Transcription
[Music] We're wrapping up our series "When the Devil Knocks." And tonight, I want to talk to you about something that is real, something we need to understand, and something that God wants to give us victory over. And that's the whole topic of strongholds. Strongholds. What does the Bible say about it? What are we talking about when we're talking about a stronghold? We're talking about a fortress. We're talking about a, a mighty, a mighty fortress or garrison that is difficult to not only attack but to defeat.
And what the devil wants to do, and what the devil has done in the lives of many, many people in this room, in this church, in this community, in this country, in the world, is he wants to establish a foothold in the lives of people, a stronghold. And he doesn't do it overnight. He's very patient. He knows how to build a stronghold. He knows how to lay brick by brick by brick in the lives of people. He's willing to take time so that he can have a stronghold where you will have trouble dislodging his working in your life.
Now, we've been talking about the fact that we're in a spiritual battle. We've looked at a lot of scriptures that talk about Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 11 says, "Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil." The word "strategies" there is the great word *method Eon*. We get our word "methods" from it, but literally it means that these seats in the original, it had the idea of all the deceits, all the treachery, all the trickery of the devil. He's got all kinds of methods to trick you, all kinds of methods to defeat you.
Paul says this in 2nd Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 11, "In order that Satan might not outwit us, for we are not unaware of his schemes." It's very, very interesting that word "schemes" there in the Greek is the word *no EEMA*, and it means mind. So, we could understand this: we are not unaware of his mind games. We're not unaware of his head games. We're not unaware of the way. You see, the, that one of the devil's favorite ways to infiltrate our life and to establish a stronghold is in our thought life. He wants to attack our thoughts. He wants to attack us with incorrect thinking about God, about life, about ourselves, about our future, about our past, about people around us, about the church. So, the devil, we're not unaware of his schemes. We're not, we're not unaware of his mind games.
And what happens is that over time, the devil begins to plant thoughts in people's minds. And he does it in a way where he, he knows how he's gonna build it. It's just like a person building a house or building a building. There's a plan, and you got to lay the foundation. And nobody really sees what the building's gonna look like. They don't really know how it's gonna turn unless they can see the blueprint. They don't know. So, the devil's like laying blocks and laying a foundation. People don't have any idea how the, how the thinking that they're embracing that is ultimately from him is laying, if you will, a, a, a foundation. They don't know what that building, that stronghold, is gonna look like. But it is gonna be a stronghold. This is the way the enemy wants to work. It's how he does what he does. He wants to plant thoughts in your mind. He wants to put thoughts that are like seeds that take root, that grow, that develop, that change a person's perspective, that guide a person's decisions, that grip a person's emotions. I mean, our actions are a direct result of our thoughts. Tell me what a person thinks, and I will tell you what they'll do. Tell me what a person thinks about, and I will tell you what they are. You and I are no more and no less than the sum of our thoughts. Doesn't matter what people know. Doesn't matter what people see. What matters is what's going on in here. Because as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. That's why the scripture says this: "Above all else, guard your heart, for it's the wellspring of life." Garbage in, garbage out. What you and I think about is the way it's gonna play out in our life.
This is why Paul writes in 2nd Corinthians some very important words that we all need to understand. And at times, we read too fast through the scripture, we don't think about what the Lord is saying. But listen to this: 2nd Corinthians chapter 10, verse 3. "The weapon for though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare..." So here he's talking about spiritual warfare. And he's saying, "Listen, we live in the flesh, but the battle we're facing is a spiritual battle." And we know that from other scriptures like Ephesians chapter 6 and others. "The weapons for our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds."
So, the enemy wants to build a stronghold and does try to build those. But we don't have to walk around with a victim mentality and say, "Oh, there's nothing I can do about it." We have power. We have, we have the necessary weaponry to not only fight the battle but to win the battle. So, when it comes to strongholds, a lot of people have this, have this idea like they just have to live with it. Like they just have to put up with it. Like there's nothing they can do about it. But that's not what Paul says. "For though we walk in the flesh, we're 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. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience when your obedience is complete."
