Week 3 Pulling Down Strong Holds

1. What’s a Stronghold

2 Corinthians 10:3–5 AMP

3 For though we walk (live) in the flesh, we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds, 5 [Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One),

2 Corinthians 10:3–5 AV

3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

2 Corinthians 10:3–6 NLT

3 We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. 4 We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. 5 We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. 6 And after you have become fully obedient, we will punish everyone who remains disobedient.

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

All successful deliverance must begin by first removing that which defends the enemy.

In speaking of spiritual warfare, the apostle Paul enlists the word "stronghold" (KJV) to define the spiritual fortresses wherein Satan and his legions hide and are protected.

These fortresses exist in the thought patterns and ideas that govern individuals and churches, as well as communities and nations.

Before victory can be claimed, these strongholds must be pulled down and Satan's armor removed. Then the mighty weapons of the Word and the Spirit can effectively plunder Satan's house.

But what is the biblical meaning of this word, "stronghold"?

In the Old Testament, a stronghold was a fortified dwelling used as a means of protection from an enemy.

We find that David hid from King Saul in wilderness strongholds at Horesh

1 Samuel 23:14 NKJV

14 And David stayed in strongholds in the wilderness, and remained in the mountains in the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand.

1 Samuel 23:19 NKJV

19 Then the Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not hiding with us in strongholds in the woods, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon?

These were physical structures, usually caves high on a mountainside, and were very difficult to assault.

It was with this imagery in mind that the inspired writers of the Bible adapted the word "stronghold" to define powerful, vigorously protected spiritual realities.

A stronghold can be a source of protection for us from the devil, as is the case when the Lord becomes our stronghold hold

Psalm 18:2 NKJV

2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Or conversely, a stronghold can be a source of defense for the devil, where demonic or sinful activity is actually defended within us by our sympathetic thoughts toward evil.

The strongholds we are going to expose first are those wrong attitudes that protect and defend the old self-life, which very often become the "fortified dwellings" of demonic oppression in a person's life.

The apostle Paul defines a stronghold as "speculations, [a] lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God" (2 Cor. 10:5).

A demonic stronghold is any type of thinking that exalts itself above the knowledge of God, thereby giving the devil a secure place of influence in an individual's thought-life.

This can than produce the ability of Christians becoming oppressed by demons, which can occupy un-regenerated thought-systems, especially if those thoughts are defended by self-deception or false doctrines!

The thought, "I cannot have a demon because I am a Christian," is simply untrue. A demon cannot have you in an eternal, possessive sense, but you can have a demon if you refuse to repent of your sympathetic thoughts toward evil.

Your rebellion toward God provides a place for the devil in your life. A number of Christians are tormented by various fears.

They have been counseled and prayed over but to little avail. They needed more than prayer, they needed deliverance.

But deliverance will probably be far from them until the spirit of fear is confronted and bound, and the stronghold hold of fear cast down.

Many believers have been taught that, because they have the Holy Spirit, they cannot be deceived. This also is untrue.

One reason the Spirit of Truth was sent was because we so easily fall into self-deception. In fact, the very thought that a Christian cannot be deceived is itself a deception!

Once that particular lie permeates a believer's mind, his ideas and opinions crystallize and remain in whatever state of spiritual immaturity he happens to be.

All manner of spirits will attack the soul knowing they are protected by the armor of that person's own thoughts and doctrines!

It is quite difficult to break the power of religious self-deception, for the very nature of "faith" is to give no room for doubt.

Once a person is deceived, he does not recognize that he is deceived, because he has been deceived!

For all that we think we know, we must know this as well: we can be wrong.

If we refuse to accept this truth, how will we ever be corrected from our errors?

2 Thessalonians 2:3–11 NKJV

3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,

Any area of our heart or mind that is not surrendered to Jesus Christ is an area vulnerable to satanic attack.

And it is here, uniquely in the un-crucified thought-life of the believer's mind, that the pulling down of strongholds is of vital importance.

For this reason, we must attain what the Scriptures call "humility of mind" before real deliverance is possible.

When we discover rebellion toward God within us, we must not defend or excuse ourselves.

Rather, we must humble our hearts and repent, exercising our faith in God to change us.

You see, Satan feeds upon sin.

