Nov. 18, 2024

Strongholds Pt 2

Strongholds Pt 2

A discussion about 2 Corinthians 10:3-6

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A discussion about 2 Corinthians 10:3-6

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

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the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. Good morning everyone.

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It is Monday, November eighteenth, twenty twenty four. It is

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currently ten forty six am Central Time, and I am

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coming to you live from windy, windy, very windy, West Texas.

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That's where I'm coming to you, li from. I'm coming

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to you lie from the Theology Central studio located right

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here in windy, windy, windy, very windy, West Texas. You

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may be able to hear the noise in the background.

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I mean, the wind is like, I don't know, fifty

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miles per hour. I don't know what it is. It's

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crazy right now. I got ready to go live, and

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I was thinking, it's the microphone's going to pick up

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all of that noise in the background. But then I thought,

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you know what, it's either now or never. So it's

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it's wendy outside. Some may say, well, it's always windy

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when I listen to the Theology Central podcast, because that

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guy talking is full of hot air and it's just

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blah blah blah. Okay, all right, man, does that work?

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Does that a good illustration? I don't know, but it

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may be wendy outside. It maybe get a little windy

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here with you know, controversy, and I tend to say

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things that go against what everyone else thinks. But that's okay.

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There's got to be room within Christiandom. There's got to

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be room within Christianity for someone to kind of raise

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their hand and go, well, wait a minute, wait a minute,

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wait a minute, what about this? What about this? What

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about this? What about this? What about this? I don't

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agree with that. I don't agree with that. Okay, I

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hear your hypotheses, but let me put forth mind. Let's

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challenge this, let's test this. There's gotta be someone well

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who questions everything, right, There's got to be at least

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a few voices out there that questions everything. And I

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think I've always been the one to question everything, So

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I think I that's Look, if I try to do

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anything else, I would be I'd be fake. I would

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be I wouldn't be real. I try to be as

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I try to be as real as I possibly can.

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I mean, I don't know forever truly real?

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Right?

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Are we ever truly real? I mean, I think there's

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always a part of us that we always hide from everyone. Else.

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But I try to tell everyone, I'm just a sinner

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with a microphone trying to figure out Christianity, and I'm

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inviting you along for the journey. I'm inviting you along

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as I try to figure it out, and I do

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a lot of questioning and a lot of challenging. And

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one of those things we do, and we've been doing

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it all of twenty twenty four, and I challenged you

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to be a part of it was to download the

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sermon's two point oh app and then every single day,

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choose a random sermon, listen to it, write it down

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in a notebook, the name of the sermon, the name

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of the broadcaster, and then write a summary of what

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the sermon was about. And the goal was by the

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end of twenty twenty four, you would have one sermon

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for every single day of the year. And that journey

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has been full of twist turns, ups down and kind

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of led to some great amount of frustration, at least

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for me. But we're here in November. What did I say,

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November the eighteenth, I don't even remember the date anymore,

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November the eighteenth, meaning we're fast approaching the end of

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twenty twenty four. So I'm trying my best. I'm trying

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my best to land the plane, bring the train into

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the station, bring the boat to the harbor, whatever to

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port or however I want to use the illustration. I

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want to bring this to some kind of conclusion. That

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is the goal here. So yesterday, I'm like, you know what,

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I've been frustrated. Let's take a step back. Let's reset.

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Let's go into this with the you know, the whole

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positive attitude. We're going to listen to sermons. It doesn't

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matter if we agree or disagree. They put forth their hypotheses.

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I will put forth mind. The people listening get a

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chance to hear two different perspectives. Let's be positive, let's

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be upbeat. Let's do this. So we hit play on

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a sermon, and in that sermon they read the following words.

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For though we walk in the flesh, we do not

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war after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare

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are not carnal, but mighty through God. To the pulling

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down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing

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that exalted itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing

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into captivity every thought, to the obedience of Christ, that

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tewod Corinthians, Chapter ten, verses three through five. That's what

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we heard read in the sermon, and then they began

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to teach on strongholds, and and what we discovered was

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to this. All the way up to this moment, I'm

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still just as perplexed and confused and like, what in

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the world did we hear because they claimed that basically

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it sounds like we build the stronghold. So it was

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very directed. Everything in the sermon was about you, you, you, me, me, me,

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what we do, what we.

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Do we do.

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It was very law base, based off we do now

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what God does, based off what we do, we build strongholds.

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And once a stronghold is built, ladies and gentlemen, this

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is what we discovered. A stronghold hinders the presence of God,

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kills the power of God, and quenches the spirit. So basically,

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if you get a stronghold, God can't do anything about it.

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Now at the same time, he said, well, God can,

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but he won't. But at the same time he said

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that the stronghold kills the power of God, hinders the

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presence of God, and quenches the spirit, seemingly rendering God,

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I guess and capable of doing anything about the stronghold.

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I have to remove the stronghold apart from the power

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of God if I want the power of God, which

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just is so confounding and confusing. So we went through it.

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There was so much. It was so frustrating by the end,

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so we worked our way through it. I think I

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brought it to somewhat of a decent conclusion. We went

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through the history of church history about how those throughout

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Church history have taught on strongholds what they are and

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what they aren't. In this particular case, and the sermon

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that we were reviewing, his view of a stronghold was

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more about behavior, behavior, behavior, behavior behavior. If you listen

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to the wrong music boom, you get a stronghold. It

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was about behavior, and that's I don't think that's what

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strongholds are actually about in any way, shape or form.

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So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to

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quickly go back and review how strongholds have been taught

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throughout Church history. Then we're going to just finish up

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the last I don't know, ten minutes of this sermon,

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just to say we brought it to some kind of

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a conclusion, and then we're gonna look at kind of

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how the text define strongholds. We're gonna also look at

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the problem of connecting strongholds with satan. I think there's

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a possible problem with that, and then just try to

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bring this to some kind of conclusion. So if you

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didn't listen to the one yesterday, go back and listen

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to it, because that's where the majority of the sermon

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is was reviewed. You can definitely do that. But for now,

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let me just remind you of this, this idea, the

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concept of strongholds has been debated, discussed and talked and

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taught and discussed and talked about throughout Church history, with

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varying degrees of interpretations. Okay, just so that you know that.

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I know it's a shock, but I know. Look, it

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doesn't matter. You open a Bible verse, you go look

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at church history. There's no agreement. Okay, there's no agreement.

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No one ever agrees on anything. It's a debate, debate, debate, debate, discussion, talk.

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You just that's what happens, all right. In the context

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of Second Corinthians Chapter ten, Paul seems to use the

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idea of a stronghold metaphorically to describe arguments. Ideas are

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patterns of thought that stand in opposition to the knowledge

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of God. So, if you look at the context of

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Second Corinthians, chapter ten, a stronghold seems to be thinking ideas,

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philosophies that stand in opposition to the knowledge of God.

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Here's the knowledge of God, here's the truth of God,

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and here's these thoughts, these ideas, these ideologies, these philosophies

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that stand in conflict with the knowledge of God and

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the truth of God. It seems to be what a

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stronghold primarily is about. In its context, the immediate passage

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focuses on taking every thought captive and demolishing false arguments.

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This would seem to indicate that the apostle Paul is

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likely addressing intellectual or ideological barriers, rather than some type

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of demonic stronghold or psychological issues as later interpretations have suggested.

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See these later when you start talking about demons and

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Satan and all of that type of thing. Maybe you

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know certain sins. All of that came later in church history.

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Early church was like, oh, this is about thinking, this

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is about ideology, this is about philosophy. Later on things

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started to change. So if we kind of go over

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the centuries and kind of Look, well, here's kind of

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what we find. We have the historical and philological interpretation.

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We have the historical and philological interpretation the early church

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fathers tended. Now, this doesn't mean every single church father

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was unanimous on this, so please don't think I'm saying

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they all thought the same way, but they tended to

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it seems like possibly the majority were. They interpreted strongholds

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more in line with Paul's message focusing on intellectual pride,

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false teachings. But this is very important. Some of the

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church fathers also included entrenched sins. So for the most part,

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they focused on intellectual pride, false teaching, ideal ideology, philosophy.

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But some started to going, well, I think a stronghold

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could also be an entrenched sin, a prolonged sin. Now

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they tip saw strongholds as internal, mental or spiritual bearers,

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barriers within a person's mind. Primarily, this was a mind thing,

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a thinking thing. It was a spiritual barrier. It was

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a something internal, something mental. It wasn't that's that's kind

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of what it was about. It was about the way

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you were thinking, your thoughts, your way of understanding things.

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That's what it was about. That's kind of the historical

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philological interpretation. And that's where I think when well, something

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changes in church history, what changes is we moved from

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really the early church to the mid evil church. And

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guess what shows up the mystical approach. We now have

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a mystical approach to what a stronghold is, and mid

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evil times, the idea of spiritual warfare grew to include

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more elaborate systems of thought around spiritual strongholds. Instead of

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saying mental strongholds, it becomes spiritual strongholds. So they sometimes

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what they would do in this mystical medieval approach, they

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would kind of begin to they would they would begin

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to kind of refer to strongholds, sometimes would connect them

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to demons or territorial spirits. Some mystics even began to

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describe strongholds as attachment to worldly things or patterns of

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sin that needed to be broken through by using aesthetic

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practices or spiritual disciplines. So all of a sudden, strongholds

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they begin to change the way people saw them. During

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the medieval period, this mystical approach came to the subject,

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and it's like oh oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

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See you're attached to worldly thing. And even in the

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sermon we reviewed, it's the music you listen to. You

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love that music, that's a stronghold. Oh, you love those

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kinds of movies, that's a stronghold. Oh. And so now

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it becomes what your attachment or your love for worldly things,

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that's the stronghold that didn't exist in the early churches.

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Understanding this is because of the medieval mystical approach, which

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then turned us into kind of a spiritual warfare Satan demons,

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territorial spirits, and so what did you need to do?

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You got to fight the stronghold. How do aesthetic practices? Fast,

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give up this, give up that, don't do this, don't

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do that, spiritual disciplines. So it became very focused on you, your efforts,

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what you do, and the whole concept began to change.