Paul pictures, if you will, ungodly thinking as a fortress. Look at it in verse 4, 2nd Corinthians 10. "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds." To demolish the enemy's fortress. During the Hundred Years' War, if you're a history buff, which is between England and France, England invaded northern France. And what they did is they built a series of fortresses or strongholds. And those strongholds gave them control over northern France. And it took the French over a hundred years to drive the enemy out.
The devil's plan for dominating, for defeating people, is to plant a thought. With what people see. With what people hear. You know, God, yeah, you got to be careful who you listen to and what you listen to. Some people here tonight would go a long way toward a different life just by changing your friends. You say, "Well, but who's gonna reach them?" You know what? Maybe you better decide, "I'm gonna walk for Jesus and get strong before you run in some of the circles you're running." And you're listening to people who don't love the Lord, who don't acknowledge the Lord, or who just give lip service to the Lord, but their life is not true according to the ways of the Lord. They do not have a heart after the things of God. And the result is they're saying all kinds of foolishness. And the enemy's using it to create a stronghold in your life. Their lack of wisdom is ruining your life. And initially, it's, oh, it's so fun. Um, as the enemy lays some more blocks. Oh, they're so popular. As the enemy lays some more blocks. Ah, but they're nice to me. As the enemy lays some more blocks. I, you know, I'm gonna try to reach them, even though you don't have enough spiritual strength to fit in a symbol. But you're gonna try to reach them. But you're not loving God. You're not living for God. And the enemy lays some more blocks. This is serious. This is the way this works.
Plants a thought by what we see. By what we feel. Some of you, you, you live more by your feelings than you do by faith in the Word of God. And what the Word of God says. And so you're, you're saying, "Well, I just feel this way." It doesn't line up with the Word of God. It's not true spiritually. It's not taking into account the power of God, the will of God, or the way of for you. And the enemy lays blocks. You love God, but the enemy's laying blocks because you're giving in. You're giving vent. You're giving voice to the reasoning, the feelings, the desires, the doubts, the fears, and the suspicions of the enemy.
Listen, he knows her. He knows you. The enemy knows you. He watches you. He knows what you like, what you don't like. He knows what makes you feel insecure. And he knows what you look to for security outside of the Lord. And he knows. And so he says, "Oh, this will make him feel safe. Lay some more blocks." "Oh, this will make them afraid. Lay some more blocks." I mean, the enemy knows. He knows our appetites. He knows our desires. He knows our weakness. And he carefully, slowly, patiently, not trying to build Rome in a day, he's willing to build a stronghold over months and years, if necessary, as long as he can get it built. Moment by moment, day by day, thought by thought.
You see, what gets a lot of Christians into trouble, let me just give you three things. There's gonna be a lot of things, but I'll give you three. Number one: they never challenge their thinking. They think because they think it's true, or they just think because they feel it, that it's reality. Wrong. Feelings, wrong desires, doubts, or maybe just because nobody sees it, like it's a fantasy they're entertaining. So, because nobody knows and nobody's aware, like it's okay. And the enemy's laying blocks. Think about something long enough, it becomes a stronghold. Entertain a fantasy long enough, and it doesn't take very long, and you've created a stronghold. A lot of Christians get in trouble because they never challenge their thinking.
Number two: they don't know God's Word. They don't study it. They don't meditate on it. They don't know it, so they cannot apply it. Listen, you and I cannot live what we do not know. You can't do what you don't know. This is why it is so critical. I'm not asking you to read the Bible in a year, though I think if you can, it's good for people to give to give that a go. But everybody needs to get that, that Word of God, whatever it is, wherever it is, that you can get it. If you can read, if you can read a psalm a day, if you can read a few proverbs a day, if you can read, get in the New Testament, read it. Be encouraged by it. Watch how you begin to understand more and more. But watch more than that, the power of that as God speaks to you through that.
