Welcome to the wide world of e-sports, a show devoted to all things e-sports. I'm your host, Catherine Norr. Today, we're talking about China's policies on gaming. And my guest is Brendan Busman, Partner and Director of Government Affairs at Global Market Advisors. Welcome, Brendan. Thank you, pleasure to be with you today. So what does global market advisors do? So we are a consulting firm that specializes in the gaming, entertainment, sports, and hospitality sectors. And we've done work all around the globe, other than probably Antarctica is probably the only continent we haven't done anything on, but host to different projects around the globe. Obviously that's been curtailed a little bit by this wonderful thing called the pandemic, but look to, you know, reignite some of those relationships, and especially those in Asia, hopefully in 2022 when I can get back to traveling. All right. So tell us about China's new policies on gaming. Well, you know, the Chinese have always had, you know, a host of different policies, both on, and I'm gonna say this in two aspects, gaming and gambling, even though they're symbiotic in how they view the overall nature and it's, I'll use the word detriment to their society and causes an imbalance in the harmony that they suggest and strive for. Probably two months ago, they've started to curtail their policy or crafted, I think a little bit tighter. When first and foremost, they came out and said as relates to video gaming, that they were going to limit the ability for youth and really sort of anybody in that to make sure they can only do it during certain hours of the day and only during certain times of the week.  And it also then goes to, and this has been one of the questions that has remained out there, which is, you know, what does this mean for game titles, control and aspects of various games along the way and how that may or may not, you know, curtail future development of these online games and everything else and children and teenagers, as they play these in the limited one hour they have on weekends and holidays. Thanks. You know, I would think that China is proud of their eSports culture and that they've, they're in their eSports business. I mean, they've actually built huge arenas for eSports. So how can they actually continue to have eSports competitions and athletes if they limit the players time playing? You know, that's a very good question. One that, you know, I sort of relate it to how they view gambling a little bit off of this as well, which is, you know, it's a mainstream portion of the income in places like Macau and the ability to, you know, reinvest in the social network down there. But then they take very distinct views as it makes it towards specifics to the general population to curtail these types of behaviors. You know, I think it's anybody's guess on how this completely shakes out over the course of time. But, you know, I think what they will probably end up doing is if they believe there is some individual that has a special talent with one of these games or overall within the eSports realm of this, they'll sort of segment them off and say, okay, we'll let you go above and beyond, you know, but for the general public we're putting these procedures in place. So very much of a controlled society type feel that one, you know, here in the United States we're not used to offer that, not just from the parameters of only allowing, you know, kids to partake in this for an hour out of their day, but, you know, segmenting off and saying, hey, you have a talent, we'll let you sort of step out of the fray and do these types of things. Sure, and I think that China has consistently done that with other, with traditional sports. And because I think when they identify talented children who are good at gymnastics or at other sports, they do that same thing, especially when it's an Olympic sport. Do you think that if eSports becomes an Olympic sport that that will impact their policies? I think it would have to. I think you can see, you know, looking at, you know, the latest summer Olympics that was obviously a later, a year later than was originally scheduled. And obviously with the upcoming winter Olympics they're hosting in Beijing here in three, four months, three months, I guess it is, you know, they always strive to be the best in these and continue to be excellent in every and all categories. So if eSports were to become an Olympic sport, and obviously I know there were some discussions off of that as it related to Japan that just got done hosting the summer Olympics, you know, a few months ago, I could see them wanting to and desiring to be the best in those and striving to do that and treating those just as you mentioned, like any other athlete out there, whether it's, you know, gymnastics, you know, or any other event. Sure, and what do you think is behind the policy to restrict gaming hours? You know, I think there's a couple of things that come to mind, you know, the one thing that continually gets swayed in the public eye off of this is the social harmony and the social balances they strive within society. And making sure that you, one, don't overindulge in things, keep things specific to what they believe, and I think that's one of the things that I think is really important is that they, being, you know, Xi Jinping and his realm that he has created and society that he desires as he continues to take more and more power within China for an ideal society. And I think they look at things that can be distractions that could take hours upon hours for general public, you know, to that harmony. So they're all about creating that balance along the way and that's why they put policies like this into place. Do you think the pandemic fueled this? Because I would think that as kids were spending more time at home, they were gaming more and that probably came to the attention of government. I'm sure there, I mean, there's a host of different things and, you know, you go back, as we were talking before the show started, how much things have changed over two years and policy-wise and being able to do that, that, you know, one, I think it was an opportunity to say, okay, what's really going on here? Because we can now focus on certain areas to say, are people gaming more? Are they doing X? Are they doing Y along the way to see what really is happening off of that? The other is because you've been able to curtail a lot of these behaviors and, you know, as it relates to the pandemic and there's zero tolerance policy, you're able to, you know, put people and say, look, you've got to stay at home, you've got to stay focused off of this so we can eliminate the virus, but that allows them to put in other procedures into place that allows them to dictate policies like this to say, look, we think our people are playing too much in video games and eSports and we don't want to see that happen. So this gives us an opportunity to do that because we have everybody sort of corraled and focused off of this and it's an opportunity to implement these policies that you maybe would have had a harder and a more challenging time to do, had that been in a normal everyday society that's running hustle bustle along the way. Sure. And across all over the world, eSports and gaming are used in education. For example, Minecraft is used exclusively and in colleges they have eSports programs, they even have such programs in Scholastic and, you know, at different levels and they use gaming to teach students. And then there's also college scholarships for eSports. So do they do that in China and would that be impactful and would that be impacted by the policy? You know, I think it could, let me say two things. One, yes, they do use those things to differentiate. It has been used in some aspects of a teaching tool, probably not as much to as extent as you see here with some of the things that going on in the United States with the various clubs, science activities, the college scholarships and that, but I think it goes back to what we were talking about earlier of if we believe a student can excel in this, that we will segment them off and put them into a different track. No different than you would a normal athlete, no different than, you know, someone even scholastically you would say to say, hey, here's somebody that has a deep passion and interest in chemistry and they seem to be doing leaps and bounds above everything else. So I think it's important to have a fast track to figure out some other thing that we need in that aspect. So it's very much to your point back to the root of your question. I think some of those things have probably been curtailed because it's not like, hey, go home and do your homework on Minecraft because it's a school tool. More, hey, we'll use it as we need to within the classroom. The Excel will take you off and put you on a separate track. Using that as an overall education tool isn't the way you and I would view it out of here in the United States. So how can a Chinese government even enforce this?  You know, I think there's probably some opportunities to go around that just as there is with everything in society and to be able to do that. Obviously, I haven't had, you know, from my daily activities, we always like to do site visits and actually witness people doing stuff. I haven't, as we talked earlier, I haven't been to Macau or Hong Kong since, you know, fall of 19. And the sad thing is I had a full trip in China planned right before the pandemic hit right as the pandemic was hitting. So unfortunately, that trip got canceled to be able to see that. But it'd be one that I'd love to be able to see what actually goes on and how do they or don't they get around that? You know, as it relates to other things that I've seen that I have witnessed in society as it relates to this, you can look at online gambling that has been, you know, something that mainland has found a way in some aspects to get around. But that has even been curtailed during the pandemic.  It was very high because they were figuring out ways to move money in and out of the country. Now that said, they've been able to limit that because central government has come in and tried to put various curtailing aspects of being able to transfer money and put other tracking mechanisms in, which I'm sure they've done off of these things as it relates to e-sports and gaming to verify that X, Y and Z. The other thing is just from a societal perspective.  So you don't see, you know, a lot of rabble rousers like you would probably see here in the United States that, you know, would say, eh, screw it. I'll pull the plug.  