SPIRITUAL WARFARE Dealing With Strongholds - …

1 SPIRITUAL WARFARED ealing with StrongholdsKen BirksI. Introductory 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast offthe works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. In this message I would like to talk about how you can pull down the strongholdsthat Satan has built in your lives. I would also like to talk about the kind ofstronghold that we can build that will not allow Satan to gain any kind of afoothold in your is time for us to cast off the works of darkness and to walk in the armor of lightnot giving place to the devil. Too many of us have allowed the devil to have afoothold in our lives. We have let him have free reign to harass, oppress andbring us into bondages that God desires us to walk in a freedom to. God shouldbe our rock and stronghold, but the problem is too many have allowed the enemyto control the Samuel 22:1-2 Then David spoke to the LORD the words of this song, on theday when the LORD had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, andfrom the hand of Saul.

2 And he said: "The LORD is my rock, my fortress and mydeliverer; 2 Corinthians 10:4-6 For the weapons of our WARFARE are not carnal but mightyin God for pulling down Strongholds , casting down arguments and every highthing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought intocaptivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobediencewhen your obedience is fulfilled. Francis Frangipane writes in one of his books, "What men call "salvation" issimply the first stage of God's plan for our lives, which is to conform us incharacter and power to the image of Jesus Christ. If we fail to see ourrelationship to God as such, we will allow too many areas within us to remainunchanged. Pulling down Strongholds is the demolition and removal of these oldways of thinking so that the actual Presence of Jesus Christ can be manifestedthrough us.

3 "II. What Are Old Testament the Old Testament, a stronghold was a fortified dwelling used as a means ofprotection from an enemy. We find that David hid from King Saul in wildernessstrongholds at Samuel 23:14,19 And David stayed in Strongholds in the wilderness, andremained in the mountains in the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day,but God did not deliver him into his the Ziphites came up to Saul atGibeah, saying, "Is David not hiding with us in Strongholds in the woods, in thehill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon? These were physical structures usually caves high on a mountainside, and werevery difficult to assault. It was this imagery in mind that the inspired writers of theBible adapted the word "stronghold" to define powerful, vigorously protectedspiritual stronghold can be a source of protection for us from the devil, as is the casewhen the Lord becomes our stronghold as it did for David.

4 Or conversely, astronghold can be a source of defense for the devil's influence in our lives, wheredemonic or sinful activity is actually defended within our sympathetic thoughtstoward 6:16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves toobey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin to death, or ofobedience to righteousness? 2. The Apostle Paul's Definition of a apostle Paul defines Strongholds as speculations or lofty things raised upagainst the knowledge of God. It is any type of thinking that exalts itself abovethe knowledge of God, thereby giving the devil a secure place of influence in anindividual's Corinthians 10:5 ..casting down arguments and every high thing that exaltsitself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to theobedience of 3.

5 Another Silvoso defines a stronghold as a mindset impregnated with hopelessnessthat causes us to accept something that we know is contrary to the will of 6:6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that thebody of sin might be done away with , that we should no longer be slaves of sin. It is important to recognize that when we speak of Strongholds , we are not talkingabout random thoughts or occasional sins. We are talking about areas in yourlife that you are in bondage to and are having a hard time breaking loose How Strongholds Take order to fully understand how to pull down Strongholds , it is first important thatwe understand how it is they first took root in our Strongholds Come From Worldly John 5:19 We know that we are of God, & the whole world lies under the swayof the wicked one.

6 Many Strongholds are a result of an accumulation of uncrucified thoughts andunsanctified attitudes that have ruled our lives during our formative years. Aschildren growing up in a world that is under the influence and the sway of theenemy we received a steady stream of information and experiences thatcontinually shaped our childhood perceptions. This is why the Bible says ourminds need to be renewed once we are born again of God's amount of love (or lack of love) in our home, our cultural environment, peervalues and pressures, as well as fears of rejection and exposure--even ourphysical appearance and intelligence, all combine to form our sense of identityand our view of of our opinions about life are ours only because we know of no other wayto think.

7 Yet we protect and defend our ideas, justify our opinions as though theywere born in the wombs of our own 23 as he thinks in his heart, so is other words, the essence of who we are is an accumulation of our thought example, many of our thoughts and opinions were shaped by our parentsand school teachers. As good of people as they may have been, if their opinionswere not God's than they were 55:7-8 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man histhoughts; let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and to ourGod, for He will abundantly pardon. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, norare your ways My "We have a mindset that has been shaped by our parents and educators as wellas the ungodly environment in which we live. As Christians, the only truthsuitable for eternity is the truth of Christ.

8 If we fail to realize this we will be likeour teacher, never doing more than the deeds of our fathers. When we come toChrist, all that we are in nature and character is destined to Common Strongholds Many Deal because we are Christians does not exempt us from having Strongholds thatmust be dealt with . There are still many Strongholds within us. I have listed afew Strongholds that are common to most Christians.< Fear< Resentment< Bitterness< Unforgiveness< Apathy< Unbelief< Depression< Anxiety< Lukewarmness< Sinful thoughts< Lust< Pride< Greed< Drugs< Alcohol< PornographyBecause we all have a tendency to excuse ourselves so readily, it is difficult todiscern the areas of oppression in our lives. After all, these are our thoughts, ourattitudes, our perceptions--we justify and defend our thoughts with the samedegree of intensity with which we justify and defend ourselves.

9 As a man thinksso is he. Therefore, before any deliverance can truly be accomplished, we musthonestly recognize and confess our identifying your Strongholds , survey or examine the attitudes in your heart,every area in your thinking that glistens with hope in God is an area which isbeing liberated by Christ. Any system of thinking that does not have hope, whichfeels hopelessness, is a stronghold, which must be pulled Faith Principles For Pulling Down Corinthians 10:4-5 gives us two important things that help us to tear downstrong holds. The first one is bringing our thoughts into conformity with Christ'sand the second one is obedience to His Corinthians10 weapons of our WARFARE are not carnal but mighty inGod for pulling down Strongholds , casting down arguments and every high thingthat exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought intocaptivity to the obedience of 1.

10 We Bring Our Thoughts Into Captivity To Christ' Christ is the model of what God considers typical for the new-creationman. He is not just our Savior, He is the Indwelling One who conforms us to Hisimage, the first-born of a family of glorious sons. When our thought life is inagreement with unbelief, fear or habitual sin, the enemy has rest and seeks outthose places that are in harmony with his we must learn to look objectively at any thoughts or attitudes that failto conform to the likeness and teachings of Jesus. Those thoughts must becaptured and wrong attitudes crucified. We must make way in us for the comingof the Lord. We must allow the "increase of His government" to expand until weare so absorbed into His Spirit that we not only believe in Him, we believe likeHim.