Fact, this afternoon, I was just reading in my Bible, and I stopped. I went after I pray because it's so impacted me after I studied. I was just, I was just like spending some time in the presence of the Lord. And, and I was reading in my Bible, and there were some verses. And after I just sat and meditated on them and prayed about them, I went, I went down to where Debbie was, and I said, "Hey, listen to this. Let me read you this." And just talked about it. And I've thought about it. I mean, that's the power of the Word of God. It changes your thinking. It changes your perspective. It, it delights your heart. It renews your mind. It gives you strength. It's amazing the power of the Word of God. What you think about determines who you become and what you'll do.
And number three: they don't set their mind on godly things. I mean, they just, they have an appetite for other things. And when you have an appetite for things that are other than God, be careful. The enemy will use it to build a stronghold. Some of you have a stronghold regarding your hobby. Your hobbies are a stronghold. And let me tell you how and why. It takes you away from God and the things of God regularly. Some of you will be gone for four months from the house of God because of your hobby. That's a stronghold. The enemy is happy to take good things and make them bad. And anything that, that causes you to not be in the presence of God with the people of God regularly is a stronghold. And it's, it's a demonic stronghold. And brick by brick, fun experience by fun experience. And I'm telling you, the problem is when you have a stronghold in your life and you have a family, then you leave a legacy of that stronghold in the life of those around you. Because, and this is, this is almost axiomatic: what parents do in moderation, their children will do in excess. It's just true. If I could, I'm just trying to, to, to be give you a sound warning bell regarding the way the enemy works. Because we sit all the time trying to help people be wise. Set your mind on things above by letting the Spirit, Romans 8:6, control your mind. Colossians chapter 3, think about the things of heaven, not the things of Earth. Philippians 4:8, "One final thing: fix your thoughts on what is true. Think about the things that are excellent, worthy of praise." Right thinking leads to victorious living, plain and simple.
You know, here's what a lot of people want. What a lot of people want with a stronghold, what a lot of people want when they realize, "Oh, I got a stronghold," what they want is they want to be hospitalized. "Spirits, somehow, cure me of this." And what God does, can God instantly deliver people from the stronghold? He can, and he does. But often, what he does is, rather than sending people into the hospital, what he does is he sends them to boot camp. Demolishing strongholds didn't come by way of getting a spiritual IV. It comes by way of having weapons that are powerful to demolish. You know, that whole imagery is one of fighting. What the church needs less than a hospital. Yes, we are a hospital for sinners who haven't met the Savior, because he has the cure to sin, and that's faith in him. But then after that, the cure to defeating the enemy is not a hospital bed. It is a barracks. I mean, that's the way it works. Why, you say, "I'm getting to do that to me?" Because he's giving me power that I might stand firm and that I might fight the good fight of the faith.