And I'll try to get good behind the scenes. Not saying it doesn't happen. I'm just saying it probably doesn't happen as frequently. Sure. And then I wonder are they, in terms of enforcement, who would be punished? Would it be the child or the parent? You know, I think probably when push comes to shove, it's probably on the parent because there are ultimately the guardian that's supposed to enforce those things. But obviously, you know, if it's some 17 year old kid versus some 12 year old, that may probably come into play too.  So we still see how it would be implemented. Not just implemented, but, but enacted. From an enforcement standpoint. Sure.   You've got over a billion people there. So you can't ignore them over everything. But, you know, whether any of the four sectors that we do business in, I always, you know, sort of couch it going, you know, if you plan on working a lot with the Chinese or plan on Chinese guests and those types of things coming, you need to sort of have a measured response off of that to say, you know, what does my business look like with those set of customers? And what does my business look like without that set of customers? Because if they don't come back and they aren't able to do things outside of China over the course of time, you know, that that will be a factor and one that you need to consider out of the gate. You know, one thing that I will say as we talk about travel and those types of things overall, you know, China currently has that zero tolerance policy as it relates to COVID and they will shut down cities and regions if there is any level of a spike to make sure that they eliminate that. You know, if you were an area and dependent on eSports customers coming from China or participating in your contest and those types of things, I wouldn't necessarily plan on those people coming back anytime soon. Part of that is going to be contingent. I think that policy will remain in place at least until after the Olympics, which are in February because they want to make sure they have an exceptional event that they have there for the Winter Games in Beijing. So I think they're going to try to keep things as compact and tight as they possibly can. And I think then you'll see some loosening, but even then, you know, they've said that they want to make sure that, you know, as it relates to a social balance, you know, if there are areas where it could end up being harmful, they'll restrict access. Now, eSports and gaming does not just mean playing. It also means streaming. It means watching as well. And would the, do you know if the restriction encompasses only playing or does it encompass streaming is, I mean, do you know anything about the nuances of the definition? You know, I think I take much more of a strict view on what they do and don't allow off of this just because of that social balance. So, you know, I'm assuming at some point they probably start if you, if you aren't playing and you're not doing that, if all of a sudden you're watching twitch a heck of a lot more, or trying to over we chat and other things, you know, in their version of we chat 10 times different than the one we have and everything else, because they have so many more features off of that, that there, I'm sure that something would come down and say, hey, we need you to focus on X and ignore why type thing. I'd be shocked otherwise. You know, I've had a number of eSports coaches and gamer doc Sykes Sensei appear on my show and eSports pro athletes have a little bit broader at, you know, training than just playing and they work out, they do some other things, maybe they could do visualization or do some other things that might fall outside of playing in order to, you know, continue to improve. What do you think about that? You know, I think first and foremost, you know, if you look at, and I can say this from a sports perspective, you know, eSports programs today have sometimes all the same benefits as any professional other sport out there, whether it's football, basketball, everything else in between. It's about diet, it's about the mental aspects of sports. It's about, you know, various practice regiments, everything else along the way. And that's what you need to do to do it right. I always joke with somebody, you know, I spent a good portion of my early career specifically working within college athletics and I had one of our team psychologists that was very involved with NASCAR and I said, what are a bunch of guys that drive left for a living who need a team psychologist for?  I got the full two or everything else.  But back to your question as it relates to eSports, you know, those are all very big components of those that train over everything. And I think it goes into the segments off of that. If they see a talent to be able to do that, they're going to make sure that you have the resources to be able to do that at the best of your ability. So they're going to allow, you know, the mental preparedness and mindset as well as being able to work out, eat healthy and all of those things to make, you know, you in a good position to move forward. You know, and that, you know, that's very interesting because when you think about a lot of sports, like if you think about swimming, they're going to swim a massive amount, quite a few hours a day in order to train. If you look at gymnasts, they spend many hours in the day, you know, they'll spend eight hours or more training. But if you look at track athletes or, you know, there's some athletes that have to minimize the number of hours that they actually do the actual sport. So I wonder if it's kind of possible to be at, you know, to gain the skills needed or to be at some level if there's a reduction of hours played. You know, I think it probably depends some on the athlete and what they need to make sure that works. And I look at that from the standpoint of, you know, the athletes I've worked with over the years, you have some that just have a tremendous talent that is God given in every way. And you're like, I wish I could have half of that and it just rolls and it's fluid and they don't have to work as hard. They have the metabolism, they have the mental aspects, all of those various things that matter. But to the same extent, you've got somebody that has the heart and soul and passion to be able to do it.  They need that extra level of athletic prep to be able to do that. So I think it's contingent upon the athlete more than anything. But, you know, as I always say, and in fact, I remember when I was working with somebody off of an athlete training center we were doing and they said, oh, we can instantaneously predict, you know, looking genetically at who's an athlete and who's not. And I said, I'm going to contradict you every day that ends and why, because I've seen enough people over the time that put heart and soul into it. And sometimes the people that have a lot of this and a lot of this will surpass the ones that have the automatic talent. Absolutely.  You know, I really don't see anything off of that right now looking at the geopolitical landscape. I mean, I shouldn't say that completely. Obviously, I think you have other totalitarian regimes such as North Korea and that that probably can put those things into place to be able to do that. But I think for most of the rest of the world, putting parameters off of that just doesn't seem realistic. I mean, they may put little things into tweak it, but really sort of controlling what happens in someone's home, you know, at least from a United States perspective and, you know, European and other things along the way. And I would even say most Asia that sort of like, hey, we're not going to curtail it to the type that China did, you know, along the way, we may put some guidelines in to say, hey, we don't think your kids should play more than X hours a day, but they're not going to come down in a very meaningful way and say, hey, you're limited to three hours a week and enjoy your time on weekends. Sure. And I think North Korea probably already has a protocol up place. Yeah, I was going to say, as I said that I'm like, I can think of one regime for sure that's probably already there, but you know. Yeah, I don't think they, they, you know, miss any regulation that they could possibly do. Yeah. Well, I think, I think to their neighbors real quick, if I just interject, you know, if you look at like Japan and South Korea, obviously that have, you know, also strong, you know, people that believe in eSports and have good programs, those countries aren't going to restrict that, you know, they just aren't. Sure, sure.  And do you think that this restriction will also alter that ecosystem for China? He could, you know, I think we have to see what happens with the larger geopolitical landscape of China and somewhat of its next steps. I mean, some of the actions you're seeing are very much trying to go to a close base society and sort of, you know, centralize that power a little bit more. While some of the rest of the world, and I think the thing we've learned over the last two years as we've been in the middle of this pandemic is how interconnected the world is and the types of things that we rely on along the way. And obviously China at this point holds a lot of those, those strings to make everything work, whether it be supply chain or raw materials or other things along the way from a workforce standpoint. So we have yet to see how that may or may not impact not just their society, but the global society as a whole. Are you able to say whether this policy is good or bad, or is it somewhere in between? From my perspective, it's not a good policy. I'm very much of a free market, you know, laissez-faire kind of guy that believes in open societies to be able to do what they feel is best and let's get those talents out. So, you know, that's my own personal view off of that. Obviously, I think, you know, there's people in the Chinese government that have a different view than I do on life. So. Sir, and I have to echo that. I totally agree with you and I would say that it's bad. But anyway, that's fine. We can have that opinion in the United States where we have a free market. So how can people find you if they're interested in your services? Well, you know, we'd love to talk to anything and, you know, any of the four sectors that we met that I talked about earlier in gaming, entertainment, sports and hospitality. Go to our website, which is globalmarketadvisors.com. Or you can also reach out to me directly on my email, which is bdb at globalmarketadvisors.com as well. Terrific. Well, I really appreciate you being on the show, Brendan. We've learned so much about China's policy. Thank you for having me. And I'd be welcome to come back anytime. This is a great program. Terrific. All right. Thank you to our viewers for joining us today. Make sure you tune in next week. My guest will be Ben Bueno of Beacons GG. See you then.


