Nov. 17, 2024

Strongholds

Strongholds

A discussion about 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

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A discussion about 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

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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 afternoon everyone.

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It is Sunday, November seventeenth, twenty twenty four. It is

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currently four five pm Central Time, and I am coming

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to you live from the Theology Central studio located right

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here in Abilene, Texas. How are you feeling today? Are

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you upbeat, positive, happy? Or are you discouraged, depressed, frustrated.

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Maybe you're just kind of in between. Maybe you don't

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feel anything, Maybe you're comfortably numb. What are you feeling today? Well,

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for me, right now, I guess I'm feeling a little

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bit better. Maybe I've I've reached a level of acceptance,

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because if you've been listening to the broadcast, it's kind

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of been this downward trajectory from frustrated, to discourage, to depress,

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to defeated, to give up to all hope is lost.

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It's over. I'm done, I quit, I resign, I retire,

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I don't care. I'm walking away. It's nothing matters anymore.

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It's meaningless, meaningless, it's hopeless, it's helpless. Who cares anymore?

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That's kind of where I reach, And that may sound

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a little bit hyperbolic, but there's a lot of truth

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to it.

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So maybe I feel a little bit better.

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I'm not so sure, all right, So as everyone knows,

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because I've been mentioning it a lot recently. December twenty

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twenty three, I turned on this very microphone and I

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was all excited, and I was positive, and I was upbeat,

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and I was energetic and I was hopeful. Right, I

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had a great idea. In twenty twenty four, we're gonna

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do the sermons two point oh the Sermon two point

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oh app Sermon Challenge, the Sermon two point oh app

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Sermon Challenge. Everyone download the sermon two point oh app,

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and then every single day you're gonna listen to one

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random sermon on the sermon two point oh app. It's

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got to you just choose it at random. It can

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just don't pick your favorite pastor favorite church or favorite denomination.

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And each day you listen to a sermon, you write

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down the name of the sermon and the broadcaster, and

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then you write kind of a summary of what the

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sermon was about. And the goal is that you will

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have a notebook and at the end of twenty twenty

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four you will have one sermon for every single day

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of the entire year. What a great idea. It will

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be you listening to sermons, and I'll be listening to sermons,

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and other people will be listening to sermons, and we'll

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be discussing them. We'll be talking about them, and I'll

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be doing sermon reviews, and it'll be exciting, and we'll

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be learning and we'll be challenged. What a great thing

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to do for an entire year. By the end of

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the year, just think of all the sermons we have heard,

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Just think of all the Bible teaching, Just think of

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all the lessons we have learned, all the challenges. It

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will be amazing. It will be glorious. Okay, maybe I

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didn't quite present it that positive, but I really thought

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it was going to be a good thing, and maybe

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for a good portion of the year it was. But

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over time I started becoming very, very frustrated by the situation.

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As I have clearly outlined and a lot of broadcast recently, right,

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I just felt like, what is going on the way

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the scriptures are being handled, This constant making claims that

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are just nowhere connected to reality and just bother and

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I'm not going to go back and review everything that

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I've talked about, but just, oh, what do I do?

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And so we've been talking about false comfort, fake comfort,

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fraudulent comfort, promises giving an illusion of hope where there

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is actually none, and we've been talking about that now

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for hours upon hours. So today I can't necessarily say

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what began to change. But as I was driving away

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from church, I kind of felt at least a little

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bit like a weight had been taken off, and I

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left the weight somewhere and a back road here in

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West Texas, right because I always take the back way

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home right out in the middle of nowhere, there's just yeah,

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cattle and whatever is out there. I felt like, in

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a sense, I stopped at the side of the road,

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took the weight and just left it there. And I

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feel a little bit better, a little bit better. And

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my philosophy, I think, moving forward, my ideology moving forward,

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is this, look, Christianity is going to do what Christianity does.

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It's been doing it basically my whole Christian life, and

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I've always found myself at odds, frustrated and irritated by

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a majority of it. I've always felt like an outsider.

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I don't really belong I've always been. I feel in

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conflict with it. I've said so many times most Christians

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I don't really want to even talk the Bible with them.

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I just I just always feel at out like an outsider,

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and for all of the reasons I have outlined before.

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But I'm not going to be able to change that.

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I'm not. Maybe maybe there was a time that I thought, yes,

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there's got to be there's got to be a room,

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there's got to be room for there's got to be

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hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions, of people who are

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looking for something different, looking for an alternative. But at

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this point in my life, I realize there's not that

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many who want an alternative. People want just what you

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get in christian Oh, they claim they want to alternative,

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but and they'll try to they'll try to say that

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their church is so radically different than that church by

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emphasizing maybe a specific doctrinal distinctive. But churches basically operate

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as churches.

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Oh.

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You may say, well, we don't help a praise band,

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but the overall things you do in church and the

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way preaching is done, it's far more similar than people

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would like to believe.

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It's very similar.

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In what people expect. So my idea of something different,

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it's never it's never going to be popular, it's never

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going to gain support. It's not like I'm going to

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wake up tomorrow and someone's going to be like, I

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so agree with what you're trying to do. I'm going

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to send you one hundred thousand dollars so your podcast

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is supported for the rest of your life. Like, nothing

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like that's going to happen, right, Okay, There's going to

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be a small group of people who at least appreciate

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what I'm trying to do, and even they may not

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always agree. And so what what should I do? Well,

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here's what I think I should do. I should just,

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I don't know for how long, continue to turn on

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the microphone and not so much try to fight it

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as much as just say, well, here's what they think,

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and here's here's something different. Like I can get frustrated,

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I can get angry, I can get mad, and it

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does bother me because I do believe a lot of

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this preaching leads people to false hope, false comfort, And

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we spent two hours yesterday talking about all of the

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negative consequences. I do believe it creates some serious mental

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and emotional issues. I do believe it creates a lot

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of negative things. But I can yell and scream about it,

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or I can just say, hey, I can turn on

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the microphone talk about what's going on in Christianity and

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then do Bible studies, do devotionals, do things and just

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try to just try to offer an alternative and just

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try to move forward. It's all I can really do.

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Now.

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I've still got to work my way out of this

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pit and still dealing with the false comfort. I think

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we did. I think we did pretty at least at

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least for our study in Isaiah forty through fifty five.

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At least now we can actually get into Isaiah forty

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and we can move forward and just do Bible teaching

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and not have to correct all of the false comfort

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and people misapplying the scripture and taking out of context.

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So maybe that's why I feel a little bit better.

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Maybe I can't say for sure, but I can still

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just keep listening to what's going on in Christianity, and

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I can yell and scream, or I can just try

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to say here's how they teach it, what about this,

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and just move forward.