Okay, I gotta get going here. I'm running. Give me a little break. Can I go crazy? Are you okay? Messed up thinking, messed up life. That's how it works. Our fleshly mind has so much practice doing its own thing, it almost comes naturally. So, 2nd Corinthians 10:5, "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. And we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." We take captive. Hostage. We look that thought in the eye and we say, "You, you make one wrong move, you're finished." We take it captive. We demolish arguments, every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. Anything that's contrary to the knowledge of God, we're gonna shoot it down. We're gonna get rid of it. We're gonna attack it. Knowledge says God is good and he does good. So negativity has got to go. If God is good and does good, then why would you be so negative? So, I just think I need to be real. Well, you know what? You can be as real as you want, but you'll never have victory by giving voice to the defeat in your heart. It's just true. Someone she got us, "I believe God. He's good and he does good. And he's, if God's for me, who can be against me?" I mean, that's what we're talking about here. Bring the verse back up on the screen. That's what we're talking about. Every pretension that sets itself against the knowledge of God. The knowledge of God says, "Be holy, for I am holy." God's holy. He calls us to holiness because he is holy. That means lustful thoughts and fantasies and pornography and adultery has got to go. Once we know the Word of God, you'll never get rid of any of those kind of things by resisting them. You only get rid of them by replacing them with the Word of God. I just, I just, I just have this an itch. I'm just trying to stand against it. Well, how about you think about the Word of God? Quote the Word of God. Live in the Word of God. Love the Word of God. Study the Word of God. You know, you know what? If every time the enemy attacks you with whatever it is, negativity, bitterness, fear, doubt, and you start quoting scripture, do you know what he's gonna do? He's gonna say, "I think I'm gonna have to find a different way to attack them, because I am sick of hearing them quote the Word of God." From practical experience, I know this to be true. [Applause]
Knowledge of God says, "Love one another." So valuing things more than people has got to go. Knowledge of God says, "He loves me." God loves you. More for some of you, self-loathing is your stronghold. It's a demonic stronghold. It's not just that you have a bad self-esteem. It's that, no, yeah, you've allowed the enemy, you believed the lie. You're not as good as somebody else. You're not as good-looking as somebody else. You're not as smart as somebody else. That, you're ugly, you're stupid, that you don't have anything to offer, that you don't have the same future. I mean, all of those different. And you have totally forgotten that God loves you. You're fearfully and wonderfully made. And you were created in Christ Jesus before he, he created you to do things you're designed for you to do. Before you were ever born, he created you, gifted you, equipped you to fulfill a divine calling and purpose that only you can fulfill on this earth. And unless you get the Word of God and you take and demolish, do you follow what I'm saying?
Well, how do I tear down strongholds? Let me just know we're gonna, we'll move quick here. Number one: repentance. Repentance. We can tear down strongholds by repenting. The word "repentance" *metano E o* means to change your mind. In other words, repentance is a mind shift. Repentance is saying, "Okay, I'm gonna line myself up with what the Word of God says instead of thinking what I like I've been thinking. Instead of thinking either the negative thoughts, instead of thinking of bitterness or jealousy or sensuality or whatever it is that that is the deal. I'm gonna change. I'm gonna have a mind shift. I'm gonna think in alignment with the Word of God." Listen, you will not change your life until you change your thinking. Just impossible. You have to decide what's gonna be more pleasing to your soul. Is that stronghold gonna be more pleasing? Or are you gonna say, "You know what? By the grace of God, and because of what the Word of God says, I'm gonna stand in his power, and that stronghold has got to go." It's, it's a mind shift. Change. It's repentance. We're in a battle. Satan wants to create strongholds in our thinking. But through repentance, a mind shift can begin to set us free.
I mean, as the worship team to come, because a second way to destroy a stronghold is worship. It's a very interesting thing to think about worship as having that power, that ability. Second Corinthians chapter 10, "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." So, the things that we do, the means by which we worship God is also the means by which we fight the battle. It's true. Remember when Jehoshaphat was being attacked by an army in 2nd Chronicles, and they went out praising the Lord and singing? And as they were going out and praising the Lord, what happened? The enemy, before they got there, was already defeated. Because the same thing that was worshiping God was fighting the battle. You know that when you and I, there's, there's a, the things we do in here, the lifting of our hands, the lifting of our voice, they're calling out on God in prayer, the worshiping, the praying, all those things, all those things fight a battle. You're fighting a battle. You're fighting a stronghold in your life. And in all those, every area, it can tear down strongholds.
