[I have taken most of the thoughts in this sermon from the Introduction chapter in Beth Moore’s book Praying God’s Word.]
2 Cor 10:3-5
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
God has given us His power to demolish strongholds.
• What are strongholds? Paul did a good job explaining it to us.
• A stronghold is any arguments or pretension that “sets itself up against the knowledge of God.”
• Other versions: “every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God”
And we “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
• A stronghold is anything that exalts itself in our minds – “pretending” to be bigger or more powerful than out God.
• The arguments (other versions uses speculations, imaginations) – the thoughts that exalt itself in our minds and cause us to feel overpowered. Controlled. Mastered.
Whether the stronghold is a superstitious belief, an addiction, wrong thoughts, and despair over a loss, etc. – it is something that consumes our emotional and mental strength.
• That abundant life that we supposed to be enjoying in Christ is strangled.
• We become ineffective, tired Christians.
We are at WAR, Paul says. And we need to know what weapons to use against the enemy.
• The devil is unseen, therefore the weapons of the world won’t do.
• Paul says we use a different set of weapons.
In this warfare, Paul says the primary battlefield is the MIND.
• To win this war against Satan, we need to take control of our thought life – “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
• The devil’s chief target is the mind, because the most effective way to influence behaviour is to influence thinking.
• He did that to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden - doubting God’s truth; to Jesus in the temptation in the wilderness, twisting God’s truth.
Our minds are the control centers of our entire beings.
• The enemy knows that there is nothing bigger or more powerful than God.
• That’s why everything that “exalts itself” in our though life is called a “pretension” – the other versions says speculation, imagination.
• Satan plays make-believe. He can only pretend – deceive us with half-truths and lies.
Satan has lost all power and authority over our lives in Christ.
• Col 2:15 “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”
• But Satan wants to make us believe we are weak. He plays make-believe and does a remarkable job of trying to make us believe it.
• He is very good at his job – he has been doing that for 6000 years since Adam and Eve. He has lots of experience.
• He knows human nature very well, having been dealing with them for over 6000 years! He knows how to trick you into believing Him!
So we must keep telling ourselves – nothing is bigger or more powerful than God! Nothing can go against the Word of God. Absolute NOTHING!
• Therefore we “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
• We believe what the Word of God says.
• In order words, in a practical way, no sin, no addiction, no problems in your life, can continue to be a “stronghold of the devil” when we bend our knee to the authority of Christ!
• There can be no two masters! If Christ is Lord, then our life can be changed!
So what are our weapons?
According to this passage, we have 4 vital pieces of information regarding these weapons:
1. They are not the weapons of the world
2. They have divine power
3. They are associated with the ‘knowledge of God.’
4. Their purpose in warfare is to take our thoughts captive – aligning back to Christ.
In Eph 6:10-18 - Paul listed the whole armour of God.
• Only one piece of the armour is an offensive weapon – the sword.
• The belt, breastplate, shield, shoes and helmet are all defensive, protective pieces of amour intended to keep us from being injured by the weapons of the evil one.
• The sword of the Spirit – clearly identified as the Word of God, is the only offensive weapon listed in the whole armour of God.
When Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, He fought back with the Word of God.
• We wield the sword against his onslaught.
2 Cor 10:4 says “The weapons we fight with…” is in plural.
• What would the other primary weapon(s) be? Perhaps there are others.
Beth Moore suggested, her book “Praying God’s Word” that from Eph 6 passage, we can see another primary weapon of our warfare.
• Stated right after the words about the sword of the Spirit as the Word of God (Eph 6:17), is this - Eph 6:18 “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”
• There are like words spoken in warfare – “Be alert, and always keep on praying…”
• We fight when we pray. We fight on our knees!
It is quite clear from the scriptures, that we have these two major weapons in our hands –in this war against the devil – the Word of God, and Spirit-empowered prayer!
These two weapons have DIVINE POWER.
• What we have is not fire power, but DIVINE power.
