From His Heart

Speaker 1

Today on From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve, learn how to be set free forever.

Speaker 2

When it comes to strongholds, there are certain areas in your life where the devil seems to have a strong hold on you. Whether it is pornography, drugs, alcohol, worry, greed, or gambling, these areas can just wreck and ruin our lives. You may find yourself failing repeatedly as you go up against these challenges time and time again.

As you struggle, it’s easy to start believing the lies: "I'm never going to be set free from this." In these moments of despair, we need to remember to quote the word from John 8: "If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed." This truth can provide hope and strength as we seek freedom from our strongholds.

Speaker 1

In the Gospel of John, chapter 10, verse 10, Jesus says, "I came that you might have life and might have it abundantly." Now perhaps you're saying, "Well, why didn't that happen for me? I put my faith and trust in Jesus, but I'm just struggling intensely and life doesn't seem to be abundant. It seems difficult."

Well, it could be that you're dealing with a satanic stronghold that you've allowed the enemy to build, which keeps him in your life and defeating you on a regular basis. This is from US Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve, with a message today entitled "Destroying Strongholds."

And it's from Pastor Jeff's new six-lesson series, "Overcoming the World, the Flesh and the Devil." This series is also our gift of thanks to you for your support to Promise Heart this month of any amount. You can find out more when you go to fromhisheart.org.

If you can, now open your Bible to Second Corinthians chapter 10. Pastor Jeff will catch us up from part one last time and continue this dynamic lesson, "Destroying Strongholds."

Speaker 2

How can we successfully wage war against the devil's strongholds that he builds? Well, number one, we can understand the meaning of a stronghold. It's a fortified place. It's a place that you would say, well, that's a strong fort. But not only is it a fortified place, a stronghold is a secure place. It is such a strong fortress, a strong castle, this fortified place that you feel very secure in a stronghold. I mean, it's not going anywhere. And it's an entrenched place. Man, you're not going to move this. This is an immovable object. Well, that can be built up in our minds.

So our first discovery is that we can understand the meaning of a stronghold. This is the first discovery in order to have victory over the devil's stronghold. Secondly, we can understand the building of a stronghold. 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, human philosophies. We're destroying speculations and every lofty thing 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 it. 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 whenever he speaks, he speaks a lie. And that's how he starts to build a stronghold in your mind.

It's erected through 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 in First 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." But if we're not vigilant, if we let our guard down, well, the adversary who's out there is going to gobble you up. You can't rest on your laurels, so to speak. In Ephesians, it says, "Do not give the devil an opportunity. Don't give him a place, don't give him a foothold." You just let a crack in the door, and the devil will come in. A toehold turns into a foothold, which turns into a stronghold. That's how he works. And wherever the devil is, he will bring destruction. He comes only to steal and kill and destroy. That's his M.O.

Understand the meaning of a stronghold, the building of a stronghold, and discovery number three: we can understand the destroying of a stronghold. How do you destroy a stronghold? Because the enemy is building these castles, these entrenched forts in our minds and in our hearts. And hey, listen, all of us have wrong thoughts. We come to Christ, and we have things that we believe that weren't true, that need to be torn down. Paul said we can tear these things down. Look at it again: "For though we walk in the flesh," verse 3, "we do not war according to the flesh." You say, what does he mean there? He's a human being. I walk in the flesh. I'm flesh and blood, hide and hair.

Though we walk in the flesh, that's not how we war. We don't war according to the flesh. These false teachers, how do they war? They war through rhetoric. They war through, "Look at all the letters of commendation I have from this person and this person and this person." They war through their physical presence. That's what they said about Paul: "Well, he's so unimpressive. Look at him." We don't know what Paul looked like. Some people have postulated that he was kind of a humpback, that he was short, that he was bald-headed, which is really the thorn in the flesh. He's bald-headed. You know, he's just unattractive to look at. And these guys are slick, and these guys are oratorical geniuses.

Paul said, "When I came before you, I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." I didn't come in powerful speech, although he could have done that. But he didn't come that way. He came in the simplicity and purity of the gospel message. And so Paul said, "Hey, we can destroy these strongholds, tear down these fortresses." Not in the power of the flesh. "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." We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God. And we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

Now remember this: we can have victory in Jesus Christ. And that preposition is really key—in Jesus Christ. Victory is not attainable in the flesh and through the flesh. The flesh can't defeat the flesh. Jesus said, "That which is of the flesh is flesh." That's what he told Nicodemus. "Those who are in the flesh," Romans, chapter eight, "cannot please God." The flesh has nothing in the Lord. They're totally opposite. And so the devil doesn't care if you do bad in the flesh or you do good in the flesh. He just wants you in the flesh.

Now, Adrian Rogers used to say, "You know, the devil would rather have you sophisticated and sharp and kind and winsome and still be in the flesh." Why? Because you're a better advertisement for the devil. You know, a drunk lying in the gutter covered with vomit and flies is not a very good advertisement. "Hey, be like me, and you can be a drunk lying in the gutter covered in vomit and flies." No, but if you're the president of some thriving business, if you are the head of this community organization and that community organization, you teach a Sunday school class at the liberal church in your community, oh, look at that guy. He is such a wonderful guy. He's still in the flesh. And you're never going to have victory in the flesh. As a Christian, you're never going to have victory if you walk through the flesh.