Hey guys Realistic Gaming here today we're going to be playing Roblox Minion Adventure Abbey. Hello. Looks pretty awesome to me we got oh we got Dr. Nefario we got a little Minion not know who that is it kind of looks like group but like as a child I don't know man but let's begin. Okay uh stage 2 city dance recital dash uh oh we got a little cutscene good work Dr. Nefario just one question.


What's going on everybody welcome back to some breaking news and Bianca Andrescu has released a statement on the extent of her injury that she got to the Miami Open. She pulled out of the final against Ash Barty at four love down in the second set. This is the statement that she's just brought out. So this is what Andrescu said in her statement. Thank you to everyone for the messages of support and well wishes. You all are the best fans in the world. I'm relieved to say that there is no serious injury and with some rest and preparation I will be back very soon. This does mean that unfortunately I won't be able to compete in the Billie Jean cup. I love representing Canada so this decision was not easy but I want to make sure I'm prepared for the clay court swing ahead and for the rest of the season. So there you have it Andrescu she seems like she's going to be okay with a little bit of rest. It did look like a pretty bad fall when we watched it live a couple of days ago. She fell on the ankle she fell pretty hard on it and of course she had to withdraw and she's had so many injuries over the last couple of years that it'd be such a shame if she was gone for another couple of months because of another injury but she has had to pull out the Billie Jean cup representing Canada of course so she's going to be pulled out of that event but she is going to be focusing on the clay season which gets underway really for the big top 10 players this week. We have Barty playing this week we've got Kennan playing this week as well but we'll probably see Andrescu playing in Madrid in a couple of weeks time which is a WTA 1000 event so hopefully we do get to see her there because it's good to have her back. It's so good to have her back let me know down the comments below. Do you think we're going to see Bianca very very soon or do you think she's going to take a bit of an extended break before playing the French Open in a couple of weeks time? If Bianca Andrescu she's okay the ankle is not as bad as first thought and she'll be back in a few weeks.


Hey everybody another lovely London day when I spent it outside not too many of those in Australia No, never warm and sunny in Australia. That's why I came out here. Well standing next to me right now James Marshall being number one attraction coach in Australia You just gave a great speech at the 21 convention in London. Tell everybody briefly what you touched them on. I guess the the main points I was looking was looking at if there's three elements of life you need to work on if you want to be successful so you need to understand your internal state your positive body language, your intent you need to actually have seductive frameworks in terms of unsportsive gaming you need to engineer a lifestyle that will track people through so those are the three areas that you guys need to constantly look at specifically I was looking at awareness so how to be present and bring your attention out of your head and into your body and into your basically into your feet into your second centre and talking about the idea that you need to look somebody in the eyes you need to project your attention with a girl that's going to be the same right even if we're talking about the weather we need the subtext of it needs to be on an energetic level that needs to be about it the subtext and you know different undertones that come with I guess your inflection as well as your eye contact yeah but everything follows them it's like if you have the core intent of sexuality then you will naturally start to do it more track positive body language more likely to be touching a person you're going to have a cheeky smile rather than trying to do it the opposite way and go alright cheeky smile you know touch the girl almost mechanically yeah it comes across that way now we're at day three and like I said we just gave your speech midday you've been able to see a lot of speakers and get a real good feel for the event what would you say you like the most about the 21th Convention here in London I love the fact that there's a whole lot of crossover going on here there hasn't been I don't think there's been a speaker so far where there's been the total opposite of what everyone else is getting at there's no real conflict because I think there's no real conflict because I think just plainly would you say that you would endorse the 21th Convention absolutely and yeah I don't endorse a lot of things and the 21th Convention is going to kick ass and I hope to speak in the future excellent well we hope to have you back James, cheers James Marshall hey everyone I'm Peter Murphy that was James Marshall you're you see you back on the internet cheers


The title of our sermon this morning is a declaration of war, and we are in 2 Corinthians chapter 10 verses 1 through 6. So this morning now as we enter or we come to this text, we're entering the final section of Paul's second canonical letter to the church at Corinth. There are three major sections to this letter, each dealing with a primary subject. In chapters 1 through 7, we see Paul dealing with the Christian ministry. In chapters 8 and 9, Paul is addressing Christian generosity, and now in chapters 10 through 13, Paul is dealing with apostolic, his apostolic authority. So now in chapter 10 verse 1, Paul moves on from Christian generosity and begins what is a rigorous defense of his apostolic authority before closing out this wonderful, beautiful, enriching letter. So as we come to chapter 10 now, Paul has in mind, thinking of chapter 10, and as he writes chapter 10, Paul has in mind a future visit to the church, his third visit to the church that he's about to embark on. In chapter 8, we met the three-man delegation under the leadership of Titus, that three-man delegation that was sent ahead of Paul to prepare the collection. Now Paul intends after that three-man delegation goes and prepares the collection. Paul intends now to follow sometime later to pick up the collection, spend some time with the church, and then accompany the team back to Jerusalem and deliver the gift. And so as Paul now turns his attention to this future visit, his third visit to the church at Corinth, his thoughts, his mind, his heart drawn once again to what he's going to face there, to who he's going to face there when he goes. Now as much as the church at Corinth needs to have some time to prepare their hearts and prepare the collection before Paul's arrival, the church at Corinth needs to take some time and to get their spiritual house in order before Paul's arrival as well. Paul says in verse 1, listen, I am pleading with you, Corinthians, verse 2, I beg you. And as though Paul begins this section with a plea for peace, Paul even now in his heart and mind is preparing for war. He's preparing for battle. The church has made some encouraging progress. We've seen that progress as we work verse by verse through this letter. Now this is only the second letter to Corinth that we have in our Bibles. But we know that it's at least the fourth letter that was written to the church at Corinth by Paul. And we come to that conclusion through a careful reading of the text. The third of those four letters is described as the severe letter, a severe correction, a severe rebuke on the part of the apostle Paul, a scathing rebuke to the church, pleading with them to turn from sin and to deal with the problems that were plaguing the church. The church was beset by problems, okay, beset by difficulty. And that letter, the severe letter, proceeded by a very painful and a very sorrowful visit that we read about in chapter 2, where Paul was apparently publicly opposed by a rebellious and outspoken member of the church of all things, right? The progress was made though, when that matter and the circumstances that precipitated the severe letter were brought to a resolution with godly sorrow, repentance that we read about in 2 Corinthians chapter 7, verses 8 through 12. In other words, there's a reconciliation that takes place, right? Despite all the problems, this one person apparently opposing Paul to his face when he visits the church, there's a restoration of the relationships. Those wayward saints in Corinth prone to wonder from Paul, prone to wonder from the apostolic message were brought back, brought back by genuine repentance, godly sorrow, and affections are renewed. Relationships are restored. And so Paul rejoices in chapter 7, verse 16, that now he has confidence in them, in everything. However, right? However, although the majority responded well to Paul's letter of correction, although the majority have dealt biblically with the one among them who publicly opposed Paul, the difficulties in the church are far from over. The difficulties in the church are far from over. The church at Corinth is under vicious attack. The church is deceived by an insurgency, right? It's under a vicious assault. In chapter 11, verse 13, Paul describes an enemy insurgency made up of false apostles and deceitful workers. Those Paul calls ministers of Satan that transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, right? So