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Pulling down Strongholds
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 When
an invading conquered foreign territory, their top priority was
to remove the power of strongholds. A failure to remove
strongholds, would nullify any victory of land. Since an
invader could not occupy every square mile of land, as soon as
the army moved, the enemy in the stronghold could reoccupy
conquered territory.
Many Christians who find salvation in Christ,
struggle in their walk, because they fail to remove strongholds.
They are constantly besieged over and over again, from the same
area. This happens because, the enemy is still occupying a part
of their life, and unless these strongholds are pulled down
battle will continue to rage.
When conquers took territory, they would locate
the strongholds. Secondly, they would gather intelligence on the
stronghold. Before operations against the stronghold could
begin, the conqueror needs to know the answers to specific
questions.
·
How is the stronghold supplied?
·
How large is the force within its walls?
·
Where does it get its water from?
·
How high and thick are its walls?
·
What kind of weapons do they have?
·
Are enemy reinforcement nearby?
Once the
commander understands the background of the Stronghold, he can
begin preparations of the siege. The warfare against physical
strongholds parallels in many ways the battle against spiritual
strongholds. For us to have a victorious Christian life, we
need to wage war on our strongholds. If we fail to subdue the
strongholds, we will constantly be subjected to strong enemy
attacks. Therefore, there is a process to being successful in
our walk, it does not automatically happen. We need to decide
to follow Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit. The
process to pulling down strongholds is as follows.
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Identify the strongholds in your land
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Develop a strategy to subdue the stronghold
·
Lay siege to the stronghold
·
Subdue the stronghold to the obedience of Christ
Identify the
strongholds in your land
How do we
identify strongholds? When we come to Christ, an amazing event
happens, The Holy Spirit comes to dwell within our tent or
body. Our body becomes the Temple of God, when we become saved
as God literally takes residence in our body (Ephesians 1:13-14,
2 Cor. 6:6, I Cor. 6:19). Now the Holy
Spirit is called the Comforter, who teaches us (the saved) all
things. Therefore, the Holy Spirit will reveal to us the areas
in our life, where Satan has established strongholds. In
Romans, Paul tells us how the Holy Spirit intercedes with our
spirit.
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we
do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit
Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be
uttered.
27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the
Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints
according to the will of God.
Romans 8:26-27
In verse 26,
Paul writes how the Spirit pricks our inner-man, with groaning
or sighing, the Spirit testifies and intercedes where we are
feeble. Now the areas where we are we weak are because
stronghold dominate, causing us to be weak. One person’s
weakness might not be another’s, which is why it is important to
rely on the conviction of God.
1. The Holy Spirit causes groaning
Scripture, the
Sword of the Spirit, along with the Holy Spirit will shine the
light on the strongholds in our life. The first step is to make
our life sensitive to the Holy Spirit, and the Word of God. As
we read scripture, where do you feel convicted by the Spirit?
1____________________________________________________-
2____________________________________________________
3____________________________________________________
4____________________________________________________
2. Do you have fruits of the flesh?
In the book of Galatians, Paul identifies two
sets of fruit, (fruit) works of the flesh and fruit of
the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). In addition to these two
sets of fruits, Paul also lists areas of the flesh, which
separate those who walk in the Spirit as opposed to the flesh.
As you read these lists of fruits, do you identify with any of
them?
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are:
adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies,
outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of
which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time
past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the
kingdom of God.
Galatians
5:19-21
20 For I fear
lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that
I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be
contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions,
backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults;
21 lest, when I
come again, my God will humble me among you, and I shall mourn
for many who have sinned before and have not repented of the
uncleanness, fornication, and lewdness which they have
practiced. 2 Corinthians 12:20-21
9 Do you not
know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?
Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor
adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites,
10 nor thieves,
nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will
inherit the kingdom of God. I Corinthians 6:9-10
5 Therefore put
to death your members which are on the earth: fornication,
uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is
idolatry.
6 Because of
these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of
disobedience,
7 in which you
yourselves once walked when you lived in them.
8 But now you
yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice,
blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.
Colossians 3:5-8
Are there areas
here listed here in scripture that cause you to stumble? Have
you tried and tried to change, but have not been able to gain
victory in your life in certain areas? If so, the area is a
stronghold, from which Satan is able to wage war on the soul.
List area in
scripture you are having problems getting control of in your
life.
1._____________________________________________________
2._____________________________________________________
3._____________________________________________________
4._____________________________________________________
3. Do you have
generational strongholds in your life?
