[Steve Myers] Good to see all of you again. We are back to the Epistles of Paul and 2 Corinthians. We had left off last time just about to begin Chapter 9. And both in Chapter 8 and Chapter 9, Paul is reminding them about this collection that he had encouraged them about in 1 Corinthians 16. I want to take up that collection for the brethren in Judea who had been suffering from famine because of the difficulty of the lack of rain that they had received. And so they've been going through this drought and the difficulties there. And so here in Chapter 9, he continues to remind them about their responsibilities, especially so that there wouldn't be a delay. When he comes, he wanted to pick it up and get on with it, and deliver that aid to those that were in need. So take a look at Chapter 9. As he begins here.

2 Corinthians 9:1-3 He says, "Concerning the ministering to the saints, it's superfluous for me to write to you." In other words, I don't really need to do this. You're well aware. He's been reminding them, right? He says, "I know your willingness about which I boast to you to the Macedonians that Achaia was ready a year ago and your zeal has stirred up the majority. Yet I've sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this respect, that, as I said, you may be ready."

So get your act together, be ready with this collection. I've been bragging about you. Of course, he had been in Philippi and the Macedonian area of the Roman Empire. And so here he's telling them, "All right, I've been telling everybody how great you are, so don't let me down." It's kind of the idea here.

2 Corinthians 9:4 He says, "Lest if some Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we, not to mention you, should be ashamed of this confident boasting."

Yeah, it's always nice when someone speaks well of you, but you don't want to let them down. And so that's kind of what's happening here. Paul's saying, "Yes, you guys, I know you're going to do great. I've been telling everyone how wonderful you really are. So don't make me look bad." This is a little bit of what he's getting at here. Then in verse 5.

2 Corinthians 9:5 He says, "Therefore, I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren to go to you ahead of time, and prepare your generous gift beforehand, which you had previously promised, that it may be ready as a matter of generosity and not a grudging obligation."

And so here Paul is comparing and contrasting the donations. In a way, you can tie this not to tithes, but, in a sense, you could tie it to offerings. What is an offering that you give? And as he begins to talk about it, he approaches it from a pretty positive perspective, this generous gift you're going to give. If someone says, "Well, I know you'll go over and above." Yeah, you might even have a tendency to actually do that, to go over and above when someone's kind of giving you that advance credit. And so he's kind of doing that a little bit, kind of setting them up, prepare your generous gift. Yes, I know you'll do this. And he says, "I know that it's a matter of generosity." The idea that giving is a blessing, a blessing, not just an obligation. So he contrasts those two things, not a grudging obligation. And so this idea of the blessing or the benefits that come from giving far outweigh any obligation you might feel. And, of course, it's interesting, this grudging obligation, the words used there are the same words that are used for being covetous or greedy. So rather than being greedy, make sure you're generous, that there's blessings from this offering that you're going to do rather than being greedy. So the idea... And why would he use greedy or covetous?

Of course, when you're coveting something, you want to keep things that aren't necessarily yours. And so there's this need that the brethren have and the idea of holding on to what you have rather than giving would cause the difficulties for those who are in need. And so you hold on to what you have at the expense of others. And that's really this idea of this covetousness or this greediness that it's kind of emphasizing, well, you're more concerned about yourself, even though you're doing fine. Yet here's someone in need and you won't give, you won't extend yourself. You're more worried about your own problems, your own issues, and it'll actually bring a detrimental effect on those who really are in need. And so he says, "All right, so make sure you're generous. Make sure there are blessings that flow from this rather than just trying to hang on to what you have." And so he begins to talk about a principle of giving. When you think about giving and specifically giving an offering to God, what should be our perspective? These are some of those passages that we'll, oftentimes, hear during the holy days when we take up an offering. Oftentimes, you may hear a message that revolves around these particular verses, especially those that teach this principle. There's a principle involved in verse 6.

2 Corinthians 9:6 Where he says, "But this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully."

So here's this axiom, it's a truism. It doesn't make sense. Okay, if you're a farmer, you plant a little bit of seed, how much are you going to reap at the end of the season? Well, you get a little bit because you planted a little bit. Well, what happens if you plant a lot? Yeah, you're going to reap a whole lot, right? There'll be a big harvest. And so that's the idea here. He's drawing this truism from the practicality of what farming or gardening would be all about. You have a big garden, plant a lot, you're going to have a lot to grow, and you'll have a lot that you harvest. And so this sowing and reaping principle, Paul is telling them, this applies to giving. It applies to giving an offering. And he's saying that this is a way of life. This isn't just a one-time kind of thing. But in life, this should be our perspective that if you sow bountifully, if you give of yourself, are there going to be benefits? Are there going to be blessings? Yeah, he's making that comparison.