the stakes are high and the circumstances are sobering and serious. These false teachers, these ministers of Satan attacking the gospel that Paul is preaching, and in order to undermine the gospel, in order to undermine the message that Paul is preaching, these false teachers take it upon themselves to attack the man himself, to attack Paul. And so to add insult to serious injury, there remains now in Corinth, persuaded by false teachers, persuaded by error, persuaded by these attacks, there remains a vocal minority, even among the membership of the church, that seems to be sympathetic to the claims of these false teachers. A rebellious, unrepentant group, tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, and Paul is concerned about the spreading 11 that threatens this young church. Now he says in chapter 11, verse 3, he says, I fear. I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For he who comes, preaches another Jesus whom we've not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you've not accepted, you may well put up with it. Paul is concerned, and we're talking about infinitely high stakes that could be deceived, persuaded to the shipwreck of their souls away from the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now Paul isn't going to allow the enemy to run amuck in that church without a fight. He's not going to allow them to have their way in the church at Corinth, right? With those dear people corrupting the message that's being preached, leading them astray, Paul's not going to give that up without a fight. So Paul's coming to Corinth, and when he comes, he is coming with apostolic authority, and he's coming with a weapon of our warfare which are mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. So he petitions them in verse 1. He petitions them. He pleads with them. He begs them in verse 2 for the sake of love and for the sake of peace, and he says this interestingly enough in chapter 12, verse 14. Now Paul says, for the third time I am ready to come to you, and I'll not be burdensome to you because I don't seek yours. I don't seek what is yours. I seek you for the children, not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. And listen, verse 15, I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls, even though the more abundantly I love you, the less I'm loved. Now Paul knows, Paul has an awareness of the difficulties that are facing him in Corinth. He has an understanding of what he's about to get himself into. Verse chapter 12, verse 20, he says, for I fear, lest when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not wish. That is certainly no veiled threat. There's no veil. He delivers the warning with penetrating clarity in chapter 13, verse 1. Paul says again, this will be the third time that I'm coming to you. By the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word shall be established. I have told you before, and I foretell as if I were present the second time, and now being absent as I write to those who have sinned before, and do all the rest, that if I come again, I will not spare. Paul is making a declaration of war. Paul is making a declaration of war. It's a war for the souls of those dear people in Corinth. We're not playing games here in the church, amen? This is no entertainment. We don't just show up on a Sunday morning to hear some guy talk and rant on about something and swat it flies, right? We're not here for entertainment purposes. This is not just a motion that we go through. This is serious business. Your soul is at stake. The souls of those people that you'll meet with out there, their souls are at stake. This combat that we're involved in has eternal ramifications, life and death, heaven and hell, right? This is no veiled threat that Paul makes. Paul is making a declaration of war. It's a war for the souls of those people in that church. And brothers and sisters, lest you be lulled into a sense of complacency, we're involved in a war, right? The Christian life is a battle. It's a battle for your soul. It's a battle for your soul. It's a battle for the truth of the gospel, okay? It's a war against sin and error. It's against arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. It's a spiritual war against those who will not repent, against the rebels, against false teachers, against false apostles, against the dominion of Satan. Paul is ready in verse six to punish all disobedience when the obedience of the church is realized in all its fullness. Paul is making a declaration of war. Paul makes it very clear we're not playing games, right? Listen to John Owen. John Owen says this, brethren, while it is well with us through the grace of God and our own houses are not in flames, pray, do not let us think that the times are not perilous. When so many turn into pernicious errors and fall into swift destruction, will you say that the time of the public plague was not perilous? Remember the black plague that swept through Europe killing millions? Was that not perilous? Because you were alive? Would you say that it's not perilous? No. Was the fire not dreadful because your houses were not burned? No. Will you then notwithstanding say it was a dreadful plague and a dreadful fire? Of course we would. And pray, consider, it's not just a perilous season when multitudes have an inclination to depart from the truth and to depart from God in just judgment has permitted Satan to stir up seducers to draw them into pernicious ways and their poor souls perish forever. Reckon upon it that in such times as these are, all of us will not go free. There are many who will say to me in that day, the Lord says, Lord, Lord, and many will not enter the kingdom of heaven. You'll find, Owen says, you'll find no mention of this perilous season in scripture, but it follows some shall have their faith overthrown. Others shall follow pernicious ways. Others shall turn aside. Brethren and sisters, how do you know? But you or I may fall. Let us double our watch. Every one for the season has come upon us wherein some of us may fall. Sometimes we think, don't we? We slip into this dull-hearted, what is sinful and neglectful complacency, not only concerning our own souls, but the souls of others. And just because you may think to yourself that your house isn't on fire, doesn't mean that a flicker can't begin there, one. And two, doesn't mean that there aren't millions out there whose houses are on fire. And we need to be preaching the gospel to them, amen? The Christian is involved in warfare. The Christian is involved in warfare. The Christian life is a life of battle. It's not a life of arrest right now. Our rest is coming, brethren and sisters. Our rest is coming. Right now, we're to be employed in the Lord's work, good soldiers of the Lord Jesus Christ. So consider the example of the Apostle Paul with me from this text. Let's get in the fight, amen? Let's get in the fight. Paul begins in 2 Corinthians chapter 10, verses one through six, with one, a plea for peace, in verses one and two, a plea for peace. And then he prefaces the battle that he fights in chapters 10 through 13 of this letter with a declaration of war, a declaration of war in verses three through six. But consider with me first, Paul's plea for peace in verses one and two. In verse one, now I, Paul, myself, am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence and lowly among you, but being absent and bold toward you. But I beg you, verse two, that when I am present, I may not be bold with that confidence by which I intend to be bold against some who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. I want you to notice from verse one, the character of the plea, the character of the plea in verse one. Paul says, I, Paul, myself, am pleading with you. The word means urging, exhorting, right? He's no longer speaking for the team, as he was, by using the word we, as he had before. This is a personal and a heart-wrenching me, right? I, Paul, myself, this is urgent. This is a heart-wrenching pleading. I, myself, am pleading with you. I'm begging you in verse two. In other words, he's saying to the Corinthians, listen, you know me. You know me, how I've labored among you. I've shed tears among you. I've worked. I've preached the gospel to you. I've sat there and cried with you over your sin and led you in repentance, right? Paul knows them and they know him. I am pleading with you, he says. You know my character. You know my labor, how he preached the gospel to you. I am deathly serious. Please, please, he says. There's even in that, in there, a sense of authority that comes along with Paul's pleading here, because Paul is an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's no longer the team that's pleading. Paul, an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, is pleading with them. And notice it's not just personal. It's urgent. It's urgent. Not just urgent. It's authoritative. And not just personal, urgent, or authoritative. Look at verse one. Paul pleads by the meekness and gentleness of Christ. Words mean really humility, humility. Meekness is often characterized as strength or power under control, strength or power under control, often associated with humility, gentleness, gentleness associated with forbearance, patience, this word, kindness, an absence of anger or wrath or outburst, right? Not emphasizing or pointing to the Lord's work in this case, right? But emphasizing here, the Lord's