From His Heart

Larry Nobles: Today on From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Schreve, learn how to destroy the strongholds in your life.

Dr. Jeff Schreve: Well, it could be that you're dealing with a stronghold, a satanic stronghold that you have allowed the enemy to build that keeps him in your life defeating you on a regular basis.

Larry Nobles: Are you living the abundant life in Christ or are you living in defeat chained to a sin you cannot get a victory over? This is From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Schreve and today a powerful lesson about defeating the strongholds in our lives. We all face them and we all need to know how to come out victorious. The message Destroying Strongholds, it's the fourth in the six lesson series This is War overcoming the world, the flesh, and the devil. This series is also our special thank you gift for your support to From His Heart this month of any amount.

You can make that gift and get the series in the format of your choice when you go to fromhishart.org. But don't go there now. First, open your copy of God's word to 2 Corinthians chapter 10 and let's learn how to destroy the strongholds in our lives and learn how to share that truth with others. In 2 Corinthians chapter 10 Paul talks about strongholds, fortresses he calls them. It's the only time in scripture that he refers and uses that word uh that's translated strongholds are translated a fortress. It's used many times in the Old Testament the stronghold David would go to the stronghold 41 times in the Old Testament but only one time in the New Testament.

And when Paul wrote 2 Corinthians he was dealing with false teachers. He had established the church in Corinth on his second missionary journey around 52 AD but it was a church as my friend wrote a commentary on uh 1 Corinthians he called it the troubled triumphant church. They were born again believers but they had so many problems and so many things. Paul said I couldn't talk to you as to spiritual men. I can only talk to you as to men of the flesh, carnal men, babes in Christ because you're you're still on milk and uh I I I can't give you the meat of the word and and so the church in Corinth had lots and lots of problems and after Paul left he was there for a year and a half when he established the church and after he left uh low and behold false teachers came in.

The false teachers would follow Paul. The devil had those uh those guys that would come in and they would try and pervert the message. Uh Paul told the Galatians uh he said I am shocked that you've so quickly deserted uh the the gospel that I gave you for another gospel. And the Corinthians uh were were doing the same thing. And so Paul in 2 Corinthians he defends his apostleship and he goes after those false apostles, those false teachers. And he says this in chapter 10 Now I Paul myself urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ.

I who am meek when face to face with you but bold toward you when absent that's what the false teachers said about Paul. Oh he's he talks a big game in his letters but when you're with him he's very unimpressive in his person. He said verse two I ask that when I am present I need not be bold with confidence with which I propose to be courageous against some who regard us as if we walked according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses, for the tearing down, the pulling down of strongholds.

We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God and we're taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ and we are ready to punish all disobedience whenever your obedience is complete. Hey you Corinthians you get away from those false teachers and you get your obedience complete and then we'll go after the disobedience in the false teachers. Paul talks about the strongholds and pulling down those strongholds. So we want to learn about strongholds today and we want to answer this question how can we successfully wage war against the devil's strongholds that he builds?

Somebody said what's a stronghold? Uh a stronghold is when the devil seems to have a stronghold on you. It's a particular sin that seems to have a stronghold on you. So we want to discover three important truths concerning this issue of pulling down strongholds. Number one, how can we wage war against the strongholds? Well, number one, we can understand the meaning of a stronghold. What did Paul mean when he talked about these fortresses, these strongholds? As I said so only time in the New Testament that the word that's translated uh fortress or stronghold is used.

The word means a castle or a fortress or a strong place. So some things about a stronghold. What's a stronghold? It's a fortified place. It's a place that you would say well that's a strong fort. David when he was fleeing from Saul, he fled if you remember the life of David he goes to Gath. Gath is the hometown of Goliath. He's the guy who defeated Goliath of Gath. And David is fleeing from Saul, King Saul, psycho King Saul who wants to kill David because he didn't like the fact that people were saying uh Saul has slain his thousands and David his tens of thousands.