He's saying, "Absolutely there will be. There will be no doubt about it." And so he's really espousing a way of life. How do we live our life? And really this applies, I think, in just about every aspect of life when you think about it. It reminds me of one of the Proverbs. If you hold your place here and turn back to Proverbs 11, notice the connection here. And maybe Paul had this particular passage on his mind as he wrote to the Corinthians. Take a look at Proverbs 11, notice verse 24. Proverbs 11:24. Here Paul takes this principle and applies it to giving, to offerings, and to how we live our life.

Proverbs 11:24-26 He says, "There's one who scatters, yet increases more." He says, "There's one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty. The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself. The people will curse him who withholds grain, but blessings will be on the head of him who sells it."

So there's that sowing, reaping principle, kind of spelled out here, kind of adding what we had read a little bit earlier. If you go back to 2 Corinthians, remember he talked about this matter of generosity versus an obligation. Well, that's what the Proverbs was talking about. You scatter, you sow, is it going to come back to you? God says, "Yeah, it's a godly principle. You help others, you serve others, there will be blessings that follow that." And so he's saying as a lifestyle, this should be our perspective that we sow in an abundant kind of way, and there will be abundant blessings. There will be a big harvest. And that doesn't always mean physical things. Now, he's really getting down to a spiritual lesson here, that there are spiritual blessings that come from that, especially from helping and serving the brethren. There are wonderful blessings that flow from that. And so he begins to talk about really why should we do this. Why is this principle true? Well, verse 8...or let's go verse 7 first.

2 Corinthians 9:7 He says, "So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver."

And so here he really gets down to the purpose, that there has to be a purpose in your heart. What's your perspective? You know, what is your motivation? What's your motivation for giving? And what's also interesting here, and I think one of the reasons we oftentimes will hear this when we take up an offering on the holy days, is that there is a purpose. Give as you purpose in your heart. But what is that talking about? Well, you've already planned to give. Give as you plan to give. And I think that speaks to our frame of mind. Are we givers? Or are we more concerned about ourselves? You know, some of the Corinthians, maybe they weren't so generous, and here he's reminding them, don't give grudgingly. Don't give just because you feel obligated to give. You should realize that your motivation should be to serve. It should be to help. And so you should have a predetermined disposition to be a giver because it's sure more blessed to give than to receive. We know that axiom as well.

And so he's saying do this from a heart that's voluntarily giving, not because you're forced to give. And he says that "God loves a cheerful giver." And so certainly when we help others, it should be because we want to, not just because we have to. As we give offerings to God, it should be because we want to, not just because we have to. It goes all the way back to Exodus where God gave instructions about that. You might just make a note of Exodus 25. The beginning of Exodus 25, God says, "You know, tell those Israelites to bring me an offering." And in that section of Exodus, He tells them, "Do it willingly." You know, do it from the heart. So Exodus 25:2 certainly tells you that very thing. Yeah, that's how we should give. And we should plan to be givers. Plan to be givers, because that will certainly be the aspect that we should be doing it out of willingness from a very giving heart rather than out of a sense of duty or obligation.

Even talks about how we should do it. He says, "God loves a cheerful giver." The word here is the word harilos, H-A-R-I-L-O-S, harilos. It doesn't mean be a harilos giver, you know, like you're over the top, you know, yucking it up or that sort of thing. Sometimes you might hear that. It doesn't really mean that in that sense, because there's, you know, other words that could have been used in the Greek to denote, you know, something over the top, hilarious kind of a thing. But what he's doing here is comparing that obligation versus one that is really thrilled to have an opportunity to give, you know, that does it in a way that is a pleasing way rather than one that is forced to do it just because, well, it's my duty. I guess I have to, you know, I have to do that. And so when you think about that, certainly that applies to the offerings that we give throughout the year. You know, the offerings we give, that's by our choice. It's by our choice. It's not a commanded amount. And so we choose to give.