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I don't know if it will work.

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Maybe my emotions right now are allowing me to do it.

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Who knows. Maybe by the time I'm done doing what

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I'm about to do, I'm going to be right back

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in the same pit. But here's what I know. It's

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November seventeenth. Before we know it, it's over, twenty twenty

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four is in the history books, ladies and gentlemen, before

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you know it, it's going to be twenty twenty five.

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Can you believe that? And whatever we accomplished, and the

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sermon's two point oh app sermon challenge, I don't know

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if it's going to be seen as a success, but

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I'm going to drive this to the end. So it's

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November seventeenth. I'm going to just try to maybe increase

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the sermon reviews, but try to approach it like, yeah,

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are these sermon reviews gonna probably do some of the

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things that I keep telling you is driving me crazy? Yes?

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Are they probably going to drive me crazy? Yes? But

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I can just say, Okay, that's what they gave us.

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Now let's see what we can do and just just

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kind of just not really worry so much that just

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they give us their hypotheses, they give us their thesis,

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and just kind of say, all right, that's the Christianity

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that's out there. By all means, go and enjoy it.

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But for us, we're going to approach this text this way.

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I think that's what I'm going to try to do.

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I don't know if I can maintain such a an

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optimistic attitude, but yeah, the I don't know what happened.

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I think because Isaiah forty begins with comfort ye comfort yee.

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And I know people out there really need true comfort.

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I know sometimes I've needed true comfort in life, and

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sometimes I believe Christianity has only given me platitudes, cliches,

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and empty, fraudulent, meaningless promises that are just lies. It's

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just a sham.

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It's just.

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It's all just just meaningless. So maybe that's why it

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hit me more. Maybe it hit me more because of

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my own personal feelings. I don't know, But here's what

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we're going to do. So here's what happened. I don't

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know what day it was. It may have been Wednesday,

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may have been Wednesday. I think I was trying to

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figure out do I record? What do I record? And

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so I went to the sermon's two point oh app

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and I looked at the live webcast, and I saw

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that a live webcast was beginning, so I just started watching,

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kind of had the volume time down because they were singing.

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Then they did this weird I think a lot of

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these broadcasters don't realize if you're broadcasting, you got to

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remember your broadcasting, Like you don't need to start your

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broadcast until the sermon begins. If you're going to broadcast

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everything in your worship service, it's got to be understood

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that everyone's watching. Because they went to this weird thing

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where okay, then they stopped and they did prayer requests.

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So the person standing behind the pulpit, he's got a notebook.

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He's like, okay, brother so and so, you can't hear

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brother so and so speak. Really you can't hear him.

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So he kind of writes down the prayer requests. Hey,

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I don't know if he even repeats it, and then

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it'll access he so and so. So everyone gives their

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prayer request. You can't really hear half of the prayer

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requests because the audience isn't miked, so you really can't

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hear any of that. And then they just bring up

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like all these people just kind of come forward to pray,

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but nobody is miked, so if they're praying, you can't

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hear anybody. So it's basically like twenty minutes of silence.

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The video camera's going and you've got someone with their

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head bowed, but you can't hear anyone praying, So it's

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twenty minutes.

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Of just silence.

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It's like, why would you be recording that? Why would

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you be live streaming that? And not to make it

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not only worse, when they uploaded their recording, they uploaded

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it with all of that, and I'm like, what, who,

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who's running your audio visual department? Someone take over, right,

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because you would think if you're going to upload it,

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you would at least delete all of that and then

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cut it. So it's just a sermon because everything else

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is not miked properly, you don't even know what's going on.

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So but I that was Wednesday, and then but when

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they started preaching, I was like, oh, okay, well this

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is a very famous passage. I wonder how they're going

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to approach it now. On Wednesday, I was still very

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much in my frustration, my irritation, and I'm like, you

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got to be kidding me. Here's another sermon doing the

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exane things that I'm yelling and screaming about. But I

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stated to myself, I do want to review that and

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do some work on it, because after the sermon, I

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spent thirty forty five minutes working on things about the concept.

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I've got all of these notes right here. So I'm like, well,

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either I try to turn this into a sermon or

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we just do the review. So I kept waiting and

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waiting for them to upload it, waiting and waiting. Wednesday night,

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they didn't upload it. Thursday, they didn't upload it. Friday,

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they didn't upload it, Saturday didn't upload it. Finally on

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Sunday they uploaded it with this Morning sermon. So they

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uploaded this from Wednesday and then this Morning sermon. I

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don't know why they waited till Sunday, but okay, maybe

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someone came back to church on Sunday and realized no

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one uploaded it. I guess nobody in the church. It's sad.

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You know what's sad. So many times churches you do podcasting,

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you do broadcasting, you upload your sermons, and a lot

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of times it's the people in your own church who

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don't listen. That's one of the most discouraging things, because

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if if people go to that church and they pay attention,

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that would immediately contacted the pastor. I said, hey, where's

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Wednesday's message? You're ever going to upload it? But you know,

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I don't know. Maybe maybe people did call it and

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they just didn't feel like uploading it whatever, So I

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have it ready to go.

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Now.

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I know going in that this is probably going to

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go really bad as far as I'm going to be disagreeing,

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but I'm going to approach it again. I'm just going

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to say, that's what Christianity does. I can't worry about it.

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I can't fight it. What I can do is say, hey, guys,

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you can have this Christianity that's being presented to you,

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here's an alternative perspective, and try to just do it

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in a much more Now. I'm still I mean, you know,

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I'm still dramatic. You know, I'm still going to be

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I mean, come on, I mean, that's never going to change,

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but hopefully it just won't lead me to the pit

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of despair wanting to just you know, I know when

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I say this it bothers people, but sometimes you just

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look at what goes on in Christianity and you just

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kind of want to say, you know what, between my

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own but if I consider my own sin, my own failure,

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my own weaknesses, my own problems, and then some of

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the crazy and just the way the scriptures are handled,

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sometimes it just makes you want to just say, you

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know what, I just walk away from it all. But

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on the other hand, well, here I am, so I

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guess as long as I'm here, let's see what we

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can accomplish.

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Alrighty.

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So the text that's about to be preached on is

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Second Corinthians chapter ten, verses three through six, where we

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read these words, for though we walk in the flesh,

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we do not war after the flesh, For the weapons

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of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God.

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To the pulling down of strongholds. To the pulling down

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of strongholds, here is your question in the context of

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Second Corinthians, chapter ten, meaning the entire book. So in

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the context of Second Corinthians, what would those strongholds be

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talking about? In the context of the book. I know

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you want to take strongholds, and I want to take strongholds,

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and preachers want to take and a stronghold can be this,

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and a stronghold can be this, and we just start

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making it whatever we want it to make. But obviously,

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in the writing of in these words and Second Corinthians

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chapter ten, writing to the church at court, those strongholds

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have to have some significance to them, right or do

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Once again, we don't worry about them. We just insert ourselves.