And uh Saul said to himself well look what they are ascribing to the son of Jesse, David the son of Jesse. What more can he want but the kingdom? And so he wanted to kill David. Well, David had to flee, flee for his life. And he ends up fleeing to Gath of all places. And he thought well maybe I can go there. It's the land of the Philistines. Maybe I can be incognito. And he goes before King Achish and somebody tells Achish this is David. He's the one who killed Goliath. And David got very afraid and he let the saliva run down into his beard and he started scribbling on the walls.

He acted like a crazy nut job. And the king said uh why do you bring me this crazy nut job? Do I lack for madmen in my kingdom? Send him away. And so the Lord delivered David and David left there and he he went through the valley of Elah where he defeated uh Goliath. Very interesting. He left Gath, had to go through the valley of Elah and he went to a place called Adullam. And he went to the cave of Adullam which is up on a high hill. And in that cave he wrote Psalm 34 I will bless the Lord at all times.

His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear it and rejoice. Oh magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together. He wrote that from Adullam, the cave of Adullam. And the cave of Adullam is called the stronghold because it was up high and it was a fortified place and it was a place to hide out. We have a uh map that shows you where this place was underneath the word Judah. Right under there you have a Adullam. Saul is from Gibeah of Saul up to the north and so David could hide out there in the stronghold.

It's a fortified place that stronghold, that cave. But not only is it a fortified place a stronghold is a secure place. It is such a strong fortress, a strong castle, this this fortified place that you feel very secure in a stronghold. I mean it's not going anywhere. To give you an example we have strongholds in the Old Testament. You know Jericho was a city that had high walls and uh Jericho was a stronghold. How are you going to defeat the inhabitants of Jericho? You know the Israelites they didn't how are they going to do that?

You can only do that through the weapons of God's warfare and God has to topple those walls. Jericho is a strong walled city. Uh Jebus which became Jerusalem was another walled city. You know David uh conquered Jebus and the people of Jebus when David was coming up against them they said you can't get in here. You see these walls the blind and the lame will turn you away. But God gave David the victory and he took the city of Jebus that became the city of Jerusalem. Another place in the Bible that was known for its uh strong walls was Babylon.

Babylon was perhaps the greatest uh of fortresses, the greatest of strongholds where King Nebuchadnezzar lived. Herodotus the 5th century BC historian said the walls of Babylon were 335 feet high and 85 feet thick. He said you had 250 towers around like military towers where you could put soldiers in uh in these like turrets around the city wall. You had a moat uh in front of the wall. And so it's like well who could ever get in there? Who could ever scale this wall? They They said the the top of the wall was so wide 85 feet wide that you could have uh chariot with four horses that could actually turn around on top of the wall.

In Daniel chapter 5 Belshazzar the king has the enemy Medo-Persia and the Medo-Persian army all surrounding the city. And he's not worried in the slightest. He throws a big party. You know Daniel 5 is where the Lord shows up and he has the handwriting on the wall Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin which basically means in Terminator speak hasta la vista baby. Uh you're done pal. That's what it means. But but Belshazzar wasn't concerned in the least about the enemy outside. Why? 'Cause how are you going to get in here? This is a stronghold. If you remember the little nursery rhyme about the gingerbread man.

Run run fast as you can. You can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man. Remember that? Some of you remember you maybe. I don't know why it stuck in my head but it stuck in my head as I was studying this. And that's basically the way Belshazzar and the people were. We're not afraid because we're behind these high walls. It 's a fortified place. It's a secure place and it's an entrenched place. Now we know that strongholds were physical places on the earth in Jericho, in Babylon, in Jerusalem, Jebus, the Jebusites. They're physical places. The the stronghold that David went to uh the cave of Adullam that's a physical place.

But when Paul talks about the pulling down of strongholds, the destruction of fortresses he's not talking about a physical place. He's talking about an entrenched place in a in a person's mind. And a stronghold is an entrenched place. The dictionary describes and defines entrenched as this an attitude, habit, or belief so firmly established that change is very difficult and highly unlikely. Well, the the stronghold in a physical sense it was entrenched. Man you're not going to move this. This is an immovable object. How are you going to get into Babylon because you have this fortress, these walls that are uh fortified and secure and entrenched?

