Waging the Lord’s war

2 Corinthians 10:1-18 

Key Verse 3

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.

Today we would like to shift our position from that of a sheep to that of a shepherd. You know what a shepherd does for his sheep. A shepherd risks his life for the sheep. He fights for the interests of his sheep. He fights against the wolves coming. The shepherd is the one that fights. Sooner than later each of us must grow out of a sheep’s level and mature to a shepherd’s level. And a shepherd must know how to wage the Lord’s war. 

In the passage Paul describes the fight as “waging war”. How then does the Apostle Paul wage the Lord’s war?  He did he fight the Lord’s battles? In this passage, expecting that the Corinthians would offer partnership for the Lord’s world mission work, he explains to them the way to fight the Lord’s battle. Let us read vs. 14-16. Let us focus on the expressions and think about the meanings of: our hope; your faith continues to grow; our area of activity among you will greatly expand in the regions beyond you…. Our hope refers to the hope of Paul and his coworkers such as Timothy or Titus, and certainly the members of the church of Corinthians. Likewise, we have the hope to expand the area of our activity in the regions beyond Downey, UCLA, west coast, east coast, North America such as Canada, covering from Vancouver to Nova Scotia, South America such as Brazil, Asia, particularly China (how many are praying for Ryan and the coworkers who are already in China?) Philippines, Africa, Europe, and beyond. 

Paul knew that he was engaged in the Lord’s war – the war to win souls to Jesus Christ, the Savior and Lord. He knew that Jesus is the commander-in-chief. Jesus the commander commanded to make disciples of all nations. So he wanted to mobilize all the members of the churches he pioneered thus far, those who were in Jerusalem, in Antioch, in Philippi, in Athens, and certainly in Corinth… Eventually he wanted to conquer the Rome and go to even Spain which was considered the end of the world.   

The Apostle Paul knew what he was up against. That is, the war against the enemies controlling the vast number of people within the Roman Empire. The enemies he was faced with are seen in Daniel – 7:7. “After that in my vision at night I looked and there before me was a fourth beast – terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns.” Consider the Roman Empire especially its systems, and the lifestyles she promoted.  Think about the ten horns. It has been said, the U.S. is the present day Rome. Some say, “No. China is the emerging Rome. Whatever is the case, notice such words as ‘iron teeth’, ‘crushed’ and ‘devoured’, ‘its victims, and ‘trampled’ underfoot whatever was left. The Iron teeth represent spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms that control systems, structures, cultures, and lifestyles. Its victims are the dying souls. What do these imageries (as seen in the expressions in Daniel 7:7) mean in regard to the conditions of the Lord’s war we are called to engage ourselves in? 

Paul knew one thing: to win this war, he does need coworkers. So he prayed to mobilize the Lord’s army. We recognize the same conditions exist on the war we are faced with. So, I encourage the coworkers in Downey ministry to consider the call to get ourselves mobilized under the banner title, “Mobilization 2020”, that is by 2020 mobilize and build minimum 12,000 soldiers’ ministry and thereby work to send 100,000 missionaries to all nations by the year 2040.  Didn’t the Lord say to his disciples, “If you ask for anything in my name I will do it?” 

Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our area of activity among you will greatly expand, so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. 

So Paul does the fight. He wants the flock to understand and participate in the Lord’s war. Now how are we to do the Lord’s fight? One of the first things for us to answer this question is to understand how the way to wage Lord’s war is different than the way in which the world does. 

The attitude is different. Look at vs. 1-2. In Greek the word ‘meekness’ also has the meaning of mildness. The opposite of meekness or mildness and gentleness of Christ is what Daniel described the Roman Empire to be, that is, beastliness. It has been observed that this beastly empire and her people came to come to Christ, beginning with the wives of the Roman Elite soldiers, for unlike the beastly nature of their husbands, Jesus, the early Christians preached, was truly gentle and kind. As these wives came to Christ, many of their husbands also came to Christ. In a way, the Lord God ‘took care of’ the terrifying beast so they could be tamed to be like a lamb, as mild as our Lord Jesus. In serving the Lord we come in contacts with new Bible students who may be mean and irksome. Some of them might act like a beast. So might be the case with coworkers inside of the church fellowship. When they are mean and base to you, how would you serve them? The Corinthians treated Paul in a way that is beastly and uncivil. They were unkind. In many ways they behaved like dogs or snakes. But Paul did not treat them in kind. And meekness and gentle kindness is the key to tame the wild to be Christ-like. 