When we examine
lives of people and families, we see there are strongholds of
sins, which, can be traced back for generations. Scripture
refers to these strongholds of sin, which transfer from
generation to generation. In the Ten Commandments, the sins of
the fathers are passed to the children, until a generation
breaks the cycle. Idol worship was a stronghold in ancient
Israel, which eventually caused God to judge the nation
(Jeremiah 5:7-19, Ezekiel 8:6-18).
8 'You shall not
make for yourself a carved image-any likeness of anything that
is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is
in the water under the earth;
9 you shall not
bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a
jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the
children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate
Me, Deuteronomy 5:8-9
We can see in
Jeremiah how this sin was transferred from family to family,
eventually corrupting nearly the entire nation. The people
became hostile to God and His prophets; they were hostile to the
Word, as their sin controlled their lives. Even after Jerusalem
was destroyed they fled with their sin rather then obeying God’s
word, through Jeremiah.
18 "The children
gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead
dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out
drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to
anger. 19 "Do they provoke Me to anger?" says the Lord. "Do
they not provoke themselves, to the shame of their own faces?"
Jeremiah 7:18-19
One of the
greatest example of generational strongholds was conducted in
In 1900, A.E. Winship tracked down fourteen hundred of the
descendants of Jonathan Edwards a pastor and university
president and Max Jukes, he published his study of the Edwards
children in contrast to the Jukes children.
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Jonathan Edwards: Born 1703 |
Max Jukes: Born 1700 |
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 A
man of God and married to a woman of like character.
He was 24 and she was 17. On their wedding night
they committed their marriage to the Lord. Their
descendants included:
300
clergymen - some missionaries and theological
professors.
100 professors.
100 attorneys.
30 judges, 1 dean of a law school.
60 physicians, 1 dean of a medical school.
3 mayors of large cities.
60 authors of fine classics.
14 presidents of universities.
3 State Governors.
1 Controller of the US Treasury.
1 Vice-President of the USA. |
 A
non-believer, who married a woman of like character.
She lacked principle, among other indecencies,
including the occult. Of their 1200 descendants -
310
were professional vagrants.
440 wrecked their lives through debauchery.
130 went to jail - 7 for murder, average sentence:
13 years.
More than 600 became alcoholics.
60 were habitual thieves.
190 became public prostitutes.
20 became tradesmen, 10 of whom learned their trade
in prison.
That descendancy cost the state of New York
$1,250,000.
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Generational strongholds, are ways of thinking and blindness
transferred from generation to generation. Only the power
of Gospel, has the power to break these generational
strongholds, which can dominate families.
Idolatry is
a sin transferred from generation to generation, maintaining
a stronghold on a family. Many forms of family idolatry
pass down the family line. Most are familiar with alcohol;
just about, everybody knows families affected by this
stronghold. Generational strongholds can include quite a
number of variable forms, many of which might not seem so
obvious.
In third
commandment, idolatry is that which is worshipped above the
Lord God. When something is placed above the lord it
becomes idol worship. The love of money can be passed down
from generations, where a family might put great pride in
their business skills, not realizing it really a stronghold,
trapping generations. In many ways it is no different then
alcohol, its only another form of stronghold.
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Drugs:
A drug culture and mindsets can be passed down
from generations, as children listen to the
glorification of drugs and rock n roll, the
stronghold is established in offspring. |
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lewdness:
Children model what they see, if parents are model lewdness
by what they watch, and say. The pattern can
easily be accepted by children, who think
lewdness is part of being adult. |
|
Love of money:
A successful family member in a family history can set the
stage for generations to come. Each modeling
their lives after the “Idol” maker, who taught
them the power of money. |
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Politics:
Politics has a lure all its own, because |
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violence:
Family often transfer violence, from generation
to generation. |
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adultery/fornication:
Children model what they see, what becomes acceptable for
kids, is often what kids look for in spouses.
Thus the patterns become a stronghold in the
generation. |
Cutting off the supply routes
When an
army decided to destroy a stronghold, one of the first
things needed to do was to isolate the stronghold. This was
done by cutting off supply routes to the stronghold, one
method used by the Romans was to construct wall around the
stronghold. This way they could be sure no one slipped in
or out without their knowing. The goal was two fold, one,
cause the stronghold to surrender by cutting off supplies of
food and weapons. Two, prevent any one from leaving to
provide intelligence to allies, who might try to come to
rescue the stronghold. The Romans were masters at
conquest, they understood the need to subdue enemy
strongholds. They spent two years, taking the Jewish
stronghold of Masada, 15,000 men working to take down a
stronghold of 1000-men, women and children.
