Introduction
Read and explain setting (why Paul is coming on so
strong). False apostles (11:13) have
infiltrated and are trying to discredit Paul by pointing to his contemptable
appearance and unimpressive speech (10:10), so he has to defend himself for
their sakes.
Let's focus on vs 3-5.
Paul says we are at war, and that we are responsible for waging an
offensive war.
The war is not against people (Eph. 6:12), but rather
against falsehood ("fortresses" are "speculations raised up against the
knowledge of Christ;" "captives" are
thoughts).
Our weapons are not humanly-originated (physical beauty or
power; personality power, political clout, etc.), but rather divinely powerful
(2 Cor. 6:7; Eph. 6:17,18 >> God's power through his Word
and prayer).
How do we use these weapons effectively? What does it look like to practice vs
5? Paul doesn't tell us in this
passage, but we can find out from other passages . . .
Taking every thought captive
This probably refers to how we handle our own individual
thought-lives.
The key to spiritual growth is mental transformation
(Rom. 12:2; 8:4-6). Those who
focus on superficial ethical change or emotional experiences are
off-track. Deep-seated, lasting ethical
change and healthy spiritual experience are results of primarily learning to
think differently about ourselves, God, others, our circumstances, etc.
If we want to be able to "take every thought captive," we will
need to practice three things:
INPUT: learning the biblical world-view
Read Col. 3:16.
The idea hewre is to super-saturate our minds with biblical truth. Like a large sponge that is so saturated
with water that it oozes at the slightest poke, so we should be so full of
scriptural truth that any stimulus prompts us to respond with what God says
about that area of life.
This is why we stress the Bible so much here! This is why we have this meeting, home
groups, study groups, courses, etc.
Spiritual transformation takes place via the renewal of our minds with
biblical truth (Rom. 12:2a).
CONTROL: monitoring your own thought-life (Heb. 5:14)
Aggressively identifying falsehoods, rejecting them and
replacing them with biblical truth
". . .we must talk to ourselves instead of allowing 'ourselves'
to talk to us! Do you realize what that
means? I suggest that the main trouble
in this whole matter of spiritual depression in a sense is this, that we allow
our self to talk to us instead of talking to our self. Am I just trying to be deliberately
paradoxical? Far from it. This is the very essence of wisdom in this
matter. Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the
fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take
those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them, but they start
talking to you, they bring back the problems of yesterday, etc. Somebody is talking. Who is talking to you? Your self is talking to you. Now this man's treatment was this; instead
of allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself. 'Why art
thou cast down, O my soul?' he asks.
His soul had been depressing him, crushing him. So he stands up and says: 'Self, listen for
moment, I will speak to you'. Do you
know that I mean? If you do not, you have had but little experience.
The main art in the matter of spiritual living is to know how to handles
yourself. You have to take yourself in
hand, you have to address yourself, preach to yourself, question yourself. You must say to your soul: 'Why are you cast
down' -- what business have you to be disquieted? You must turn on yourself,
upbraid yourself, condemn yourself, exhort yourself, and say to yourself; 'Hope
you in God' -- instead o muttering in this depressed unhappy way. And then you must go on to remind yourself
of God, Who God is, and what God is and what God has done and what God has
pledged Himself to do. Then having done
that, end on this great note: defy yourself, and defy other people, and defy the devil and the whole world, and
say with this man: 'I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance, who
is also the heath of my countenance and my God'.
. . . The essence of this matter is to understand that this self or ours this
other man within us, has got to be handled. Do not listen to him; turn on him;
speak to him; condemn him;' upbraid him; exhort him; encourage him; remind him
of what you know, instead of listening placidly to him & allowing him to
drag you down & depress you. For that is what he will always do it you
allow him to be in control. The devil
takes hold of self & uses it in order to depress us. We must stand up as this man did and say:
'Why are you cast down? Why are you disquieted within me?' Stop being so! "Hope
in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance,' He, 'who
is the health of my countenance and my God.'
EXAMPLES: HAPPINESS BY HAVING OTHERS LOVE YOU PROPERLY;
PERFORMANCE-BASED ACCEPTANCE WITH GOD; OVERWHELMED BY CIRCUMSTANCES;
SELF-PITY. There is endless application
to this. God will help us identify the
lies, bring to mind scriptural truth, etc.--but we must be fully engaged on
this front!
This is why fellowship is crucial. You can't always identify the lie, and/or you don't always know
what to replace it with, etc. But other
Christian friends can help you in both areas!
OUTPUT: choosing to act existentially on truth (Jas. 1:25)
This is the final piece of biblical faith. This is what tamps these truths deeper into
your mind. This is what builds greater
confidence in God's Word.
Once we know that God accepts us unconditionally in Christ, we
need to act consistently with that truth by drawing near to God even when we
feel unworthy, by being honest with him and others about our moral failures,
and by extending God's forgiveness to others.
Once we know that God works sovereignly for good even in bad
circumstances, we need to act consistently with this truth by thanking him in
the midst of trials and actively seeking to bless others.
Once we know that true fulfillment comes by serving others
sacrificially, we need to act consistently with this truth by choosing to serve
even when we feel needy na dhave nothing to give.
>> Where you
are spiritually five years from now will largely be the result, not of
MOUNTAIN-TOP EXPERIENCES, but of habits you build in this area!!