That's why Paul says we don't war according to the flesh. How are you going to tear down strongholds in the power of the flesh? You're not. How are you going to defeat some addiction in your life through the power of the flesh? Just white-knuckling it. "I'm going to. I think I can. I think I can. I'm just going to grit my teeth and get through this." It's not going to work because that's not the way strongholds come down. So victory is not attainable through the flesh. Victory is only attainable by using the weapons of our warfare, the weapons of God. That's why he says that the weapons of our warfare, they're not of the flesh. They're divinely powerful to tear down those strongholds for the destruction of fortresses, to tear down the lies and the speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God.

So what are the weapons of our warfare? What do we have as Christians to use in this battle with the enemy and with the lies that he tries to build in our minds? Well, I want to mention four. Number one, there's the weapon of the word of God. Many of us are familiar with that. In Ephesians, chapter six, when it talks about the armor of God, Paul says, "Put on the full armor of God that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of its darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places."

So you have to gear up for battle. Just like in football, you gear up to go out on the football field. Nobody goes out on the football field to play in the game, and they're wearing a pair of shorts and a golf hat and a tank top. You may be like, "Hey, you're not ready for this." You know, if your helmet comes off, you're in trouble. On the football field, you want to get off the field because you might get your head cracked open. So in battle, we have the Bible says, "Put on the belt of truth that holds everything together. Put on the breastplate of righteousness that protects your vital organs. Put on your shoes, having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace."

And then it talks about the helmet of salvation and the shield of faith. "Put on the helmet of salvation, take up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one." And then it says, "And take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Now, all the things that relate to the armor of God, there's only one offensive weapon that is listed there, and that's the sword of the Spirit. I mean, you're not going to go into battle and say, "Well, I forgot my sword, but I'll just bellywop the guy with my breastplate of righteousness." That doesn't work, right? "I'm going to take my helmet off and beat him with it." No, you have to have the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

The sword, machaira, is the word which means a short sword, a dagger. It's for hand-to-hand combat, which is the word of God, the rhema of God, which means an utterance. It's a word from the word of God. Because the word of God is filtering through your life, you can utter against the enemy. You can utter a scripture verse. You know the word, and you can use that when you're in combat. Jesus did that when he was being tempted of the devil. He kept quoting scripture to him. Now why is that important? He's the Son of God. He's God in the flesh. Anything he says is scripture because scripture is the word of God, and he is God. So every time God speaks that scripture, Jesus could have said anything to the devil, but he didn't. For you and for me, he kept going back to the Old Testament. This is how you do battle with the devil. You run him through with truth.

And so we take the sword of the Spirit. That's the weapon, one of the weapons of God. John 17:17, Jesus in his great high priestly prayer said, "Father, sanctify them in the truth, set them apart in the truth. Your word is truth," and the truth is what sets a person free. John 8. Now when it comes to strongholds, when it comes to this area in your life where the devil seems to have a stronghold on you, whether it is pornography or drugs or alcohol or worry or greed or gambling, those areas that can just wreck and ruin our lives, and you just fail and fail and fail and fail as you go up against that time and time and time again, well, we start to believe the lies. "I'm never going to be set free from this." And we need to just continue to quote the word. John 8: "If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed. You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free."

You remember when Goliath went up against David? You know he had been coming 40 days, morning and evening. "40 days. I defy the ranks of Israel. Send me a man that we may fight together." And on day 41, here comes David ready to fight him. And Goliath looks at him and he disdains him because he was a youth. He was ruddy and handsome in appearance, and he's got a sling and a stick. "What is this? This is the challenger. I'm looking for somebody dressed like me. And that's what you send me, this little kid." He said, "Come to me, little boy. I'm going to break you up in pieces and feed you to the pigeons." And David said, "You come to me with a sword and a spear and a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have challenged this day. God is going to give you into my hand. I'm going to cut off your head. I'm going to feed you to the birds and to the beasts of the field, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and the Lord does not deliver by sword and spear. The battle is the Lord's, and he will deliver you into my hand."

That's the way we need to come at the devil. We don't bow down and say, "Oh, I can't have victory." Whatever that giant is, you keep claiming the word of God over that giant. "Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world." The weapon of the word of God. So many of us, as the old American Express commercial used to say, "Don't leave home without it." And we leave home without it. We haven't hidden God's word in our hearts. That is a huge weapon.

But then there's also the weapon of prayer. We should never discount the weapon of prayer. And in Ephesians 6, that talks about the armor of God, right after it says, "And take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God," then it says, "With all prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit. And with this in view, be on the alert, with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly as I ought to speak."

The power of prayer. In Acts chapter 6, the apostles said, "It's not good for us to neglect the word of God to serve tables. So get men that can do that, that can serve the people, and we will devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word." Those two things are critical. So the prayer, or the word of God is the sword of the Spirit, and prayer is what gives power to our lives as we link our nothingness with God's almighty power. And so we pray. There's the weapon of prayer.