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Now we go from kind of this mystical approach until

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we come to the modern interpretation. The modern interpretation doesn't

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go back to the early Church. The modern interpretation goes

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back to mysticism of the medieval period. If you look

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at recent decades, especially within the influence of certain strands

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of charismatic teaching, strongholds are sometimes interpreted as spiritual blockages

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created by demonic forces. Generational sins are psychological patterns. This

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has led to practices such as deliverance ministries that focus

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on identifying and breaking specific stronghold and a believer's life. Now,

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the person we're listening to, the sermon we're listening to,

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they would be as opposed to charismatic theology as they

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could be. I guarantee you they would be against it.

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Yet much of what they say seems to contradict their

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claim of being against charismatic theology. One he says God

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told him to say this, he says God. Basically he

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seems to refer to God speaking to him outside of

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the Bible. That's very much in line with charismatic theology.

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And two he goes with this more like charismatic idea

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of what a stronghold is. It does not reflect the

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early Church's idea. So when you compare all of those

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interpretations to the actual text, much of what is taught

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today about strongholds is arguably more of reading into the

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text than a direct drawing from the text. When you

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come to strongholds, pastors read the text they preach it,

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you think they're pulling from the text. But what's actually happening.

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They're reading into the text. They're reading these concepts, these

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ideas that can be traced back primarily to medieval mysticism.

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It's it's not Exegesus, it's is Jesus. And I know

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there's such a fine line there, because you sit in

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a church, you're like, well, the pastor read the scripture,

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he explained this scripture in this scripture, Clearly it's exegesis.

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Now just reading the scripture. Claiming you're pulling the point

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from the scripture doesn't necessarily mean the points coming from

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the scripture. Because if I put something in the scripture,

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then I can obviously tell you I'm pulling it out

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of the scripture. But it may be I'm pulling it

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out because I'm the one to put it in there. See,

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Isa Jesus is always and almost typically it's always camouflaged

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and it pretends to be Exejesus. They're like, no, we

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studied the text because someone put it there, then they

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pulled it out. It's like if I put a rabbit

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in the hat and then I reach in and pull

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the rabbit out. Did I really pulled the rabbit out?

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While I did? But because I put the rabbit inside

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the hat. It didn't naturally come from the hat. It

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didn't naturally just supernaturally appear. It's a trick, well, much

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of Christianity, it's a trick. We open a Bible, read

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the Bible. They may even give a little bit of

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historical context. They may they say all the little right

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words and they're little like opening summary, and then immediately

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they start pulling things from the text that are not there.

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And I think a lot of the Stronghold things it's

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reading into the text. Paul's focus seems very practical and

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very direct. He identifies thoughts and ideas that contradict the

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Gospel and actively countering the He's trying to counter them.

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He's trying to combat them with truth. And so I

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think that's the whole issue. I mean, I've got more

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notes here, but I'm not going to go through the rest.

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We covered it most of them yesterday, right, So that's

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kind of a historical look. Most of what you hear

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today on Strongholds is flowing from If you want to

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find the stream from which those thoughts are coming, it's

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not coming from Second Corinthians ten, even though they tell

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you they're preaching on Second Corinthians ten. It's coming from

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medieval mysticism from which they took the idea, read it

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into the text, they pull it out of the text,

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and then you hear it and you're like, oh, that's

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a stronghold. This is a stronghold. This is a stronghold,

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and it's like, Ah, what has happened. And to create

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an idea that basically the stronghold stops God. Now you

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on your own have to get rid of the stronghold

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so then you can get the power of God has

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to be one of the most convoluted, confusing things I've

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ever seen. If I can get rid of it without God,

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then why do I meet God's power in the first place?

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I mean, that just raises all kinds of questions. So

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what we're going to do is just finish up the

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last few minutes of this sermon just so that we

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can do so. And then here's what we're gonna do.

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I think that the strongholds mentioned in verse four to

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the pulling down a stronghold, I think the strongholds are

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defined in verse five. I'm gonna put forth that argument.

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Then we're gonna look at how why because even in

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this sermon, he connected Tewod Corinthians ten with one Peter

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five eight. Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil,

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is like a lion roaming about, seeking whom he may devour.

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He immediately attached this to Satan. I think that there's

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a there's a problem even attempting to do that. So

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we're gonna look at all of that. But let's kind

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of now we're jumping right back into this sermon. If

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you listen, you didn't listen to part one, or it

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wasn't even labeled part one, I'll have to go back

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and label it. Then you you kind of well, I

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think I've got you. I think I've gotten you caught up.

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But you're gonna kind of continue to hear him. Just

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he's belaboring the point that for him, a stronghold is behavior.

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It's behavior, it's activity, it's love for the world. He's

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very much taking it that way instead of doing what

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I think the text se to say. So are you

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ready to hear a little bit more of it? Here

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we go.

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Now we live in a world that's more than just broke.

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Isn't that right? Especially when it comes to spiritual things?

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They not just broke, it's worse and broke, it's shattered.

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And that's why God says, love not the world. Amen.

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And we've been we have been swayed. Listen. Now, we've

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been swayed by this world all our life, have we not,

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especially before we got saved. And even after we got saved.

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You know what the world did, It didn't stop. It

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just kept on feeding and keeps on feeding. And the

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world today is feeding some of the most ungodly junk

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that's ever been fed.

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And you know what's happening to the church.

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We've we've we've been into it.

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Please note he's almost giving you a classic mid evil

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mystical understanding of a stronghold. He's talking about attachment to

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the world, love not the world. Let me again read

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a definition of mid evil mystical approach to strongholds. Okay,

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I'm going to read this word for word. Are you ready?

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In mid evil times, the idea of spiritual warfare grew

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to include more elaborate systems of thought around spiritual strongholds,

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sometimes tied to demons or specific territorial spirits. Some mystics

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began to describe strongholds as attachment to worldly things are

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patterns of sin. What you're hearing there is classic mid

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evil mysticism. Now most of you probably agree with the

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medieval mystical approach, but it's not I believe what the

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text is actually saying. Now, let's see if he if he,

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if he continues down this path of this more medieval

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mystical that the strongholds are about behavior about worldliness. Let's

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see if he continues down that path, or if he

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deviates and goes maybe back to an early church view,

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maybe maybe he maybe he moves to a more modern view.

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And remember I always say, if you want to understand

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charismatic theology, go look at Catholic mysticism. I think Catholic

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mysticism in many cases is the is the origin of

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what becomes charismatic, becomes a part of the charismatic theology.

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If you want to understand where charismatic theology basically comes from,

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go back to Catholic mysticism. I cannot dogmatically assert that,

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and it's not going to be a straight line, but

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sometimes when you study Catholic mysticism, you're like, that's that's

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the modern charismatic theology.

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Right.

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Hopefully I said that correctly, all right, So just consider that. Now,

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maybe he's going to move to a modern approach, which

356
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much more is influenced by charismatic theology. And charismatic theology

357
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it finds its origin and well Roman Catholicism very much,

358
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and it's mystical a tradition, all right, So let's see

359
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where he takes this.

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Thank God, he's trying to wake us up from that. Amen.

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But I got to thinking about that all that garbage

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that we brought with us from the world when we

363
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got saved. Some of that we never got rid of.

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Some of that we just never changed.

365
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Please note his whole understanding here, when we brought all

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of this stuff with us from the world when we

367
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got saved. Make it very clear, we didn't have to

368
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bring anything with us when we got saved. All of

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all sin, all worldliness is inside of us. It's our

370
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sinful nature. Now, what's contradictory in this sermon? He said

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at one point in the sermon that God changes us

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completely on the inside. Yet later on in the sermon

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he said, we still have a sinful nature. Well, how

374
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can I have a sinful nature if God changed me

375
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on the inside? What did God change me on the inside?

376
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But didn't left the old nature and not change. So

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does he have the idea that there's two different parts

378
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in me?

379
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Like it?

380
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Once again? Is that confound and confusing thing that Christians

381
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constantly do, that we constantly talk about on this podcast.

382
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It's so maddening the way they do. You've been completely changed,

383
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well not completely changed. Well then why did you just

384
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say it was completely changed? Well, you've been changed on

385
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the inside, but you still have sin. But yet, over

386
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and over and over he seems to refer to everything

387
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as being external. The problem is the world. The problem

388
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is the world. Well, no, the problem is inside of me.

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The world just appeals to what's inside of me. The

390
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issue is inside of me, it's my sin nature. But

391
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let's see if he's gonna if he's going to go

392
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from either a charismatic perspective, which again finds its origins

393
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and I believe in Roman Catholic mysticism or medieval mysticism.

394
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All right, so let's see where this all goes.

395
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Some that we held on to amen. I used to stand.

396
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I used to stand in a little place in the

397
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parking lot and dip my tobacco just like everybody else.

398
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So when I got saved. I just carried that right on.

399
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No, wait a minute, Dipping tobacco is a sin that

400
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you carried over from the world. What scripture would you

401
00:25:57.079 --> 00:26:02.000
utilize to condemn the dipping of tobacco. Now, if you're

402
00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:06.519
going to use scripture about I guess health and your

403
00:26:06.559 --> 00:26:09.519
body is the temple, and so you don't do anything unhealthy, well,

404
00:26:09.559 --> 00:26:12.480
then you're gonna have to go beyond just dipping tobacco. Right.

405
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Have you ever seen a church potluck? Have you ever

406
00:26:16.599 --> 00:26:19.920
seen a church fellowship? Is there anything healthy anywhere on

407
00:26:19.960 --> 00:26:28.519
the table? Look, so dipping tobacco is something from the world.

408
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So dipping tobacco is a stronghold. Let's see where he

409
00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:34.480
takes this.

410
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Broach. All's God had to deal with me, and he did.

411
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And that crowd that says, well, I don't feel convicted

412
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by it, ought to check up because God's not gonna

413
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say it's all right for you to dip, but it

414
00:26:52.039 --> 00:26:54.519
ain't all right for me to dip. If it's wrong

415
00:26:54.599 --> 00:26:57.480
for this Christian to dip, it's wrong for that Christian

416
00:26:57.599 --> 00:27:04.960
to dip. So what is it? It's a stronghold.

417
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Dipping tobacco is a stronghold, and it's a. It's a

418
00:27:13.000 --> 00:27:17.319
he's he just made it a dogmatic assertion that it's

419
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wrong for everyone to dip tobacco. Now, I don't dip tobacco.

420
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We have no desire to do so. But if I

421
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saw someone doing so, I don't know if I would

422
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walk up and put my arm around him. You've got

423
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a stronghold in your life. Brother. God told me that

424
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it was wrong to dip tobacco, So it's wrong for

425
00:27:37.480 --> 00:27:41.640
you to dip tobacco. What in the world is going on?

