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For a decade or so, Hitler had been allowed his way in Europe.

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Meagerly resisted, he finally made a stronghold of the continent.

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Until that day, and on that day the thousands of troops landing on the beaches, many of

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them killed, began to destroy the stronghold of Nazism in Europe.

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And of course, the rest is history.

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In a year or so, the victory came and Hitler was defeated.

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Today I want to talk about the strongholds that may be in our lives, that must be removed

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for us to experience victory in spiritual warfare.

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Would you open your Bible with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 10?

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I'm going to begin reading in verse 3 of 2 Corinthians 10 where it says,

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For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.

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For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction

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of fortresses.

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We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God,

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and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

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Well you say, do I have strongholds in my life?

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Only God of course can answer that question for each of us as he reveals the truth.

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But I wonder if you might struggle with patterns of negative thought or sinful actions which

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seem impossible to change.

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Some addiction to sexual sin or pornography.

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Addiction to substance abuse, eating disorders, or gossip.

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Attitudes of inferiority, anger, bitterness, a lack of forgiveness, envy.

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Or is there a slavery to materialism and to workaholism?

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These kinds of attitudes and actions when controlling us may be described as strongholds.

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Strongholds present formidable obstacles to our success in the Christian life.

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I'm defining success as the development within us of a Christlikeness that honors God by

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its proactive and reactive obedience to God's will.

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Strongholds stand as contradictions to who we are and it represents territory that has

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been captured by our spiritual enemies.

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Strongholds must be removed for victory in spiritual warfare.

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The ground on which those strongholds rest belongs to Jesus Christ.

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Those strongholds do not rightly deserve a place in us.

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Thus they must be removed as surely as those gun emplacements had to be removed on the

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beaches of Normandy.

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The ground of course on which they rest, the ground that I am referring to is the ground

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of your life.

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We can yield ground to our spiritual enemies by believing their lies and making wrong choices

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based upon those lies.

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The result can be the establishment, the erection of strongholds within us.

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This word is translated to the New American Standard Version in verse 4, fortresses.

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That's really what a stronghold is.

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It is a fortress.

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In some of the other Greek writings that were contemporaneous with the New Testament, the

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same word is used of prisons.

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And I think that pictures it pretty well too because we are talking about areas of our

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life in which we are imprisoned, where we have not yet experienced the freedom with

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which Jesus Christ has set us free.

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Strongholds are that which has captured our thinking so as to control our lives.

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For that matter, it can happen corporately.

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There are strongholds that can be established individually in us.

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There are also strongholds that can be established in churches, ways of thinking that enslave

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the church.

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Upon that, strongholds can be established in society when lies are believed and cultural

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values and policies are built on those lies.

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Those become strongholds in society.

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At their very core, strongholds are ideas, philosophies, beliefs, arguments, all of which

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resist or war against the reign of God within us and in His world.

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These strongholds resist the simplicity of the Gospel, the good news of God, by the deception

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of the mind so as to create bondage in the person.

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Dr. Ed Murphy, writing in his book, The Handbook for Spiritual Warfare, says, it is important

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to notice that deception involves erroneous ideas or ways of evaluating things, ways of

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thinking.

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There are ways of thinking and evaluating that are false, arrogant, and destructively

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disobedient.

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Here talking about our text, he says, such strongholds of evil refer specifically to

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the attack on Paul's legitimacy as an apostle.

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But they include as well any form of reasoning, any attitude, any way of thinking that exalts

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itself against the knowledge of God or misbeliefs.

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Strongholds are beliefs that are untrue about oneself, others, or circumstances.

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They can become demonic strongholds against one's life, family, church, etc.

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It is important to note that these ways of thinking can become strongholds within a church

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through carnal leadership, whether clergy or laity.

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But of course, the ultimate source for all such deception is Satan.

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By application of what we are saying, strongholds are any area of life that is not free to respond

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to Jesus Christ.

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Dr. Murray Harris says, strongholds refer to any human act or attitude that forms an

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obstacle to the emancipating knowledge of God contained in the gospel of Christ, crucified,

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and therefore keeps men in oppressive bondage to sin.