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So that's kind of the question we're going to go after.

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What does it mean?

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How has church history interpreted this whole idea of strongholds,

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and what is he going to do with it? Well,

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we're going to find out, and we're going to try

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to take it again in a more positive way. I

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don't want to connect whatever he does here, want to

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necessarily connect it with all of the false comfort false piece.

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I don't want to necessarily connect it with that. I

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want to kind of move forward from that. All right,

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So we will see, all right, And I'm getting all

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kinds of weather notifications that the end of the world

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is about to happen. So but all right, I'm going

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to ignore what's going on. Possibly on that note, I

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think we're supposed to get some bad storms soon. I

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don't know, but we're just going to move forward. So

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if you hear the end of the world happening when

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I come back on It's just a storm, all right.

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But in the meantime, as long as I got power

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internet connection, I got a Bible. Let's hear how at

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least some parts of Christianity handle tewo Corinthians, Chapter ten,

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Versus three through through five. Basically, I read three through four,

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and then we'll see if maybe you look at some

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different ways of approaching it. Here we go.

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And read down to verse number six, and then I'm

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going to jump to first Peter and read one or

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two verses and then give you the thought that the

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Lord laid on my heart. I'll be honest with you,

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this is more of a review than it is anything else.

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I'm just coming at it in a different angle, I

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guess you would say. And the Bible says, for though

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we walk in the flesh, we do not war after

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the flesh. Well, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal,

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but mighty through God, to the pulling down the strongholds,

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casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalted itself

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against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought,

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to the obedience of Christ. And having in a readiness

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to revenge all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. Now

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in First Peter chapter number five.

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Okay, and he's getting ready to go to First Peter

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chapter five. I'm assuming he's going to go to First

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Peter chapter five, verse eight about Satan be a roaring

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lion seeking whom he may devour. I think that's where

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he's headed. But before he gets there, let me make

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it very clear, because I want to. I don't know

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if you heard it. He's going to preach and share

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what God has laid on his heart. Now, I've told

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you to watch for this in preaching over and over

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and over. I know preachers don't mean. I can't speak

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for what preachers mean to do or don't mean to do.

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Whatever the intention is, it's manipulative, ladies and gentlemen. If

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I sit here and then I'm saying what I'm about

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to teach you is what God laid on my heart,

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what God gave me, then you cannot challenge it. You

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cannot question it, because how dare you question a message

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that God gave to someone. But preachers of all philological

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background say, God laid this on my heart. God laid

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this on my heart. Well, Preacher one says, God laid

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this on my heart. Preacher two says, God lead this

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on my heart. And the two sermons absolutely contradict one another,

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and one is saying that the other one is wrong,

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and the other one is saying the other one is wrong. Well,

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God could not have laid it on both of their

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hearts to preach something that contradicts one another and say

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that the other one is wrong. God is not speaking

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to one of them, or God is not speaking to

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any of them. And I will argue God is not

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speaking to anyone up outside of the pages of Scripture.

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So God didn't lay it on your heart. God didn't

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give you the message. God didn't speak to you. You read,

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you studied your thought, and you came up with a sermon.

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God does not download the sermon into you. He doesn't

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give you the sermon, because if he does, it would

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be infallible. And if God has given us sermons and

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God is laying on our heart what to preach, then

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ladies and gentlemen, there would not be fifty bazillion different

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denominations and groups with all kinds of different theological backgrounds.

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There would be unity. There would be consistency, once again,

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that's Christianity making these claims that are just so contradictory

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to reality. But just keep that in mind, because I

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didn't listen to everything. But I believe he comes back

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in and says.

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Something.

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I think he says something later in the sermon that's

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somewhat controversial, and then I think he basically says, he

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that's what God told me to say, meaning then you

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can't challenge him or or do anything. So I guess

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what I could do is any time I say something controversial,

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I can say, well, that's what God told me to say.

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I mean, I mean, you see how just manipulative that is.

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It's Oh, it's such a game. But I think he's

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getting ready to go to First Peter chapter five, if

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I remember correctly now that remember that was Wednesday. I've

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done lots of reading, studying, listening to sermons, preparing sermons.

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I believe it's on Peter five eight where he's going

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because yep, be sober, be vigilant, because you're at adversary.

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The devil as a roaring line walketh about seeking whom

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he may devour. Now he's going to connect that with

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the Second Corinthians ten. For though we walk in the flesh.

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We do not war after the flesh. For the weapons

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of our warfare are not colonel, but are mighty through God.

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To the pulling down of strongholds. Now, is a satan

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that establishes the strongholds? Or do we establish the strongholds? Okay,

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lots of questions. Is Satan connected to this? For the

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weapons of our warfare? Do we is Paul referencing a warfare? Again,

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we always just assume that satan and spiritual warfare is

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the issue. Are we assuming that's what Paul is referencing. Well,

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let's see what he does here.

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In verse number seven, no verse eight. I'm sorry, we

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all know this verse very well. Be sober, be vigilant,

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because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring line talk

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about seeking whom he made a vow who resist steadfast

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in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished

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in your brethren that are in the world. Peter reminds

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them that they're not the only ones that goes through this. Basically,

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what he said right there in verse number nine is

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that you had to keep in mind you're not all

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by yourself, and so don't get to that place in

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your life where you pity yourself because you think you're

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the only one that's got problems. The truth of the

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matter is, if you're breathing, you got problems. Isn't that right?

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And so we know for a fact that we're all

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in this thing, and we're all part of the same

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old flesh, that we're all part of the same problems.

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I mean, your problems may be may look a little

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bit different than mine, but in the inn they end,

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it's a problem no matter how you look at it. Amen.

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But I want to preach just a little while on

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the on what a stronghold is does and all that

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other stuff. And basically, like I said, it's more of

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a review than it is anything else. So let's pray,

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and that's the Lord to help us tonight. Father, we

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love you, we praise you, and we thank you tonight

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that we have the privilege of being in the house

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of God. Lord. What a wonderful honor to be saved

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by the grace of God and have a place to

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come to worship and get out this world. Lord for

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a few minutes, learn about the Word of God. Lord.

