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Camden Nephew continues the 'Mind Matters' series, teaching from 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 that the Christian life involves spiritual warfare not fought with physical weapons but with divine power. He emphasizes the necessity of waging war against the flesh, the victory found in Christ, and the importance of positioning oneself under God's grace and presence through daily habits and relationships.
Bellevue Baptist Church High School Ministry
All right, ladies and gentlemen, hey, let me lay a little groundwork real quick, little rules, if you will. I've got, I probably have more than this, but I'm gonna say that I have three rules, okay, when it comes to this time. Number one is this, is that, well, we're gonna take seriously our time in the Word, okay? We're gonna be respectful of it, we're gonna be excited about it, but we're gonna take seriously, we're not gonna distract the people around us or even try to distract ourselves. So if the cell phone you got in your hand is gonna be a distraction to you, I'm not gonna go around calling anybody out, but I suggest, hey, let's take this time seriously and let's respect the Word. The second rule that I have is this, is that when we open God's Word together, we're gonna be excited about it. Here's what I mean by that. In just a minute, I'm gonna tell you what passage we're gonna be in, even though you've already seen it on your little talk sheet there, but I'm gonna say it, and then here's what I need you to do. I need you to get excited about it, so you're gonna cheer when I tell you, hey, open up your Bible to this passage. I want the room to cheer and be excited because we're excited for the Word. Does that sound okay? All right, the last rule I have is this. It's more towards the invitation time. Towards the invitation time, I'm gonna open up this altar, and my one rule when it comes to that is this, is that no one goes down to the altar alone, okay? So here's what that means. If your buddy's coming down here to pray, you go with him. If your friend, if she's coming down here and she's praying and she's all by herself, surround her. No one comes down to this altar to pray alone. Does that sound good? All right, those are my three rules. Okay, here's what I need from you. I need everyone to open up your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 10. Yeah. Yes, sir, that's what I'm talking about. Love that, 2 Corinthians chapter 10. Hey, while you find your way there, I wanna ask you a question. When was the last time you were really proud of something? Like you had something you were working on, maybe it was a grade that you were working toward, and you were really proud of it. Or maybe it was like a project that you have. Or maybe like, hey, as a team, you had this team goal, and you were like really excited about that team goal, and you accomplished it, and you were really proud. So like, think about that. Like, when was the last time you were really proud of something? I told y'all last week, we had been working on our bathroom in our house and remodeling it. And I finally got to a point where it's done. The last thing, I did everything by myself. So like, I was super proud, ripped everything out, demoed it, repaired everything, got it all rebuilt, laid the tile on myself. I'm gonna show you the before picture. I've got a before picture on here. So that's what it did look like. So it's this ugly pink tile thing. And then like, there's a closet there, and then a shower on the other end. And I started going through all of it, ripped it all out, and all by myself. I'm gonna show you the after picture. So here, boom, just like that. So, right? So listen, I've been showing all my friends, I've been showing all my friends, because I was so proud of that right there, right? So like, think about it. Like, when was the last time you did something? Maybe it was a grade you got. Maybe it was like a project at home or something like that, and you're like, man, all right, you can take that off now, I appreciate it. And you're like, man, I was really proud of the way that turned out. Let me tell you this. Nothing worth being proud about comes about without sacrifice. Nothing worth bragging about, worth saying, oh man, I'm really glad that I accomplished, I had this sense of pride, and I'm so proud of what I was able to accomplish. Nothing like that comes about without some sacrifice. I'm gonna say it this way. Without waging war against your flesh. And listen, even with something like that, it took me waging war against my flesh. Oh, I got you, I got you. Waging war against my flesh. Because here's what my flesh said. My flesh said, Camden, that's really expensive. And I didn't wanna pay for the stuff that I had to get, or to do it right. Or like, when I would do something, and it didn't turn out exactly how I wanted it, my flesh said, it's fine, just leave it, it's not a big deal. But I was like, I wanna do it right, so I'm gonna fix it. Now, think about it in your own life. Maybe it's something you've accomplished in the past, maybe it's something you've done. Your flesh said, hey, I really wanna go hang out with my friends on the weekend. But you decided, and