426
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And it didn't come after we got saved. It was

427
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a stronghold before we got saved and we decide we

428
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was going to hold on to and granted we we

429
00:27:57.359 --> 00:28:02.119
develop a lot of strong holds after we get saved

430
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because we let the world venus. Is that right? Amen?

431
00:28:09.279 --> 00:28:10.240
I hope y'all get in this.

432
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I'm telling you what the Lord told me to tell you. Amen. Okay,

433
00:28:16.319 --> 00:28:18.680
that's the second or third time he said he is

434
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telling you what God told him to tell you. God

435
00:28:21.960 --> 00:28:26.599
told him to tell you. Dipping tobacco is a stronghold, Like,

436
00:28:26.680 --> 00:28:29.960
how do you even process this? How do you even

437
00:28:30.039 --> 00:28:34.480
process that? Well, one that's not sola scriptora. If God

438
00:28:34.559 --> 00:28:36.839
is telling him and not only second that would make

439
00:28:36.880 --> 00:28:39.839
his sermon. I can't even criticize it because it came

440
00:28:39.880 --> 00:28:50.839
directly from God, meaning it's basically infallible. But dipping tobacco

441
00:28:51.079 --> 00:28:57.440
is a sin. Dipping tobacco is a stronghold. See this

442
00:28:58.319 --> 00:29:07.880
has nothing. Yeah, okay, let's let's just be calm. Let's

443
00:29:07.880 --> 00:29:10.640
see where this goes. All right, then we can get

444
00:29:10.640 --> 00:29:13.359
back to a more I try to just try to

445
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get back to what a stronghold actually is here in

446
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a minute.

447
00:29:17.319 --> 00:29:20.640
And so, here's what God says about that presential bodies

448
00:29:20.680 --> 00:29:26.079
of living sacrifice. And then the very next, the very

449
00:29:26.119 --> 00:29:30.160
next phrase or the very next parator, renew your mind.

450
00:29:31.599 --> 00:29:40.519
Isn't that right? You gotta renew your mind? Why because

451
00:29:40.519 --> 00:29:43.759
He don't want you to be conformed to this world.

452
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So you gotta have the right thinking and you got

453
00:29:49.039 --> 00:29:55.079
to have the right activities. Otherwise we're setting ourselves up

454
00:29:56.359 --> 00:29:59.720
for a stronghold. You know what, present your bodies of

455
00:29:59.759 --> 00:30:02.599
living sacrifice and renewing your mind does conforms you to

456
00:30:02.640 --> 00:30:07.880
the image of God's Son. Amen. And so anything that

457
00:30:07.920 --> 00:30:11.200
we find in opposition to the knowledge of God, Amen,

458
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that is what God knows to be right, which is

459
00:30:16.400 --> 00:30:22.039
by the way everything he knows everything that's right. So

460
00:30:22.079 --> 00:30:26.519
when we oppose him, we're building strongholds. And so I

461
00:30:26.559 --> 00:30:28.960
want I want us to understand something that that there's

462
00:30:29.000 --> 00:30:34.000
two really two reasons why strongholds are still there. And

463
00:30:34.039 --> 00:30:37.400
it's because we've chosen to defend it or justify it.

464
00:30:39.680 --> 00:30:44.799
And number two because we want it there. Amen. Amen.

465
00:30:45.279 --> 00:30:46.880
And so here's how you pull it down. Let me

466
00:30:46.920 --> 00:30:48.640
give you this quickly, and I'm done. I don't have

467
00:30:48.720 --> 00:30:52.319
my watch, Amen, I'm gonna get done early. If the

468
00:30:52.319 --> 00:30:55.559
Lord had help me. Right here what says pull it down?

469
00:30:55.599 --> 00:30:58.119
I don't give you this. I'm gonna give this review.

470
00:30:58.720 --> 00:31:01.160
First of all, you got to bring it the into captivity,

471
00:31:01.240 --> 00:31:04.400
that's what he says right here. And bringing into captivity

472
00:31:04.440 --> 00:31:09.720
ever thought to the obedience of Christ. Your thoughts all

473
00:31:09.799 --> 00:31:11.079
lined up with his thoughts.

474
00:31:13.240 --> 00:31:15.319
Okay, Now this is moving back to more of an

475
00:31:15.359 --> 00:31:18.599
early Church kind of understanding here. Now he's taking it

476
00:31:18.640 --> 00:31:22.079
back to thoughts, back to thinking, because that's where the

477
00:31:22.119 --> 00:31:25.759
text lead you. He has this major middle section which

478
00:31:25.799 --> 00:31:30.440
is very much medieval mysticism, but this here kind of

479
00:31:30.440 --> 00:31:33.599
goes back to more of the original concept. I don't

480
00:31:33.599 --> 00:31:36.359
know where dipping comes in. I don't know where he had.

481
00:31:36.400 --> 00:31:38.640
One point he talk about women and their breeches. I

482
00:31:38.640 --> 00:31:41.559
don't know where that comes. And he talks about country music,

483
00:31:41.599 --> 00:31:43.279
I mean, like a lot of it. You're like, what

484
00:31:43.359 --> 00:31:45.359
in the world does this have to do with anything?

485
00:31:45.519 --> 00:31:49.000
All right, But again he's almost removed God completely from

486
00:31:49.000 --> 00:31:52.000
this entire process. It's you, you, you, you, you you,

487
00:31:52.200 --> 00:31:55.119
because he himself said that if you have a stronghold,

488
00:31:55.319 --> 00:31:58.000
it kills the power of God, it hinders the presence

489
00:31:58.039 --> 00:32:01.160
of God, and it quinches the spirit. Soasically, you've got

490
00:32:01.200 --> 00:32:03.640
to fix the stronghold so that you can then get

491
00:32:03.680 --> 00:32:07.960
God's presence, God's power, and you get the spirit working freely.

492
00:32:08.200 --> 00:32:12.000
So God basically can't do anything until you get rid

493
00:32:12.039 --> 00:32:13.960
of the stronghold. You do the strong, You get rid

494
00:32:13.960 --> 00:32:16.279
of the stronghold and your own power and your own effort,

495
00:32:16.559 --> 00:32:18.359
and then all of a sudden you get all of

496
00:32:18.400 --> 00:32:20.279
this other stuff from God. But then you don't need

497
00:32:20.319 --> 00:32:22.240
all the other stuff from God because you've already pulled

498
00:32:22.240 --> 00:32:25.960
down the stronghold. So it's kind of very confusing how

499
00:32:26.000 --> 00:32:28.599
this supposedly works. But at least I got no problem

500
00:32:28.640 --> 00:32:31.480
with this idea. We take every thought captive. We'll talk

501
00:32:31.480 --> 00:32:34.160
about that here in a second.

502
00:32:35.839 --> 00:32:41.279
Did you read what that said, amen, It said bringing

503
00:32:41.359 --> 00:32:44.680
into captive they ever thought to the obedience of Christ.

504
00:32:44.799 --> 00:32:49.440
Everything you think, everything that's not in obedience to Christ

505
00:32:49.480 --> 00:32:55.519
gets kicked out. And if it's a thought that makes

506
00:32:55.559 --> 00:32:57.720
you a be obedient to Christ, then go ahead and

507
00:32:57.720 --> 00:33:01.079
think it. I had to kick it out. So you

508
00:33:01.160 --> 00:33:04.440
bring your thoughts into captivity. I call that the refreshment.

509
00:33:04.519 --> 00:33:09.960
It's like a computer boost your obedience to God. Look

510
00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:13.440
at verse six and having well, let's back up and

511
00:33:13.440 --> 00:33:15.839
get the latter part of it, bringing into captivity ever

512
00:33:15.920 --> 00:33:19.960
thought to the obedience of Christ, and having in a

513
00:33:20.160 --> 00:33:25.359
readiness to revenge all disobedience. When your obedience is fulfilled,

514
00:33:25.400 --> 00:33:30.680
in other words, you're gonna that's replacement. You're gonna throw

515
00:33:30.720 --> 00:33:33.240
all the rebellion out.

516
00:33:37.200 --> 00:33:39.400
Now again, I know this seems to be headed in

517
00:33:39.480 --> 00:33:42.400
this direction. He seems to be going in the idea

518
00:33:42.440 --> 00:33:44.799
that basically we can do all of this right. So

519
00:33:44.920 --> 00:33:48.519
let's just once again for review. I say this every

520
00:33:48.559 --> 00:33:52.279
single sermon I review because it seems like every single

521
00:33:52.319 --> 00:33:57.240
sermon contradicts this very basic concept that's Christianity one oh one.

522
00:33:57.359 --> 00:34:00.039
So let me state it again. If you take the

523
00:34:00.119 --> 00:34:03.799
law of God, which says be holy as He is holy,

524
00:34:04.160 --> 00:34:07.000
be he perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect, you

525
00:34:07.079 --> 00:34:10.480
will never do that. You cannot do that. You are

526
00:34:10.480 --> 00:34:13.639
incapable of doing that. Even as a save person, you cannot.

527
00:34:13.679 --> 00:34:15.440
And if you meet someone who says there as holy

528
00:34:15.480 --> 00:34:17.599
as God as holy, you know that you need to

529
00:34:17.599 --> 00:34:20.199
probably run for your life because something is really really

530
00:34:20.199 --> 00:34:23.480
wrong with him to think that right. So, practically we're

531
00:34:23.519 --> 00:34:26.480
never going to do that, meaning we are in a

532
00:34:26.559 --> 00:34:32.760
perpetual state of disobedience. Here's God's law, we never meet it,

533
00:34:32.960 --> 00:34:35.400
so we are always in disobedient. You can't just say, well,

534
00:34:35.559 --> 00:34:37.800
just get rid of all the disobedience and be obedient.

535
00:34:37.960 --> 00:34:40.400
It's never going to occur. You're always going to be

536
00:34:40.440 --> 00:34:43.079
in a perpetual state of disobedience. You cannot keep the

537
00:34:43.159 --> 00:34:46.760
law now, So then what's the solution. Well, and I

538
00:34:46.840 --> 00:34:49.719
see the law, I see my disobedience, I run to Christ,

539
00:34:49.880 --> 00:34:54.199
and I trust in an imputed righteousness, not infused imputed.

540
00:34:54.480 --> 00:34:57.840
So then positionally I'm declared to be obedient, even though

541
00:34:57.880 --> 00:35:01.360
practically I never will be. And if you cannot keep

542
00:35:01.400 --> 00:35:04.199
the and just go through all the scriptures, all the law.