Well, that can be built up in our minds. And so our first discovery we can understand the meaning of a stronghold. First discovery in order to have victory over the devil's stronghold. Secondly, we can understand the building of a stronghold. How does a a stronghold get built? Well, you know that the the walls of Jericho they had to get built brick by brick. The the walls of Babylon they had to get built brick by brick by brick. Well, how does a stronghold get built into someone's mind? Because that's what it is. We are destroying speculations.

Those are reasonings and musings and human philosophies. We're destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God. Well, a stronghold gets built in a a person's mind. Now remember this that once you give your heart and life to Christ you're off limits to the devil. He can't possess you. And no Christian can be possessed by uh a demon because the Holy Spirit of God lives inside of us. We're sealed Ephesians 1 13 sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. But the devil doesn't he he can still mess with you and he can still comment you.

He prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. And he works on the mind. So we can understand the building of a stronghold, the building of these human philosophies and lofty ideas raised up against the knowledge of God. Now how is a stronghold erected in a person's mind? It's erected with lies. It's lies that we believe. The devil's really got and when you boil it all down he's got one bullet in his gun and that's the bullet of lies. He's a deceiver. He's a liar and the father of lies. Jesus said uh whenever he speaks he speaks a lie because there is no truth in him.

And so how does the devil work? He works by lying, by deceiving. He deceives the scripture says the whole world. He's not just a good liar. He is a master liar. He He is a liar like we've never experienced before. Uh the world has never seen. We've had a lot of liars in the world and our world right now is filled with liars but we've never seen somebody that could lie like the devil can lie. I mean the devil can make you believe that up is down and left is right and black is yellow and all these things because he is a master liar.

And that's how he starts to build a stronghold in your mind. It's erected through lies. Now the Bible says twice in the book of Proverbs, Proverbs 14 12 and Proverbs 16 25 same verse, there is a way that seems right to a man but its end is the way of death. And the devil will come with a lie that seems very reasonable, that seems very plausible and so many people believe it. I remember I was talking to my aunt. This was years ago and uh my aunt was Catholic and my uncle uncle Harry I loved him very much is a great great person.

But he was Jewish and uh he rejected Christ just out of hand. I'm not even going to I couldn't even talk to him about Jesus. He would just get angry. And I remember asking my aunt who would call herself a Christian I said well Regina what do you think I'd been a Christian for about six eight months. They lived in California. I'd go visit them periodically. And I said well what do you think about Harry? What about his soul? What about his eternity? And she said well Jeff I just think that heaven is a place for all good people.

That's what a lot of people think. That's what the vast majority of people think. And that's a lie. That's a lie. Why? Well, 'cause there is none good save God alone Jesus said. Said to the rich young ruler why do you call me good? Good teacher what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Uh why do you call me good? There's none good save God alone. Do you understand that I'm God? Or Or do you think you're a good person? You reckon You don't recognize the fact that that all have sin and fall short of the glory of God, that there is none righteous not even one.

Jeff I just think heaven is a place for all good people. It's like well okay that's nice that you think that but it's wrong. It's not true. You know you can create a God out of your own imagination and say well uh I I heard Kamala Harris she was asked this question. She said well I just think that God is a God of love. Well, he is a God of love and a God of justice and a God of holiness. Well, I don't like that stuff so I just create this own God in my own uh mind that that he's just going to approve of everything I do.

He's just this God of love. Well, yeah the devil would love for you to believe that. That's a lie. And so a stronghold is erected with lies. That's all he has to go by. Interesting. In 2 Corinthians chapter 11 verse 3 Paul said I am afraid for you Corinthians. I'm afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness your mind should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached or you receive a different gospel which you have not received or a different spirit you have not received or a different gospel which you have not accepted you bear this beautifully.