Do we give from a heart that really wants to give and really enjoys sharing what we have with others? That's what it's all about. And so he points that out in our attitude and our perspective should be. And, of course, when that comes back to us, we recognize, is that how we live our life? Do we live our life from a perspective of being a giver rather than one that's just looking to hold on to what we have? See, he's encouraging the Corinthians about that very thing, that we should be giving out of a sense of joy and out of a sense of appreciation for the opportunity rather than, yeah, I know it's that time of the year again. I guess I better get my green envelopes out and give an offering. Well, because I have to or because I want to. Yeah, that contrasts those two very important principles here. So he says, "This is what God likes. God loves one who gives cheerfully." Now, of course, if you think because I give, somehow I'm going to be shortchanged, that I'm going to be left in the lurch, he comes back to that principle we read about in Proverbs. Take a look at verse 8.

2 Corinthians 9:8 "God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work."

Is God going to take care of you when you give? He says, "Yeah, absolutely. No doubt about that." And how do you put a value on spiritual blessings? That's a little bit of what he's getting at here, isn't it? That you'll have sufficiency in all things, He's going to make all grace abound toward you. God will favor you, God will bless you, and you'll have an abundance. So not just physically, but he says, "An abundance for every good work." God can do that. So do we see it from God's perspective as we prepare an offering, as we give to others? Do we see it from His perspective? God loves someone who gives out of the joy of the opportunity to serve and help others. Then in verse 9, he has a quotation here, this is from Psalm 112.

2 Corinthians 9:9 He says, "As it's written, 'He has dispersed abroad. He has given to the poor. His righteousness endures forever.'"

So once again, will God take care of your needs? He says, yes, absolutely. You give from a right heart, from a right perspective, in the right manner, use wisdom and discernment to properly help others, he says, "Yeah, God's going to take care of you. He will take care of your needs. There's no doubt about that." And so Paul cites this promise from God. Now, of course, he also gets to the point of where all the opportunities even stem from. Because we have been given too, we can help others. So verse 10 is a reminder of that.

2 Corinthians 9:10 He says, "Now, may He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food," well, who does that? God does. He's given us life. He's given us everything we have. He supplied the seed to begin with. We're back to that sower and the seed. Where did the seed come from? Well, it comes from the blessings of God. So He supplies us the seed. He says, "He supplies the bread for food," as well. What does he say next? "May He supply and multiply the seed you've sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness."

And so Paul gets right to the spiritual blessings that not only are you helping those in need when you give of your substance, but you will reap a spiritual harvest, the fruits of your righteousness. So there'll be spiritual blessings that follow as well. Not only will God take care of your physical needs, there will be spiritual blessings that follow as well. And so he's almost pronouncing this as a blessing upon them. "Now, may He who supplies the seed to the sower and bread for the food, supply and multiply the seed you've sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness." Almost like a prayer that God would actually do this.

2 Corinthians 9:11 He says, "While you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God," because God is the source.

God is the source of everything. He's the owner of everything. He's the one who gives us breath and gives us the means to accomplish anything, anything. And so Paul goes right back to the source, kind of reminding the Corinthians. Of course, remember, put yourself back in Corinth at this time. They were a prosperous city. They were one that, you know, certainly dealt in trade and had many opportunities to be blessed. And so Paul's reminding them, where do those blessings come from? Well, they come from God. Every blessing comes from God. And so remember this opportunity, not only physically you've been blessed, but you've been blessed spiritually as well. And that should bring us full circle, all the way back to God. He's the one who gives those blessings. So it should cause thanksgiving to God, to the source.

2 Corinthians 9:12-13 He says, "For the administration of this service, not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgiving to God." So Paul begins to tell them that, "all right, there's this opportunity to serve, but that ultimately God gets the thanks for you submitting your life to Him." He says, "While through the proof of this ministry," this service, this opportunity to give, he says, "they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ."

So the ones who receive the blessings, those that receive the collection, they'll be thankful to God. They'll be thankful to you. And you see how this thankfulness spreads to everyone. Yeah, that you confess to be Christians, now you're actually showing that you are. And he says, "Everyone will be thankful." And it says, "For your liberal sharing with them and all men." So they'll thank God as an opportunity to be thankful to you as well.