543
00:35:04.559 --> 00:35:07.239
Even if you obey some of it externally, you're almost

544
00:35:07.239 --> 00:35:11.360
inevitably going to be violating it internally. Whether Christians like

545
00:35:11.480 --> 00:35:15.119
to believe this or not, you are in a perpetual

546
00:35:15.280 --> 00:35:20.719
state of disobedience. You are in sin. Every single day.

547
00:35:21.119 --> 00:35:24.000
You are in sin. You are in sin. You are

548
00:35:24.039 --> 00:35:28.440
in sin. But yet Christians convince themselves that somehow we

549
00:35:28.519 --> 00:35:31.119
can get rid of this sin and then we can

550
00:35:31.159 --> 00:35:34.199
be I guess better than those people. Then we pick

551
00:35:34.280 --> 00:35:37.000
up our rocks to stone those people because we don't

552
00:35:37.119 --> 00:35:40.119
commit that sin. Yeah, but you don't commit that sin.

553
00:35:40.320 --> 00:35:42.519
But you're in a perpetual state of sin. So how

554
00:35:42.559 --> 00:35:44.840
can those in a perpetual state of sin think that

555
00:35:44.880 --> 00:35:47.840
they didn't can condemn and throw other people out who

556
00:35:47.880 --> 00:35:50.199
committed a certain sin. So then at this point it

557
00:35:50.280 --> 00:35:52.480
just becomes not a matter of sin. It becomes a

558
00:35:52.519 --> 00:35:56.639
matter of which sin and which list determines which sins

559
00:35:56.719 --> 00:35:59.400
are the bad ones and which sins are the acceptable ones.

560
00:36:00.679 --> 00:36:03.760
But Christians constantly forget we are in a perpetual state

561
00:36:03.800 --> 00:36:04.719
of disobedience.

562
00:36:07.400 --> 00:36:10.599
You ready to revenge. In other words, you gonna you

563
00:36:10.679 --> 00:36:16.519
go cut it up, You're gonna crucify whatever it takes

564
00:36:16.559 --> 00:36:20.880
to get rid of the disobedience is what you're gonna do,

565
00:36:21.360 --> 00:36:25.639
so that you make room for obedience. That's how you

566
00:36:25.719 --> 00:36:28.679
that's how you kick a stronghold. You kick it out,

567
00:36:29.920 --> 00:36:32.599
and then if you take something and put it in

568
00:36:32.760 --> 00:36:38.400
its place, you have no room for it again. Now right, amen.

569
00:36:39.079 --> 00:36:41.760
And so if you're ever gonna stop some bad habit,

570
00:36:41.880 --> 00:36:44.400
you better find you a good one to take its place,

571
00:36:44.840 --> 00:36:47.400
otherwise your bad habit will be back in ten minutes.

572
00:36:49.800 --> 00:36:52.519
This entire idea. So you just get rid of a

573
00:36:52.559 --> 00:36:54.880
bad habit and then you replace it with a good habit.

574
00:36:55.119 --> 00:36:57.320
This seems to completely ignore the fact that the bad

575
00:36:57.360 --> 00:36:59.519
habit is a result of your sinful nature, and you

576
00:36:59.559 --> 00:37:02.199
cannot kick out your sinful nature because your sinful nature

577
00:37:02.239 --> 00:37:05.280
will be there until glorification. So you don't just kick

578
00:37:05.280 --> 00:37:09.039
out your sinful nature, and the bad habit comes from

579
00:37:09.039 --> 00:37:12.320
the sinful life. This seems to completely it's almost a

580
00:37:12.360 --> 00:37:16.280
Pelagian view. It's almost it almost as full blown Pelagianism,

581
00:37:16.360 --> 00:37:19.519
as if you don't have a sinful nature and bad internally,

582
00:37:19.679 --> 00:37:22.159
you're basically neutral, and so you just got to fight

583
00:37:22.239 --> 00:37:25.119
over bad habits good habits. Do this, do that? And

584
00:37:25.400 --> 00:37:28.119
it's very man centered. You do you do this, you

585
00:37:28.159 --> 00:37:29.840
do this, you do this, you do this, you do this,

586
00:37:29.920 --> 00:37:34.639
you do this, but it completely denies the reality of

587
00:37:34.679 --> 00:37:36.679
the sinful nature. Even though earlier in the sermon he

588
00:37:36.760 --> 00:37:39.719
acknowledged the sinful nature. He said, why do we keep

589
00:37:39.760 --> 00:37:42.719
doing this because we're dragging along the sinful nature. Well,

590
00:37:42.719 --> 00:37:44.960
if you know you're dragging along the sinful nature, then

591
00:37:45.000 --> 00:37:47.079
it's not about just getting rid of a bad habit,

592
00:37:47.280 --> 00:37:49.079
because even if you get rid of a bad habit,

593
00:37:49.199 --> 00:37:51.639
the sinful nature is right there. You say, well, replace

594
00:37:51.679 --> 00:37:53.199
the bad habit with a good habit, and then the

595
00:37:53.199 --> 00:37:56.199
bad habit won't return. The bad habit will return because

596
00:37:56.199 --> 00:37:58.920
the bad habit flows from your sinful nature, which is

597
00:37:58.960 --> 00:38:01.920
not removed because you replaced it with a good habit.

598
00:38:04.480 --> 00:38:09.079
This is very much like a fleshly psychological way to

599
00:38:09.159 --> 00:38:11.760
try to This is no different than just going to

600
00:38:11.920 --> 00:38:15.280
I don't know, alcoholics, anonymous, narcotics anonymous. This is just

601
00:38:15.320 --> 00:38:18.239
going through the basic idea of like, oh, you're doing this, well,

602
00:38:18.440 --> 00:38:20.920
let's give us some basic tips to stop doing it.

603
00:38:21.000 --> 00:38:24.440
There's nothing spiritual about this, there's nothing Christian about this.

604
00:38:24.440 --> 00:38:26.840
This is just the way you help anyone who's dealing

605
00:38:26.840 --> 00:38:29.480
with an addiction or a struggle or a bad habit.

606
00:38:29.679 --> 00:38:33.400
It's just basic, basic rules. And the whole concept of

607
00:38:33.440 --> 00:38:37.159
this passage is for though we walk in the flesh,

608
00:38:37.239 --> 00:38:40.079
we do not do we do not war after the flesh,

609
00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:42.719
for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. This

610
00:38:42.880 --> 00:38:47.360
is just basic carnal psychological ideas to stop a bad habit.

611
00:38:51.320 --> 00:38:56.239
Amen, it's kind of like that fellow that garnished his house.

612
00:38:56.320 --> 00:39:01.199
She remembers swept it real good, and the spirits left,

613
00:39:02.920 --> 00:39:06.000
and everything looked real good. You know what happened. He

614
00:39:06.039 --> 00:39:10.159
didn't replace it. If he had replaced it with the

615
00:39:10.199 --> 00:39:13.400
spirit of God, then there wouldn't have been any room

616
00:39:13.480 --> 00:39:15.880
when he come back for him in his Seven Bodies?

617
00:39:18.000 --> 00:39:21.159
Is he gonna take that story and connect it to

618
00:39:21.280 --> 00:39:26.159
bad habits? In the concept there that just removing a

619
00:39:26.239 --> 00:39:30.320
demon is of no value unless the person becomes saved

620
00:39:30.480 --> 00:39:33.719
and has dwelt by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, then they

621
00:39:33.760 --> 00:39:37.480
are now protected from demonic possession because they now have

622
00:39:37.599 --> 00:39:40.760
the Spirit of God. What is it you're gonna take

623
00:39:40.800 --> 00:39:44.639
that concept and apply it to habits? The habit flows

624
00:39:44.679 --> 00:39:48.880
from the internal nature. You can't just so now I

625
00:39:48.960 --> 00:39:53.039
replace a bad habit with the spirit of God. So

626
00:39:53.079 --> 00:39:54.840
then every Christian who has the Spirit of God never

627
00:39:54.920 --> 00:39:57.639
no longer has any bad habits. This whole thing is

628
00:39:57.719 --> 00:40:03.760
so confusing, are y'all hearing it?

629
00:40:04.760 --> 00:40:09.840
Replacement? Don't forget, man, when you're quitting something, you better

630
00:40:09.880 --> 00:40:14.039
replace it with something else, Amen, because if you don't,

631
00:40:14.320 --> 00:40:17.159
it won't be long for it to be back. Amen.

632
00:40:17.760 --> 00:40:22.280
Just like the preacher that put the TV in the closet,

633
00:40:24.079 --> 00:40:27.519
and he should have found something else to do. Amen.

634
00:40:28.599 --> 00:40:36.760
Number three, build your character around Christ's image. That's reinforcement.

635
00:40:39.360 --> 00:40:41.559
This is all law. This is what you would be

636
00:40:41.599 --> 00:40:43.719
classified theologically as law. Law.

637
00:40:43.840 --> 00:40:45.800
La la la la la law.

638
00:40:46.119 --> 00:40:47.920
You do this, you do this, you do this, you

639
00:40:47.960 --> 00:40:49.719
do this, you do this, you do this, you do this,

640
00:40:49.760 --> 00:40:53.239
you do this, you do this. It's effort, effort, effort, effort, effort, effort, effort,

641
00:40:53.239 --> 00:40:57.880
but it's all effort fighting against really external things at

642
00:40:57.960 --> 00:41:01.280
ignoring that the real war is happening internally because of

643
00:41:01.320 --> 00:41:07.000
a sinful nature. All right, So that's kind of basically

644
00:41:07.000 --> 00:41:08.800
the end. Let me let me just try to I

645
00:41:08.840 --> 00:41:10.559
want to get this over and then we can we

646
00:41:10.599 --> 00:41:12.800
can look at some basic points and then try to

647
00:41:12.800 --> 00:41:14.719
bring this to some kind of a conclusion. All right,

648
00:41:14.719 --> 00:41:15.119
here we.

649
00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:22.400
Go, that's what is happening over in verse. But eater, see,

650
00:41:22.440 --> 00:41:27.000
these strongholds don't exist for christ like spirit loyales.

651
00:41:28.800 --> 00:41:36.599
So strongholds don't exist where this christ Like spirit dwells.

652
00:41:37.239 --> 00:41:37.400
Well.

