Strongholds
Spiritual Warfare • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 39 viewsThis message examines how strongholds develop through repeated patterns of thinking, wrong attitudes toward God’s truth, and compromise with sin. It shows how believers can give the enemy access through defended thought patterns and calls the Church to repentance, renewed thinking, and wholehearted agreement with the Word of God.
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3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
Introduction:
Last Wednesday, in “Reeking Thinking,” we began looking at the battle that takes place in our thought life. We saw that the enemy does not have to create every thought we struggle with; sometimes years of thinking according to the patterns of this world have already shaped the way we see ourselves, other people, and even the truth of God.
Tonight we are going further. We are going to look at what happens when those patterns of thinking become so established that we begin to defend them, even when the Word of God confronts them. At that point, we are no longer dealing with an occasional wrong thought; we are dealing with a stronghold.
Tonight's Vocabulary Words
Tonight's Vocabulary Words
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (Eleventh Edition) Attitude
4 a: a mental position with regard to a fact or state 〈a helpful attitude〉
b: a feeling or emotion toward a fact or state
Then, the seventh definition:
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (Eleventh Edition) Attitude
7 a: a negative or hostile state of mind
b: a cool, cocky, defiant, or arrogant manner
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (Eleventh Edition) Thinking
1thinking noun
14th century
1: the action of using one’s mind to produce thoughts
2 a: OPINION, JUDGMENT 〈I’d like to know your thinking on this〉
b: thought that is characteristic (as of a period, group, or person) 〈the current student thinking on fraternities〉
Tonight's Objective:
Tonight's Objective:
“What men call ‘salvation’ is simply the first stage of God’s plan for our lives, which is to conform us in character and power to the image of Jesus Christ. If we fail to see our relationship to God as such, we will allow too many areas within us to remain unchanged. Pulling down strongholds is the demolition and removal of these old ways of thinking so that the actual Presence of Jesus Christ can be manifested through us.”
—Francis Frangipane, The Three Battlegrounds, p. 23
13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
We are going to see that what happens in the most private place of all—our thought life—eventually rules our lives.
We are going to see that what happens in the most private place of all—our thought life—eventually rules our lives.
We talked about this last week, but tonight we are going further down the road.
22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
This is not an issue of memorization; this is an issue of awareness. We can memorize all the Scripture we want, but until we apply it to ourselves, the reeking thinking we spoke of last week will run and ruin our lives.
Many preachers have fallen, not because they could not exegete Scripture, but because they would not allow the Holy Spirit, through Scripture, to exegete them.
A Stronghold Grows When We Become Sympathetic to What God Calls Sin.
A Stronghold Grows When We Become Sympathetic to What God Calls Sin.
20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
27 nor give place to the devil.
Whenever our response to the clear Word of God continually begins with, “I know what the Bible says, but…,” we need to pay attention.
The word but may reveal an area where we have become sympathetic to something God is trying to change.
We are no longer merely struggling with wrong; we have begun defending wrong.
What Is One Sign That We Have Begun to Defend Sin?
What Is One Sign That We Have Begun to Defend Sin?
We begin saying, “I know what the Bible says, but…”
We begin saying, “I know what the Bible says, but…”
“I know what the Bible says, but you don't understand my situation.”
“I know what the Bible says, but everybody does it.”
“I know what the Bible says, but God knows my heart.”
“I know what the Bible says, but this is different.”
“I know what the Bible says, but you don't understand my situation.”
“I know what the Bible says, but everybody does it.”
“I know what the Bible says, but God knows my heart.”
“I know what the Bible says, but this is different.”
Notice that every one of these statements begins by acknowledging the truth and ends by resisting its authority.
The Stronghold We Are Exposing Here Is a Wrong Attitude Toward God’s Truth.
The Stronghold We Are Exposing Here Is a Wrong Attitude Toward God’s Truth.
That is why we began tonight by defining both thinking and attitude. Thinking is what takes place in the mind; attitude is the position we take toward what we know.
The problem is not always that we do not know the truth. Sometimes we know exactly what the Word of God says, but we have developed an attitude toward the truth that allows us to resist it, qualify it, negotiate with it, or make an exception for ourselves.
The stronghold is not ignorance of the truth; the stronghold is the attitude we have developed that allows us to live in resistance to the truth we already know.
A Believer Can Belong to Christ and Still Give the Enemy Access.
A Believer Can Belong to Christ and Still Give the Enemy Access.
We need to make an important distinction. The Christian belongs to Jesus Christ. The issue is not ownership; the issue is access.
The enemy does not have to possess us in order to influence an area of our lives. When we continually protect patterns of thinking that oppose the truth of God, we can give the enemy room to operate in that area.
A stronghold becomes a place in our thinking where we have resisted the truth of God long enough that the enemy is able to exploit what we continue to defend.
The enemy gains access where we continually refuse God access.
Remember what The Apostle Paul said: “nor give place to the devil.” in Ephesians 4:27?
Repentance Is the Way Out of a Stronghold.
Repentance Is the Way Out of a Stronghold.
25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, 26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.
The Apostle Paul connects repentance with coming to the knowledge of the truth, coming to our senses, and escaping the snare of the devil.
Repentance is more than feeling bad about what we have done. Repentance begins when we stop defending our thinking and come into agreement with God.
The Greek word metanoia carries the idea of a change of mind. Biblical repentance is a change of mind that produces a change of direction.
Repentance Removes the “But.”
Repentance Removes the “But.”
If the stronghold has been built through thinking that resists the truth, repentance begins tearing it down when we stop saying, “I know what the Bible says, but…” and simply say, “God, You are right.”
The stronghold was strengthened every time we defended what God was confronting. Repentance begins when we stop defending it, call it what God calls it, and surrender that area of our lives to Him.
We do not tear down a stronghold by arguing with God about why we think the way we think. We tear it down by agreeing with God about what is true.
And once we agree with God, we can begin replacing the old pattern of thinking with the truth of His Word.
“I don’t want us simply to study strongholds tonight. I want us to respond to what the Holy Spirit has shown us. Before we read this prayer together, take a moment and identify before God the area where you have been saying, ‘I know what the Bible says, but…’”
“Now, if you are ready to agree with God about that area, let us pray this together.”
Congregational Prayer of Repentance
Congregational Prayer of Repentance
Adapted from Francis Frangipane, The Three Battlegrounds, Chapter 3, p. 28.
Heavenly Father, I acknowledge that there are areas of my life that I have not fully surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ.
[Take a moment and quietly name those areas before the Lord.]
Father, forgive me for compromise. Give me courage to allow every stronghold in my life to be pulled down without excuse, reluctance, or self-deception.
By the power of the Holy Spirit and in the name of Jesus, I renounce every influence of the enemy that has reinforced compromise and sin within me.
I submit myself to the light of the Spirit of Truth. Expose every sinful pattern of thinking that I have allowed to remain in me.
By the power of Your Spirit and Your Word, let every stronghold in my life come down. I desire that the only stronghold within me be the presence and lordship of Jesus Christ.
Thank You, Lord, for forgiving me and cleansing me from my sin. By Your grace, I commit myself to continue walking in truth until even the remnants of these old strongholds are removed from my mind.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