character by the meekness and gentleness of Christ. The Lord says, doesn't he, take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am what? Gentle, right? Gentle, lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Paul even uses that same word that the Lord uses when he says in presence, verse one, I am lowly, same word, I am lowly among you. Now, Paul, just like the Lord Jesus Christ, can conduct himself with loving meekness among them and gentleness and lowliness. And as he does, Paul doesn't sacrifice one shred of authority, not one shred of apostolic authority. In fact, it's that very humility, that very gentleness, that forbearance, pouring his heart out for the Corinthians, it's that very character that serves to bolster his authority among them. Do you see? That character bolsters Paul's authority and also comes from or imitates the Lord Jesus Christ himself. The prophet Zechariah describes the coming messianic king in Zechariah chapter nine, verse nine, when he says, behold, your king is coming to you. He is a king, right? Your king is coming to you. He is just and having salvation and how does this king come? He comes lowly and riding on a donkey, right? Lowly, riding on a donkey. The prophet Isaiah, listen to this from Isaiah, the prophet says, behold, God says through the prophet, behold, my servant whom I uphold, my elect one in whom my soul delights. I have put my spirit upon him. He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles, but he will not cry out nor raise his voice, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed he will not break and a smoking flax he will not quench, right? The Lord was meek. The Lord was gentle. The Lord was humble. The Lord was lowly among them. So Paul now comes in this humility, the humility of the Lord Jesus Christ. He comes by the meekness and gentleness of Christ. He acknowledges the weight of his mission with a sense, certainly of his own dependence upon God, his own weakness. And he says that is much in first Corinthians chapter two, verse three. He says that I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And he comes to the church at Corinth and he pleads. He pleads with them. Now, sadly and absurdly, it's that very lowliness, that very gentleness that is exactly the character trait that Paul is excoriated for by the false teachers in Corinth. That's the thing that they attack him with. That character of the Lord Jesus Christ that Paul is emulating, the false teachers seize upon that to attack and assault to accuse the apostle Paul. This notion of power, a notion of authority, exercise with humility, exercise with love and gentleness and meekness cuts against the grain of conventional worldly wisdom. We see that today, don't we? Someone who comes in humility, someone who's gentle. They're instantly labeled as weak. They're seen as weak. Meekness is seen as weakness, right? We see that in our world today. And the false teachers use this as a pejority, a pejorative. They use the word lowly in verse 10 as an insult.  You know, when he's away from you, he's absent and he writes letters to you, Paul will be hard, Paul will be direct, Paul is bold, right? He's even harsh, brash in his letters. Listen, when he's with you in person, look how two-faced Paul is, right? When he's with you in person, he's weak. He's timid. He won't call you out. I want you to be called out for. He won't say what needs to be said, right? Calling Paul essentially a coward. In chapter 10, verse 10, the false teachers accuse for his letters, they say, are weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak and his speech contemptible. So now Paul, understanding this, right? With great wisdom, already taking a jab at his opponents, in verse one, he mocked their accusation. He said, I, Paul, here I am in this letter. I'm writing this letter to you and here I am with you, pleading by the meekness and gentleness of Christ. In other words, it's not absent or separated from the example of the Lord Jesus Christ himself who was meek and gentle and lowly. And he says, I'm the one they say is cowardly when I'm away from you. And here I am writing this letter to you in meekness and gentleness. I'm hard on you in my letters, they say, but now I beg you in meekness, verse two, so that I'm not compelled to be hard on you when I come. And Paul flips the accusation, doesn't he? So that I'm not compelled to be severe when I'm present with you. That points us to the purpose of the plea. We see the character of the plea. That points us to the purpose of the plea in verse two, the purpose of the plea in verse two. He says, but I beg you so that when I am present, I may not be bold with that confidence by which I intend to be bold against some who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. But the purpose of the plea then is to warn them. This is Paul's declaration of war. When I come, Paul says, I intend to be bold against some. I intend to be bold against some. So he's saying with his plea in verse one, begging them in verse two, he's saying, please, Paul is saying, please allow me to come to you in meekness, in gentleness, in joy, in love. Respond to my entreaty. Respond to the word of God. Obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Get your spiritual house in order so that please I can come in meekness. I can come in joy and I don't have to come to you with severity. Calvin said this, it is the duty of a good pastor to allure his sheep peacefully and kindly that they may allow themselves to be governed rather than to constrain them by violence. Severity, it is true, is, I acknowledge, sometimes necessary. But we must always set out with gentleness and persevere in it so long as the hearer shows himself tractable. Severity must be the last resource. For as we must, insofar as in our power, draw men, rather than drive men. So when mildness has no effect in dealing with those that are stern and refractory, rigor must of necessity be resorted to. Otherwise it will not be moderation nor equableness of temper, but criminal cowardice. That's a balance between the two, right? Pleading, imploring with meekness and gentleness and humility and love, pleading and imploring, pleading and imploring. When that fails, when that fails and the wolves are not held at bay, when error is gaining a foothold, Paul says, severity is required. Severity is necessary. To not deal with the wolves, to not deal with the error, Calvin says, is criminal cowardice. Another has said, a good soldier takes no pleasure in using deadly force. A noble warrior's power is constrained by his compassion and exercised only when there is no other option. Paul is pleading for peace while warning of war. Now notice with me, notice with me, the sum in verse two. Paul says, I intend to be bold against some. The sum of verse two certainly refers to those false teachers, those false apostles that are spreading lies and quarants, those that think of him verse two as if he walked according to the flesh or walked according to fleshly whims, fleshly desires, as if Paul ministered for self-indulgent ends. Worse yet, they were accusing Paul that Paul ministered without the Spirit of God, without the Spirit of God. He walked, ministered according to the flesh. Now Paul intends to deal. He says in verse two, I intend to be bold against some. Paul intends to deal decisively with those wicked men and with their accusations. Paul must, for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of those dear people, their souls. Paul must deal decisively with error and false teaching and quarants. But also notice with me in verse two that Paul addresses the Corinthians themselves. He's pleading with members of the church when he says, I beg you, right? I beg you. It's very apparent as we read through this text that there is still at least a small group of rebels in that church, a rebellious, unrepentant, disobedient minority that must turn from their sin and rebellion. Paul says to them, I plead with you. I am ready to deal with you when I get there if you do not turn from your sin. Chapter 13 verse two. He says, I've previously said, when present the second time, and though now absent, I say in advance to those who have sinned in the past and to all the rest as well, that if I come again, I will not spare. Now this should serve to remind us that although the faithful minister here, Paul, is earnest and is pleading for peace, the faithful minister is also prepared to go to war, prepared to go to war. Brothers and sisters, as we worked through, especially Paul's, the second part of this letter, when Paul was dealing with the Christian ministry, we established the fact that every true believer is appointed to ministry in the Lord's church. You're not here merely to listen. This is not a spectator activity, a spectator sport, right? You are engaged in Christian ministry. Every faithful minister is earnest and is pleased for peace. You plead for peace. You beg for peace. As Paul does here, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, you plead with others to turn from their sin and rebellion. But the faithful minister, that faithful brother, that faithful sister engaged in the battle to which we've been appointed, that faithful Christian minister is prepared to go to war when necessary, to go to war when necessary. Now in essence here, Paul is making a very unveiled threat. It's unveiled. What we'll see is that it's a militant threat, a combative threat, a combat that is