653
00:41:37.519 --> 00:41:43.559
Isn't every Chris Christian filled or every Christian has the

654
00:41:43.559 --> 00:41:48.239
Holy Spirit? Doesn't the Holy Spirit dwell in every Christian?

655
00:41:48.480 --> 00:41:48.599
Well?

656
00:41:48.639 --> 00:41:51.280
If the Holy Spirit dwells in every question Christian, then

657
00:41:51.320 --> 00:41:56.400
how can there be a stronghold? A stronghold can't exist

658
00:41:56.400 --> 00:41:59.199
where there's a christ Like spirit well within the Holy Spirit,

659
00:41:59.199 --> 00:42:02.639
a christ Like spirit. So then how can there be

660
00:42:02.679 --> 00:42:07.000
a stronghold? But he doesn't mean that. What he means

661
00:42:07.119 --> 00:42:13.719
is the stronghold can't exist. If you conform yourself to

662
00:42:13.840 --> 00:42:16.960
be like Christ, then there's no stronghold. Well wait a minute,

663
00:42:17.000 --> 00:42:19.880
So then the spirit of God can't keep away the stronghold,

664
00:42:20.039 --> 00:42:24.039
but you can by conforming yourself to the Do you

665
00:42:24.079 --> 00:42:25.719
see how confusing this is.

666
00:42:28.119 --> 00:42:31.599
When we begin to conform ourselves to the image of Christ,

667
00:42:31.679 --> 00:42:34.159
what we do is we're not making we're not making

668
00:42:34.360 --> 00:42:40.960
room for strongholds. I close with this one Peter chapter

669
00:42:41.000 --> 00:42:45.320
five verse number eight and nine. Watched this, Peter, Peter.

670
00:42:46.119 --> 00:42:48.239
I read this, and I can't help but think Peter's

671
00:42:48.320 --> 00:42:53.360
wised up a little bit. You remember how Jesus looked

672
00:42:53.400 --> 00:42:56.039
at him and said, Satan has desired to sift you,

673
00:42:58.000 --> 00:43:03.679
he said, but I prayed for you. Amen. Old Peter's

674
00:43:03.679 --> 00:43:08.159
a little bit wiser now because the first thing I

675
00:43:08.239 --> 00:43:12.960
see is this, should this admonishment? He said, be sober,

676
00:43:13.039 --> 00:43:21.440
beil vigilant. Now, why what would you want to do that? Well,

677
00:43:21.480 --> 00:43:23.000
first of all, I look at that, and I think

678
00:43:23.039 --> 00:43:26.880
to myself, that's distinct thinking and determined actions, the two

679
00:43:27.000 --> 00:43:34.719
things that are pulled down a stronghold. So captive thoughts

680
00:43:34.760 --> 00:43:37.119
and complete obedience is what he's saying.

681
00:43:37.199 --> 00:43:43.880
He said, be sober, if it requires complete obedience to

682
00:43:43.960 --> 00:43:47.880
pull down a stronghold. Ladies and gentlemen, I got bad

683
00:43:47.960 --> 00:43:51.760
news for you. You're never pulling down a stronghold because

684
00:43:51.760 --> 00:43:56.199
you're never completely obedient. How do I know that? Be

685
00:43:56.400 --> 00:43:58.840
holy as He is holy, You're never going to do that,

686
00:43:59.039 --> 00:44:02.320
So therefore you're never completely obedient. Be perfect as your

687
00:44:02.320 --> 00:44:04.280
heavenly Father is perfect, You're never going to do that.

688
00:44:04.480 --> 00:44:08.079
Therefore you're never completely obedient. Love God, with all your heart, mind, body,

689
00:44:08.079 --> 00:44:09.920
and soul. You're never going to do that. Therefore you're

690
00:44:09.960 --> 00:44:13.079
never perfectly obedient. Love your neighbor as yourself. You're never

691
00:44:13.119 --> 00:44:15.719
going to perfectly do that, So therefore you're not perfectly obedient.

692
00:44:15.840 --> 00:44:18.800
Do all things without complaining, grumbling and murmuring. You're probably

693
00:44:18.840 --> 00:44:21.079
going to do that. Even if you don't externally grumble

694
00:44:21.079 --> 00:44:23.039
and complain, you probably are. In the insight, you're never

695
00:44:23.079 --> 00:44:25.159
going to do that. How many scriptures do I need

696
00:44:25.199 --> 00:44:26.920
to give you that you're never going to perfectly do this.

697
00:44:27.119 --> 00:44:29.760
Therefore you're never perfectly obedient. Therefore you're never going to

698
00:44:29.920 --> 00:44:32.440
pull down a stronghold. And did you realize that what

699
00:44:32.679 --> 00:44:36.440
pulls down a stronghold is your actions you're doing. It's

700
00:44:36.559 --> 00:44:40.199
very tangible actions you take, seemingly that you're fighting it

701
00:44:40.239 --> 00:44:44.880
in a fleshly way, not a spiritual way.

702
00:44:45.960 --> 00:44:48.039
Don't let your mind get all mixed up. You ever

703
00:44:48.039 --> 00:44:50.480
seen somebody get drunk, Well, you talk about their mind

704
00:44:50.519 --> 00:44:55.440
messed up. They can't even find the car. Amen, thank god,

705
00:44:57.880 --> 00:45:07.079
they stumble everywhere. He said, be sober, and then he said,

706
00:45:07.079 --> 00:45:12.400
be vigilant. You're gonna be determined. Why because there's an

707
00:45:12.400 --> 00:45:16.559
ambush about to happen if you don't, said your adversary,

708
00:45:16.679 --> 00:45:22.960
the devil. Now listen to this as a roaring line.

709
00:45:23.159 --> 00:45:34.360
You wouldn't think he come roaring, But he's mad. Walketh

710
00:45:34.400 --> 00:45:40.719
about now, watch seeking whom he may. He's looking for

711
00:45:40.760 --> 00:45:46.440
somebody that's got an open door. He's looking for somebody

712
00:45:46.599 --> 00:45:50.920
that has laid the foundation so that he can stick

713
00:45:51.079 --> 00:45:55.239
his foot in the door and begin to influence us.

714
00:45:56.840 --> 00:45:59.199
And remember, according to this sermon, how do you open

715
00:45:59.239 --> 00:46:03.440
the door by listening to country music? Now, I'm going

716
00:46:03.480 --> 00:46:06.719
to make it very clear. The door is already open

717
00:46:07.320 --> 00:46:11.280
because you have a sinful nature, not because of the

718
00:46:11.400 --> 00:46:12.639
music you listen to.

719
00:46:17.920 --> 00:46:21.320
So Peter says, I learned this a long time ago,

720
00:46:23.239 --> 00:46:25.079
just a few years back. You know what the devil

721
00:46:25.119 --> 00:46:29.880
tried to do to me. Yeah, he said, so you

722
00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:34.280
better be sober and you better be vigil And then

723
00:46:34.400 --> 00:46:40.079
notice this, and I'm done. There's an antidote verse eight again,

724
00:46:40.199 --> 00:46:44.440
walk about seeking him? Or this verse nine, I'm sorry

725
00:46:44.639 --> 00:46:54.079
whom resist steadfast in the faith. You've heard how some

726
00:46:54.119 --> 00:46:57.000
preachers will get up and they'll say, don't ever challenge

727
00:46:57.039 --> 00:47:01.639
the devil. But I read in my Bible where I'm

728
00:47:01.679 --> 00:47:08.039
not supposed to run from him. I'm supposed to resist him.

729
00:47:08.280 --> 00:47:14.960
You can't resist somebody running from him, isn't that what

730
00:47:15.039 --> 00:47:21.119
it said? James gives us the secret to being able

731
00:47:21.239 --> 00:47:27.639
to resist it. He says, submit thyself. Therefore under God

732
00:47:29.159 --> 00:47:38.679
resists the devil. And herefully submit yourself under God. Presential

733
00:47:38.679 --> 00:47:41.679
bodies of living sacrifice renew your mind. You see how

734
00:47:41.719 --> 00:47:45.320
all this works together in the conforming us to the

735
00:47:45.480 --> 00:47:49.639
image of Christ. Why it's so important to be conformed

736
00:47:49.679 --> 00:47:53.039
to the image of Christ. It is so that we

737
00:47:53.239 --> 00:47:59.199
tear down the strongholds and don't give the devil a place.

738
00:48:01.800 --> 00:48:07.800
It's it's important whether it was a stronghold that we

739
00:48:07.880 --> 00:48:11.840
brought into this relationship with God or it's a stronghold

740
00:48:11.960 --> 00:48:15.679
that we have developed after. Either way, we need to

741
00:48:15.679 --> 00:48:19.760
pull it down. How you do that by being conformed

742
00:48:19.760 --> 00:48:24.199
to the image of God's Son. We got to learn

743
00:48:24.320 --> 00:48:27.960
to bring our thoughts into captivity. We got to learn

744
00:48:28.000 --> 00:48:30.639
to boost our obedience to God, and we got to

745
00:48:30.800 --> 00:48:36.519
build the character around Jesus christ image. That's how you

746
00:48:36.639 --> 00:48:40.480
conform to the image of God. Let's stand together, Father,

747
00:48:40.559 --> 00:48:41.400
thank you for the day.

748
00:48:44.000 --> 00:48:46.639
All right, Well, there you have it. That's probably a

749
00:48:46.679 --> 00:48:52.000
pretty standard. I think most churches would handle strongholds basically

750
00:48:52.360 --> 00:48:55.280
similar to that. He may they may not go off

751
00:48:55.280 --> 00:48:59.400
on country music and dipping, tobacco, and women and pants.