2 Corinthians 9:14-15 He says, "And by their prayer for you, who long for you because the exceeding grace of God in you. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift."

And so we see appreciation between everyone, appreciation to God for the opportunity, the blessings He's given us to help and to serve and to give an offering, take up a collection for others. Thanks on their part for receiving that gift. And God gets the glory for all of those things. So he comes back to this, I think, overriding point. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift. And what gift is he talking about here? Well, it's not explicit here exactly what he's talking about. Some of the translations will translate this, "His unspeakable gift." Hard to put into words the gifts that God gives us. And so I think there's so many aspects of the gift of God. The ultimate gift is the gift of eternal life. But think of what makes that even possible. I mean, this amazing gift that God's given us by His love, that God loves us. He gave His Son as a sacrifice for us. How do you describe that? How do you put that into words? He's kind of getting to that point.

The indescribable gift of the blessings of God, that He favors us, He has grace towards us, that He wants us in His family. Indescribable gift of God's forgiveness and His mercy upon us that ultimately brings salvation. That indescribable gift of the opportunity to be sons and daughters in the family of God forever. How do you put that into words? I think that's part of what he's getting at. All tying that into, God is the ultimate giver. God's the ultimate giver. Are we willing to follow His example as we help and we serve others? With that kind of perspective, wow, how can you help but be a cheerful giver to frame your life about being one who is the giver, following ultimately God's example? And so Paul concludes these two chapters by making that very powerful point, that it all comes back to God, that He's blessed us with life to begin with. And, now, we certainly need to be thankful to Him for this opportunity, not only for life, but then to serve and help others as well. So he concludes Chapter 9 with that point. All right.

Well, that leads us then to Chapter 10. Now, as we get into Chapter 10, there's quite a change in approach as Paul goes on with his letter here. Certainly, a different feel to the words that he begins to pen as he gets to Chapter 10. We'll see a pretty quick change of perspective from the apostle Paul. In a sense, up to this point, he's been talking a lot to those who have changed. You know, when he wrote that first letter, there were a lot of things that needed to be changed with the Corinthians' perspective, with how they dealt with things, the number of issues that he talked about in 1 Corinthians. Probably the majority of them had changed. A lot of them had repented. And so up to this point, it seems like he's really been focused on those that have been repentant, probably the majority of the Corinthians, all the way up until this point. But, now, he's going to come back to those who have still been influenced by those false teachers, those who really haven't changed their perspective.

And so in Chapter 10, he's really beginning to address them and tell them he's tried to deal with them in a merciful way. But if he has to do otherwise, look out. Look out. If I have to come with boldness, I will. I will. I've written to you and most of you have gotten the message and you've changed. You've seen that need. But there's still some of you that haven't. And so Paul's really going to address them in these next couple of chapters. So let's notice chapter 10 as he pivots to talk to the unrepentant minority.

2 Corinthians 10:1 He says, "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."

Of course, they had accused Paul of being, well, kind of wimpy, that they criticized him. Yes, he had come in meekness and gentleness. "He came," he says, "as Christ." But some of them ignored that.

2 Corinthians 10:2 So he says, "I'm going to be bold." He says, "I beg you," verse 2, "that when I'm 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."

Okay, that's one of the accusations against him. They accused Paul of being carnal. Basically, Paul's really not that converted. Yeah, he's just acting like a regular person. He's just walking according to physical things. So those were the accusations. And Paul says, "Boy, if I have to come with boldness, I'll do it. I don't want to do that. But if I have to, I will. And they're accusing me of being unconverted." And so Paul says, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh." Paul says, "I'm not a carnal. I don't have that physical perspective in my mind. I'm not living my life from a physical perspective." And so here Paul is going to defend himself. He's going to show how wrong they are in his thinking and really to get a better spiritual perspective. And so he says, "We've been called to a different way of life." And, yeah, it's like a battle. We actually have to battle the physical side of our nature. We have to battle the fleshly things, the carnal things. And so we're not living our lives as carnal human beings anymore. That's not it at all. We're not walking this way. Yeah, we're still alive physically. That's true. We're still walking and living, breathing human beings. Yeah, we walk in the flesh. But that's not our calling, to battle according to the flesh. Yeah, we're still in the body, but how do we live our lives?