not according to the flesh, but it's certainly a declaration of war. We see that in verses three through six. Paul explains the contrast now, this contrast that he's establishing. He explains this in verse four. Four, he says. Four because the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, for casting down arguments, casting down 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. Paul is essentially saying, isn't he? Not by might nor by power, but by my spirit says the Lord of hosts. Amen. And so Paul says, not by might, not by power, but by my spirit says Paul. Paul's not going to fight with fleshly weapons. He is going to fight with mighty weapons in God, mighty for pulling down strongholds. I want you to notice three characteristics of our warfare from verses three through six. Three characteristics of our warfare. One, I want you to see the nature of our warfare in verse three. Secondly, I want you to see the weapons of our warfare verses four through five. And lastly, the consequences of our warfare verse six, the nature, the weapons and the consequences of our warfare. First, the nature of our warfare in verse three. The nature of our warfare is not fleshly, but spiritual, not fleshly, but spiritual, verse three. For though we may walk in the flesh, though we walk according to the flesh in this life, as Paul's earlier said, we walk in this earthly tent, right? We walk in this weak and frail clay pot. We're fleshly in this life, but although we walk according to the flesh in this life, we do not war according to the flesh. We do not war according to human strength. And then Paul sets up and explains the nature of that contrast further in verse four, because he says the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. Weapons of our warfare are not carnal. They're spiritual and mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. Carnal, that word linked to fleshly in verse three, and implies a contrast with weapons or a fight or a combat or a war that is spiritual, not fleshly. It's not carnal. It is spiritual, mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. S. Lewis Johnson on this text illustrates this from the story of David and Goliath. You remember that story from 1 Samuel? David struggles to convince his brothers that he's going to take Goliath on the field of battle, right? He's going to go and take down this uncircumcised Philistine. And so he has difficulty convincing his brothers. He's got men around him. He's trying to convince of that. Essentially, David's saying, listen, don't judge according to the flesh. I'm not warring. I'm not battling here, according to the flesh. If David were battling according to the flesh, Goliath is like three times his height, outweighs him by roughly a ton. He's got a spear that weighs more than David does, but he's not battling according to the flesh. So the men hear this talk on the part of David and they report it to Saul. David said to Saul, listen, Saul, we don't war according to the flesh. David said, listen, when I kept sheep for my father, a bear or a lion would run out after the sheep. And I would go and grab that bear, grab that lion by its beard. He said, and I would miserably treat that poor creature. I would cast that thing down. This uncircumcised Philistine, David said, we'll be like one of them. Seeing that he has defied the armies of the living God. David is saying, we don't battle according to the flesh. We're not warring here according to the flesh. So what's the first thing the men do? What's the first thing the men do? They put Saul's armor on David. Now, Saul was also bigger than David was. So when they put Saul's armor on David, David can't move. He can't walk. And they hand him his sword. He can't swing it. David's response was, I can't do this because I haven't tested it yet. No, David, it was too big for David. Too heavy for David. We're not battling according to the flesh. We don't wage war according to the flesh. So what did David do? David took his swing. He took five smooth stones, which everybody knows is the five points of Calvinism. That is a joke. David took his five smooth stones and he struck down the Philistine.  Similarly, brothers and sisters, we do not ultimately war according to the flesh. Our battle is a spiritual battle. And the weapons of our warfare are mighty in God for pulling down, powering uncircumcised Philistines, pulling down arguments, pulling down fortresses and strongholds in every high thing that lost itself, that presumed to stand opposed to the knowledge of God in Christ. Ours is a spiritual battle. We do not use fleshly or carnal weapons. We use spiritual weapons, mighty in God. Now, having described the nature of our warfare, Paul then moves on to describing the weapons of our warfare. And in learning about the weapons of our warfare, we learn more about the nature of our warfare. Look at verse four. The weapons of our warfare, these weapons are not carnal. You can't win a spiritual battle with fleshly carnal weapons. These are weapons not forged by human hands. These are spiritual weapons employed with divine power, not only defensive weapons like the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, or the helmet of salvation and Ephesians chapter six. These weapons are also offensive weapons with which you wage war against an enemy. The sword of the spirit, an example of one of those, which is the word of God, truth, faith, prayer, evangelism, preaching the word of God, divine wisdom. In chapter six, verse seven, they are the weapons, same word, hapla, the weapons of righteousness on the right hand, the weapons of righteousness on the left. Now these weapons, the weapons that are laid out for us here, are mighty in God to what end? To what end? Three ends, particularly, for pulling down strongholds, for casting down arguments, for taking thoughts captive, right? Taking captivity. In other words, we're not fighting flesh and blood. We're not fighting literal physical Philistines, okay? This is not a carnal battle. It's not a battle for land or earthly power. We're not spreading our influence at the point of a sword, which is a contrast with other world religions, isn't it? Especially in our day and age. We don't fight our battles at the point of a sword. Despite the history of inquisitions or crusades by godless, professing only Christians, Christians in name only, despite that wicked and deplorable activity, the genuine Christian, true Christianity never presses itself upon the point of a sword, upon the point of a spear. Spurgeon said, for the church of God ever to avail itself of force would be clean contrary to the spirit of Christianity. These weapons are spiritual weapons. Our battle is a spiritual battle. These weapons are mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. When Paul says there that the weapons are mighty for pulling down strongholds, the word literally means for destroying or tearing down fortresses. And this is language from siege warfare. Siege warfare would have been very common, very understood to people at that time and that location. Many of them had seen siege warfare. They soon, at the destruction of the temple and the siege of Jerusalem, they soon would experience for themselves siege warfare in AD 70. In the ancient world, when cities were built, often the cities would build as tall and as thick of walls as possible to surround the city and to protect the people who lived in it. In addition to the walls, they would also, in the center of the city, build a fortress or a stronghold.  And Paul says that our weapons, not merely weapons mighty in God for pulling down the tallest and the highest walls, but weapons mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, for pulling down fortresses, everything that raises itself up against the knowledge of God can be pulled down by these weapons, right? These are weapons that are mighty in God. So no matter what the lost man erects in his heart and mind against the knowledge of God, God means God's weapons, God's word is mighty for pulling that fortress down, right? Mighty for pulling those concrete reinforced steel walls from around his heart. These weapons are mighty in God for pulling them down. Paul says, in the warfare of the Christian ministry, we who serve Christ are in the business of besieging enemy territory, right? The tearing down of defensive strongholds, the defensive fortresses of the wicked. Again, we're not talking about physical strongholds, amen? We're not talking about physical strongholds. And the indication of that, if it weren't obvious, is given to us as Paul continues, right? It's not just tearing down fortresses, but passing down arguments, passing down arguments. The word means speculations, reasonings. In every high thing, Paul says, that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. One commentator calls them citadels of argumentation. The thoughts, sentiments, arguments, justifications of self-vaunted reason. What is overthrown in the battle, if you notice, what's destroyed or what's torn down? It's not the enemies themselves. It's not the person. It's the way that he thinks, right? The argument that he's raised up against the knowledge of God. It's not the enemy themselves as in physical warfare, but the actions, the thoughts, the error of the enemies that is thrown down, the fortresses that they've built in opposition to the gospel. God says in Isaiah chapter 29, the wisdom of their wise men shall perish. The understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden. Proverbs chapter 21 verse 22, a wise man scales the city of the mighty and brings down the trusted stronghold. In other words, think, if you will, with me, outside of Christ, outside of Christ, before the conquering, efficacious grace of God entered your heart and made of you a new creature, such that you could not resist to see the glories of Christ and the heinousness of your own sin against him. Before that took place, you were in the business of fortress building. Everywhere the glory of God is displayed. The firmament shows his handy work and you, in your ignorance, build fortresses in your mind and in your heart against the knowledge of God. You stay in your heart, right? I will not have that man to rule over me. I am the master of my fate, right? I am the captain of my soul and so you erect towers and you reinforce them.  