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I'm thankful for my Bible. I bless your Holy Name

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for it. Every time I open it, I'm reminded of

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the power of God and how you've preserved it these

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six thousand years. Lord, you put this thing together, and

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you have held it together by your spirit. And no

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matter what men may do or what the devil might

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try to do, it's still the Word of God. And Lord,

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it's forever settled in heaven. It'll never change. So tonight

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I give you glory for that, and I praise your

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Holy name. No matter how many times we may read

447
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a verse or how many times we may preach a message,

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that there's always something that we can glean from it

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that we didn't glean before. Word of God is alive

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and it's sharper than any two edges sword use it. Tonight,

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I pray, o, God, as only you can spirit touch

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us and help us give us that which we need. Lord,

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that which we cannot do for ourselves. Would you please,

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or God, we give you the glory for it in

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Jesus name, Amen, and Amen. I know that we we

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all understand that the very first step in having a

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relationship with God comes by salvation. If you're not saved,

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you have absolutely no relation with God. As a matter

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of fact. According to the scripture, we're dead to God,

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we are separated from God, we are not his And

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according to Matthew chapter number seven, there will be many

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at the judgment seat that he looks at and says,

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depart from me, for I never knew you. And so

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there are a lot of people that don't understand the

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fact that you got to be born again in order

466
00:27:05.599 --> 00:27:10.559
to have any kind of relationship with God Almighty. Now

467
00:27:10.599 --> 00:27:15.640
that's the first step to relationship. It's salvation. The second

468
00:27:15.759 --> 00:27:19.480
thing is this, the very next step after God saves

469
00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:23.799
us by his grace, is the fact that we begin

470
00:27:24.200 --> 00:27:28.920
to be conformed to the image of His son. The

471
00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:32.119
Bible says in many places that we are to put

472
00:27:32.160 --> 00:27:36.039
off the old and put on the news. This is

473
00:27:36.079 --> 00:27:39.599
not a process that happens overnight. This is not something

474
00:27:39.720 --> 00:27:42.599
that you wake up the next day after you have

475
00:27:42.720 --> 00:27:45.640
made your profession of faith and boom there you are.

476
00:27:46.599 --> 00:27:50.200
This is something that takes years and years and years

477
00:27:50.319 --> 00:27:55.400
to perfect. If you will, it takes years for you

478
00:27:55.480 --> 00:27:58.160
to get the junk out of your life. And that's

479
00:27:58.240 --> 00:28:01.640
what I want to talk about out and focus on tonight.

480
00:28:02.400 --> 00:28:05.640
Is that very thing. We'll say a bunch of different things.

481
00:28:05.680 --> 00:28:07.960
But I want you to keep that thought in mind,

482
00:28:08.680 --> 00:28:13.960
is that we, as God's children, need to be conforming

483
00:28:14.119 --> 00:28:17.920
the God's image or the God's Son's image a amen,

484
00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:21.759
every single day of our life a man. And when

485
00:28:21.799 --> 00:28:25.160
we're not conforming to His image, I can promise you this,

486
00:28:26.039 --> 00:28:28.039
we're building strongholds. Amen.

487
00:28:29.960 --> 00:28:32.480
Okay, So there's a lot of emphasis on we we

488
00:28:32.480 --> 00:28:36.279
we we we we right, So we have to conform,

489
00:28:36.519 --> 00:28:39.640
we have to be It makes it sound like we

490
00:28:39.720 --> 00:28:43.240
have to conform ourselves to the image of God. We

491
00:28:43.319 --> 00:28:46.759
have to do it. We we we Now, the question

492
00:28:46.960 --> 00:28:49.680
is he says, it takes years and years and years

493
00:28:49.720 --> 00:28:51.839
to perfect it. Well, you're never going to be perfectly

494
00:28:51.880 --> 00:28:53.759
conformed to the image of Christ. I don't care how

495
00:28:53.799 --> 00:28:55.799
hard you work in no matter what you do, because

496
00:28:55.839 --> 00:28:58.000
you have a sinful nature. But the emphasis is on

497
00:28:58.119 --> 00:28:59.799
we have to do it. So then the question is

498
00:29:00.480 --> 00:29:04.279
do we conform ourselves to the image of Christ or

499
00:29:04.359 --> 00:29:08.839
does Christ conform us to His image? Are we doing

500
00:29:08.880 --> 00:29:11.640
it or is he doing it? Or is it a

501
00:29:11.720 --> 00:29:16.519
synergistic So is it monogistic synergistic? If it's monogistic, it's

502
00:29:16.519 --> 00:29:19.640
the work of God. It's a synergistic we're both involved.

503
00:29:19.839 --> 00:29:21.920
And if we're both involved, and I mean, this is

504
00:29:21.920 --> 00:29:24.480
where it becomes very complicated. But he says, when we're

505
00:29:24.559 --> 00:29:29.880
not being conformed, we're building strongholds. So either you are

506
00:29:30.680 --> 00:29:33.680
you are conforming yourself to the image of Christ, or

507
00:29:33.839 --> 00:29:37.359
you are building strongholds. So we do the building of

508
00:29:37.400 --> 00:29:40.279
the stronghold, or we do the conforming to the image.

509
00:29:40.359 --> 00:29:42.359
It sounds like that it's all up to us.

510
00:29:42.680 --> 00:29:46.079
You are either building a stronghold or you're working to

511
00:29:46.160 --> 00:29:48.720
conform yourself to the image of Christ every day.

512
00:29:48.759 --> 00:29:49.559
You're either you're.

513
00:29:49.400 --> 00:29:52.640
Doing one because if you're not conforming, you are building.

514
00:29:53.000 --> 00:29:55.319
If you're not conforming to the image of Christ, you're

515
00:29:55.359 --> 00:29:59.039
building a stronghold. That is kind of his high hypothesis.

516
00:29:59.160 --> 00:30:02.200
That is kind of his argument. All right, you either

517
00:30:02.240 --> 00:30:06.599
are conforming or you are building. Wow, okay, all right,

518
00:30:07.079 --> 00:30:11.119
that's very black and white. Either or Okay. I don't

519
00:30:11.119 --> 00:30:13.240
know if it's that simple, but okay, So but just

520
00:30:13.359 --> 00:30:17.039
note you do the building of the stronghold, you do.

521
00:30:18.519 --> 00:30:24.160
All right, let's see what he does with this, and

522
00:30:23.880 --> 00:30:28.160
so think about this. So the next step is conforming

523
00:30:28.759 --> 00:30:32.680
and I mentioned that here because this is where our

524
00:30:32.799 --> 00:30:37.359
strongholds really and truly begin to take root. If we

525
00:30:37.519 --> 00:30:42.640
fail to see and understand our responsibility as a saved individual,

526
00:30:43.319 --> 00:30:46.359
then there's going to be areas in our life that

527
00:30:46.400 --> 00:30:48.599
we don't work on and that we don't go to

528
00:30:48.640 --> 00:30:52.160
work on, and that we fight God over, and there's

529
00:30:52.160 --> 00:30:54.400
gonna be things in our life that we're not willing

530
00:30:54.440 --> 00:30:58.000
to give up and Listen, this is the big one,

531
00:30:58.319 --> 00:31:00.839
things that we just do not to change.

