Back to Corinth: 2 Cor. 10: 1-17

Verses 4-6: “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.”

At the beginning of the movie Iron Man, Tony Stark is about to demonstrate his latest missile code-named Jericho. He introduces it in his speech, including the famous quote, “They say that the best weapon is the one you never have to fire. I respectfully disagree. I prefer the weapon you only have to fire once. That’s how Dad did it, that’s how America does it, and it’s worked out pretty well so far.” It’s ironic that he named this destructive weapon after Jericho, the ancient city in Canaan feared for its incredible fortress like walls…walls which were brought down by God as Joshua followed His leading in having the Israelites take the Promised Land.

However, Paul here goes a step further. He tells the church not to put your trust in weapons of war or of defenses of man, but in the mighty power of God! In the comics once, the Justice League and Justice Society argued about who needed to deliver a doomsday weapon against a giant cosmic hand gripped around Earth. They all acknowledged it would be hard to survive the explosion. Superman, stated he should be the one, since he was invulnerable…until Dr. Fate mildly shocked him with a small bolt of magic. Both Green Lanterns argued they should go, until Green Arrow produced a yellow, wooden arrow, combining both their weaknesses. You see, no matter how strong or seemingly invincible mortal man proclaims to be, he cannot face the power of Satan…that is, not without the power of God, Whose power always triumphs over evil.

Remember the old bumper sticker, “God is my co-pilot”? Friend, give Him the wheel and let Him be the driver!

Something to think about!

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Colossians 3:8

Verse 8: “But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.”

The Justice Society lay defeated at the hands of the emotion-manipulating Psycho-Pirate; he had enslaved the Golden Age Green Lantern with bitterness and hatred, and the Golden Age Flash with anger. By the power of the Medusa Masks that gave him the ability to project emotions upon his victims, and with his emotionally-captured slaves, the Psycho-Pirate had the members of the Justice Society at his mercy. Only Wildcat remained to defy him: Wildcat, who was in reality Ted Grant, the retired undisputed heavyweight boxing champion of the world. So what chance did a two-fisted palooka who chose to fight crime with his fists and no real super-powers have against this arch-villain? Wildcat challenged the Psycho-Pirate to face him one-on-one; the Pirate blasted fear at Wildcat as the hero stalked toward him, fists clenched in a boxer’s stance in front of his face. By the time the Psycho-Pirate realized that his powers were having no effect on him, Wildcat knocked the villain out with one punch! With the Psycho-Pirate down for the count, Flash and Green Lantern collapsed unconscious, no longer in the villain’s thrall. As his teammates came to their senses, they wondered how Wildcat could defy the Psycho-Pirate’s powers of emotional control. Wildcat responded that “my old coach always told me to never let an opponent see that you’re afraid of him; never look him in the eye. Just keeping advancing on him.” Wildcat’s steely focus kept him from succumbing to the draining effects of the negative emotions that the Psycho-Pirate threw at him.

Paul is telling the Colossians that, in addition to the other sins he mentioned in the prior verses of this chapter, that they should also throw off these negative emotions which can lead to sin as well. Sometimes we can let the devil use these emotions to get the better of us. However, like Wildcat in the story above (from All-Star Comics #68), we need to stay focused on the Lord and His purpose and His will. Emotions are okay in their proper place, but the devil loves to play our emotions against us, especially against us serving God. Also remember: we can’t knock the devil out on our own…but if Jesus is in your corner (Lord and Savior of your life), you’ve got the undisputed champion on your side. He can take the devil down for the count.

Something to think about.

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