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New
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Elijah Ministries Website! Chariot
January 2010 -
Norm Wakefield
Tearing Down Walls, Part 4
How
are you doing at tearing down the walls between you and others? I hope you'll
be encouraged as we look at God's weapons of spiritual warfare and how we
may use them to destroy fortresses - walls - built in relationships. The
Apostle Paul described this kind of spiritual warfare in his second letter
to the Corinthians.
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war
according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the
flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are
destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the
knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the
obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever
your obedience is complete (2 Corinthians 10:4-6).
Before we look specifically at God's weapons which Paul
used, let's notice a number of things about spiritual warfare and tearing
down walls. 1.
These
weapons are empowered by God. 2.
The
walls consist of speculations and ideas which are contrary to the true
God. 3.
You
can't let destructive thoughts run free. They must be corralled. Now let's consider the powerful weapons of God used by
the Apostle Paul. Right thinking
If Satan's weapons are related to wrong thinking, then
it makes sense that one of God's weapons would be right thinking. How you
think in your heart is the key to how you live. Paul wrote that they were
tearing down these fortresses by evaluating the truth of the thoughts
raised up against the knowledge of God. He called them reasonings,
thoughts, or speculations (NAS). To speculate, according to the New Oxford
American Dictionary, is to form a theory about a subject without firm
evidence. Often in relationships, walls are built because one or both
persons draw wrong conclusions or make judgments without all the evidence.
Then those speculations are spread abroad through gossip and slander. Has
this happened to you? Have you speculated about others?
Paul's strategy was to use the true knowledge of God,
right thinking about God, against those who attacked him with false
accusations and conclusions. Here's an example of the use of right
thinking against the accusations of his opponents. They said his "speech
is contemptible." Paul responded, "But even if I am unskilled in speech,
yet I am not so in knowledge; in fact, in every way we have made
this evident to you in all things" (2 Corinthians 11:6). God knew the
truth and so did Paul. However, his friends in Corinth did not, and
therefore Paul reminded them of the truth so that the walls built by the
spread of wrong conclusions or lack of knowledge could be torn down. He
also didn't allow their false speculations to find a home in his own
thinking about himself. Are there walls between you and others based on
false or incomplete information that could perhaps be torn down by
explaining the facts as God sees them? That's exactly what Paul did with
the Corinthians. He didn't allow wrong thinking to run rampant in his own
heart and mind, and he didn't allow the false accusations and speculations
of his opponent to run unchecked by the truth. If he could correct what
pertained to him, then he did. Sometimes it isn't possible to correct all
the false accusations and lies spread about us. In those cases we have to
leave it to the Lord to correct it in His way and His time. Jesus' work on the cross
When the Apostle Paul related to others, he always
brought his thinking about their weaknesses and sins against him in line
with the truth revealed in Jesus' work on the cross. In Chapter 5 of 2
Corinthians, the wisdom of Paul was revealed as he explained to them how
he applied what Jesus did at the cross to others.
For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded
this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so
that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who
died and rose again on their behalf (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). The greatest weapon in God's arsenal
is Jesus' work on the cross. Paul first reminded them that Jesus' death on
the cross means that his relationships were not about him, but about
Christ. This means that more than anything else, it is important to love
and forgive on the basis of the cross. If Jesus' love and death on the
cross was powerful enough to tear down the walls between us and God, then
so also may the walls between us and others be torn down. How does this
work?
If I approach God on the basis of the work of Jesus' on
the cross and find the walls removed, my sins forgiven, and open
fellowship with Him, then so does my brother or sister in Christ. The
truth of God is this: my brother and I stand together before God with all
our flesh weaknesses and sins covered by the blood and love of Jesus. This
love of Christ controlled Paul in his thinking and relationships. It was a
divine weapon with powerful results: the destruction of fortresses!
Here's another way to apply the work of Christ on the
cross to these difficult relationships. To love Christ is to recognize
that Jesus died for all and therefore the punishment each sin deserves
(death and separation) has been paid. Thus what causes walls in
relationship with God and in all relationships has been removed, namely,
Jesus took away selfish, fleshly motivations for life. It is selfish
living that builds walls and destroys relationships. It is selfishness
that blinds a person so that his or her thinking raises speculations
against the truth and the knowledge of God.
