Fighting an enemy you can’t see

Lighthouse Bible Church

Sunday, July 5, 2026

2Co 10:1-4

Title: Fighting an enemy you can’t see

Paul begins Chapter 10 with a stark change — the topic switches from giving to yet another defense of his conduct. We’ll discuss what drove his conduct, and the battle he and we are in.

The sentiment from 2Co 10:1-2 about Paul’s behavior is really his critics’ opinion. They think he is carrying himself according to the flesh, instead of being led by the Spirit.

Paul wrote strong, bold letters, critics acknowledged, but he was comparatively meek and quiet when he was with them in person. Paul was aware of their views, and he acknowledged so here.

The critics took Paul’s kindness for weakness, but there is nothing wrong with meekness or gentleness. Those qualities in many fly in the face of the world’s behavior.

There’s nothing wrong meekness or gentleness. Jesus Christ was gentle, and He was meek:
Isa 53:7-9, Mat 11:25-30, Mat 26:47-54, Phi 2:7-8

Again, there’s nothing wrong meekness or gentleness. There’s a reference to meekness for wives relative to their marriage:

1Pe 3:1-4

Paul uses that first point regarding the flesh to segue into a larger, second point: we live (walk) in physical flesh but aren’t fighting a physical battle with sin. Instead, it’s a spiritual one.

It should come as no surprise that since that war isn’t a physical one, the weapons needed aren’t physical either.

Our human flesh and the Spirit we have are in constant conflict: Gal 5:19-26

Believers are to walk by the Spirit, and no longer by their flesh, which is the same point that Paul was making:

Rom 8:1-10

You can’t see the devil, but his influence is throughout the world. Get familiar with what you need to be prepare.

Eph 6:10-17; Isa 59:15-19

You can’t see our enemy, but the scriptures direct us to be vigilant nonetheless:

1Pe 5:6-11

Our Lord Jesus Christ had meekness and gentleness in abundance. Those qualities are outputs of the Spirit we have — you may relate to that to people seeing you as weak as a result.

We have some powerful weapons at our disposal for this constant conflict between the Spirit and this physical flesh we have. Make yourself familiar not only with the weapons, but the importance of this war, too.

Paul will make an appeal to his apolostic authority further into 2Co 10. It’s God stands behind the work of him and others. We’ll consider what that means in two weeks, on July 19.