752
00:49:00.079 --> 00:49:02.280
I whose where the three major? I think those were

753
00:49:02.280 --> 00:49:05.079
the three things. He kind of went after, music, dipping,

754
00:49:05.519 --> 00:49:08.440
and women in pants. Okay, but if you remove that

755
00:49:09.519 --> 00:49:12.320
his basic hypotheses, it's pretty similar to I think how

756
00:49:12.360 --> 00:49:15.119
most churches would handle strongholds. And I've told you that

757
00:49:15.119 --> 00:49:19.119
that tends to go Everything you heard there tends to

758
00:49:19.159 --> 00:49:22.559
go more back to medieval mysticism than it does the

759
00:49:22.599 --> 00:49:26.519
early Church or modern day charismatic theology, which I think

760
00:49:26.559 --> 00:49:30.920
finds its origin and Catholic mysticism, if that makes sense. Now,

761
00:49:31.519 --> 00:49:35.159
I believe that the stronghold mentioned in verse four, So

762
00:49:35.239 --> 00:49:37.920
let me read verse four for the weapons of our

763
00:49:37.960 --> 00:49:40.920
warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God. To the

764
00:49:41.000 --> 00:49:46.599
pulling down of strongholds. I believe the strongholds there are

765
00:49:46.679 --> 00:49:51.960
defined in verse five. I believe the strongholds mentioned in

766
00:49:52.199 --> 00:49:57.079
ten four are effectively defined in verse five. Right Verse

767
00:49:57.320 --> 00:49:59.719
five reads, and I'm going to read it from a

768
00:49:59.719 --> 00:50:06.480
different translation. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised

769
00:50:06.519 --> 00:50:09.519
against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought

770
00:50:09.679 --> 00:50:16.079
captive to obey Christ. Verse five clarifies that the strongholds

771
00:50:16.199 --> 00:50:25.440
Paul refers to our intellectual are ideological structures. Strongholds are

772
00:50:25.639 --> 00:50:32.719
intellectual and ideological structures. They're intellectual the ideological, and so

773
00:50:32.760 --> 00:50:37.239
we have to pull down these intellectual and ideological structures

774
00:50:37.280 --> 00:50:40.760
that oppose God, that are in opposition to God's truth.

775
00:50:40.960 --> 00:50:43.440
But this is to be done spiritually. Well, how it's

776
00:50:43.480 --> 00:50:47.079
to be done spiritually. It is the Word of God, right,

777
00:50:48.719 --> 00:50:54.320
which is spiritual because it's God breathed, it's spiritual. I

778
00:50:54.400 --> 00:50:58.000
take the word of God, and then this is used

779
00:50:58.039 --> 00:51:01.239
to say that way of thinking, that way of thinking

780
00:51:01.480 --> 00:51:04.519
is contrary to the Word of God. It doesn't mean

781
00:51:04.559 --> 00:51:07.159
if I pull down the stronghold, I'm now going to

782
00:51:07.199 --> 00:51:09.840
be obedient and I'm going to do everything right. It

783
00:51:09.960 --> 00:51:12.280
just means I'm going to be able to acknowledge that

784
00:51:12.280 --> 00:51:15.119
that's wrong and that's wrong, even though I still may

785
00:51:15.159 --> 00:51:18.079
struggle with thinking wrong, and I still may struggle with

786
00:51:18.159 --> 00:51:21.440
doing wrong because that flows from my sinful nature. At

787
00:51:21.599 --> 00:51:24.079
least I can pull down the stronghold in the sense

788
00:51:24.079 --> 00:51:26.440
that I'm not sitting there saying this way of thinking

789
00:51:26.519 --> 00:51:28.800
is right, or this think, Oh, this way of doing

790
00:51:28.880 --> 00:51:31.639
is right. I can at least acknowledge it's wrong biblically,

791
00:51:31.880 --> 00:51:33.880
even though I may do it, and even though I

792
00:51:33.920 --> 00:51:44.119
still may think it. These are not physical structures or

793
00:51:44.159 --> 00:51:50.239
even supernatural forces, but they are mental or philosophical constructs

794
00:51:50.800 --> 00:51:54.840
that oppose God's truth. Paul is using military language to

795
00:51:54.880 --> 00:51:58.760
describe a kind of spiritual battle where those strongholds are

796
00:51:58.800 --> 00:52:03.239
attacked and demoleg through divine means. What does the divine

797
00:52:03.280 --> 00:52:06.920
mean to demolish the stronghold? It is the word of God.

798
00:52:09.079 --> 00:52:13.840
I am to take those thoughts, those philosophical ideas, those

799
00:52:13.880 --> 00:52:18.559
intellectual constructs, and in the Word of God is the

800
00:52:18.599 --> 00:52:23.079
thing that says those constructs, those philosophical ideas are wrong.

801
00:52:24.159 --> 00:52:28.599
And other words, now I'm quoting. The strongholds are patterns

802
00:52:28.639 --> 00:52:37.679
of thought, entrenched beliefs, not entrenched behavior, entrenched beliefs or

803
00:52:37.920 --> 00:52:43.800
arguments that resist God's revelation and truth. By defining strongholds

804
00:52:43.840 --> 00:52:46.840
in this way, Paul focuses on the need for spiritual

805
00:52:46.880 --> 00:52:49.920
discernment and the truth of the Gospel to confront and

806
00:52:50.039 --> 00:52:54.639
dismantle ideas and worldviews contrary to God's knowledge. This aligns

807
00:52:54.679 --> 00:52:58.719
with Paul's emphasis on taking every thought captive to obey Christ,

808
00:52:59.000 --> 00:53:03.639
showing that these are in eternal mental barriers, not external

809
00:53:04.079 --> 00:53:08.880
or demonic entities. This is not country music, This isn't dipping,

810
00:53:09.159 --> 00:53:13.480
this isn't women in pants, this isn't behavior. This is thinking.

811
00:53:15.719 --> 00:53:20.199
And we refer to the Bible sometimes as the sword

812
00:53:20.360 --> 00:53:25.320
of the spirit. The Bible is spiritual. I take the idea,

813
00:53:25.840 --> 00:53:30.119
the philosophy, I take the scripture, and I say this

814
00:53:30.320 --> 00:53:34.119
philosophy is wrong, and in a sense, I'm taking it

815
00:53:34.280 --> 00:53:37.960
captive to the word of God. That's how we're fighting this.

816
00:53:38.119 --> 00:53:41.199
Not fleshly, you're spiritual. This is not about Hey, you

817
00:53:41.239 --> 00:53:43.400
need to get this bad behavior in place it with

818
00:53:43.440 --> 00:53:45.159
a good behavior, and you need to do this, and

819
00:53:45.199 --> 00:53:47.400
you need to do this. No, it means I take

820
00:53:47.440 --> 00:53:51.840
the word of God and fight these philosophical and ideological

821
00:53:51.880 --> 00:54:03.840
structures in a spiritual way. So textually it would be

822
00:54:04.440 --> 00:54:12.000
difficult to almost impossible, to define the strongholds as entrenched sins,

823
00:54:12.119 --> 00:54:17.719
behaviors are even psychological issues. The language Paul is using

824
00:54:18.079 --> 00:54:23.079
centers around intellectual and id ideological barriers rather than moral

825
00:54:23.239 --> 00:54:30.840
or behavioral struggles. The key elements would be this arguments

826
00:54:30.840 --> 00:54:34.639
and lofty opinions, and verse five Paul specifically refers to

827
00:54:34.760 --> 00:54:38.079
arguments and lofty opinions that are raised against the knowledge

828
00:54:38.079 --> 00:54:41.920
of God. This language points to ideas, philosophies, or worldviews

829
00:54:42.039 --> 00:54:46.199
that'll pay oppose God's truth rather than personal habits or

830
00:54:46.239 --> 00:54:52.679
sinful behavior. It's not about sinful behavior or bad habits.

831
00:54:53.360 --> 00:54:57.039
If I go back to Second Corinthians, go back to

832
00:54:57.079 --> 00:55:03.320
Second Corinthians, chapter ten, look at it verse five casting

833
00:55:03.360 --> 00:55:08.199
down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself. Depending

834
00:55:08.239 --> 00:55:13.519
on your translation, arguments and lofty opinions, this is not

835
00:55:14.480 --> 00:55:19.440
about behavior. This is not about sinful habits. Has nothing

836
00:55:19.480 --> 00:55:22.519
to do with that that has been placed upon the text,

837
00:55:22.679 --> 00:55:29.000
and the origin of those ideas is medieval mysticism that

838
00:55:29.199 --> 00:55:33.440
taking every thought captive. Paul calls to take every thought

839
00:55:33.519 --> 00:55:37.320
captive to obey Christ, indicating a focus on reshaping one's

840
00:55:37.360 --> 00:55:41.239
thinking of beliefs. The context is about renewing the mind

841
00:55:41.239 --> 00:55:44.480
to align with God's truth, rather than addressing moral conduct

842
00:55:44.679 --> 00:55:47.400
or personal weakness. This is the idea, and how do

843
00:55:47.480 --> 00:55:51.320
we renew our minds with the word of God. The

844
00:55:51.400 --> 00:55:54.119
Word of God renews my mind it changes my thinking.

845
00:55:54.360 --> 00:55:56.719
It says, Okay, I used to think this way. I

846
00:55:56.800 --> 00:55:58.519
used to think this way. I used to hold to

847
00:55:58.559 --> 00:56:03.159
this philosophical idea, ideology, I used to hold this intellectual construct.

848
00:56:03.280 --> 00:56:05.800
I used to think this about certain behaviors. I used

849
00:56:05.800 --> 00:56:07.559
to think this. I used to think this. I used

850
00:56:07.599 --> 00:56:10.800
to think this. But the more I take on the

851
00:56:10.840 --> 00:56:13.639
word of God, it changes my thinking so that at

852
00:56:13.639 --> 00:56:17.920
the very minimum, I can say that's wrong thinking. That's

853
00:56:17.960 --> 00:56:21.400
wrong thinking. Now listen, in that sense, I'm taking the

854
00:56:21.480 --> 00:56:25.400
thought captive, and I'm taking the thought in a sense,

855
00:56:25.440 --> 00:56:28.400
connecting it to Christ, saying this thought must be in

856
00:56:28.519 --> 00:56:31.280
obedience to Christ. In other words, my thinking must be

857
00:56:31.280 --> 00:56:34.800
in line with Christ, not in line with this contrary

858
00:56:34.840 --> 00:56:39.119
philosophical concept. That's what it's about. Now, this is very important.

859
00:56:39.639 --> 00:56:42.880
Just because I change my thinking, just because I change

860
00:56:42.920 --> 00:56:47.159
my mind, doesn't mean I'm going to change my behavior.