you said, no, I'm gonna stay home and study, and then you got the grade and you were proud of the grade. Or, your flesh said, I do not wanna wake up early and go work out. But you woke up early, you went and worked out, and you're proud of the outcome. You lost the weight, or hey, maybe you made the team, because of that extra work that you put in. Students, I want you to understand this. Anything worth being proud of demands a willingness to go to war with your flesh. War with what's comfortable. So here's the main takeaway from tonight, you can write this down. If you wanna have victory over strongholds, you have to be willing to go to war. If you wanna have victory over strongholds in your life, you have to be willing to go to war with your flesh. Not being passive and saying, oh, it's fine, it's not that big of a deal. There were so many times I'm fixing up that bathroom and trying to update things that I didn't quite do something right, I had to tear it out and try again. If I would've just walked past it and said, oh, it's not that big of a deal, all those little things would've added up, wouldn't they? And it wouldn't have turned out probably any good at all, I probably would've had to hire somebody to come fix all my mistakes. Here's the deal. If you wanna have victory over strongholds in your life, you have to be willing to go to war with your flesh. And going to war with your flesh looks like this, students, it looks like taking every thought captive, like our passage says, looks like winning the war in your mind, and it looks like having a higher standard for your habits, your relationships, what you allow to speak in your life and have influence over your mind. Our series is Mind Matters. So here's what I want us to do. Our main passage for this series is chapter 10, verse three, four, five, and six. We're just gonna be in two verses, three and four tonight, okay? So I want us to read it together, it says this. For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds. Hey, if you're taking notes, and I hope that you are, the first thing I want you to write down is this, is the reality of our warfare, the reality of our warfare. This is not, students, this is not a metaphorical war. There is a real war being waged on behalf of your soul. There's a real war being waged on behalf of your soul. Ephesians chapter six, verse 12 says this. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. One of the most dangerous things that you can do on behalf of your soul, on behalf of your effectiveness for the kingdom, is act like this war isn't happening. Is to act like it's not a big deal, and just move past it, and say, oh, you know, God forgives me so I can do whatever I want. I don't need to wage war against my flesh. I think we have the wrong view of forgiveness sometimes in Christ, that we allow forgiveness to become this, how do I say it, this crutch by which we have convinced ourselves I can live however I want, and God's just gonna forgive me, it's fine. No, you have to be willing to go to war with your flesh. The most dangerous thing you can do on behalf of your walk with Christ is act like it's not happening. In our meeting on Monday, we talked about this with our team, and Liza, she said that so many of us fall into the sin of passivity. You know, like being passive. Again, it's not a big deal. You know, no one knows what I'm doing. I've done so well keeping this a secret. No one knows this sin that I struggle with. No one knows that I look at this. No one knows that I gossip about this. No one knows the covetous heart that I have. So it's not that big of a deal. And we become passive. Students, the enemy's goal in this war is to do one of two things. One of two things in your life. His main goal is to keep you from Christ, to keep you from being saved, keep you from receiving eternal life. But if you have, his goal changes. Now his goal has become to keep you as ineffective for the kingdom of God as he possibly can. And I'm telling you this, he's succeeding in one of those two for most of us. Either A, you don't have a relationship with the Lord, or B, you have become ineffective for the kingdom of God because you become passive in your walk with the Lord, and you have refused to wage war against your flesh, and you've grown comfortable with just coasting through life, saying, oh, I've received forgiveness, it's all good, it's all fine. Even though I'm a sinner, Christ still died for that, he still forgave me of it. And yes, those things are true, and we praise God for grace and for mercy. But we need to raise the standard and say, hey, I'm not gonna wait until I'm in heaven one day to stop sinning. I'm going to fight against my flesh here and now. And listen, students, this is not a works-based salvation sermon. I'm telling you this, though. If we're gonna look at this passage, what it says is this, for though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. What he means by that is this. It's like, hey, here on this earth, while we walk in our flesh, we're gonna wage war with our flesh. We're gonna have things that we have to fight against, but the good news is is that we don't fight with our flesh. We fight on behalf of what Christ has already done for us.