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I hope that that helps you understand what we are talking about, what strongholds are.

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They are prisons that we allow to be erected in our lives in which we ourselves, at least

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in part, are held captive.

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They are fortresses of the enemy established within us that resist God and His knowledge

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in our lives.

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How do these strongholds form, anyway?

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The simplest answer is that they form one thought at a time.

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Just as a fortress is built one brick or one block at a time, so strongholds of the Spirit

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are built one thought at a time.

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An erroneous thought or belief is allowed to remain in the mind and to embed itself.

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And thus it becomes a foundation stone for more erroneous thoughts.

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I want to say it a different way.

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These thoughts embed themselves into our minds and become infected so that the poison begins

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to build and then to spread throughout our system.

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And unless these erroneous thoughts are removed by sharpened repentance and then by a generous

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application of what is true, our lives will be ruined.

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These misbeliefs result in misbehaviors.

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These misbeliefs lead us to wrong response to temptation.

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Even that response that is wrong becomes a routine.

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It becomes an action that controls our practice.

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And it results eventually in a stronghold which Satan uses then to launch broader offensives

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against us.

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We may develop these strongholds individually, as I've said.

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We can develop them corporately as a body of people, whether it be a body of people

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in a family or a body of people in a church or a Sunday school class or a Bible study

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or a college.

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As a body of people corporately in society, we also can develop strongholds of misbelief.

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These strongholds then become fortresses of sin.

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Time doesn't allow me today to illustrate some of these in society or in churches or

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individually, but we're going to return to that idea in weeks ahead.

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How are strongholds destroyed?

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That should be a key question to us because which of us really wants to live in a prison?

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Who of us would like to be captured and held in bondage?

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Who wants a fortress of the enemy square in the middle of his life?

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I would hope none of us would.

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So then if one is there, how is it destroyed?

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We can say that if one exists in our own lives personally, it begins to be destroyed by personal

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repentance of the lies that lie at the foundation of that fortress of sin.

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Recognizing those lies for what they are.

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Here is someone, for example, who just cannot make friends, who is alone, someone who feels

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separated from others.

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And this has become a stronghold in his life and the way that he thinks.

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And perhaps at the bottom of this person's stronghold of loneliness, this prison in which

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he dwells are lies like, if I get with other people I'll ruin their lives, other people

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don't want to be around me, I'm not worthy of having friends.

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There are all kinds of lies that can be at the bottom of that.

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Some of them come because of the way people are raised in their homes.

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Others happen because of circumstances and experiences of their lives beyond home.

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But those lies have to be isolated and repented of.

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And then there needs to be a renewal of the mind with the truth of God.

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So that those lies are not only exposed and repented of, but they are washed out of the

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mind by the truth.

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When that happens then the stronghold will tumble of its own weight.

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Those strongholds that exist outside of ourselves, in society or in a church, how do we destroy

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those strongholds?

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Paul gives us the real answer here in 2 Corinthians 10 when he says that we need to use spiritual

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weapons.

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He says our weapons do not pertain to the flesh, to this world.

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The weapons of the flesh would include things like boycotts, marches, picketing, legislation.

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You're saying those things are wrong?

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No.

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In every case, those things can be a valuable tool.

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But let me tell you something, they'll never remove strongholds of the spirit.

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They will never remove strongholds in the way that people think.

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You cannot legislate that.

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You cannot boycott enough to accomplish that.

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Other fleshly kinds of weapons would include academic degrees, thinking that if I have

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a degree that's impressive enough then I will be able to accomplish great things and

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destroy strongholds.

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Not so, according to Paul.

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Not even impressive rhetoric.

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Not personal persuasion.

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One of these things will work when it comes to destroying strongholds.

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What does it take?

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What does it take?

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Well he says spiritual weapons that are powerful.

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They are powerful for God.

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They are divinely potent.

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They are formidable.

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They are effective for God.

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What are these weapons?

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Ephesians 6, which we looked at a few weeks ago, outlines it better than here, where Paul

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actually names them.