We can
learn a principle from Roman siege craft if they understood
the value in blockading strongholds, we should follow their
example. How can we blockade our strongholds? One way is
to cutoff the supply line, which feeds our stronghold. For
example, if alcohol is the stronghold, if you are serious
about taking the stronghold, you need to destroy your
supply. You need to cut off those who would reinforce your
supply, such as friends who want to take you drinking.
If
pornography is a stronghold, the same principles apply, cut
off the supply routes, control what gets to the stronghold
to supply it. Serious action needs to be taken, to pull
down strongholds. Without serious action, strongholds will
remain a constant presence in the believer’s life. Get rid
of the cable television, the internet, the subscriptions and
the friends who would supply the stronghold.
This same
principle goes for all strongholds; ask what is supplying
the stronghold? You know what feeds it? The goal is to
bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.
4 For the
weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for
pulling down strongholds,
5 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,
2 Corinthians 10:4-5
Ask
yourself these questions, to help you direct your assault
against the stronghold.
1. What is
the stronghold in my
life?______________________________________________________
2. How is
this stronghold
supplied?________________________________________________________
3. Do people
in my life supply this
stronghold?____________________________________________
4.What in my
environment is feeding and supplying the
stronghold?____________________
5. Am I
serious about pulling down the
stronghold?_______________________________________
6. Am I
willing to make myself accountable to Christian
friends?________________________
Building your base camp
After
cutting off supplies to the stronghold, the Romans will
build the assault camp, the place where the soldiers
would camp out, so they can keep an eye on the
stronghold. In the same way, we need to surround
ourselves with people, who can help us assault the
stronghold. Again, if we are serious we need to seek
out people who can help us tear down the walls, people
with experience.
Waging war on the stronghold
 The
weapons of our warfare, the Sword of the Spirit and
Prayer, with this double-edged sword, we have the
ability to tear down any stronghold. We need to learn
to take God at His Word, the weapon of our warfare is
more powerful then anything the world can ever offer.
12
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper
than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division
of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Hebrews 4:12
To
apply this double edged sword in combat, after we have
identified the target stronghold. Learn what scripture
has to say about particular issue.
The
stronghold of pride as example
Let us
take pride for example, over 40 versus in
scripture mention pride. Start out by finding the
verses in God’s word, which deal with pride. List them,
learn what they are referring to? A Bible Concordance,
Strong’s Concordance for example, dictionary or
software can help you locate versus.
Under
pride, I would list several verses including the ones
below. I would mediate on these verses; I would then
begin to pray these verses so they apply to me.
19 I
will break the pride of your power; I will make your
heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. Leviticus 26:19
9 The
Lord of hosts has purposed it, To bring to dishonor the
pride of all glory, To bring into contempt all the
honorable of the earth. Isaiah 23:9
3 The
pride of your heart has deceived you, You who dwell in
the clefts of the rock, Whose habitation is high; You
who say in your heart, 'Who will bring me down to the
ground?' Obadiah 1:3
16 For
all that is in the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust
of the eyes, and the pride of life-is not of the Father
but is of the world. I
John 2:16
After
praying on these verses, memorizing them, I would begin
to wage war on the stronghold. One way is to the exact
opposite of your flesh. Volunteer in a homeless
shelter, do something humble refrain from exalting
yourself, this only feeds the flesh. Daniel’s gave
advice to Nebuchadnezzar on how he was to overcome the
stronghold of pride; I would use Daniel’s advice to the
king.
27
Therefore, O king, let my advice be acceptable to you;
break off your sins by being righteous, and your
iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps there
may be a lengthening of your prosperity."
Daniel 4:27
Praying the Word of God
We can take the Word of God and pray what it says
into our life. Lets take
Leviticus 26:19,
19 I
will break the pride of your power; I will make your
heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. Leviticus 26:19
We can take this verse and personalize a prayer,
as the Spirit groans with our pride. We might come
before the throne of God and say;
Lord I know
you hate Pride, your Word says you will break the pride
of power, and you will make the heavens like iron and
the earth like bronze, please Lord....Take my pride from
me, humble my heart...let me learn to rejoice in your
power and not mine own...
When we pray, we literally enter Heaven, we
enter the throne room of God. When Jesus died on the
cross, the curtain in the Temple was ripped from top to
bottom, signifying the separation between man and God was
eliminated because of the blood of Christ.
14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has
passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us
hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High
Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but
was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace,
that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in
time of need.
Hebrews
4:14-16
Fasting and Prayer
Along
with prayer, we have an additional tool called fasting.