You You're You're all ears when these false teachers come in to talk to you about another Jesus. Uh uh a Jesus of their own imagination, a Jesus who's not really Jesus. You know you hear some people and I I've said this before but some people that said uh they'll say well my Jesus wouldn't do that and my Jesus wouldn't judge and my Jesus is just kind and loving and and gracious. And it's like yeah and you know what you don't have a Jesus. Your Jesus doesn't exist. There's just Jesus. Uh what did the Lord say to Moses at the burning bush?

I am who I am. I'm not who you want me to be. I'm not who you create me to be. I am who I am. You didn't create me. I created you. And so the lies the devil will come with lies and get you to believe the lies. And what does that do? That creates a fortress of wrong thinking that leads to wrong acting. You know it it all starts in the mind. Sin begins in the mind. So a thought reap a deed, so a deed reap a habit, so a habit reap a character, so a character reap a destiny.

And where did it start? It started in the mind. It started with the thought. So the stronghold is erected with lies. And the stronghold is erected watch this with a lack of vigilance. We can put our guard down so to speak. So the scripture says 1 Peter chapter 5 be on the alert. Be of sober spirit. Peter says be on the alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour but resist him firm in your faith. He's out there. So it's red alert. It's Captain Kirk hitting the button red alert time.

So if you're on guard your hands are up. Watch over your heart Proverbs 4 with all diligence for from it flow the issues of life. Watch over your heart. Guard your heart. Get your hands up. Be on the alert. But if we're not vigilant, if we let our guard down well the the adversary who's out there he's going to gobble you up. You can't rest on your laurels so to speak. Many of us saw the movie from some time ago now. Doesn't seem that long ago but it is Saving Private Ryan. That was the the big movie way back when.

And there's a scene in that movie where the soldiers are taking uh the beach at Normandy and one soldier gets a bullet that grazes his head and dings his helmet, his pith helmet. And he's like wow I was saved by this helmet. And he takes his helmet off to show his buddies. And as soon as he takes his helmet off another bullet comes and shoots him in the head and he's dead. He let his guard down. I mean what kind of an idiot in the midst of a gunfight is taking your helmet off? I don't know that kind of idiot who's now a dead idiot but you just don't do that.

That's not smart. And so a lack of diligence. That's why the Bible says Romans 13 14 but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh with regard to its lust. Well, this has certainly been an eye opening and fascinating study in the book of 2 Corinthians today on From His Heart. Pastor Jeff will have part two tomorrow of Destroying Strongholds. This message is one of six messages in the series This is War overcoming the world, the flesh, and the devil. And that title cuts to the chase. We are in a war, a real battle.

And we're learning how to tear down the strongholds that hold you back. You can be victorious when you discover how to stand strong in this spiritual warfare. And this month we're airing this series as our gift of thanks to you for your support to From His Heart this month of any amount. In the series he shares From His Heart acknowledging that many people feel under attack but they don't realize that they are in a spiritual war. God's word equips believers for victory. And that's why we at From His Heart want you to get this series to encourage you in the spiritual battles you face.

You can get it on a USB flash drive, CDs, DVDs, or MP3 download. To get This is War overcoming the world, the flesh, and the devil call 866 40 Bible 866 40 Bible or go online to fromhishart.org. Thank you for joining with us to help reach the world with this good news. Speaking of good news let's close with a scripture that will surely qualify for good news. It's found in 2 Corinthians chapter 10 verses 4 and 5. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 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.

Well, we hope that verse and today's broadcast has been a blessing to you. I'm Larry Nobles with a sincere thank you for joining us and trust you'll return tomorrow for part two of this dynamic lesson called Destroying Strongholds. Join us then when we'll again open up God's word and share real truth, real love, and real hope from God's heart here on From His Heart. From His Heart is the listener supported broadcast ministry of Dr. Jeff Schreve speaking the truth in love to a lost and a hurting world. Remember no matter what God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.

Find out more at fromhishart.org.