861
00:56:47.400 --> 00:56:51.320
Because my behavior is influenced by a sinful nature. The

862
00:56:51.480 --> 00:56:57.599
right thinking does not remove the sinful nature. That's why

863
00:56:57.639 --> 00:57:00.800
we sometimes find ourselves in conflict as a Christian with

864
00:57:00.880 --> 00:57:04.519
how we think and what we do, which sounds very

865
00:57:04.559 --> 00:57:09.679
similar to the very person who wrote Second Corinthians. He

866
00:57:09.719 --> 00:57:13.760
also wrote these words. Are you ready? I thank God

867
00:57:13.800 --> 00:57:17.960
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So then with my mind,

868
00:57:18.559 --> 00:57:21.920
I myself sir the law of God. But with the

869
00:57:22.079 --> 00:57:26.559
flesh the law of sin. There is a conflict between

870
00:57:26.599 --> 00:57:30.400
the mind and the body and what we do now

871
00:57:30.519 --> 00:57:33.559
in our mind, even when our mind thinks that okay,

872
00:57:33.800 --> 00:57:36.320
and this is all the changing of the mind does,

873
00:57:36.559 --> 00:57:39.840
the mind just says that's a sin. I still may

874
00:57:39.960 --> 00:57:43.480
think about that sin, lust for that sin, long for

875
00:57:43.559 --> 00:57:45.760
that sin, but at least in my mind I will

876
00:57:45.800 --> 00:57:48.880
acknowledge it is a sin. This is what leads Christians

877
00:57:48.920 --> 00:57:52.719
to be very much sometimes overcome with guilt and shame

878
00:57:53.119 --> 00:57:57.599
because our minds we're trying to take the thoughts captive.

879
00:57:57.719 --> 00:58:00.599
We're reading the Bible. It's shaping our thinking so that

880
00:58:00.639 --> 00:58:03.639
we can see that's wrong, that's wrong, that's wrong, that's wrong,

881
00:58:03.840 --> 00:58:08.000
And then we become really what as almost horrifying is

882
00:58:08.039 --> 00:58:10.719
the more we understand wrong, the more we see the

883
00:58:10.800 --> 00:58:13.920
wrong in us. Now, what that is to do is

884
00:58:13.960 --> 00:58:16.119
to drive me to Christ so that I hold on

885
00:58:16.199 --> 00:58:20.199
to the imputed righteousness because I realize I'm a mess.

886
00:58:23.960 --> 00:58:26.639
So the key elements and this is that this is

887
00:58:26.639 --> 00:58:29.320
about arguments and lofty opinions, and this is about taking

888
00:58:29.400 --> 00:58:33.519
every thought captive. None of this is talking about personal habits,

889
00:58:33.559 --> 00:58:36.920
sinful natures. It's not addressing moral conduct. It's not even

890
00:58:36.960 --> 00:58:41.280
talking about moral weakness. The passage itself does not mention

891
00:58:41.440 --> 00:58:47.079
specific sins, moral failures, or physical actions. Paul's focus is

892
00:58:47.239 --> 00:58:52.199
entirely on mental and spiritual obstacles that hinder understanding or

893
00:58:52.239 --> 00:58:58.079
accepting God's revelation. Many teachers and preachers have applied the

894
00:58:58.119 --> 00:59:02.559
concept of strongholds to habitual sins, or reoccurring behavior. This

895
00:59:02.679 --> 00:59:07.000
is an application rather than a direct interpretation of the text.

896
00:59:08.119 --> 00:59:11.440
It can maybe some would argue it could be helpful,

897
00:59:11.840 --> 00:59:15.119
but I think it goes way beyond Paul's intended meaning.

898
00:59:15.239 --> 00:59:17.400
You could say, well, this is a good application. No,

899
00:59:17.639 --> 00:59:20.280
it's not a good application when it goes beyond the

900
00:59:20.320 --> 00:59:23.440
actual meaning of the text. That's not an application. That

901
00:59:23.480 --> 00:59:25.440
you're reading into the text. And when you read into

902
00:59:25.480 --> 00:59:27.239
the text and pull something out of the text that's

903
00:59:27.239 --> 00:59:30.159
not in the text, then that's a fraudulent application. The

904
00:59:30.199 --> 00:59:32.920
application should be based on what's in the text, not

905
00:59:33.039 --> 00:59:44.280
what you've read into the text. If we aim to

906
00:59:44.320 --> 00:59:50.079
stay close to the text, strongholds are best understood as

907
00:59:50.239 --> 00:59:56.760
intellectual and ideological barriers to God's truth, not entrenched sins

908
00:59:56.880 --> 01:00:02.800
or behaviors. It would allo so be absolute difficult textually

909
01:00:03.280 --> 01:00:07.000
to include things like lust and the definition of strongholds.

910
01:00:07.639 --> 01:00:12.239
Paul's focus is in these verses is clearly on intellectual

911
01:00:12.320 --> 01:00:17.559
and ideological barriers, specifically arguments and lofty opinions that oppose

912
01:00:17.599 --> 01:00:21.360
the knowledge of God. Lust, as typically understood, is a

913
01:00:21.519 --> 01:00:26.000
sinful nature or a sinful desire inclination that comes from

914
01:00:26.039 --> 01:00:29.960
our sinful nature. It is serious, but it does not

915
01:00:30.159 --> 01:00:33.519
fit the context of what Paul is addressing. As Sewo Corinthians,

916
01:00:33.599 --> 01:00:42.719
chapter ten. This is why, and here's just some reasons why.

917
01:00:42.760 --> 01:00:45.400
Including things like lust as a stronghold in this passage

918
01:00:45.440 --> 01:00:47.320
would be a stretch. It would be It would be

919
01:00:47.360 --> 01:00:51.280
problem number one. It's the text is focusing on intellectual opposition.

920
01:00:51.599 --> 01:00:55.079
Paul's language mentioning arguments, lofty opinions, and knowledge of God

921
01:00:55.280 --> 01:00:58.800
is about ideas or beliefs that stand in opposition. This

922
01:00:58.840 --> 01:01:03.119
does not align with lust, which is a desire or

923
01:01:03.360 --> 01:01:08.280
impulse rather than an intellectual argument or ideology. Lust is

924
01:01:08.320 --> 01:01:13.920
something different. This stronghold is not about lust. It's about thinking. Now,

925
01:01:13.960 --> 01:01:17.199
if you're thinking is that the lust is okay, then

926
01:01:17.360 --> 01:01:19.480
that would be a problem. Then you need to change

927
01:01:19.480 --> 01:01:22.079
your mind. Take every thought captive and say what does

928
01:01:22.119 --> 01:01:24.800
God think about this lust? He says it's sinful. Then

929
01:01:24.840 --> 01:01:27.119
at least admit that you still are going to have

930
01:01:27.159 --> 01:01:29.639
the lust, because the lust comes from the sinful nature,

931
01:01:29.800 --> 01:01:38.199
and right thinking does not eradicate the nature. Paul talks

932
01:01:38.199 --> 01:01:42.239
about taking every thought captive to obey Christ, which implies

933
01:01:42.280 --> 01:01:45.679
correcting beliefs or thought patterns rather than controlling personal desire

934
01:01:45.719 --> 01:01:49.280
or impulse. He emphasis is on shaping thinking to align

935
01:01:49.320 --> 01:01:55.000
with the Gospel, not on disciplining desires. The desires come

936
01:01:55.079 --> 01:01:58.440
from inside, It comes from your nature. Now that nature

937
01:01:58.480 --> 01:02:00.960
may impact your thinking, but at least so. What I'm

938
01:02:01.000 --> 01:02:02.920
trying to say is you may have the desire, you

939
01:02:03.000 --> 01:02:05.559
may have the lust. If you take every thought captive,

940
01:02:05.599 --> 01:02:08.119
you will at least admit that the desire and the

941
01:02:08.199 --> 01:02:11.800
lust is at least sinful, even though it's may not

942
01:02:11.960 --> 01:02:18.679
go away. And of course, as I've already stated, this

943
01:02:18.719 --> 01:02:22.079
is not about luss because unlike any other passage where

944
01:02:22.079 --> 01:02:25.760
Paul addresses sinful behavior, such as Galatians five nineteen through

945
01:02:25.840 --> 01:02:28.400
twenty one. He actually lists the works of the fless,

946
01:02:28.440 --> 01:02:33.119
including lustful actions. He does not include any language, and

947
01:02:33.199 --> 01:02:37.719
Second Corinthians ten indicating moral conduct or personal failings. His

948
01:02:37.880 --> 01:02:52.440
passage is framed in terms of intellectual spiritual confrontation. Now

949
01:02:52.519 --> 01:02:54.639
here would be the question. We're at sixty two minutes

950
01:02:54.800 --> 01:02:57.440
and I'll leave this with you for you to do today.

951
01:02:59.519 --> 01:03:07.079
If Second Corinthians ten is about wrong ideas, false ideas,

952
01:03:09.079 --> 01:03:16.599
and wrong philosophies, then we would need to consider the

953
01:03:16.679 --> 01:03:24.119
broader context of Second Corinthians chapter ten and see that

954
01:03:24.159 --> 01:03:28.880
Paul is defending certain things, certain ways of thinking. So

955
01:03:29.000 --> 01:03:32.599
this is what when we say that this stronghold is

956
01:03:32.760 --> 01:03:38.639
wrong thinking, wrong ideology, wrong intellectual constructs, Then what is

957
01:03:38.679 --> 01:03:42.519
the wrong ideology? What is the wrong philosophy? What is

958
01:03:42.599 --> 01:03:47.239
the wrong intellectual constructs that Paul is fighting in Second

959
01:03:47.239 --> 01:03:49.760
Corinthians chapter ten. You would have to go through Second

960
01:03:49.840 --> 01:03:52.800
Corinthians chapter ten and go, here's the wrong way to think,

961
01:03:52.960 --> 01:03:57.199
here's the wrong philosophy, here's the wrong intellectual construct And

962
01:03:57.239 --> 01:03:59.559
he's telling the people of the church to fight against

963
01:03:59.559 --> 01:04:02.920
these things because he's been mentioning these things throughout the letter.

964
01:04:03.119 --> 01:04:07.320
What are those wrong things? Well, one would be their

965
01:04:07.400 --> 01:04:13.360
opposition to Paul's apostolic authority. They're thinking about his authority.

966
01:04:13.599 --> 01:04:17.920
They're questioning and challenging his authority. Is wrong thinking, it's

967
01:04:18.000 --> 01:04:28.159
wrong ideology. If you look at Second Corinthians, chapter ten,

968
01:04:28.280 --> 01:04:31.159
verse ten, look look at look what he says here

969
01:04:31.360 --> 01:04:35.840
for look at verse eight sewod Corinthians ten eight. This

970
01:04:35.880 --> 01:04:38.760
is right after this entire discussion. For though I should

971
01:04:38.760 --> 01:04:42.280
boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord hath

972
01:04:42.320 --> 01:04:45.320
given us for edification and not for your destruction, I

973
01:04:45.320 --> 01:04:48.360
should not be ashamed. He immediately after he has this

974
01:04:48.400 --> 01:04:51.800
discussion about strongholds, which are wrong ways of thinking, he

975
01:04:51.840 --> 01:04:54.639
immediately attacks one of the wrong ways of thinking, which

976
01:04:54.719 --> 01:04:59.199
they're they're questioning his authority. Look what happens in verse nine.