We have to live our lives with a spiritual perspective. That's really where we're at. We don't battle. We're not warring according to the flesh. It's not about physical tools or battle or physical weapons in that regard. It's about spiritual things. And so he says that very clearly. If you hold your place here, just to build on that point just a little bit, if we go over to the book of Romans, Paul uses this theme quite often in his writings, the calling that we have to spiritual warfare, that we are spiritual soldiers in that sense. In Romans 8, he uses the same metaphor here. In Romans 8, notice verse 9. Notice verse 9. We've been called to have a spiritual perspective.

Romans 8:9 He says, "You are not in the flesh." So in Romans 8:9, he says that "that shouldn't be the way we live our lives according to the flesh." He says, "But you're in the spirit. If indeed, the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now, if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he's not His."

So we can't battle from a physical perspective. We've been called to spiritual warfare. We skip down just a little bit to verse 13.

Romans 8:13 He says, "If you live according to the flesh, you'll die." Yeah, that's your only perspective. A physical perspective, you're going to die. "But if you live by the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body," he says, "you will live."

And so that's how we should walk. Walk according to the Spirit. That's a whole different perspective. He's pointing out these people who are influenced by these false teachers and the false teachers themselves, we're walking according to the flesh. And Paul is saying, "That's not my perspective. That's not what I'm about at all." And so all of us should be battling according to the spiritual calling that we receive from God. So if we head back to 2 Corinthians, he builds upon this. We're warring not according to the flesh. It's not a physical battle we've been called to.

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 He says in verse 4, "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, they're not physical, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, for casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God."

So he frames this spiritual battle that we've been called to. And we've been given the spiritual weapons to be able to pull down strongholds. Literally, that's a fortress. We can pull down the works of the flesh. We can pull down those things that would stand against God's way, the strongholds, the culture that we're submerged in. We don't have to be influenced by it. He's saying we can pull down that stronghold, that fortress. We can pull down the pride. We can pull down the arrogance. We can pull down all of the selfishness that goes along with the ways of this world. Yeah, and they're pretty strong. He says, "Yeah, those are things that don't fall easily." They're not going to come down just with the physical effort. You're going to have to have some spiritual weapons to pull those things down. And so we've been given the weapons by God. And so this battle, this spiritual warfare we've been called to, has to use spiritual weapons to pull those fortresses apart. And he says we can do that. He talked about this just a little bit earlier. If you turn back just a couple of pages, in chapter 6, 2 Corinthians 6, he talked about this very thing. Notice in verse 7.

2 Corinthians 6:7 He says, "Here's some of those weapons that we've been given. We've been given the word of truth. We've been given God's Word."

Can we annihilate the physical things that come against us? Even the thoughts that come into our minds? Can we tear those things down by the word of truth? Absolutely. And he says, "We've been given the power of God." We've been given God's Holy Spirit. Can we pull down those fortresses, the physical things that would come against? Yeah, absolutely. We can take down the spiritual evil that would come against us as well. Yeah, we don't have to be influenced by those things. So he talks about that here back in Chapter 6. He says, "We've been given the armor of righteousness." And so we put that on and we can fight this spiritual battle, and we can pull down the physical carnality that comes against us.

And so if we turn back to Chapter 10, yeah, we've been given quite a few weapons so we can overcome. We had talked about that in Chapter 6, that this ties back into Ephesians 6. Ephesians 6 talks about the armor of God, that we've been given this armor, and we're to put on all of it, put on all of that armor, because we're not fighting flesh and blood. We're fighting principalities and power and the powers of darkness and the rulers of this age. You talked about Satan certainly being the ruler of this age, the prince of the power of the air. We're fighting against those types of things. And so that warfare that we've been called to is a spiritual battle. It almost reminds me of what he wrote to Timothy. I think it's in 2 Timothy. If you hold your place here in 2 Corinthians, I believe it's in 2 Timothy. Let's see if I can find that particular quote. Okay, I don't see it there in 1 Timothy. Okay, it's, yeah, 2 Timothy 2 where he reminds us of the calling that we have. Verse 3, Paul reminds Timothy, he's certainly reminding us by extension.

2 Timothy 2:3 He says, "Endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."

Yeah, we've been called to a spiritual battle. We've been given God's Spirit. We have Christ living in us. So be a good soldier.