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But he includes the Word of God, the truth of God, and prayer.

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Those are truly the weapons that can destroy strongholds.

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That can pull them down.

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That can cause every barrier that is raised against the knowledge of God to crumble and

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fall.

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The Word of God, the truth being proclaimed and lived, prayer being offered up by people

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who believe.

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Those are spiritual weapons that will bring human thoughts to surrender to the Lordship

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of Jesus Christ.

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How effective are you at destroying strongholds?

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Have you ever tempted it?

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Today is the time to look at that stronghold in your own life first.

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And to say, oh God, I didn't even realize it, but there is in me, in me, in my attitudes,

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in my thinking, this fortress of sin that I can't deal with.

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Then to honestly and deeply repent, to change your mind about the lies that are at the basis

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of all that stronghold of misbehavior and sin.

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To change your ways, and to get into the Word of God, that spiritual weapon, and let it

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eat away and wash away the wrong thinking.

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To pray to God, and to experience then the release of His power in your life.

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That's how to get at personal strongholds.

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But what about strongholds in society?

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Or strongholds in some other group that you're involved in, where there's a fortress that

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is raised against the knowledge of God, and His way, and His will.

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Begin to share the Word of God.

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Begin to write the Word of God.

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Begin to say the Word of God.

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Tell the truth everywhere you can, and pray.

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And as you pray, see that fortress.

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See it standing there against the knowledge of God.

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And then see your prayers putting pressure upon that fortress.

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Throwing up ropes to pull down those turrets.

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See your prayers as cannons shooting shells against the side of that fortress.

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Until brick by brick and block by block, that fortress is torn down.

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See that happening as you pray in the Spirit by faith.

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And you'll be amazed at what can happen.

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I do think that to some degree in the last 14 or 15 years that we Christians in America

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have put too much emphasis upon the weapons of the flesh.

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Thinking that if we could get certain people elected to office, then the consequence of

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that would surely be the strongholds would come down.

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And there's a lot of disillusionment among Christians because that has not happened.

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If anything, the strongholds have become worse.

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It is time for us to understand what God says the real weapons are.

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I'm not saying there's not a place for political activity, for writing letters, or for boycotts,

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and all of those things.

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There may be a place for them.

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But understand that they will not bring the strongholds down.

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What destroys the strongholds according to the Word of God are spiritual weapons that

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God gives to us to use.

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The weakness is that too many of us have not used those weapons.

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We have allowed them to simply sit around.

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We need to pick up the weapons and go to war, spiritual war.

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For 300 years, a stronghold stood as a testimony against God in ancient Israel.

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From the time of Joshua on, the Jewish people lived in the land with this fortress right

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in the middle of it, right on the border of Benjamin and Judah.

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It was the mountain fort called Jebus.

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It was the capital city, the Jebusites, one of the Canaanite tribes who were to be eradicated

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and destroyed by the people of Israel.

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They failed to do that.

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They possessed the land, but in the midst of the land was a fortress.

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For 300 years it stood there as a contradiction to the people of God.

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It testified that God did not own this land, that God was not the victor.

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They allowed it to be so until David became king.

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David attacked this fortress of Jebus.

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He had had enough of the contradictions that this fortress spoke of.

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It says in 2 Samuel 5, 7, David captured the stronghold of Zion, that is the city of David.

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That fortress, you see, he possessed.

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It became his capital city and we know it today as the city of Jerusalem.

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There are some fortresses of Jebus that have remained far too long amongst us in our lives.

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It is time for us to rise up as did David of old and say enough, enough.

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This fortress must go.

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This area of my life too must come under the lordship of Jesus Christ.

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This part of my life will be renamed Jerusalem, the city of peace.

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Because the spiritual weapons God has given you and attack today and take the ground that

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belongs to Jesus Christ.

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Let's pray.

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With our heads bowed, I don't know how God may use this message this morning which introduces

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the concept of strongholds.

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I don't know if your eyes are opened at this point to a stronghold you need to attack,

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but if so, would you covenant with God to begin the assault?

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It's time for the invasion of that land.

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It's time to take that ground back.

