12. He did it with every
believer. He who believes. How many of you are
ready to operate on a higher plane? Many of you
are ready to tap in to your heavenly resource.
Rise up. Rise up. It wasn't just Paul. It was
every believer. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Heal
the sick. Cleanse the lepers. Raise the dead.
Cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely
give. Now later on, I might revisit this and
talk about more weapons of our warfare. But God
has equipped you, son. God has equipped you,
daughter. He has equipped you from heaven to
be an overcomer. To be an overcomer. So we're
going to stop right there. And I just want to
ask the question this morning. How many of you
in your life, in the lives of your friends, in
the lives of the people that you know, need the
God of victory to move and do something powerful?
Come on. That's what we're believing for this
morning. And Paul's word is that you have weapons
of warfare that are not carnal but mighty in
God. There are some things that God will do,
but he's not going to do them until you operate
in the authority that God has given you. I would
say, There's been lots of times where I have
missed it. Where I have not risen up to the occasion.
And we repent of that in Jesus' name. But God
lifts us up and calls us up to a new place. And
says, come on. Come on. Step in. Step into what
I have for you. Step into what I have for you.
Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. If you raised
your hand earlier, I want to ask you to just
stand up where you are. You raised your hand
earlier. You have a situation in your own family,
in your own life. You need the authority of heaven.
Hallelujah. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God.
Praise God. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Father.
We give you praise, Lord. Just right where you
are, just if you need to close your eyes to help
you, but just begin to talk to the Lord. Begin
to say, God, don't let this verse just stay on
a page, but let it be lived out in my life in
Jesus' name. Have a conversation with the Lord
right now in Jesus' name. Thank you, Father.
Lord, we just ask you that your presence, God,
will minister in Jesus' name. When you came to
Gideon and you said, greetings, mighty warrior,
He didn't feel like a warrior. There's people
in this room that, like Gideon, don't feel like
a warrior. But you are calling them to a higher
place in you. In Jesus' name. Thank you, Father.
Thank you, Father. Glory to God. We look to you
right now. We look to you now, Lord Jesus. Hallelujah.
We embrace the weapon of authority, not in an
arrogant way, but humbly, genuinely, saying,
God, thank you for the authority that you've
given to us. In the name of Jesus, we receive
that assignment and that calling. In just a moment,
we're going to use this weapon of authority and
we're going to speak to this mountain to be moved
in Jesus' name. We're going to speak for this
sickness to be healed in Jesus' name. We're going
to use the weapon of authority in Jesus' name.
Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thank you,
Father. Thank you, Father. We give you praise.
We are not helpless and left alone. You've given
us weapons and tools to fight with. In Jesus'
name. God, I pray that Holy Spirit grit will
rise up in people right now. I pray that faith
will rise up in people right now in Jesus' name.
And I want to ask God that as they speak to this
mountain that they're standing up facing, that
speak to this giant like David did. David tapped
into heavenly resources when he spoke to Goliath.
I thank you for that, God. I thank You for that,
God. We tap in right now. And we speak to this
giant with the authority that You've given to
us. In Jesus' name.