• Even when we pray, we pray in the Spirit - led by and empowered by the Spirit.
2 Cor 10 says the devil wants to establish ‘strongholds’ in our lives.
• It means it is strong – NASV says fortresses – it is a ‘strong hold’ on us.
• They cannot be swept away with a bloom. We cannot fuss at them and make them flee.
• And we are not going to ignore them and live a defeated, ineffective Christian life.
Strongholds are broken one way only – the bible way – they are to be demolished.
• Have you ever seen a building demolished?
• Now the most common way is to put dynamite strategically in the building and then detonating it.
• Imagine we do it in the ancient way – with sticks and stone weights. Even if they can bring it down, it will take a long time.
We need to use the right tools. It is not just about our determination and hard work.
• We need divine power. Strongholds need to be demolished by divine power.
• And God has given us two sticks of dynamite to demolish them – His Word and prayer.
• Without these, we are just scratching the surface of the devil’s fortresses.
WHAT MAKES THE WORD SUCH A POWERFUL WEAPON?
2 Cor 10:3-5 says we are to demolish everything that exalts itself in our thought life and to take our thoughts captive, making them obedient to Christ.
• In order words, we choose to think Christ’s thoughts about our situation or problem instead of Satan’s words or our own.
• We choose to believe what the Word of God says about our situation, and not what Satan, the world or man thinks about the situation.
Don’t let those thoughts exalt itself, cast them down.
• And in its place, bring up His Word, just believe and obey what He says.
• Rom 12:2 “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
• Soak your mind with His truth until it saturates the way you think and see things.
WHAT MAKES PRAYER SUCH A POWERFUL WEAPON?
• Prayer keeps us tapped to His power.
• A prayerless life is a powerless life, and a prayerful life is a powerful life.
Prayer itself is not the thing; it is the Person behind the prayer.
• The stress here is not the power in prayer, but the powerful Person we talk to.
• Prayer is not a magic wand we wave over our problem and expecting it to disappear.
The ultimate goal God has for us is not power but personal intimacy with Him.
• It is because of our close relationship with Him that we experience the power and strength.
• God wants to bring us healing, but more than anything, He wants us to know Him, the Healer.
• He wants to give us a good life, but more than that, He wants us to know the Resurrection and the Life. He is the way, the truth and the life.
The primary focus of prayer is not to rebuke the devil but to connect with God.
• We will never win any spiritual battle without prayer, but the primary strength we have in this warfare is our relationship with God.
• Acts 19:14-15 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15[One day] the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?"
Beth Moore: “We must remember that God is far more interested in our relationship with the Deliverer than our being delivered…. I’ve come to believe that God generally prioritizes one of two objectives: Showing us His supremacy or teaching us His sufficiency.”
Beth Moore, Praying God’s Word, pp.16-17
God’s Supremacy & Sufficiency
Beth Moore came to know a sister in Christ whom God set free from an addiction to both alcohol (drinking) and tobacco (smoking) years ago. She was able to overcome the addiction to tobacco almost instantaneously. God renewed her mind so that she had no desire to smoke again.
In contrast, she has to make conscious effort to fight against the desire to drink almost every day of her life. She still has the desire to drink although she has lived in victory many years. From which stronghold did God set her free? BOTH! Neither area is controlling her. The instantaneous release from smoking taught her that God’s dominion is over all things. She saw that nothing is impossible for God. She has learned God’s supremacy.
However, if God freed her from all strongholds that easily and rapidly, she would never have learned to depend on Him. The lingering desire to drink and her strong desire to overcome it have challenged her to rely upon the authority and power of Christ every single day. This ‘thorn in her flesh’ taught her Christ’s strength in her weakness. She has learned God’s sufficiency.
… Paraphrased from Beth Moore’s story in Praying God’s Word, p.17.
The same will probably be true for you and me.
• Some strongholds are demolished and will probably not come back again.
• Others may demand a rematch every single day, and we’re still fighting them in God’s strength.
• Either way, God has equipped us with weapons to overcome.
