Title: Tear down your imaginations or they will tear you up.
We are so able to identify evil when it comes in those clear vial, hateful waves. They stop us in our tracks! Take our breath way! Crush our hearts!
There are times when we see evil so blatant, so powerful that we shudder with fear and weep in despair.
On September 11, 2001 at 8:46 a.m. - American Flight 11 from Boston crashed into the North Tower at the World Trade Center. Onlookers were stunned and the media focused national attention immediately on lower Manhattan. At 9:03 a.m. - United Flight 175 from Boston crashed into the South Tower at the World Trade Center.
It became apparent in that moment that we were not simply witnessing an awful tragedy. Evil was at work.
But as the Apostle Paul warned the early church, there are those times that danger and evil lurks just as close only in this case satan comes as an angel of light.
ΠA good feeling,
ΠA warm imagination.
And yes there are imaginations that are not bad…
1.Mercy Me song - I can only imagine as an example.
2.Or saying just close your eyes and imagine what it will be like to see Jesus.
But there are also imaginations that do flood our mind, and do consume our time, that stand directly in opposition to all that Jesus wants us to do and be as believers.
This morning I want to talk to you about tearing down imaginations.
Now I’m going to address the internet probably more specifically but I want you to know that this is not just about the internet but about everything that we allow in our lives that takes our minds and hearts to places they should not be, and in fact that stand opposed to the God we love.
Turn with me in your Bibles to: 2 Corinthians 10:1-7 Read and pray
KING JAMES SAYS – Casting Down Imaginations…
This is a powerful passage of Scripture
Those who may not be familiar the church in Corinth was a somewhat troubling church.
Paul tells them that they come behind no church in the use of the Gifts.
But – to their bad, over and over he calls them carnal.
He has to take them to task more than any other of the churches, because while they sincerely believed in Christ, they were not sincerely living for Him.
Corinth was a roman province, steeped in false gods, temple prostitution, idol worship, and multiple pagan practices.
And over and over they would fall back into them so much so that Paul had to be firmer with them than any other the other church’s even though he was tough with the Galatians, the needs and problems in the Corinthian church were greater.
He begins in vs. 1 and 2 with a heart felt appeal to not have to come there and be tough with them.
He wasn’t trying to lord over their lifestyle, but rather to be sure they did not live by the same standards as the world lives.
He makes that clear when he says : some people who think that we live by the standards of this world.
Some think we do things, settle things in the same fashion as the world.
Some of that might be an eye for an eye.
Do as I say, not as I do.
But Paul says in vs. 3: 3For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.
Christians are different. We are part of the world, but live by an entirely different ethic.
Not guns, not tanks, not brute force. Not retaliation, not if it feels good do it.
But rather he says: 4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.
We don’t live as they do, we don’t think as they do, we don’t respond as they do, we don’t speak as they do.
Our weapons are much different –
Let me just say a few to have this sink in.
In the world you do bad things to people who do bad things to you.
In Christ – You bless those who curse you, pray for those who use you.
If they hit you on the cheek in the world you put their lights out.
In Christ – You turn the other cheek.
You love your enemies.
You look on the needs of others.
Husband’s hearts are won to Christ by the gentle spirit of the wife, not by her putting her man constantly in his place.
You lead by serving- That’s what Jesus said, want to be great, then serve.
You see the world has its own brand of weapons, where the strong survive.
In Jesus system blessed are the weak…
The church in Corinth was abrasive, self determined, they thought they made the rules of Gods body as they saw fit, and Paul often had to remind them that when they came to Christ they came into a new and different life.
But Paul tells them: On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
What God has given us to fight with is Divine Power to demolish strongholds!
Remember the words of Jesus to His disciples before he was taken up into heave.
ALL POWER HAS BEEN GIVEN TO ME IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH.
In other words nothing should have the power or be allowed to have the power of controlling us in a way that is contrary to His Way.
So what are these strong holds Paul’s speaks about.
The word ’stronghold’ means "to harden, or to make hard." It describes an entrenchment, or fortress. ( Iraq war they had hardened bunkers)
Thus, in the spiritual life, Paul is speaking of a hard place.
1. He is speaking of an unbending place. Sin entrenched.
2. He is speaking of an entrenchment, or a fortress fought over.
3. He is speaking of an area of our life that is contended for.
4. He is speaking of an entrenchment behind the lines.
Therefore, a stronghold is any place in our life that seems to be an area of contention. It is any thing that poses a threat to our spiritual progress. It is any person, place, predicament, or problem that hinders us, harbors us, or holds us in its clutches, and impedes us from our full potential in Christ.
The Key I want to focus in on this morning is imaginations –
Imaginations can be good or bad but Paul is specific here.
arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, again in the KJV that word arguments is more properly rendered Imaginations.
Little fortresses of sin we let get entrenched in our life.
Areas of sin we dwell on, or let exist. Sinful thoughts imaginations
James covers it this way in James chapter 1 13When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;
14but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Desires there is akin to the word Imaginations. It encompasses that but so much more.
Often those evil desires come the imaginations we have allowed to continue to exist.