977
01:04:59.440 --> 01:05:02.360
That I may not seem as if I would terrify

978
01:05:02.400 --> 01:05:05.559
you by letters. For this letter say they are weighty

979
01:05:05.639 --> 01:05:09.159
and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak and his

980
01:05:09.239 --> 01:05:16.000
speech contempt contemptible. Right, he's going after this discussion about

981
01:05:16.199 --> 01:05:22.320
it the way Second Christians ten ten, and another translation reads,

982
01:05:22.480 --> 01:05:25.239
his letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence

983
01:05:25.280 --> 01:05:29.440
is weak, and his speech is of no account. These

984
01:05:29.639 --> 01:05:33.400
arguments and opinions undermine Paul's teaching and, by extension, the

985
01:05:33.440 --> 01:05:38.159
gospel he preached. Such opposition reflects a worldview that elevated

986
01:05:38.480 --> 01:05:44.719
external appearance, rhetorical skill, and worldly measures of success over

987
01:05:44.760 --> 01:05:47.519
the truth of God's power and calling. They question his

988
01:05:47.639 --> 01:05:52.320
authority by he looks weak, his speech is not that great.

989
01:05:53.400 --> 01:05:57.960
He doesn't have any authority. They were understanding spiritual authority

990
01:05:58.079 --> 01:06:00.039
on the basis of how the man looked, how the

991
01:06:00.079 --> 01:06:04.239
man sounded, and his ability to speak. Their way of

992
01:06:04.280 --> 01:06:08.079
thinking was wrong. That's the stronghold, he says, needs to

993
01:06:08.119 --> 01:06:10.840
be pulled down, because until they do that, then they're

994
01:06:10.840 --> 01:06:15.519
gonna reject his authority. That there's an example of the

995
01:06:15.559 --> 01:06:22.480
wrong idea that was he's talking about. So I have

996
01:06:22.599 --> 01:06:28.440
to see have one, two, three, four, five, six. I

997
01:06:28.519 --> 01:06:33.239
think there are six in a sense stronghold wrong thinking

998
01:06:34.440 --> 01:06:38.280
that is found well in the Corinthian Church. You probably

999
01:06:38.280 --> 01:06:40.360
could go if we go back to First Corinthians one,

1000
01:06:41.360 --> 01:06:44.760
First Corinthians, First Corinthians chapter one, through the entire letter

1001
01:06:44.760 --> 01:06:47.159
of First Corinthians, end at First Corinthians chapter or Second

1002
01:06:47.159 --> 01:06:49.519
Corinthians chapter one, all the way through the end of

1003
01:06:49.519 --> 01:06:52.199
Second Corinthians. If we take First and Second Corinthians together,

1004
01:06:52.480 --> 01:06:54.519
I think you can see all of the wrong thinking,

1005
01:06:54.719 --> 01:06:57.719
all of the wrong ideology that was present in the church.

1006
01:06:58.039 --> 01:07:01.760
This wrong thinking that is the stronghold. That's what needs

1007
01:07:01.800 --> 01:07:04.559
to be brought down. Their thinking needs to be fixed.

1008
01:07:04.719 --> 01:07:07.920
They need to take every thought captive and to the

1009
01:07:07.960 --> 01:07:11.000
obedience of Christ so that they at least think right. Now,

1010
01:07:11.119 --> 01:07:14.079
thinking right is no guaranteed to doing right. I know

1011
01:07:14.159 --> 01:07:16.239
we will always believe if I think right, I will

1012
01:07:16.280 --> 01:07:20.320
do right. But that's a misunderstanding of Christianity. Because Christianity,

1013
01:07:20.360 --> 01:07:23.840
my problem is my nature. My thinking will not fix

1014
01:07:23.920 --> 01:07:26.920
my nature. What my thinking does is acknowledge that I

1015
01:07:27.000 --> 01:07:29.920
have a wrong nature, and that my wrong nature desires

1016
01:07:29.960 --> 01:07:31.960
and does that which is wrong, so that I can

1017
01:07:32.000 --> 01:07:34.719
at least acknowledge it's wrong. Doesn't mean I'm going to

1018
01:07:34.760 --> 01:07:37.639
necessarily stop doing wrong. In fact, I know I will

1019
01:07:37.639 --> 01:07:40.440
never stop doing wrong because I can never truly obey

1020
01:07:40.440 --> 01:07:50.400
the law of God. Yeah, I read there at the end.

1021
01:07:50.679 --> 01:07:52.599
I kind of went through that really quick. But what

1022
01:07:52.639 --> 01:07:56.280
I want you to do is just consider. Go to

1023
01:07:56.320 --> 01:07:59.119
First Corinthians. Go all the way through First Corinthians, go

1024
01:07:59.159 --> 01:08:01.079
through Second Corinthians. And if you would like to do so,

1025
01:08:01.199 --> 01:08:04.360
just look and say, ooh, look for when Paul is

1026
01:08:04.360 --> 01:08:08.039
going addressing their wrong way of thinking. They're wrong ideology,

1027
01:08:08.199 --> 01:08:14.960
they're wrong, philosophy, their wrong perspective, how they're thinking, not

1028
01:08:15.039 --> 01:08:17.840
they're doing. They do all kinds of things that are wrong.

1029
01:08:18.520 --> 01:08:21.039
But look for the things that would impact their thinking,

1030
01:08:21.319 --> 01:08:29.000
how they understand their understanding. They're wrong beliefs. Those are

1031
01:08:29.039 --> 01:08:32.000
the strongholds in the count. If you want to really

1032
01:08:32.039 --> 01:08:35.119
be a good Bible student, you would understand the strongholds

1033
01:08:35.159 --> 01:08:37.960
and the context of First and Second Corinthians, or maybe

1034
01:08:38.000 --> 01:08:42.000
just Second Corinthians. We could argue, maybe we do we

1035
01:08:42.039 --> 01:08:44.079
connect it to First Corinthians. I mean, he's running to

1036
01:08:44.119 --> 01:08:47.079
the same church, but it would make more sense to

1037
01:08:47.119 --> 01:08:49.560
connect it to First and Second Corinthians than connecting it

1038
01:08:49.640 --> 01:08:52.680
to country music, dipping women in pants, or whatever other

1039
01:08:52.800 --> 01:08:56.840
nonsense that churches do with strongholds. What churches do with

1040
01:08:56.880 --> 01:09:00.560
strongholds is obliterate the actual meaning of the tech read

1041
01:09:00.600 --> 01:09:02.840
into the text, and then people walk around with all

1042
01:09:02.840 --> 01:09:05.359
these weird concepts of what a stronghold is and isn't

1043
01:09:05.479 --> 01:09:08.199
that has nothing to do with the actual text of scripture.

1044
01:09:08.399 --> 01:09:11.520
All right, there we go. Now I didn't even finish

1045
01:09:11.600 --> 01:09:13.479
all my notes. We still didn't even get to why

1046
01:09:13.520 --> 01:09:15.840
you don't connect this to Satan. I got notes and

1047
01:09:15.880 --> 01:09:26.159
notes upon notes upon notes upon notes on this. There

1048
01:09:26.159 --> 01:09:29.760
you go. Now you can also for the sermons two

1049
01:09:29.800 --> 01:09:32.279
point zero app sermon challenge. You're supposed to be listening

1050
01:09:32.319 --> 01:09:35.720
to sermons on Isaiah forty through fifty five. But now

1051
01:09:35.760 --> 01:09:38.439
you can just do a lot of listening to sermons

1052
01:09:38.479 --> 01:09:42.239
on strongholds or just Second Corinthians ten three through five.

1053
01:09:42.760 --> 01:09:45.039
You can look up random sermons on Second Corinthians ten

1054
01:09:45.079 --> 01:09:47.600
three through five, or random sermons on strongholds and listen

1055
01:09:47.680 --> 01:09:50.000
to all the other perspectives. All the other perspectives are

1056
01:09:50.000 --> 01:09:52.640
going to probably be one thousand percent opposite to mine.

1057
01:09:53.319 --> 01:09:55.439
That's okay, that's the beauty of it.

1058
01:09:55.560 --> 01:09:55.800
Right.

1059
01:09:56.039 --> 01:09:58.560
At least there can be one voice that says, I

1060
01:09:58.600 --> 01:10:01.159
don't know at all I'm trying to do. I'm not

1061
01:10:01.239 --> 01:10:05.600
here to argue with pastors or they put forth their hypotheses.

1062
01:10:05.720 --> 01:10:09.159
Praise God, I'm glad they're there. I'm just saying I

1063
01:10:09.159 --> 01:10:12.079
think there's a different way of looking at it, and

1064
01:10:12.119 --> 01:10:14.760
I've tried to provide you history. I've tried to provide

1065
01:10:14.760 --> 01:10:17.680
you text. I tried to provide you a historical argument,

1066
01:10:17.720 --> 01:10:22.920
textual argument, logical argument. And then you get to listen

1067
01:10:22.960 --> 01:10:25.359
to all the sermons and go, hmm, I think the

1068
01:10:25.399 --> 01:10:28.079
guy in Theology Central is an idiot. He's an idiot.

1069
01:10:28.279 --> 01:10:30.319
These people are right, and that's fine. You can go

1070
01:10:30.399 --> 01:10:35.359
follow their perspective on strongholds. And my house is about

1071
01:10:35.399 --> 01:10:36.640
to get blown over. I don't know if you can

1072
01:10:36.680 --> 01:10:38.960
hear the wind outside. It's really it's crazy today. But

1073
01:10:39.960 --> 01:10:41.880
I'll stop right there because we're at seventy minutes for

1074
01:10:41.960 --> 01:10:44.840
crying out loud. Ah, so much more I wanted to

1075
01:10:44.880 --> 01:10:52.640
get to, but all right, I'll stop there. Thanks for listening,

1076
01:10:53.319 --> 01:10:56.359
all right, consider strongholds today, all right, God bless