2 Timothy 2:4 He says, verse 4, "No one engaged in warfare and tangles himself with the affairs of this life." Yeah, don't get into a physical perspective. You're going to get taken down. We've got to take down the strongholds. So he says, "We please Him who enlisted Him as a soldier."

Yeah, so we're all enlisted soldiers of God. And so we have to please our commanding officer. That's who we have to please. And so he reminds us of that very fact. We are Christian soldiers, and we've been given this calling to overcome. And so the best part is He's given us the weapons to be able to overcome. We've been given the power of God's Spirit. We've been given those spiritual weapons so that we can endure the hardship. And so we can pull down those strongholds. If you look back at 2 Timothy 10, not only the fortresses that come against us, he says, "We can cast down arguments," as well. We can cast down the arguments. And so he gives us this admonition. Yeah, there are things that would come against us. What about arguments?

Literally, this word could be translated as imaginations. You know, things that are in your mind. I think the old King James translates it, "imaginations," that you can cast down imaginations. That leads to our thoughts. I mean, literally, it has to do with demolishing a building. We can demolish our thinking, our wrong thinking, in other words. We can overcome that. We can demolish the old way of thinking, pull that stronghold down, cast out that way of thought.

2 Corinthians 10:5 And he says, "And every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God." And so it gets back to our... Of course, that was part of the subject that he had earlier when he talked about what true repentance looks like. True repentance is about changing our thinking, rethinking things. Yes, we can rethink and look at life differently. Get rid of any argument, any thought that would be against God's way.

2 Corinthians 10:5-6 And he says, "We can bring that, every thought," end of verse 5, "into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled."

So with this calling that we've been given, we can overcome. We can overcome the physical impact of life. And we can take on spiritual wickedness as well when we bring every thought into captivity. And so when we look at this, it's pretty powerful, pretty powerful tools that we've been given that we can overcome the thoughts, the ideas that come into our mind, the wrong reasoning that comes into our mind, the temptations that come into our mind. We can pull those things down. We can demolish them. And he says, "God's given us the power to bring every thought into captivity." That's a lot. How many thoughts do you think every day? Some of the science tells us somewhere around 90,000 thoughts a day that we have. Can we bring every thought into the captivity of Christ? Wow, that's a job, isn't it? Boy, if we're thinking that much, it's like, "Oh, well, what's for lunch today? It's getting close to lunchtime." It's like, "Yeah, I'm really focused." Well, can we bring those thoughts into captivity? Well, that's what he's talking about here. Interesting connection there.

Remember, he talked about bringing captivity. Earlier, he had talked about those Roman victory parades. Remember our discussion about that? Yeah, now, we're going to bring every thought into captivity. The Romans would bring their captives that they had conquered back to Rome and march them through the streets, and then execute them, showing their great superiority over them. Here, he's kind of bringing us back to that thought is that it's not just about Roman conquerors physically, it's about grabbing those thoughts and getting rid of them, overcoming them. That's what it's about, captivating thoughts, making sure none of those thoughts overwhelm us so that we give in to temptation, bring every thought into captivity, just like the Romans wanted to bring every enemy into captivity. Here, he uses this as Christian soldiers to bring every thought into captivity. And we can do that. And then, of course, when we change our thinking, what does it do? It changes our actions. It changes what we do.

So we bring thoughts into captivity. What can the only result be? He says obedience to Christ. Yeah, when we change our thinking, we get rid of the physical perspective. We get rid of the influence of evil, and we bring thoughts captive, then it impacts our actions so that we are obedient Christians. And so Paul, powerfully, makes this amazing point that that should be our perspective, bringing every thought as Christian soldiers. Don't let anything get by you. He's saying, you know, take care of every thought. That way, we won't be vulnerable. We won't be vulnerable to Satan's attacks. And so, yes, he's right. Yeah, your obedience, you've begun you've begun Corinthians to get things in order. Now, keep going. Keep going is what he says really there in verse 6. Now, in verse 7.