Listen to this: Psalm 149, speaking of singing, says this: "Let the godly exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their beds." So, you going to bed tonight with a song in your heart, that's what it's saying. You get up in the morning with a song in your heart, that's what it's saying. You wake up in the middle of night, like, "I can't go to sleep." Rather than getting worked up about it, look up to God and say, "I got a little time here. I'm gonna worship on my bed. I'm gonna worship and thank you, Lord." And watch this: "Let the high praises of God be in their throats." And what happens? As they're exalting the Lord, as they're worshiping, even as they're laying down, even as they're laying down, even as you're laying down, as you lay down tonight and you're you're praising God, you're worshiping the Lord, or as you're laying down in the morning, you're praising God, you're worshiping the Lord, as you're up in the watch, the wee hours of the morning, and and you're praising God, watch what happens. The high praises of God are in your throat, and there's a two-edged sword in your hand. You say, "What's that talking about?" You're doing battle. Strongholds, devil, you're going down. That's, that's what it's saying. The strongholds are being put down through, through praise.
It's very interesting. There's the story in the book of Judges about a man named Gideon. And you know, we think of the story of Gideon and his 300, and how he destroyed this huge army. But long before that, what we find out about Gideon is this is a man who had some strongholds in his life. One of his strongholds was idolatry. He struggled with idolatry. And it came from his father. His father was an idolater. What his father did a little bit, because you could get the ideas, that's a bit of a casual idolater. But by the end of Gideon's life, he's a full-on idolater. It's really tragic to watch. He's building, he's creating an idol. And all of Israel is worshiping it out of gold from the victory God had given him years ago. He's an adulterer. There's a stronghold there. But the start of his life, God wants to set him free from that. Because, you know, God can set you free from something. But if you go back, if you go back and you engage, God can give you a deliverance. But you go back. The enemy just says, "Okay, I'll put a brick here. Let's put a brick." Let's say there's a hole. They busted a hole in my stronghold. I'm gonna, and he patches it back up. [Music]
Gideon also had a stronghold of fear. But listen to this. Before God uses Gideon in a mighty way, he wants Gideon to break some strongholds in his life. So watch what he says here: "That night the Lord said to him, 'Take your father's bull, and the second bull, seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal.'" So, the altar sits on what is known in the town as a fortress, a stronghold. The whole, that altar has a stronghold, becomes a stronghold for the whole city. Because like when the altar's torn down, the whole city, they're like mad at Gideon. "And cut down the Asherah that is beside it, which is a fertility." This is Baal and Asherah, our fertility cult. And so it's very lewd. Very, the worship of Baal, the worship of Asherah, is basically sexual intercourse out in the open. That's how you would go to, you'd go to the priest and the priestess, and you would have intercourse in the open on a raised platform in the city square where everybody could see. That's, that's a Canaanite altar. That's how Baal was worshipped. So you would, you would do that in hopes that then there would be procreative blessing in your life, is kind of the idea that they would think. So it's out in the open. "Go there and build an altar to the Lord your God on top of the stronghold with stones laid in due order." In other words, go to where the stronghold was, build an altar right on top of it. Get that stronghold under your feet and say, "You know what? I'm not gonna be under this thing, under the power, under the dominion, under the authority. I'm gonna be over this thing. And I'm gonna be over it in the Word of God. And I'm gonna do this in order. And I'm gonna do it according to the word, the will, the way of God." And so what happens is he goes there and he does that. And as he worships the Lord, that stronghold is destroyed. And that's the next morning, people are upset about it. But God is now working in Gideon's life in a whole new way.
And I'm just, I just know tonight there's some of you, and you're under, as we're talking, a stronghold. Some of you have a stronghold of unforgiveness. Somebody hurt you, and it's a stronghold. You talk about it though it was years ago as if it was yesterday. And it's destroyed. And every time you told the story, and every time you rehearsed it in your mind, the enemy was like, "Oh yeah, tell it again. I really liked that part about laying another brick, laying another brick." They know the brick. Some of you have a stronghold relative to your self-image, how you view yourself. Your self-loathing. For some, it's its sensuality. For some, it's anger. For some, I mean, we could go on and just, I mean, you know what your stronghold is. You know how you can identify their stronghold. It's the one thing you can't ever seem to defeat in your life. It keeps cropping up. It's always like there. And it's hard. You can't seem to remove it. And I'm just telling you, God wants to give us victory.