532
00:31:03.880 --> 00:31:07.039
Now you can kind of see that his understanding of

533
00:31:07.200 --> 00:31:11.880
stronghold is areas in your life that need to be changed.

534
00:31:12.599 --> 00:31:16.880
It's about behavior. So stronghold seems to be the way

535
00:31:16.920 --> 00:31:20.680
he seems to be articulating it. A stronghold is a

536
00:31:20.880 --> 00:31:25.960
behavior in your life that you are not well allowing

537
00:31:26.079 --> 00:31:27.359
to be conformed to the image of Christ.

538
00:31:27.359 --> 00:31:28.519
In other words, here's a behavior.

539
00:31:28.680 --> 00:31:30.880
You need to conform that behavior to the image of Christ,

540
00:31:30.920 --> 00:31:33.160
which means it possibly you would stop doing that, and

541
00:31:33.240 --> 00:31:36.599
if you don't, now you've built a stronghold. So stronghold

542
00:31:36.720 --> 00:31:40.440
seems to equate to behavior. Just keep that in mind.

543
00:31:40.839 --> 00:31:42.279
You know you may not, I know you're going to

544
00:31:42.319 --> 00:31:45.720
be shocked by this. Not everyone agrees in Christian history

545
00:31:46.279 --> 00:31:49.279
what exactly the stronghold is I know that's shocking, Okay,

546
00:31:49.480 --> 00:31:53.880
I say that jokingly because so many Christians just seem

547
00:31:53.920 --> 00:31:56.480
to think, well, this is the way it is. Do

548
00:31:56.519 --> 00:31:59.480
you realize two thousand years of church history, there's only

549
00:31:59.559 --> 00:32:03.400
like setny different ideas of what it could be. I

550
00:32:03.440 --> 00:32:08.119
love how assertive and dogmatic we always think that we are,

551
00:32:08.200 --> 00:32:11.279
but it really is never that simple. So his idea

552
00:32:11.359 --> 00:32:15.640
is stronghold equals behavior behavior that you are not conforming

553
00:32:15.680 --> 00:32:17.839
to the image of Christ. If your behavior is not

554
00:32:17.920 --> 00:32:20.400
conformed to the image of Christ, then in your behavior

555
00:32:20.400 --> 00:32:23.319
you're building a stronghold. That seems to be how he's

556
00:32:23.400 --> 00:32:26.279
articulating it. Now he may expand on it, and it

557
00:32:26.319 --> 00:32:28.960
may just he may keep adding to it. So before

558
00:32:29.000 --> 00:32:30.319
you know it, you may not even really know what

559
00:32:30.359 --> 00:32:32.960
a stronghold is, or maybe he will not. Let's find out.

560
00:32:34.680 --> 00:32:39.440
Amen, So we enter into a relationship with Christ with

561
00:32:40.039 --> 00:32:44.920
all this garbage in our life, one bit by bit,

562
00:32:45.160 --> 00:32:48.279
step by step, God wants us to grow in his grace,

563
00:32:49.160 --> 00:32:52.000
and we need to understand and realize that we have

564
00:32:52.039 --> 00:32:57.319
a responsibility Amen, to change the things that we need to.

565
00:32:57.680 --> 00:33:02.279
Everybody said, well, God changed my life. God changed you

566
00:33:02.359 --> 00:33:05.480
on the inside, but you have and I had a

567
00:33:05.519 --> 00:33:09.640
responsibility of change in things as God dealt with us.

568
00:33:09.720 --> 00:33:10.319
Isn't that right?

569
00:33:12.960 --> 00:33:18.039
Okay? So God changed us on the inside. So what

570
00:33:18.440 --> 00:33:22.720
so his hypothesis seems to be is that internally we've

571
00:33:22.720 --> 00:33:25.920
been completely changed. So I guess on the inside there's

572
00:33:25.960 --> 00:33:29.759
no sinful nature. I mean, if we've been complete like,

573
00:33:29.799 --> 00:33:32.119
this is always the weird. This is where Christianity does

574
00:33:32.160 --> 00:33:35.039
this double speak that we've been We've been struggling with

575
00:33:35.079 --> 00:33:37.519
this for all of twenty twenty four, all of twenty

576
00:33:37.559 --> 00:33:40.079
twenty four, we've been struggling with over and over and over.

577
00:33:40.119 --> 00:33:42.519
Since December twenty twenty three, we've been struggling with it

578
00:33:42.599 --> 00:33:46.079
because sermon after sermon after sermon gives us this weird like,

579
00:33:46.480 --> 00:33:49.720
so exactly, could you just explain it? So on the

580
00:33:49.759 --> 00:33:53.920
inside I'm completely changed, Like if I'm changed on the inside,

581
00:33:54.000 --> 00:33:56.119
then that means there is nothing left of the old.

582
00:33:56.319 --> 00:33:59.200
That seems to be speaking of the eradication of the

583
00:33:59.240 --> 00:34:02.559
sinful nature. But yet I've got to change way wall

584
00:34:02.559 --> 00:34:04.960
whoah wah wait, I'm changed on the inside. So it

585
00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:08.199
seems like God does the changing on the inside. Now

586
00:34:08.280 --> 00:34:11.199
I have to change the outside. So the changing on

587
00:34:11.280 --> 00:34:14.039
the outside is up to me. God did the changing

588
00:34:14.119 --> 00:34:16.559
on the inside, but I have to change on the outside.

589
00:34:16.679 --> 00:34:18.800
But if I've been changed on the inside, what is

590
00:34:18.840 --> 00:34:21.320
there to change on the outside, Because then it doesn't

591
00:34:21.360 --> 00:34:26.760
the outside reflect the inside. How is there a disconnect

592
00:34:26.880 --> 00:34:30.519
between the inside and the outside. On the inside, ooh,

593
00:34:30.760 --> 00:34:33.599
I've been completely transformed. I'm a new creature, whole things

594
00:34:33.679 --> 00:34:36.440
are passed away all but on the outside, I'm still

595
00:34:36.480 --> 00:34:39.360
a sinner. Well, where what is motivating the outside? What

596
00:34:39.559 --> 00:34:42.679
is driving the outside behavior? If the inside has changed,

597
00:34:42.840 --> 00:34:49.280
why is the outside not changed. This is so.

598
00:34:50.920 --> 00:34:54.360
That we all see I started off so.