Wherever there is a habit of sin in a believer's life, expect to find demonic activity in that area.

The sin-habit often becomes the dwelling place for a spirit that is robbing a believer of power and joy, and that habitation (or habit) is a stronghold.

You may not agree with the idea that evil spirits can frequent and occupy attitudes in a believer's life, but you must certainly agree that each of us has a carnal mind which is a source of vain imaginations and thoughts that exalt themselves above God (2 Cor. 10:3-5).

We deal with the devil by dealing with the carnal thought systems, the strongholds, that protect the enemy. There were no strongholds, no wrong attitudes, no faulty thinking processes in Christ's mind.

Just before Jesus went to His death, He remarked, "the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me"

John 14:30 TPT

30 I won’t speak with you much longer, for the ruler of this dark world is coming. But he has no power over me, for he has nothing to use against me.

Satan had nothing in Jesus. We also want to be able to say that Satan has no secret area inside us, no "temptation-buzzer" he can push that will open the door of our soul toward evil.

When the strongholds of our minds are toppled, though we may still occasionally fall into sin, we will walk in great victory. And we will be instrumental in helping others in their deliverance as well.

2. REPENTANCE PRECEDES DELIVERANCE

The pulling down of strongholds begins with repentance.

REPENTANCE A change of attitude and action from sin toward obedience to God. The concept of repentance differs slightly in the Hebrew and Greek minds, but an emphasis upon right behavior is consistent throughout.

Repentance was expressed by a number of different actions that show a change in thinking and attitude toward sin and God.

The Hebrew word that most closely approximates “repent” or “repentance” is translated into English as “return,” which basically means “to turn around and go in the opposite direction.” In theological contexts, the implication is to turn from a road characterized by rebellion toward God and to a road characterized by obedience.

When Jesus sent out His disciples, "they went out and preached that men should repent. And they were casting out many demons and ... healing them" (Mark 6:12-13).

Regarding the deliverance of spirits that plague the mind, repentance precedes deliverance, and deliverance often leads to healing in other areas.

If you have been a Christian for any length of time, you have already had many strongholds broken in your life. These were broken when you repented and came to Jesus.

Deliverance is often just that simple when a soul is willing. Yet, without some measure of repentance, deliverance is almost always impossible, for although a spirit may be commanded to leave, if the structure of the individual's thoughts has not been changed, his wrong attitude toward sin will welcome that spirit back.

Luke 11:24–26 NLT

24 “When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, searching for rest. But when it finds none, it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ 25 So it returns and finds that its former home is all swept and in order. 26 Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before.”

One aspect of Christ's ministry is that "thoughts from many hearts may be revealed"

Luke 2:35 AMP

35 And a sword will pierce through your own soul also—that the secret thoughts and purposes of many hearts may be brought out and disclosed.

If you will truly walk with Jesus, many areas of your thinking processes will be exposed.

Yet, there will be a power from God to enable you to repent and receive His virtue into your life.

You will see strongholds fall and victory come. But I must warn you, there will be pressure from your flesh, as well as from the demonic world itself, to minimize or ignore what God is requiring of you.

You may be tempted to surrender just a token sin or some minor fault, while allowing your main problems to remain entrenched and well-hidden.

Let us realize that the energies we expend in keeping our sins secret are the actual "materials" of which a stronghold is made.

The demon you are fighting is using your thoughts to protect his access to your life.

Let's pray:

Heavenly Father, there are areas in my life (audibly name the habitual sins) that I have not fully surrendered to my Lord, Jesus Christ.

Lord, forgive me of compromise. I also ask You for courage to approach the pulling down of strongholds without reluctance or willful deception in my heart.

By the power of the Holy Spirit and in the name of Jesus, I bind the satanic influences that were reinforcing compromise and sin within me.

I submit myself to the light of the Spirit of Truth to expose the strongholds of sin within me.

By the mighty weapons of the Spirit and the Word, I proclaim that each stronghold hold in my life is coming down!

I purpose, by the grace of God, to have only one stronghold within me: the stronghold hold of the Presence of Christ!

I thank You, Lord, for forgiving and cleansing me from all my sins. And by the grace of God, I commit myself self to follow through in this area until even the ruins of this stronghold are removed from my mind!

Thank You, Father. In Jesus' name. Amen.