The weapons are different. Look at vs. 3-4. The world wages war with guns and knives. But God’s servants wage the Lord’s war with holy weapons. It has been said that there are two means of grace, that is, the Word of God and Prayer. So these are two major weapons. To be meek and gentle does not mean that the Christians do nothing. Rather in gentle kindness we need to serve those who are hostile to the Lord with God’s words and prayer. In case of the Apostle Paul, some of the Corinthians formed a faction and they threw at Paul a lot of curve balls. But Paul did not become emotional. Rather he prayerfully served them with God’s words, touching upon issue after issue. This service came to be known the 1 and 2 (some scholars say 3) Corinthians. Prayer also plays an important role in waging the Lord’s war, because for the most part, we pray when we are ‘helpless’. On many occasions Paul found himself helpless, for no matter what Paul said, still some beastly people remained stubborn, so nothing seemed working. Then Paul prayed to the Lord and left the matters in the hands of the Lord. So in serving the Lord each time we are faced with sticky people with sticky problems, we need to step back, refrain ourselves from getting involved in a mud-slinging business, but rather, prayerfully respond to the war-like situations with God’s word and prayer. 

The goal is different. Look at vs. 5-6. According to this passage, [while the world works to produce people who are disobedient to God] we work to produce those who are obedient to Christ. Serving the word of God such as in a one bible study or a group Bible study, must serve this goal. We do not serve the word for the sake of expanding the head-knowledge of the audience. Rather it is aimed at producing obedience to Christ. Prayer is geared to serve the same purpose. The processes are then by demolishing arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. Now in regard to the knowledge of God, if you stopped on the street ten people and asked them about their own concept of God, it is very likely that all of them will NOT offer you exactly the same version of God. Isn’t it true that so many say, “Okay, God is love”? Isn’t it also true that not all mean [much less understand] the kind of love God has for mankind? This is where the fire line is aimed at, for the only God we are called to serve is the God who sent Jesus, because as the Hebrews says, Jesus is the ‘exact’ representation of God’s being. For this purpose enlightenment becomes necessary, so that trough the word of God and prayer, the blind would open their eyes, come to the firm grip of the correct knowledge of God, and then become obedient to. While I was in the college I went by Maoism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Nihilism. God had mercy on me. Through one of my classmates, I was invited to UBF. There through the Genesis study, the Lord helped me overcome the arguments and many pretensions that set up against the knowledge of God. Through Bible studies in UBF then the Lord trained me to be obedient to Jesus. And this process still continues.

The qualification is different. Look at v. 7. In this passage Paul says that just as [some of] the Corinthians maintain that they belonged to Christ, so also Paul belonged to Christ. The expression ‘as much as he’ then stresses the point that just as they think they are qualified to speak for the Lord by virtue of themselves belonging to Christ, so also Paul by virtue of him belonging to Christ is qualified to serve the Lord. The point then is that as long as one belongs to the Christ, he or she can serve the Lord’s army. This is seen even in the Sunday school song, “I am in the Lord’s army.” I'm In The Lord's Army”
I may never march in the infantry,
Ride in the cavalry,
Shoot the artillery.
I may never zoom o'er the enemy,
But I'm in the Lord's army. Yes, sir!
I'm in the Lord's army. Yes, sir!
I'm in the Lord's army. Yes, sir!
I may never march in the infantry,
Ride in the cavalry,
Shoot the artillery.
I may never zoom o'er the enemy,
But I'm in the Lord's army. Yes, sir!

The source of authority is different. Look at vs. 8-11. Worldly-minded people base their security on such basis as contract or payroll. But the Apostle Paul boasts somewhat freely on the authority the Lord gave him. Consider who gave him the authority. It is the LORD. How much authority does the LORD have? All in heaven and on earth. In fact, the Lord holds in his palm all rulers of the world in all generations. This truth keeps his soldiers to be stable and secure. It keeps a Christian worker to perform steadily despite people making opposing. So we should not be sensitive to what others say, for many in order to justify themselves say all that can suit their selfish interests. 

Christian soldiers seek the Lord’s approval, not men’s. Look at vs. 12-18.  Some of the Corinthians questioned Paul’s integrity. But Paul was not shaken. Inasmuch as he knew that approval comes from the Lord, when his opponents tried to correct him or in any way make him unsettled, Paul did not back down. Rather as he knows what the Lord approved him of doing, he stood his ground and worked to correct those who were in error. So Paul was able to do the mission the Lord assigned him to do, overcoming obstacles. 

In conclusion, although some people in the church of Corinth played enemies of God, the Apostle Paul worked on them, so along with them the whole church congregation would be won over to the Lord fully, offer to him the partnership of the gospel, and thereby work with him for the expansion of God’s kingdom within the Roman Empire. In our own generation the Lord’s war continues. From the U.S. front, may the Lord bless all the members of the ministry (CBF, JBF, HBF, UBF, GBF, and all) be trained as excellent soldiers of Jesus Christ. May the Lord bless us to know how to wage the Lord’s war. May the Lord bless us to work with one heart to serve the summer ministry, especially for the Summer Bible Conf..  

One word: waging the Lord’s war