599
00:34:54.599 --> 00:35:01.760
Positive and calm, but hey, that's okay. Look, look, I'm

600
00:35:01.800 --> 00:35:03.519
gonna try to state it in a positive way. This

601
00:35:03.719 --> 00:35:07.199
is the Christianity that you can go experience. Go to

602
00:35:07.320 --> 00:35:13.039
any church and you get this conflated, convoluted, an almost

603
00:35:13.159 --> 00:35:17.079
self contradictory idea of wait, so wait, I'm completely new

604
00:35:17.159 --> 00:35:19.199
on the inside, but yet my outside is wrong. Well,

605
00:35:19.480 --> 00:35:21.400
now said, this is what leads to. What it leads

606
00:35:21.480 --> 00:35:23.800
to is see the inside everything is perfect, but the

607
00:35:23.840 --> 00:35:26.400
outside is wrong. Why is the outside wrong? Because you

608
00:35:26.519 --> 00:35:29.000
listen to rock and roll and watch Netflix. So if

609
00:35:29.039 --> 00:35:31.400
you'll just stop doing that stuff, then then the outside

610
00:35:31.400 --> 00:35:34.159
will match the inside. Because so then it's the external

611
00:35:34.239 --> 00:35:37.519
things that drive the outside, and it's not the inside

612
00:35:37.599 --> 00:35:42.800
driving the It gets all confusing, and Jesus says, our

613
00:35:42.880 --> 00:35:44.360
sin comes from inside.

614
00:35:44.760 --> 00:35:46.480
Well, why is there the outside wrong?

615
00:35:46.519 --> 00:35:49.400
If the he just said, the God has completely changed

616
00:35:49.440 --> 00:35:53.360
the inside completely. Well, if God changed the inside, I'm

617
00:35:53.400 --> 00:35:56.760
assuming he didn't do it fifty percent, forty percent, thirty percent,

618
00:35:57.199 --> 00:35:59.679
will I'm assuming he did it one hundred percent. Well,

619
00:35:59.719 --> 00:36:04.679
then that means perfection not only should be expected, it

620
00:36:04.760 --> 00:36:07.679
should just be assumed that you're gonna be perfect and

621
00:36:07.760 --> 00:36:11.400
I'm gonna be perfect because we've been changed on the inside. Oh,

622
00:36:11.519 --> 00:36:12.760
this gets all confusing.

623
00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:18.599
Amen. And so God don't just wave a wand at

624
00:36:18.719 --> 00:36:20.280
us and boom, everything's new.

625
00:36:21.000 --> 00:36:21.960
No, he gives us.

626
00:36:21.920 --> 00:36:25.719
New life a man, But you know what, we dragged

627
00:36:25.800 --> 00:36:29.039
that old nature along with us every step of the way.

628
00:36:31.159 --> 00:36:34.039
Okay, No, wait a minute. God changed us on the inside,

629
00:36:34.719 --> 00:36:37.440
but we dragged the old nature along. So wait a minute.

630
00:36:37.440 --> 00:36:40.119
So God didn't change the old nature. Okay, now I'm confused.

631
00:36:40.119 --> 00:36:43.079
All right, So God changed me on the inside, but

632
00:36:43.239 --> 00:36:47.159
he didn't really change everything on the inside because the

633
00:36:47.280 --> 00:36:52.880
old nature is still there. So I'm changed, but not

634
00:36:53.159 --> 00:36:59.000
really changed. And God doesn't just miraculously change me on

635
00:36:59.119 --> 00:37:02.960
the outside. I have to do the changing. God changes

636
00:37:03.000 --> 00:37:04.800
on the inside, but he doesn't really change on the

637
00:37:04.880 --> 00:37:08.039
inside because the old nature is still there. God's not

638
00:37:08.360 --> 00:37:11.679
going to wave a magic wand and change me. I

639
00:37:11.880 --> 00:37:14.000
have to do something. But the problem is I continue

640
00:37:14.039 --> 00:37:16.119
to drag my old nature around. But I continue to

641
00:37:16.159 --> 00:37:18.400
drag my old nature around because God didn't get rid

642
00:37:18.440 --> 00:37:21.039
of my old nature. Why didn't God get rid of

643
00:37:21.079 --> 00:37:23.119
the old nature? And why are you telling me God

644
00:37:23.239 --> 00:37:25.519
changed me when you then turn around thirty seconds later

645
00:37:25.760 --> 00:37:27.960
and say, well, you're not really changed because you still

646
00:37:28.000 --> 00:37:28.719
have the old nature.

647
00:37:28.760 --> 00:37:29.480
If I still have the.

648
00:37:29.480 --> 00:37:31.559
Old nature, then I haven't been changed.

649
00:37:33.159 --> 00:37:33.280
Now.

650
00:37:33.320 --> 00:37:35.800
You may say he added something to the inside, but

651
00:37:35.880 --> 00:37:39.039
he obviously didn't change the inside if the old nature

652
00:37:39.280 --> 00:37:39.920
is still there.

653
00:37:42.719 --> 00:37:46.199
And there are things that we have done before we

654
00:37:46.360 --> 00:37:49.599
got saved, Amen, that we didn't get rid of the

655
00:37:49.719 --> 00:37:52.880
day we got saved, Amen. And then all of a

656
00:37:52.960 --> 00:37:55.800
sudden we realized, you know what, God don't want me

657
00:37:55.920 --> 00:37:58.920
to do that, and we begin to wrestle with God

658
00:37:59.079 --> 00:38:01.559
over that, and the next thing, you know, we got

659
00:38:01.599 --> 00:38:05.519
a stronghold in our life. That right, hear me in

660
00:38:05.679 --> 00:38:08.719
y'all stay with me now. And so here we find

661
00:38:08.760 --> 00:38:12.360
out that the purpose of pulling down strongholds and casting

662
00:38:12.440 --> 00:38:16.320
out these imaginations is to help rent ourselves of the

663
00:38:16.440 --> 00:38:19.840
wrong kind of thinking and the wrong kind of activities

664
00:38:19.920 --> 00:38:20.760
that's in our lives.

665
00:38:23.599 --> 00:38:27.159
So strongholds, and now he seems to add thinking to it.

666
00:38:27.480 --> 00:38:31.519
So stronghold is wrong behavior, though primarily he's focusing on behavior.

667
00:38:31.840 --> 00:38:34.760
So let me let him finish this sentence, and then

668
00:38:34.800 --> 00:38:36.639
we're going to do a little kind of just looking

669
00:38:36.679 --> 00:38:38.679
at how people and church history have understood this.

670
00:38:38.840 --> 00:38:41.079
Right, So let's just do a little bit of try.