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No longer should that ground belong to the enemy.

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Ask God to expose and to remove strongholds in your life.

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They contradict who you are as a Christian.

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They oppose the knowledge of God in your life.

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They obstruct the will of God.

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Will you at this moment repent?

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Change your mind about it?

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Determined by God's grace to change the actions of your life?

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Will you turn away from the lies that are at the base of that foundation in the stronghold?

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Ask God to show you what the lies are that brought you to this place of bondage.

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You may not be able to see them at this point, but God can dig down and show you what the

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lies are so that that foundation can be taken away and that stronghold fall.

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Oh, may it be so.

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As we come to the Lord's table today, may there be none of us who would partake of these

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elements with a known stronghold in our lives that we refuse to assault.

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Let us come to the table with our lives yielded to Christ's Lordship in fact and in principle.

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If a stronghold is there, let us come to this table with a determination in our hearts that

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we're going to take up the weapons and assault it and allow it no more.

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Allow it no more.

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Oh God.

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Oh Lord of hosts, God of the armies, thank you for arming us for spiritual warfare.

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Forgive us Lord when we, your soldiers, have allowed strongholds in our own lives, areas

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of rebellion and resistance, patterns of sinful thought and behavior, addictions, impulsive

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actions that contradict who we are.

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Forgive us for allowing these.

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And I pray that by the work of your spirit, you will begin the work of liberation.

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I pray that we will do our part in that using the weapons you've given us.

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Let's remain in a spirit of prayer and talking to the Lord as our servers come.

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Let's allow our hearts to be fully prepared to partake of this meal of the Lord representing

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the sacrifice that he made on Calvary for our freedom.

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And let's determine that we will not partake of this sacrifice and allow areas of bondage

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to remain unchallenged in our lives.

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Sing hallelujah to the Lord.

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Sing hallelujah to the Lord.

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Sing hallelujah.

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Sing hallelujah.

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Sing hallelujah to the Lord.

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No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man.

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But God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able.

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But with the temptation will provide the way of escape also that you may be able to endure

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it.

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Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

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I speak as to wise men.

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You judge what I say.

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Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ?

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Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?

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Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one

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bread.

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I say that things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, not to God.

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I do not want you to become sharers and demons.

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You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons.

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You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.

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Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy?

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Our lives belong alone to him and we dare not allow any spiritual enemy to possess part

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of us.

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To build within us a fortress that denies God.

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We partake of bread and of wine, of grape juice, that speaks of the sacrifice of the

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Lord Jesus Christ.

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We profess in this act that we are his.

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Let us therefore live as his and flee from the idolatry of our world.

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And be sure that our lives are liberated in every part, that demons have no part of us,

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that we are entirely surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

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That's what it means to remove spiritual strongholds.

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I'm going to continue on this theme for at least another week, possibly two, as we

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think about some of the specific strongholds that we may need to repent of.

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May God lead us in this and as a result of it, may our lives be liberated in brand new

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ways as we understand what his Lordship means as is applied to us individually and to us

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as a church.

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We as a church have helped a number of families in need over recent weeks and the result of

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that is that our fund for doing so, which we call the elders fund, is entirely depleted.

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In the past we have taken a special offering at the time of communion to periodically replenish

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that fund.

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What we're going to ask you to do is to use a box at the back door if you would be willing

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to give an offering toward the elders fund.

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There is a wooden offering box and just slip it in there and what is in there loose will

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be applied to that fund to help families who are going through difficult times.

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Thank you for your participation in the fellowship that way.

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Let's stand together now as we pray to our liberator and Savior Jesus Christ.

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Lord we bless the day that you came and established in this world the beachhead of the gospel

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by your birth in Bethlehem.

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And you went on and penetrated to the very heart of the enemy's hold and you exploded

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it at Calvary.

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And at the empty tomb you rose from the dead to proclaim to all your victory.

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We worship you as the victor and as our victor.

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And we proclaim who we are in you victors in our own lives.

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And so as we leave this place today it is with that sense of who we are and with a deep

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desire that we may live it out.

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In Jesus name, amen.