You want to live life for yourself, you think. You're in the business of erecting strongholds, erecting fortresses, but if you're in Christ, if you're in Christ, didn't all of that reinforced concrete, didn't all of that steel, all of that work, all of that labor, all of those defensive efforts, didn't they melt away in an instant when you have eyes to see and ears to hear the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, that God in mercy and in grace visited you with that mercy and grace to save your wretched soul, that God would forgive you of your sin in Christ and adopt you as a son in his own household in Christ, would seat you in the heavenly places in Christ, would redeem you and sanctify you and one day glorify you that you might worship and praise him forever, pulling down those strongholds. They are weak and powerless against the efficacious grace of Almighty God. Today, today, will you harden your heart against him? Will you presume to march onward toward your death with your weak and feeble defenses raised against him? You'll stand before him and those defenses will evaporate in the flames in an instant. Will you continue to fight? Will you give your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ? You can be forgiven of your sin. All of this has to do with submitting our thoughts to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the one who made us. Casting down arguments, verse five, every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought, every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. That word, every thought refers to every kind of device, every scheme, every design, every thought that prevented people from the true knowledge of God. Paul is not merely concerned with his own ministry at this point, but ultimately, he's concerned with these satanic attacks that hinder the gospel in Corinth. You, brother, you sister, be concerned about the satanic attacks that lure you away from the truth as it is in Christ. Taking those godless, god-denying thoughts captive. It's interesting here that he's not specifically referring to our own thoughts, but how the faithful minister of God seeks to take captive the thoughts of that one who is trapped in their godless mind, right, in their godlessness. Taking those thoughts captive, taking those arguments captive with the truth of God's word. This has to do, again, with the Lordship of Jesus Christ. One said, if a man's natural condition and sin is that he has steeled himself in pretentious intellectual fortresses by which he aims to shield his thinking from God's truth, then the work of ministry entails not only the destruction of those fortresses, but capturing every rebellious thought and leading them as prisoners of war out of their native city and into subjection to Christ. If sin has fundamentally infected and corrupted the mind of man, as well as his heart, as well as his will, then conversion consists in part in the renewal of man's mind and bringing even his thinking into submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Consider the implications of this warfare then, the implications of this warfare. The unbeliever is not merely someone who has a different opinion. We're not battling here for opinions, merely to win an argument. We're trying to win their soul, right? It's not just about winning an argument. We're not trying to battle or combat between two valid belief systems as if both have equal footing or as if both were okay. We're tearing down arguments, tearing down strongholds, destroying fortresses, all those who do not worship the one true and living God in spirit and in truth. And the Lord Jesus Christ, the one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, they have fortified for themselves strongholds of justifications, strongholds of error in opposition to the truth of the gospel. And the faithful minister, that faithful brother, that faithful sister goes to that one with the intention of ripping down, tearing down those strongholds, doing so with the weapons of God which are mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. Paul uses a form of this word in Romans chapter one when he says of wicked unbelievers that even though they knew God, they did not honor him as God nor give thanks, but they became futile, futile in their speculations. There's our word speculations. Their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools. The nature of our warfare, the weapons of our warfare, consider with me the consequences of our warfare. Verse six, Paul says in considering our warfare, Paul says, and I am ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. Those remaining unrepentant rebels, those in the church who persist in error, who persist in standing opposed to the gospel, those who will not submit themselves to the truth of God as it is in Christ, will find themselves on the wrong end of apostolic authority. Remember from Scripture, Paul in an encounter with a satanically charged sorcerer named Elimus in Acts 13 has already struck him with blindness, right? Peter in Acts chapter five proclaims the death of Ananias and Sapphira for lying to the Holy Spirit. So apostolic authority means something, right? But listen, that apostolic authority extends into the Lord's church through battling like church discipline. In the sense that when the church faithfully exercises discipline, as Paul is saying he's going to do here, what Paul intends to do, Paul intends to exercise church discipline on those that remain opposed to the gospel, that remain opposed to those dear people, he's going to put them out of the church when he comes. This is church discipline. And that act, doesn't it say?  If they don't, you take it to the church. And when you take it to the church, the church then, if they will not repent, if they refuse to hear, they put them out of the church, they treat them as a tax collector and a heathen. Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter five, it is turning them over to Satan for the destruction of their flesh. The same power that killed Ananias and Sapphira, the same power wielded by the Apostle Paul to strike elements that are blind, is the power that stands opposed to you when you remain unrepentant in your sin. And that power, there's just a foretaste of that judgment, that accountability, there's a foretaste of that in the church discipline that Paul is speaking about here in verse six. God stands opposed to the wicked. The shepherd is coming here to drive away wolves from the flock. God will protect his people from error. God will protect his church from error. He gives the church the means of church discipline to provide the means in that. Now somebody might say, that sounds harsh, right? It sounds so harsh. It sounds hard, but to love the sheep necessitates being hard on the wolf. You can't coddle the wolf to protect the sheep. Paul says, when I show up, I'm going to discipline those who remain unrepentant. That's verse six. So someone says, listen, what happened to the meekness and gentleness of Christ? Thought you were supposed to be meek, Paul, gentle. Listen, meekness and gentleness are not incompatible with Christian warfare, with warfare. When the Lord went into the temple in John chapter two, the one who was meek and gentle and lowly, when he saw the temple given over to the money changers, making the house of God a den of thieves, what did the Lord do? The Lord took a whip in his hand and he cleared out the temple of the money changers, right? When the Pharisees in their hypocrisy were pontificating their religious expertise on an unsuspecting people, the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew chapter 23 rebuked them with a scathing rebuke, right? Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.  The Lord Jesus Christ was earnest in his pleas for peace. The Lord Jesus Christ was earnest in his meekness, in his gentleness, in his lowliness, but when it came to defending the truth against error, the Lord Jesus Christ, as was Paul, was ready for war. Even now in verse six, even now, Paul continues to leave room for compassion. He says in verse six, he says in verse six, he's ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. In other words, when your obedience comes to its fullness, when everyone's had an opportunity to repent and when all those who are going to repent have repented, then I'm going to punish all disobedience. In other words, there's still time, there's still time, repent of your sin, repent of your rebellion for the one here who is not a Christian, for the one here who continues to persist in their sin, for the one here who has not turned from sin to follow the Lord Jesus Christ's heart, soul, mind, and strength. You remain an enemy of God. You are at enmity with an omnipotent God who made you and has called you to be holy. All the defenses that you presume to raise are hopeless against the accountability that is coming for you. God says he is ready to punish all disobedience. God is appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he's appointed, and he has given evidence of this to all by raising that man, the Lord Jesus Christ, from the dead. You will be called into account and God, the omnipotent, is ready to punish all disobedience. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of what we've done in the body, whether good or bad, and God stands ready with recompense in his hand to punish all who are disobedient. Turn from your sin. Put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. God has made provision of your sin. Turn to him in faith that your sins may be blotted out, that you may be forgiven, brother and sister, if you're here today. Listen, you've turned from your sin. You put your faith and trust in Christ. The depiction of the Christian life on the part of the New Testament, on the part of the Apostle Paul, is the life of battle. It's a life of warfare. In fact, that theme is common to the Apostle Paul. Paul speaks of those who labor with him in ministry as fellow soldiers. He uses that term of Epaphroditus in Philippians chapter 2 verse 25. He uses that term of archipelago in verse 2 of Philemon. In 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 3, he exhorts Timothy to suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. And Paul reminds us that this is not a carnal battle. We do not war according to the flesh. In Ephesians chapter 6 verse 12, we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. And he calls it in 1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 12, the good fight of faith. He exhorts the people of God to wage the good warfare, brothers and sisters. We cannot be complacent in this battle.  According to the means that God has given you, reading his word, praying, exercising faith, evangelizing, serving the brothers and sisters, loving one another, stirring one another up to love and good works, being fervent in good works. We cannot be complacent in the Christian life. The Christian life is a race. And we have to run our race with endurance, Paul says. Right? And there are those brothers, there are those sisters who need the Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot stand by, stand idly by while they suffer under the delusions of their own heart. Those fortresses, those defenses that they've piled up against the knowledge of God. We have weapons in our arsenal, brothers, sisters, with which we can pull down strong holds. We need to be in the business of tearing down fortresses. Amen. In May, the Lord Jesus Christ received the full reward of his suffering. All praise, honor, and glory to the one who has called us to this fight, called us to this faith. Amen. Let's pray.


Good morning, you're welcome to the breakfast on Plus TV Africa. Happy New Year to you! Happy New Year to you! We're January the 1st of 2024 and we're so excited that we all made it. Congratulations, you made it into 2024 and I'm sure you have your hopes and dreams and aspirations and we're hopeful that everything will come through this year for you. Yeah, the way we've been talking about new years every year is that see when we wake up this morning the sun will rise from the west and go to the east like it's going to be a different day. We made it this far 2023 was turbulent, really, really turbulent but we made it this far that means that 2024 we hope for better days than 2023. There are people who still achieved a lot of what they planned to achieve that you are one of them. You are a living so if she can do it you can do it. We cannot begin to relive the kind of things that she planned for herself but whatever your goals might be if you achieve them or you achieve 50% or 80% you thank God for small messes. My name is Rometh Paulson and I am Nyam Gul Agadji. Welcome to another wonderful day of broadcast. For some of us it's a normal day. Some other people they are resting. I wish I was resting because I mean I went for a crossover service last night and obviously if you can tell from my voice I was so up there. I was happy about my 2023 so I was there partying, crying, waiting, all the mixed emotions and I'm like God thank you so much for my 2023 and I'm excited for 2024 but I mean we have to be here the work has to go on. Yeah I felt I could stay home pray because God is everywhere anyway and then rest so that I can come early to work this morning but every way around me was a church. So whether you're in the church or out of the church you will cross over by force all the music and all that so you just couldn't sleep but we still made it this far and today is looking up and I'm thankful to God for this President Tina Burgess gave a speech which we had broadcasted a few minutes before now and one thing he talked about was about the pains that we're going through right now as Nigerians what he's saying everything all the decisions he has made so far is for the growth of our economy and for the growth of Nigeria and that was that we'll start seeing the benefits. Yes we start to see the dividends come in in the few months and weeks and you know what the view but my question is I hope it's not just a speech I hope it's not just that charge that you give people and you say oh don't worry things are going to get better may well there might be a downturn so I may be skeptical about that seeing. Oh in 2024 you are skeptical. I know right well 2024 is changing me maybe. Because in 2023 I wasn't I don't want to start with this kind of note now but let's be optimistic my problem also is that I would have loved some timelines he didn't give any timeline he said okay this year there's going to be a living wage this year can end in December so what are the timelines for these things that you see Nigerians will begin to see this living wage he said I'm sure a lot of people will be applauding but the critical question is the minimum wage have all the states been able to pay no and if they've not been able to pay how have the problems been addressed so that these states can pay so living wage will it be for the federal workers only will it be for federal and state workers will it also rub off a little bit on the private sector what are we talking about so because the market is the same for all of us right so he didn't give timelines he talked about security he talked about and that we've not been able to you know mitigate everything but they want that people live peacefully so and when I heard that I'm like how about we're seeing things in canoe whereby a bomb is being dropped by the military we're seeing things in plateau when they're writing letters yes and they're coming back so I can believe in peacefully I live here in leki I can believe in peacefully but how about people in other states are they really living peacefully so we can't pick and choose on some things or people who should be able to live peacefully Nigerians as a whole should be secured the lives and properties of the Nigerians should be secured so you can't say some people should live peacefully so I think and I know that a chunk of our budget goes into security but I feel like they need to do more the money is going there but the human resources are they really going there even the human resources are they really do they have the capacity and the willingness to actually do the job so these are the things these are the questions that we need to ask and these are the things that needs to be put in place for 2024 I remember the the song of lucky dube I think he said they don't build schools anymore all the build is prisons prisons prisons everywhere so that means you are addressing the aftermath of a problem instead of the problem itself so so if you think that people are suffering if you think there is insecurity and the chunk of your budget is going to insecurity why in the first place is there insecurity are you addressing that and until that is done you'll keep budgeting money for insecurity without addressing the problem you're being reactive instead of being proactive and then he said he'd like to bridge the gap between you know the reach and the poor and all that I kind of like that and I was asking myself what gap are you bridging when you say the reach what are you referring to are you referring to political office holders and then referring to us as the ordinary people whose gap you want to bridge how are you intending to bridge the gap when we are seeing the frivolous pendants in the national assembly and 160 million I cannot drop that 160 million our SUVs and stuff but anyways we're just hopeful that 2024 will be a better year even for us as a nation we're hoping that everything president universe said in his speech and they start to come into fruition letting them be giving us timelines okay hopefully he'll give us timelines and then we start to see the dividends of our will I say the suffering but yes let's go on a quick break we'll look at the weather this morning and when we return we'll be seeing what the national dailies are saying in the papers it'll be time for off the price but let's look at the weather first see you soon