You think about how God's people won so many battles in the Old Testament. They did it by praying. Jehoshaphat was afraid because three armies had banded together to come and wipe him out. And he prayed. He said, "Lord, will you not judge them? We're powerless against this great army that's coming against us, and we don't know what to do. But our eyes are on you." And God brought the victory. There's the weapon of prayer.

Thirdly, there's the weapon of a clear conscience. The weapon of a clear conscience to make sure you're right with God. Paul said this in Acts 24: "In view of this, I also do my best to maintain always a blameless conscience before God and before men," to make sure I'm right vertically, to make sure I'm right horizontally. A clear conscience. A clean conscience. Knowing that all my sins are confessed, knowing that if I've wronged anybody, I've done all that I can do to make it right.

You remember what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount? He said, "If you are going to present your offering and remember your brother has something against you, leave your offering first, be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering." If you're not right horizontally, the Lord is saying, "Well, why are you crying out to me? Why are you looking to me? Go fix that relationship that you broke." And so we have to make things right with those that we've wronged.

Now, you can have bad relationships with people, but it's not on you. Jesus had a lot of bad relationships with people, but it wasn't because of him. It's because they hated him because he told them the truth. But Jesus wasn't going to Caiaphas and Annas and all these other guys that hated his guts and saying, "Well, can't we work this out?" No. He's saying, "If your brother has something against you because you did something to him, then go and make it right." Romans 12:18, "If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men." Hey, make things right with people. And if you need to forgive somebody, forgive somebody. If you need to seek forgiveness, seek forgiveness. But make sure that you go to bed with a clean conscience, a clear conscience.

And you say, "Well, you know, I don't let that stuff bother me." Well, you need to come before the Lord and say, "Would David, search me, O God, and know my heart, try me and know my anxious thoughts, and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Lord, show me if there's something in me that's not right, that I need to confess, that I need to get right. That's a weapon. Because if we have a heart that is not right with God, and yet we're trying to use the word of God, and we're trying to use prayer, Psalm 66, verse 18 says, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." How am I going to walk with God?

John said in First John, chapter one, "God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth." We got to get right with him. And that is a weapon, the weapon of a clear conscience.

And lastly, there's the weapon of a disciplined thought life. That's what it says in verse five: "We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God. And we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." Every single thought. Why? Because it all begins with the thoughts. And if we start entertaining evil thoughts, wicked thoughts, thoughts that are against God, lofty things raised up against the knowledge of God. As the poem says, "Sow a thought, reap a deed; sow a deed, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny." It all begins with the thoughts.

Take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. My friend Mark Shook years ago, he was preaching this passage, and he said, "Here's what God wants us to do. He wants us to put a guard on the front of our minds. And when a thought comes that wants to be let in, we send out the guard. And the guard says, 'Halt! Who goes there?'" And we hear the thought, and we say, "No, you're not going to. I'm not going to let you in." Philippians, chapter four, it says, "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and anything worthy of praise, let

Speaker 1

We've heard today on From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve just how important it is to take every thought captive to be obedient to Christ. We hope that these have been keen insights for you today, taking you into a deeper appreciation for what God has done and can do in your life. The lesson is called Destroying Strongholds. We heard part two today. The entire message is one of six in the series.

This is war overcoming the world, the flesh, and the devil. You see, every day, people around the world are battling powerful enemies that they can't even see: temptation, fear, shame, confusion, addiction, and more. Families are under pressure. Kids and teens are bombarded with lies. Marriages are strained, and the faith of many is weakening. It is spiritual war, and it's raging all around us.

That's why this month on From His Heart, we're airing this new six-message series. This is war overcoming the world, the flesh, and the devil. In it, you'll discover how to break free from destructive patterns, tear down strongholds, and fight the good fight of faith all the way to the finish. This resource is our gift of thanks to you for your support to From His Heart this month of any amount. Through your support, people can learn how to fight and win the very real battles coming against them and their families.

You can get your copy in the format of your choice when you call 866-40-BIBLE (866-40-24253) or go online to fromhisheart.org. If you need to be assured of God's faithful and trustworthy promises and if you want to help us reach more people with this vital truth, make your gift today. Again, the number is 866-40-BIBLE, and the website is fromhisheart.org.

Well, we're going to close out today with a short but powerful truth and promise from Almighty God that should bring all of us comfort: The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Thanks for joining us today on From His Heart. I'm Larry Nelbles, and we pray that you felt God's spirit through these teachings and that you will grow in your faith.

Also, be right back here tomorrow for the next lesson in Pastor Jeff's new series, This Is War: Overcoming the World, the Flesh, and the Devil. Be with us next time for the message, The Devil Unmasked. It's when Pastor Jeff will open up God's word and share real truth, love, and hope from God's heart here on From His Heart.

Speaker 2

There is treasure, there is blessing, there is hope that you always dream of Love he can heal. Heal.

Speaker 1

From His Heart is the listener-supported broadcast ministry of Dr. Jeff Shreve, speaking the truth in love to a lost and hurting world.

Remember that no matter what, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.

Find out more. Go to fromhisheart.org.