The true knowledge of what God has done produces people
who love Jesus and love what He accomplished at the cross. Therefore Paul
concluded that all who believe in Jesus and love Jesus have died to living
for themselves in relationships. Such thinking removes Satan's "I want
what I want" weapon. Instead, a divinely powerful weapon is aimed at the
relationship: "I want what Jesus Christ wants"--namely the fruit of his
labors on the cross. I must remember that all my relationships are about
Jesus, not me.
Are you willing to sacrifice yourself and what you
think or want in order to give Jesus what He wants? If so, you'll tear
down those walls between you and others by applying Jesus' work on the
cross to their sins and weaknesses. I'm not saying you have to agree with
their convictions or actions. You don't. A determination on your part to
bear the weight and hurt of others' sins, release them, and keep the walls
down for Jesus' sake, will allow you to engage them without being afraid
of being hurt again. You know what you will do if they hurt you or
unknowingly offend you out of weakness. The wall of protection can be
demolished if the love of Christ is controlling you. That's divine power! Devotion to Christ
The third weapon I notice
that the Apostle Paul used which had divine power was devotion to Christ
which was greater than devotion to his own or others' agenda,
significance, or reputation. Paul wrote, "But I am afraid that, as the
serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from
the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ" (2 Corinthians
11:3). Simple, pure devotion to Christ means that you are devoted to
applying what Jesus Christ did at the cross to everyone with whom you
relate.
Devotion to Christ is what makes the second weapon of
the work of Christ on the cross more effective. Paul not only understood
the power of Jesus' work on the cross in relational spiritual warfare, but
he was devoted to using that weapon! Such devotion to Christ is powerful
because it leads a person to think rightly and apply the gospel to the
relationship. The walls built by Satan and his weapons cannot prevail
against such weapons. In spiritual warfare, you aren't fighting people,
you are fighting the works of the devil. Jesus came to destroy all the
works of the devil (1 John 3:8). The devil's work in your own life as well
as his work in others has been destroyed by the power of Jesus' work on
the cross.
Are you more devoted to yourself, your own reputation,
or your own set of standards of righteousness than you are to Jesus and
His reputation? Has your mind been led astray to try to "think" or "reason"
your way through the walls built in a relationship? Keep the relationship
simple by ignoring all the reasoning, speculating, self-defense, and
recording of another person's weaknesses and offenses. What use is it to
fight in such a manner? Has that torn down any walls? How is that kind of
fighting working for you? Are you not losing the spiritual battle in your
relationship with God as well as the other person?
Instead, keep the relationship simple: apply what Jesus
did on the cross to yourself and to others. Then you can tear down the
walls. This is maintaining simplicity in your relationship with God and
others. Furthermore, purify your devotion to Christ. For the Corinthians,
Paul was concerned that his opponents had deceived them and gotten a share
of their devotion. Instead of pure devotion to Christ, they were partly
devoted to Christ and to the one who wanted Paul's position of
significance and authority. We know they also had problems in the past of
purity of devotion to Christ because in Chapter 3 of 1 Corinthians he
confronted their conflicting and competing devotions to Peter, Apollos,
and himself.
How easy it is for a parent, pastor, or ministry leader
to covet the position of authority and love only Jesus Christ should have.
They feel that their children or members of their flock should give equal
to or greater consideration to their thoughts, vision, and convictions
than they give to Jesus. I've known some leaders who have such lofty
thoughts that they believe that if a child or church member doesn't agree
with them, then they do not respect them and are not devoted to Christ!
Sometimes people add many other factors to their
devotion to Christ. Instead of purity of devotion to Christ, they are more
devoted to dress, diet, denomination, choice in educating their children,
and entertainments they avoid, just to name a few. To make matters worse,
they have so elevated these things that they see them as synonymous to
love for Christ. The loftiness of such thinking against the knowledge of
God is revealed when they can't love or fellowship with others who don't
hold their convictions. Instead of tearing down walls between brothers and
sisters in Christ, they build walls. It is possible the ones who don't
hold their convictions have a more pure devotion to Jesus Christ and His
work on the cross than they do.