The enemy's goal is to keep you unsaved or keep you ineffective. Now, here's some good news, and I want you to write this next part down. This is point number two, is this, is the victory of our warfare. Students, the beauty of the gospel is this, is that, yes, you are waging war against your flesh. You're waging war against what comes natural to you and to me. We are waging war. But the beauty of the gospel is this, is that Jesus has already won. If you are in Christ, you have victory. That's victory over sin, victory over depression, victory over anxiety, heartbreak. Victory for the life of the believer, listen to me, students, victory for the life of the believer is not something that we hope for one day, it's something that we live in today. It's not something that we just say, oh, maybe, like, one day, I'm going to have victory. Like, no, you have victory today. And listen, there is a victory beyond this in heaven one day when we won't have to fight and have this war anymore, but you can walk in victory today, students. The Lord has given us weapons to experience victory here and now. Again, it says in the passage of verse 4, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds. Strongholds in your life that, now, I've walked with this sin, I've walked with this burden, I've walked with this anxiety, this depression, all these different things for so long. And again, students, here's the beauty of the gospel, is that it's not on you. So when I say, you know, we got to fight, we got to wage war against our flesh, this is not you putting up your fist, saying, okay, I'm going to fight. Because listen to me, if you're the one fighting, you're losing. Which is why so many of us, you're sitting here right now and you're hearing this passage saying, okay, Camden, I hear what you're saying, I'm supposed to fight, I'm supposed to wage war against my flesh, but I'm really trying, I'm trying really hard to stop, I'm trying really hard not to walk in that anymore. Well, let me ask you this question, how often do you read your Bible? How often do you memorize Scripture? How often do you share your faith? How often do you, well, I share my faith through my actions, that's a bogus answer. When was the last time you opened up your mouth and shared the gospel with someone? Like said, hey, there's a problem, you're a sinner, you can be saved if you surrender your life to the Lord. When was the last time you opened up your mouth and shared the gospel with somebody? How's your prayer life? How about this one, talking about mind matters, how's your thought life? We talk about being passive and we talk about... I think so often we fail to live in victory and we fail to walk in victory with the Lord because we're walking in such a way that we're just content. I've received salvation, I've received forgiveness, so I'm content just to live how I've always lived and it's not that big of a deal. Rather than striving to live holy lives. Scripture says, preparing your minds for action and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. It says this, as obedient children, do not walk in the... Oh, man, I missed... 1 Peter 1, 13 through 16, I think it is. I'm going to think about it in a second, I'm going to come back to you. I thought I could do it off the dome and I couldn't do it. I'm going to come back to it. But here's the deal, students. The victory that we have is not in ourselves, it's in Christ. I pointed out Ephesians 6, I want to read that whole passage together. Not the whole, whole, whole thing, but those verses around it. It says this, finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of the present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. So, I love what it says there in verse 10. It says, finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of whose might? Where is it? In the strength of whose might? In the strength of whose might? Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of? His might. Thank you. She's like, come on, you all say his. In the strength of your might? Thank you. In the strength of his might. So, it's everything necessary to walk in victory with the Lord has been accomplished through Jesus Christ, not through you. So, it makes me think of this illustration. How many of you all have younger siblings? Anybody got younger siblings? How many of you have seen a baby walk for the first time? Anyone? Okay. So, we've got, Hannah Grace and I, you all asked us this last week. We have five nephews. We got a niece, okay? I've seen most of them walk for the very first time. I haven't seen Ty's walk yet. He hasn't walked. He's not walking yet, but hopefully, I'll be there when he gets to. And here's the deal. When a child walks for the very first time, what happens? Like, they take, like, half of a step, and then what? They fall. And what does mom and dad do? Woo-hoo-hoo! Yeah! And then what do they do? And they take that half step, they fall over, and they're like, get this baby out of here. He's worthless. How many of you have seen a parent, mom or dad, do that? Anybody? No? She's like, every time I do that, no. It's like, when a baby takes that