Fasting adds power to our prayer, it helps us focus and
demonstrates to us, how sincere we are about getting rid
of our stronghold. Jesus clearly says, some issues
require both prayers along with fasting. Referring to
the demon possessed boy, who the disciples could not
deliver. Jesus said, “However,
this kind does not go out except by prayer and
fasting”(Matthew 17:21).
13 But as for me, when they were sick, My clothing was
sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting; And my prayer
would return to my own heart. Psalm 35:13
3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by
prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and
ashes. Daniel 9:3
37 and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who
did not depart from the temple, but served God with
fastings and prayers night and day.
Luke 2:37
In Summary the process of pulling down strongholds is
1. Identify the stronghold
2. Gather intelligence about the stronghold
3. Sever and blockade the supply lines to the stronghold
4. Establish a base camp of friends (warriors)
5. Wage war against the stronghold
a. Scripture
b. Scripture memory
c. Pray God’s word
d Pray and fast
My Battle Plan
1. My
Stronghold___________________________________________________
2Intelligence
1. What
is the stronghold in my
life?______________________________________________________
2. How is
this stronghold
supplied?________________________________________________________
3. Do
people in my life supply this
stronghold?____________________________________________
4.What in
my environment is feeding and supplying the
stronghold?____________________
5. Am I
serious about pulling down the
stronghold?_______________________________________
6. Am I
willing to make myself accountable to Christian
friends?________________________
3. Severe
the Supply lines
____________________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
4. Who do I know that can help me wage war ?
_______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
5. What verses apply to the stronghold?
________________________________________________________
The Fall of Masada
 Masada
occupies the entire top of an isolated mesa near the
southwest coast of the Dead Sea. The rhomboid-shaped
mountain towers 1,424 feet (434 m) above the level of
the Dead Sea. It has a summit area of about 18 acres (7
hectares). Some authorities hold that the site was
settled at the time of the First Temple (c. 900 BC), but
Masada is renowned for the palaces and fortifications of
Herod the Great (reigned 37–4 BC), king of Judaea under
the Romans, and for its resistance to the Roman siege in
AD 72–73.
The site was first fortified either by Jonathan Maccabeus (d.
143/142 BC) or by Alexander Jannaeus (reigned 103–76
BC), both of the Hasmonean dynasty. Masada was chiefly
developed by Herod, who made it a royal citadel. His
constructions included two ornate palaces (one of them
on three levels), heavy walls, defensive towers, and
aqueducts that brought water to cisterns holding nearly
200,000 gallons (750,000 l). After Herod's death (4 BC),
Masada was captured by the Romans, but the Zealots, a
Jewish sect that staunchly opposed domination by Rome,
took it by surprise in AD 66. The steep slopes of the
mountain made Masada a virtually unassailable fortress.
Following the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the
Second Temple (AD 70), the Masada garrison—the last
remnant of Jewish rule in Palestine—refused to surrender
and was besieged by the Roman legion X Fretensis under
Flavius Silva. Masada's unequaled defensive site baffled
even the Romans' highly developed siegecraft for a time.
It took the Roman army of almost 15,000, fighting a
defending force of less than 1,000, including women and
children, almost two years to subdue the fortress. The
besiegers built a sloping ramp of earth and stones to
bring their soldiers within reach of the stronghold,
which fell only after the Romans created a breach in the
defenders' walls. The Zealots, however, preferred death
to enslavement, and the conquerors found that the
defenders, led by Eleazar ben Jair, had taken their own
lives (April 15, AD 73). Only two women and five
children—who had hidden in a water conduit—survived to
tell the tale. Masada was briefly reoccupied by the Jews
in the 2nd century AD and was the site of a Byzantine
church in the 5th–6th century. Thereafter, it was
abandoned until the 20th century, except for a brief
interval during the Crusades; the Arabs called the
mountain As-Sabba (“The Accursed”).
A general survey of the ruins was made by Israeli
archaeologists in 1955–56, and the entire mountaintop
was excavated by Yigael Yadin in 1963–65, assisted by
thousands of volunteers from around the world.
Descriptions by the Jewish historian Josephus, until
then the only detailed source of Masada's history, were
found to be highly accurate; the palaces, storehouses,
defense works, and Roman camps and siege works were all
revealed and cleared, as was the winding trail (the
“Snake Path”) on the mesa's northeastern face. A
synagogue and ritual bath discovered on Masada are the
earliest yet found in Palestine. Among the most
interesting discoveries is a group of potsherds
inscribed with Hebrew personal names. These may be lots
cast by the last defenders to determine who should die
first.
In the 20th century Masada became a symbol of Jewish national
heroism, and it is now one of Israel's most popular
tourist attractions
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