How about you? Are you building walls by making
relationship with Christ and others complicated, or are you tearing down
walls by keeping relationships simple and maintaining and encouraging
purity of devotion to Christ? Grace in weakness
The last divinely powerful weapon in Paul's war chest
was the understanding that God's power and grace are revealed in weakness,
not in personal strength and performance. He wrote,
If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my
weakness (2 Corinthians 11:30).
And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you,
for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather
boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me (2
Corinthians 12:9).
Paul's
opponents, fighting with Satan's weapon of criticism and judgment of Paul's
weaknesses, were damaging their relationship with God as well as Paul. As
Paul heard their criticism, he didn't defend himself by saying he wasn't
weak, he instead explained what God thought about those weaknesses and
what He had done with them. I think that is what Paul meant when he wrote
that they were taking thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ. He went
further by explaining God's plan of displaying power through weakness.
Therefore he found peace and power in accepting his weaknesses as
opportunities for God's love and power to be displayed in him.
When
we are knowingly weak, apply the cross to our own lives, and ask for grace
from God, the power of Christ dwells in us. Grace is God's powerful weapon
when we are weak. I've noticed that the grace that comes is forgiveness,
patience, and gentleness. When we embrace our weakness, we may go to God
for strength. And that's when
His power goes to work. When I see my weakness, I realize that I am
accepted by God on the grounds of grace through Jesus, not my righteous
performance or strength. I then want to transfer that truth about God and
His grace which I enjoy to others. Their weaknesses or sins against me are
opportunities for me to express God's power, love, and acceptance based on
Jesus' work at the cross. The grounds of acceptance is not their
performance or strength, but the grace of God in Christ.
I
am not suggesting that simplicity of devotion to Christ and embracing my
weakness so that grace and power can be revealed allows me to then live
selfishly and not strive to live in a manner worthy of the gospel. Selfish
and licentious living so one can boast in grace is in direct opposition to
all that Jesus Christ lived, died, and rose again to accomplish. Such
living builds walls rather than destroys them. The divine weapons powerful
for the destruction of fortresses are all related to the cross. One can
tell if he or she is fighting in the flesh or spirit by the destruction of
the walls in their hearts and relationships. Do you glory in your own
righteousness, religious performance, and knowledge of God? Or do you
boast in your weaknesses (and accept the weaknesses of others) so that God's
glory may be seen? Are
you fighting with God's weapons?
I
hope looking at the way Paul fought his spiritual battle in relationships
has been an encouragement to you. We all need to examine ourselves to see
if we are fighting the fight of keeping the walls down between God,
others, and ourselves.
If Christ is in us, then we have, in our experience with Him, what we need
to gain the victory. We can give "thanks be to God, who always leads us in
triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the
knowledge of Him in every place for we are a fragrance of Christ to God"
when we fight our relational battles in the same way our Lord Jesus fought
them. May God strengthen your hearts
for battle using His weapons of warfare which are divinely powerful
for the destruction of fortresses. Would
you like to be on the Elijah Ministries Prayer Team? The backbone of Elijah Ministries is the prayer team who pray diligently for God to turn the hearts of men to Himself, their wives, and their children. Before I leave to speak, I send out a prayer team invitation to those who will intercede for God to work for His glory in us as a team for the Kingdom. Not only is it a blessing to those whom I speak and myself; but it is also a reminder to the team about the direction of their own hearts. If you would like to enter into the labor together with me, you may go to my website and click on "Prayer Team". Has Norm's Chariot or other resources been an encouragement to you? As a nonprofit organization, Elijah Ministries needs support from people like you in order to function. If God has ministered to you through Elijah Ministries and Norm Wakefield, would you consider supporting the work? You can do so here. (Elijah Ministries is a tax-deductible 501c3 and is financially accountable to an overseeing board of 8 non-paid members from around the country.) The Chariot is also available as a podcast. You can automatically receive the Chariot each month in iTunes by subscribing here. (An RSS capable browser such as Internet Explorer 7 or Safari is required.)
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Wakefield 01.10 To unsubscribe, click here.
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