OUR SPIRITUAL WEAPONS -- Tomorrow:
"Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you: But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but 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; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled." (2 Cor 10:1-6)
AN EXAMPLE OF CASTING DOWN IMAGINATIONS
"Casting down imaginations..."
A single example of casting down "imaginations" will suffice to confirm the potency of "the weapons of our warfare." As mentioned before, fornication had surfaced within the church in Corinth. Paul forthrightly told the brethren to purge their assembly of the man involved (1 Cor 5). However, in the sixth chapter of First Corinthians he came to grips with the "imagination" that led the Corinthian offender to commit fornication, and the church itself to allow it. Using the weapons of spiritual warfare, he cast down this imagination, which had snared some in Corinth.
This subject is of particular relevance, as fornication has become a chronic problem in the modern church – among conservatives and liberals. It is found among the young people, church leaders, the ministry, and within professed Christian schools. The church has thought to address the problem with counselors, workshops, accountability procedures, and various forms of education. All of these have come from the fountain of human wisdom. They are being attempted too late – after the problem is blazing out of control. It is something like a rancher who discovers that vast numbers of his horses are getting out of the fenced area. Do you suppose he would institute a program that sought to hire expert horse-catchers? Would it be proper to try and educate the horses to ignore the gaping in the fence? Or, would it be best to mend the fence, and fortify the areas that allowed for them to escape?
Our spiritual weaponry deals with the CAUSES of falling. It has to do with reshaping the thinking of an individual – not by merely passing along some academic information, but by throwing down false reasoning.
Paul, for example, adduces a number of reasons that show the utter foolishness of committing fornication. These are all found in the sixth chapter of First Corinthians.
1. Those who do so will not inherit the kingdom of God (6:9-10).
2. Those in Christ had been "washed," "sanctified," and "justified" – conditions that are at a total variance with fornication (6:11).
3. The body is not for fornication, but for the Lord (6:13).
4. God is going to raise our bodies by the same power He employed to raise up Jesus (6:14).
5. Our bodies are the members of Christ (6:15a).
6. It is totally unreasonable to take the members of Christ and give them to a harlot (6:15b).
7. A person who is joined to a harlot is one flesh with her (6:16).
8. The person joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him (6:17).
9. We are to flee from fornication (6:18a).
10. The person who commits fornication sins against his own body (6:18b).
11. Our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit (6:19a).
12. We are not our own (6:19b).
13. We have been bought with a price (6:20a).
14. We are to glorify God in our body (6:20b).
For any person with but a spark of faith, or sensitivity to and awareness of the living God, these affirmations cast down the imagination that one can commit fornication with impunity. This is a marvelous example of the employment of our powerful spiritual weaponry.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, grant me grace to use the weaponry You have provided, and to do so with spiritual skill.