671
00:38:41.000 --> 00:38:43.239
To get to a good point where I can kind

672
00:38:43.280 --> 00:38:45.519
of jump into some church history.

673
00:38:47.360 --> 00:38:50.400
Amen. And the reason we do that is so that

674
00:38:50.599 --> 00:38:54.000
the presence of God is not hindered in our life.

675
00:38:54.039 --> 00:38:56.960
And that's what a stronghold will do. It will hinder

676
00:38:57.119 --> 00:39:01.079
the presence of God in your life. Stronghold you have

677
00:39:01.760 --> 00:39:06.079
a man, Any negative stronghold you have is nothing more

678
00:39:06.559 --> 00:39:10.239
a man than the power of God killer a man.

679
00:39:12.800 --> 00:39:18.440
So if you have a stronghold, it will kill the

680
00:39:18.599 --> 00:39:21.920
power of God, it will hinder the presence of God.

681
00:39:22.239 --> 00:39:26.760
So a stronghold is stronger than the power of God,

682
00:39:27.559 --> 00:39:31.599
and a stronghold is stronger than the presence of God.

683
00:39:32.079 --> 00:39:34.119
That is a radical concept.

684
00:39:34.599 --> 00:39:37.559
Hey, God, I thought God was omnipotent, So how can

685
00:39:37.639 --> 00:39:40.559
a stronghold kill the power of God. It's like, here's

686
00:39:40.599 --> 00:39:42.239
the power of God that could be in your life.

687
00:39:42.280 --> 00:39:44.440
I'm sorry, you got a stronghold bull boom. The power

688
00:39:44.519 --> 00:39:48.119
is gone. It got defeated. So I have to get

689
00:39:48.199 --> 00:39:50.440
rid of the stronghold so that I can have the

690
00:39:50.519 --> 00:39:52.320
power of God. But wouldn't it be the power of

691
00:39:52.400 --> 00:39:54.920
God that gets rid of the stronghold. But the stronghold

692
00:39:55.039 --> 00:39:57.239
kills the power of God. So then I get rid

693
00:39:57.280 --> 00:40:00.039
of the stronghold without the power of God, because the

694
00:40:00.159 --> 00:40:01.679
power of God can't help me get rid of the

695
00:40:01.719 --> 00:40:04.800
stronghold if the stronghold kills the power of God. Therefore

696
00:40:04.800 --> 00:40:07.360
I must get rid of the stronghold in my own power,

697
00:40:07.599 --> 00:40:11.119
because God's power is useless against the stronghold because it

698
00:40:11.239 --> 00:40:15.599
kills God's power. Do you understand the complete logical insanity

699
00:40:15.719 --> 00:40:20.239
that this is presenting. Hey, I need the power and

700
00:40:20.360 --> 00:40:23.880
presence of God to overcome the stronghold. I'm sorry, the

701
00:40:23.960 --> 00:40:27.079
stronghold hinders the presence of God, and the stronghold kills

702
00:40:27.119 --> 00:40:29.159
the power of God. So you've got to get rid

703
00:40:29.199 --> 00:40:30.079
of the stronghold in.

704
00:40:30.119 --> 00:40:30.880
Your own power.

705
00:40:31.159 --> 00:40:34.199
Well, then why do I even need God. I get

706
00:40:34.320 --> 00:40:36.320
rid of the stronghold, then I get the power of God.

707
00:40:36.519 --> 00:40:38.239
But I need the power of God in order to

708
00:40:38.280 --> 00:40:44.000
get rid of the stronghold. And we have heard this

709
00:40:44.320 --> 00:40:49.840
flawed logic so many times in sermons, and every single

710
00:40:49.920 --> 00:40:52.119
time the people in the pew are going, Amen, Amen,

711
00:40:52.400 --> 00:40:54.039
nobody stops and go, wait a minute, how.

712
00:40:54.000 --> 00:41:02.039
Does this work? How does this work? It is a

713
00:41:02.239 --> 00:41:06.360
spirit quencher in our lives. And so you know, we

714
00:41:06.639 --> 00:41:11.119
we have talked about how how a stronghold can be

715
00:41:11.280 --> 00:41:13.440
positive or it can be negative. They can.

716
00:41:15.039 --> 00:41:19.519
All right, So it quenches the spirit, and it hinders

717
00:41:19.559 --> 00:41:22.039
the presence of God, and it kills the power of God.

718
00:41:22.360 --> 00:41:26.679
You've got a stronghold. God is helpless, hopeless and useless

719
00:41:26.840 --> 00:41:29.639
and helping you. You've got to pull yourself up by

720
00:41:29.679 --> 00:41:33.480
your own bootstraps and you've got I'm tearing down this stronghold.

721
00:41:33.760 --> 00:41:37.280
God can't help you because the stronghold hinders the presence

722
00:41:37.320 --> 00:41:40.000
of God, kills the power of God, and quenches the spirit,

723
00:41:44.760 --> 00:41:51.199
oh man, the logic here. And what's so irritating is

724
00:41:51.239 --> 00:41:52.880
there was a time in my Christian life I would

725
00:41:52.880 --> 00:41:54.880
have just been eating this up. I'd have been writing

726
00:41:54.920 --> 00:41:57.039
all these I would have had a notebook book full

727
00:41:57.079 --> 00:41:58.679
of all of these notes, and I'd be like, Oh,

728
00:41:58.960 --> 00:42:01.079
I'm going to preach this. I'm gonna teach this. This

729
00:42:01.320 --> 00:42:04.039
is good stuff. No, now I'm like, this is the

730
00:42:04.119 --> 00:42:08.239
most Like how did I not catch the logical fallacies here? Like?

731
00:42:08.519 --> 00:42:10.079
How do I not see We'll wait a minute.

732
00:42:10.119 --> 00:42:10.280
Then.

733
00:42:10.760 --> 00:42:14.039
What you're arguing is that I bring down strongholds and

734
00:42:14.199 --> 00:42:20.679
my own power because God's power can't withstand. A stronghold.

735
00:42:22.840 --> 00:42:26.400
Be a source of protection from evil and the enemy.

736
00:42:26.440 --> 00:42:29.320
That's why David said many times in the Psalm, and

737
00:42:29.440 --> 00:42:33.320
you heard it throughout the Bible, that God is our refuge.

738
00:42:33.880 --> 00:42:36.320
You know what a stronghold is. It's a dwelling place.