first step and falls, the parents are getting the camera out, they're ready to record. They're like, oh, yeah, let's do it again. They pick him up. They say, go again. Yeah, it's exciting. And for some reason, you and I have this idea in our head that when we follow after the Lord, and we stumble and we fall, God's looking at us and He's saying, get him out of here. When in reality, just like a good father, just like you would do if your child started to walk for the first time, you pick them back up, you brush their knees off, and you say, hey, keep going. Look at what Proverbs 24 says. Proverbs 24, 16 says, for the righteous fall seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity. As soon as, listen to this, do you know why it's easy to get back up? It's because you know who's picking you up. Victory that we have is not in our flesh, it's not in what you're able to do. It has everything to do with who Christ is and what Christ has already done. Which leads me to the third and final point, which is this, the strategy of our warfare, strategy of our warfare. Students, if our victory is found in Christ, our strategy is to position ourselves under His grace and in His presence, under His grace and in His presence, the strategy of our warfare. Under His grace, what does that mean? It means this, that when you miss it, and you will, listen to me, we're talking about waging war against our flesh, you're not going to get it right every single time. You're not. If anyone tells you that they do, they're lying. Positioning yourself under His grace is recognizing this, that when I fall, what the enemy's desire is, is the enemy's desire is to keep you as far away from the Lord as possible. That's why he tries to convince you when you stumble, when you fall, he's disappointed in you. When you stumble, when you fall, he's mad at you because then maybe you won't run into his arms and into his presence. The reality, however, students, is this, is that God knows everything that you're going to do, everything that you're going to say, everything that you have ever done, everything that you will ever do, and He died for all of it. I remember hearing a pastor say one time, and this is so...it feels elementary, and it feels so basic, but it rocked my world and it changed my life, when he said, God's not surprised when you sin. Because in my mind, I'm like, okay, God, I'm sorry, I'm not going to do it again, I'm not going to sin, I'm not going to do that thing that I just happen to do over and over and over again, or I'm not going to stumble into that again. And then guess what? I do it again, and I'm convinced myself, oh, God's disappointed. But then he was like, God has never been surprised when you've fallen. He knew it was coming, he knew you were going to stumble, he knew you were going to sin, he knew you were going to fall, and he died for you anyways. He adopted you into his family anyways. So what are you and I to do? What is the strategy against our warfare? It's to position ourselves under the waterfall of grace. Position yourself where when you do stumble, when you do fall, your default position is not running away from the Lord and hiding away and saying, Lord, I don't want to see you because I'm ashamed of what I've done, but instead, it's to walk in conviction. Because listen, the enemy uses...
guilt, the Spirit uses conviction. One leads you to hide in shame, the other leads you to walk in repentance. Well, I'm walking in conviction that I know what I did was wrong, but I'm gonna come to you, I'm gonna repent, I'm gonna follow after you. It's to position ourselves under that waterfall of grace. They also, if our victory is found in Christ, our strategy is to position ourselves under His grace, but also in His presence, in His presence. And students, here's the question that I want you to ask yourself tonight. This is this, do my habits and relationships invite the presence of God in my life? I'm gonna say that again, I want you to write that down. Do my habits and relationships invite the presence of God into my life? I'll say it again, do my habits and relationships, do my habits and relationships invite the presence of God into my life? Here's the deal, students, your habits are important, good and bad. Your good habits are important, your bad habits are important. What kind of habits do you have that invite the presence of the Lord into your life? Here's what that looks like. Taking seriously, hey, if I'm gonna wage war against my flesh, here's what that looks like. That means that I have to take seriously the responsibility to dive into God's Word every single day. That means I have to take seriously the responsibility I have to memorize Scripture, these are good habits, to pray every single day, to share the gospel, to practice, listen to this, fasting. Not just from, I'm gonna fast from social media, that's a puny fast. Fasting from like food, things that hurt your body. If I'm gonna wage war against my flesh, it means I have to do everything I can to position myself in such a way that God's presence is invited into everything that I do. So my habits, my relationships.