Second Corinthians chapter 10 shows us the purpose of the ministry of deliverance and the purpose of authority that comes to the ministers whom God raises up. We need to understand the purpose and function of His ministers and what He is trying to do through them.
One of the most audacious statements of authority ever made by an apostle is found in II Corinthians 10:3–6. Paul said, 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.
This is quite a declaration for these apostles. What Paul actually said could take us years to understand. Paul was saying that we live a very human, earthly life, but that is where the human element ends. We do not battle spiritually by means of our human resources. We do not war according to the flesh, trying to figure out some earthly strategy to defeat the enemy. We do not promote things with a human wisdom. Instead we try to break through until God is released into our situation.
How different this is from the tactics of religious enterprises. Today, denominations engage some of the most highly paid advertisers and promoters: those who can create images, those who can create publicity, those who are wise in investments. Religion has become big business. But we are not in that category. We set about to get a Word from the Lord, and then we strive to perform it.
The minute we receive a Word from the Lord, the enemy comes against us as hard as he can. Because of this we may feel that we are not capable or that we have no ability. The apostle Paul said that it makes no difference how much human ability we have. We are not warring according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.
I don’t believe there is anything that can stand in our way, which we could not bring down by praying against it. I don’t believe there is anything that can come against us, that we could not see averted by our faith and our authority in the Lord Jesus Christ. I made that statement recently and I had to prove it, as one thing after another came against us. This is a challenging position to be in. When you make an audacious statement, a confession of your faith such as this, you will have to believe to follow it through; otherwise do not speak it forth in the first place. But we are saying it, and we will live with it, and overcome by it.
What God tells us to do is not based upon our human capabilities to fulfill it. It is based upon the fact that we have spiritual weapons to pull down the fortresses. His divine power has been committed to us. We have authority, faith, promises from God, and the anointing to prophesy every lofty thing down and to see locked doors opened. Nothing that comes against us can hinder us. We can pull down these fortresses. The King James Version says that we are casting down imaginations … and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. The New American Standard Bible says, 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.
This seems to be a little bit more than appears on the surface. Some will want to twist this Word and say that we are practicing mind control. It is not the kind of mind control our critics think, but the kind of mind control that comes from the Holy Spirit who can so move upon us that we lift up our voices and say, “We have the mind of Christ” (I Corinthians 2:16).
Paul wrote to the Philippians, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Philippians 2:5. We want His mind to be in us until we will to be humble, until we become like Christ who emptied Himself and became of no reputation. He became a bondservant and humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (verses 7–8). This is against our human thinking. The very will to live makes us fight and struggle against humbling ourselves. Even when we feel that we want to become obedient, something in our flesh fights this.
I do not think this walk before God which we have chosen is mind control as much as it is heart control. God is getting into the thoughts, the intents, and the imaginations of our heart; and He is bringing them to be obedient to Christ. Our critics wrongly say this is mind control, that we do the will of man, that man controls it. However, no one controls anyone for any personal advantage. We have done the impossible by sacrificing. Many projects have succeeded with the blessings of God upon them. Yet in the natural world, statistics indicate that a great percentage of newly started small businesses fail. How can this difference be explained? God gives us a Word, and He puts in our minds and our hearts the will to accomplish that Word. In Nehemiah 4:6, read about the children of Israel, the Jews who came back from Babylon to rebuild the walls: … the people had a mind to work.
In this day, it is not in people’s thinking to work. They are not supporters of any work ethic in any way. They want shorter hours and fewer days and more money. If possible, they would like to stay home and just have the check mailed to them on payday. Most people are human enough to think that this would be a delightful idea.
Our thinking must be that there is some control over our spirit and our mind and our heart, so that we are beginning to conform to God’s will. Romans 12:2 says, And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Certainly there is a change in our thinking. Of course the world, and even the religious world, will look at us and say, “Somebody is controlling them.” This is true because we have presented our bodies a living sacrifice, because we have refused to be conformed to this age, and we have entered into a period where we are being renewed. Our minds are being renewed! We are beginning to think the thoughts that Christ thinks and feel the things that Christ feels! He transfers His feelings and His thinking through us. We are members of His Body, controlled by His central intelligence and wisdom. He is the Head from whom the whole Body is functioning (Ephesians 4:15–16). God is laying within us authority, but His authority is not for exalting ourselves.