1. That we have allowed to build up fortresses.
2. The saying is if you give satan a toe hold, he will work it into a foot hold, and from there will build a strong hold.
They can be lust, coveting, jealousy, idolatry, unforgiveness. The list is endless. Anything we dwell on that is contrary to Gods Word.
So let me show you why I mentioned the internet back at the beginning.
I want to show a quick video clip here of a young Christian boy who through the internet got caught up in very wrong thinking that carried over into his everyday life.
This was a young man who built up a world of imagination through looking at Pornography on the internet.
That is one of the leading causes of child molestation and rape in general today.
It’s a feeding frenzy for the homosexual community.
Listen to how Wikipedia describes it - Internet pornography is pornography that is distributed by means of various sectors of the Internet, primarily via websites, peer-to-peer file sharing, or Usenet newsgroups. While pornography had been traded over the Internet since the 1980s, it was the invention of the World Wide Web in 1991 as well as the opening of the Internet to the general public around the same time that led to an explosion in online pornography.
The Internet has proved popular for distributing pornography because it allows people to view pornography (essentially) anonymously in the comfort and privacy of their homes. It also allows access to pornography by people whose access is otherwise restricted for legal or social reasons.
The Internet has radically changed how child pornography is reproduced and disseminated, and, according to the United States Department of Justice, resulted in a massive increase in the "availability, accessibility, and volume of child pornography." The production of child pornography has become very profitable, bringing in several billion dollars a year, and is no longer limited to pedophiles. Philip Jenkins notes that there is "overwhelming evidence that [child pornography] is all but impossible to obtain through no electronic means."
Surveys have been done that showed astronomical numbers of people, mostly men, but not all men who have availed themselves of this. And sadly enough those who consider themselves churched, even leaders, Pastors, Elders, Deacons, Sunday School teachers have reached numbers that rival the world.
And more than just porno, people are meeting people and having affaires through Chat Rooms, Social pages, online offers in the form of popup.
People give out information on the internet to perfect strangers.
They seem to think nothing of giving out phone numbers, home locations.
Here is one more clip – its humorous I nature but so very true in content.
VIDEO CLIP
Church – People getting on line meeting people has become one of the biggest sources of infidelity today.
How Has the Internet Changed the Way People Cheat?
Unfortunately, the internet has created a whole new way for people to cheat. Instant messaging, chat rooms, and websites devoted to making connections, have made it easy for people to get romantically involved with someone else without a spouse knowing.
In fact, there are many websites specifically dedicated to helping husbands and wives cheat on each other. Not only is it easy to find romantic interests online, but a lot of people do not consider online affairs to be cheating.
After all, how can it really be cheating if two people never meet face-to-face?
But, thinking that way actually makes the problem worse because it lowers the threshold - there is less guilt involved. And with a lower threshold of guilt, people feel more comfortable doing it.
Not only is there less guilt involved, but online affairs are also easier to hide - people don’t have to worry about a lot of issues that come along with having a more traditional affair, as such:
· being seen in together in public
· contracting sexually transmitted diseases
· finding a time and place to cheat
· hiding phone calls and so on.
Unfortunately, while it is easier to start an online affair, they can be just as problematic as a traditional affair
And so often the very person you thought was one thing is totally different.
Imagining they are something they are not, and the other person is too.
Talking about things they should never be saying because they feel safe. It’s not real after all. Or is it? IMAGINATIONS.
So if we are told to tear down imaginations then why aren’t we.
Truth is too many have let foot holds become strong holds and simply are not availing themselves of Gods power to break that hold.
But Paul says we are all equipped to, we are strong enough to, have the power too.
Listen to another way the Bible talks about Imaginations in the OT.
Imaginations Psalm 73:7 Amplified Bible (AMP)
Their eyes stand out with fatness, they have more than heart could wish; and the imaginations of their minds overflow [with follies].
Church there are people who spend hours on EBAY looking for just one more deal, one more thing they can buy. On clothing sites, lingerie sites, sports sites, home sites. They go from site to site for hours on end.
You all know someone that it doesn’t matter when you log on, they are already on line.
We have so many material things but we just imagine having more.
It’s not like God isn’t trying to help us.
He tells us what so ever things are lovely, and pure think on these things.
He tells us to let this mind be in us that was in Christ Jesus.
Peter tells us to gird up the loins of our minds.
The mind is the battlefield my friend.
God says IM doing my part. – No temptation that I won’t make a way out.
Isa 65:2 New International Version (NIV)
All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations-
Maybe the answer is found in Romans 1
Romans 1:21
King James Version (KJV)
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Just like with the tower of Babel, people have begun to imagine vain things. They have imagined that God doesn’t care what they are doing. That it doesn’t matter, that He can’t see what they are doing. WRONG.
Its one of the six things that God says is an abomination to Him.
Proverbs 6:18 King James Version (KJV)
An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
Friend God doesn’t want to take anything good from us, He wants us to not fall trap to the devises of satan that will keep us from ever being in Gods Kingdom.
God’s heart is breaking for those who have gone from dwelling on what He has for them to what this world offers, be it immorality, or just self indulgence.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. We have the power to break it down.
The choice is ours.
But the battle is the Lords.