2 Corinthians 10:7 He says, "Do you look at things according to outward appearance?"

Kind of a rhetorical question. We probably all have to say to some degree, "Yeah, all too often I do that. All too often." Yeah, we're physical human beings, we look at outward appearances. But where does God look? What is God most concerned about? We know that passage from, what is it, 1 Samuel 16. I think it's verse 7, where God looks at the heart. God looks at the heart. When God talked to Samuel, He said, "Don't look at just what's on the outside." God looks at the heart. So Corinthians, are you still looking at outward appearance? That was important to them. He corrected them severely in that first letter about that perspective. Don't just look on the outside. Yeah, they tended to do that. He says, "If anyone's convinced in himself that he is Christ's, let him again consider this in himself." Rethink this. Reexamine this. "Just as he is Christ, even so we are Christ."

So Paul defends himself that I belong to Christ. Don't categorize me with those false teachers. They're not of Christ. Are you sure you're of Christ? Now, think about where that takes us. Yes. Remember when he initially wrote to the Corinthians, at least in 1 Corinthians of our Bible, what did he say in that very first chapter? If you remember, some were saying, "Oh, I'm of Apollos. Oh, I'm of Peter. Oh, I'm of Paul." And then the trump card was what? "Oh, I am of Christ." Yeah, you think this is bringing us right back to that letter? No doubt. You think you're of Christ? You're one of those that say, "Oh, I'm of Christ." Well, if you're convinced that he is Christ, that you're of Christ, you better rethink that. You better look at your thoughts. You better make sure you're from a right perspective here. Yeah, if I have to use my authority to come and correct you, oh, he says, "You better re-examine where you're at. You better re-examine what you're thinking."

2 Corinthians 10:8-9 He says, "Even if I should boast somewhat more about our authority, which the Lord gave us for edification and not for your destruction, I'm not going to be ashamed, lest I seem to terrify you by letters."

Yeah, Paul was pretty strong in that harsh letter. 1 Corinthians, sometimes called the severe letter. Yeah, he was right to the point there. But he's saying, "Hey, isn't it better to be corrected by a letter? Because if I have to show up and correct you, I'll do it if I have to. You claim you're of Christ and yet you're acting that way. You're putting down the apostle of Jesus Christ," which is what they were doing. Yeah, he says, "All right, if I need to, I will." Look at the condemnation some were leveling at Paul.

2 Corinthians 10:10 "Some said, 'His letters, they say, are weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak and his speech contemptible.'"

Wow. Yeah, they were totally putting him down, comparing him to these probably well-spoken false teachers.

2 Corinthians 10:11 He says, "Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when we're absent, such will also be in deed when we're present."

So Paul's saying here, listen, I'm not one of those parents that are just a threatening repetitive parent. Yeah, you know what that is. No, don't touch that, Johnny. Oh, I'm going to have to punish you if you touch that. I'm going to come and I'm going to count to three. One, two, three. All right. Don't do that. Yeah, that threatening repeating parent. They just do that over and over and never, never get to any action. See, Paul said, "That's not me. I told you clearly in that first letter, this needed to be changed. Some of you haven't changed. Some of you are still accusing me of being a false teacher. Boy, if I come, we're going to set it straight. I'm not just all talk. We'll have to turn that letter into bold action." That's what he's telling them. So make sure you change. That's what he's reminding them. And so he's pointing out very clearly, if I have to do this, I will. I will.

2 Corinthians 10:12 He says, "We dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves."

Well, what were those false teachers doing? Remember, we talked about their letters of commendation, how wonderful they looked, and how great they were. And, unfortunately, that was kind of a Greek thing, wasn't it? People would come into the town square and they would preach and they would teach or they would give their great philosophies. Yeah, that was their entertainment of the day. And, boy, they would be amazing orators. Well, that was just an outward show. God doesn't look at the outward appearance. And so he tells them straight. He says, "They measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise."

You see, you claim to be Christ's, what's the measuring stick? Not false phony teachers, not what they're telling you. The measuring stick is Jesus Christ Himself. That should be the only one that we measure ourselves by. Do we measure according to the stature of Jesus Christ? That should be the measure. And so here Paul is pointing out very clearly that you claim to be Christ. Don't fall for those false teachers. Don't fall for their lies and what they're saying about me as the apostle of Jesus Christ. They're putting me down. Some of you are saying how weak I am when I show up. But, listen, if I have to drop the hammer when I get there, I will. And I have the authority from Christ Himself to do that. So you want to compare yourself to someone, compare yourself to Christ. All right. We'll leave it at that for today's session. And we'll pick it up there in the middle of verse or in the middle of Chapter 10 for our next opportunity.