Do not consider an assault as coming against you personally. Recognize the assault as Satan coming against the Christ in you. If you reason this way, soon you will realize, “If the enemy is coming against the Christ that is coming forth in the many-membered Body, then let the authority of Christ come forth through us to bring down the fortresses, the principalities, and the powers that war against the Christ in us, and that war against the Kingdom!” Refuse to take the battle personally. We are in the culmination of the war of ages, in which the Lord Jesus Christ and Satan are in final conflict. But greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. I John 4:4b.
What is the promise for us in I John 5:4? For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. We reach into His tremendous authority that will take every speculation, every thought in our mind, every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and bring them all into obedience to Christ. We pray, “Lord, let that start in my mind, so there will be no perverse ways of thinking in me. Let my mind be renewed as You transform and change my whole way of thinking.”
Paul said, “We are destroying speculations.” At the start of a service, what would happen if the elders would say, “Now we are going to have a little meeting and try to answer all your questions. Just lay out all the problems you are going through.” By the time they were through with one question, there would be another. They could do that from now on, but it never would work. Amazingly, there is a state in God that answers questions by revelation and authority rather than by factual knowledge. People can be given all the facts that are needed, but if they are under deception, they will not believe them. When that speculation, that lofty attitude of mind, is brought down by the authority of Christ, immediately their thinking changes to a clear understanding. The prayers of authority roll away deception.
Deception locks you in, but submission breaks deception. Humble yourself before the Lord, saying, “I do not understand. I may have a lot of deception, but I believe, Lord, that You will take dominion over this. When You get through with me, I will think the way that You think.” This will lead you into the obedience of Christ. Then you will not go back to your independent thinking.
How should questions and speculations be answered? When someone has an honest question, he should be given an answer. If his spirit is right, he will listen; and God will break through to him. But generally speaking, when deception is reigning, authority is needed to overcome it. When deception is clouding a church, no one sees or hears the Word the same as everyone else hears it. There is a spirit to distort what is spoken.
We must have “ears to hear what the Spirit is saying” (Revelation 2:7). How can we hear if our minds distort what we see, what we hear, what we feel, and our circumstances are interpreted by something deceptive? Paul said that the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Romans 8:7. We will always foul ourselves up with our own processes of thinking. Let us humble ourselves and constantly say, “Lord, I know I am not wise enough; so what should I do?” Let us acknowledge the Lord, as we read in Proverbs 3:5–6: Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Take sovereign control of that faulty, carnal thinking. Dethrone it and say, “I’m through with this! Lord, I am going to depend on You and trust in You with all my heart. Instead of my own understanding, I will lean upon Your revelation. Direct my paths and bring me out right in this.” If you do not do this, you will be drawn into making decisions about things that you do not have to make decisions on. You will be drawn into not making decisions on things that you should make decisions on. You will be drawn into confusion on how to interpret things.
God has led us through bitter spiritual warfare, through battles of intercession to break through, through assaults against our worship. No former movement in history ever had such intense assaults of Satan against it; but no other movement in history had the promise of being the last move of God before the Kingdom broke upon the earth. We have a promise from God. There may be others who have this promise, too. We are not exclusive about this. But others who have this promise are experiencing the same battles we go through, because Satan is ready to stop this ultimate victory if he can. If he can twist you up in your mind, he will do it.
At the start of a service, should we ask if anyone has questions? Open the service with a question and answer time? No, we should all join together and take dominion over our thoughts, over our emotions, and over our interpretations of our circumstances, saying, “Lord, we come to lay our lives before You. Speak to us by Your Spirit. Speak to us out of the Word. Give us good, sound, wholesome Living Words that cause us to think Your thoughts, to feel Your heart, and to reach into You until everything in us is conformed to You.”
“Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). Look to the Lord with real faith, confessing that you are not quite as wise as you thought you were, that you are not really capable of coming to the right interpretation of things. Bring down every speculation, every lofty thought, everything that is not obedient to Christ. Bring everything into obedience to Him.