Title: Pulling down a fortress
Date: October 19, 2008
Text: 2 Cor 10:4-5
Introduction
- 2 Cor 10:4-5 - “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 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 can learn about strongholds by reading about real-life wars and battles
- In Israel there is a place called Latrun.
- It’s right off the main highway from Tel Aviv and the airport heading up to Jerusalem.
- It’s a stronghold right along the main highway.
- It also intersects with a highway leading from Gaza up to Ramallah, two major population centers of Palestinian Arabs.
- The Turks, when they controlled the land, had built this fortress, near a monastery and ancient Emmaus.
- The British converted the fortress into a police station.
- When the War of Independence in 1948 began, the Arab Legion took control of the Latrun stronghold.
- From this spot, they could pick off the caravans carrying supplies up to the Jews in Jerusalem.
- This was one stronghold that had to be taken! It had a stranglehold on Jerusalem!
- Five separate times, the fledgling Israeli Defense Forces tried to take it.
- Again and again the Arab Legion drove the attackers away.
- So the Israelis built a road around the stronghold, over rough terrain, so the supply trains could get through. This basically nullified the effectiveness of the fortress
- During the 6-day war, the Arabs were forced to abandon the fortress, and today it is a tank museum
- So can we see the strategic importance of a stronghold?
- For 20 years that place threatened the security of Israel, right in the heart of the nation.
- For how many years has a stronghold threatened your security in the heart of your thought life?
(illustration from http://www.lehigh.edu/~gdb0/simcha/strongho.htm)
- Today we are going to talk about strongholds and how to defeat them
What is a stronghold?
- A stronghold is a defensive position, a place that is difficult to capture
- Psalm 9:9 “The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble”
- Hebrew “misgab” - high place, refuge, secure height, retreat
- A place on a high cliff for example, is not easy to take control of
- So a stronghold is a place that is difficult to be captured
- This defensive position may be held by either enemy or friendly forces
- It can threaten the safety of the surrounding terrain, depending on who controls the fortress
- The stronghold may have been there for a long time
- It could be a natural rock formation, something that has been there as long as we know about it
- An example of this could be our sinful nature
- Our sinful nature is a stronghold in our lives – it is something which enslaves us, it is addictive, it pulls us down
- A stronghold could also be something that has been constructed during our lifetime
- We may have built a fortification, a structure with walls and defenses
- An example could be lying
- The first time we lie, it may be seem like a small thing, a “little white lie”
- Then we do so again, and again, and again
- Before long we have built up a habit of being economical with the truth
- We have built a stronghold of dishonesty
- A stronghold is a way of thinking and feeling that has developed a life of its own
- This could apply to many things
- For example:
- Depression, unbelief, temper
- Repeating pattern of failure
- Provoking others to reject you (without knowing you are doing so)
- Resentment, worthlessness
- Abuse often leads us to build a stronghold of worthlessness filled with negative thoughts (I’m guilty, I’m worthless, Nobody could ever love me, I’m good for nothing, I’m ugly, Nobody would like me if they really got to know me, Nobody really cares for me, Nobody really wants me for who I am)
- The truth may be quite different, but we believe these lies
- As we accept these lies they can become a stronghold of rejection, stopping us from accepting God’s love for us
How can we capture and pull down these strongholds?
- 1. First of all we need to identify the stronghold
- Eph 5:11 “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them”
- Psalm 26:2 “Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind”
- It takes courage to man up and take a good look in the mirror
- What are the areas of my life that have become strongholds?
- Sometimes the real stronghold is hidden and hard to see
- In prayer, ask God to show you your secret sins
- This takes humility, but we have to know our enemy before we can get him out of the way
- 2. Repent of your sin
- Be honest before God and repent
- We may need to overcome our instinct to automatically defend ourselves
- Excusing ourselves will never deal with the issue
- Confession and repentance is the only way to bring down these strongholds
- Ask for the sin to be covered by the blood of Jesus
- 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”
- 3. Surround the stronghold with truth
- John 8:32 – “32And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”
- In the introduction we talked about the stronghold at Latrun
- First, the Israelis tried a frontal attack, five times – that did not work
- The way that stronghold was dealt with ultimately was by building a road around it
- Sometimes we have to defeat our strongholds by surrounding them with truth
- Once you’ve identified a stronghold, go to the Bible, and study the opposite truth from God.
- Use a concordance or a chain reference bible or a topical bible.
- For example, if the stronghold is rejection, study all that the Bible says about God’s acceptance.
- Then surround that stronghold with the word of God! Read those verses, pray them, make them a part of you
- If you are struggling with a stronghold of depression, surround it with hope.
- If you are struggling with a stronghold of rejection, surround it with acceptance from your Abba Father
- If you are struggling with a stronghold of unresolved anger, surround it with forgiveness.
- If you are struggling with a stronghold of fear, surround it with the knowledge of God’s love.
- If you are struggling with a stronghold of failure, surround it with the victory of the resurrection!
Conclusion
- If we have strongholds in our life that we want to deal with, let’s pray together
- “Lord, please show me any areas of my life that I need to surrender to you. Please forgive me for compromising, and give me the courage to pull down these strongholds. Thank you Jesus for your forgiveness and for dying on the cross so that I could be set free. I commit to surrender every stronghold to you, and in Jesus’ name I reject any satanic influences that have held me captive. I purpose to take every negative way of thinking captive, and bring it into obedience to the truth, because the truth will set me free. In Jesus’ name, Amen."
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