739
00:42:36.400 --> 00:42:40.719
It's a secure place. Amen. But then there's the other

740
00:42:40.880 --> 00:42:43.360
side of it. They can also become the means from

741
00:42:43.400 --> 00:42:47.360
which the devil's influence comes in. It is a place

742
00:42:47.519 --> 00:42:51.800
we use to justify and defend our wrong acts and

743
00:42:51.920 --> 00:42:55.760
our wrong thinking. I mean, think about this. We literally

744
00:42:55.960 --> 00:43:00.400
become sympathetic toward what we know is contrary to the

745
00:43:00.440 --> 00:43:04.840
will of God. We pet that thing and we protect

746
00:43:04.960 --> 00:43:09.440
that thing so that we can continue to practice that thing.

747
00:43:09.679 --> 00:43:14.280
Help me, now, So a stronghold can be positive, a

748
00:43:14.280 --> 00:43:17.079
stronghold can be negative, and a stronghold negative is where

749
00:43:17.119 --> 00:43:22.280
basically it is where Satan can get influence into us,

750
00:43:22.679 --> 00:43:25.559
and it creates a situation where now we will protect

751
00:43:25.920 --> 00:43:28.960
and we will excuse, and we will justify our wrong

752
00:43:29.199 --> 00:43:32.440
right because it has such influence. Now, remember, it kills

753
00:43:32.480 --> 00:43:35.719
God's It hinders God's presence, kills God's power, and quenches

754
00:43:35.760 --> 00:43:38.119
the spirit. So you can't look to God for help here,

755
00:43:39.000 --> 00:43:41.519
You're gonna have to take care of it yourself. Now

756
00:43:41.719 --> 00:43:43.400
we'll get back to this. Let me just try to

757
00:43:43.480 --> 00:43:47.320
take you through this idea. Now, if you did not

758
00:43:47.599 --> 00:43:52.599
know this idea of strongholds has been elaborated, sign on.

759
00:43:52.960 --> 00:43:58.320
It's been talked about, elaborated, preached, taught so much throughout

760
00:43:58.480 --> 00:44:06.119
church history, varying degrees of interpretation. Paul seems to use

761
00:44:06.239 --> 00:44:16.320
strongholds in this context metaphorically to describe arguments. Ideas are

762
00:44:16.519 --> 00:44:21.559
patterns of thought that stand in opposition to the knowledge

763
00:44:21.760 --> 00:44:26.840
of God. Please note, typically it's just a metaphor to

764
00:44:27.079 --> 00:44:32.840
describe arguments, ideas, and patterns of thought that stand in

765
00:44:32.880 --> 00:44:37.800
opposition to the knowledge of God. The immediate passage focuses

766
00:44:37.840 --> 00:44:43.480
on taking every thought captivity to captive and demolishing false arguments,

767
00:44:43.559 --> 00:44:48.599
indicating Paul is likely addressing intellectual or ideological barriers rather

768
00:44:48.719 --> 00:44:53.360
than demonic strongholds or psychological issues, as later interpretations of

769
00:44:53.440 --> 00:44:56.639
some kind suggested. He's saying a stronghold is where Satan

770
00:44:56.719 --> 00:45:00.760
gets your influence. What others have said in his no no, no, no,

771
00:45:01.199 --> 00:45:04.960
it's just a place where there's wrong thoughts, wrong ideas,

772
00:45:05.199 --> 00:45:08.519
and we got to fight against wrong thoughts, wrong ideas,

773
00:45:08.679 --> 00:45:12.079
and wrong teaching. This is not about Satan. This is

774
00:45:12.159 --> 00:45:18.440
about thinking. But over the centuries, many interpretations have broadened

775
00:45:19.440 --> 00:45:24.320
the term stronghold beyond Paul's context. If we look at

776
00:45:24.400 --> 00:45:27.719
Paul's context, this is about thinking, This is about ideas,

777
00:45:28.000 --> 00:45:31.639
This is about ideology, this is about philosophy. But we've

778
00:45:31.679 --> 00:45:35.719
already already here. This is a place where Satan gets

779
00:45:35.760 --> 00:45:38.480
his influence into us. He's already brought Satan into this.

780
00:45:40.320 --> 00:45:47.000
Let's look at historical philological interpretations. Historical philological interpretations the

781
00:45:47.239 --> 00:45:52.320
Early Church Fathers and tended not and I mean, I

782
00:45:52.400 --> 00:45:54.960
can't be you know, unanimous here and say every single one,

783
00:45:55.119 --> 00:45:57.559
but they tended to interpret strongholds more in line with

784
00:45:57.679 --> 00:46:03.840
Paul's message, focusing on intellectual pride false teachings, but they

785
00:46:04.039 --> 00:46:10.800
did add entrenched sins. So they kind of stayed with, hey,

786
00:46:11.039 --> 00:46:15.960
it's the thinking, it's it's it's about ideas, thoughts, false teaching,

787
00:46:16.239 --> 00:46:19.119
but they said it also could involved entrenched sins. So

788
00:46:19.280 --> 00:46:23.119
now it goes from thinking to well, now that's where

789
00:46:23.119 --> 00:46:28.239
the behavior becomes kind of in They typically saw strongholds

790
00:46:28.639 --> 00:46:34.800
as internal, mental, or spiritual barriers within a person's mind

791
00:46:35.639 --> 00:46:39.119
that resisteth God's truth. A stronghold is where in my

792
00:46:39.519 --> 00:46:43.719
thinking I'm resisting God's truth. And now now in this sermon,

793
00:46:43.920 --> 00:46:45.679
he did a little bit of that, this is where

794
00:46:45.760 --> 00:46:49.719
we are are thinking, and we start now protect, but

795
00:46:49.880 --> 00:46:52.360
he still he goes right back to behavior. But it's

796
00:46:52.400 --> 00:46:55.880
where my thinking is contrary to God's word, which we

797
00:46:55.920 --> 00:46:58.239
already know. We already struggle with that because God's thoughts

798
00:46:58.280 --> 00:47:00.400
are not our thoughts, His ways are not our ways.

799
00:47:00.960 --> 00:47:04.440
But primarily if you go to the early Church Fathers,

800
00:47:05.199 --> 00:47:10.599
they make it intellectual mental right. They do add the

801
00:47:10.800 --> 00:47:14.280
entrenched sins, but they kind of primarily stay with well

802
00:47:14.480 --> 00:47:17.039
where I think the focus should be. But then we

803
00:47:17.199 --> 00:47:21.280
jump to the mid evil period and we get mystical approaches.

804
00:47:22.360 --> 00:47:25.400
You see, in mid evil times, the idea of spiritual

805
00:47:25.480 --> 00:47:30.360
warfare grew to include a more elaborate system of thought

806
00:47:30.559 --> 00:47:36.639
around spiritual strongholds, and they sometimes tied this to demons

807
00:47:37.400 --> 00:47:44.840
or specifically territorial spirits. Some mystics began to describe strongholds

808
00:47:45.199 --> 00:47:49.880
as attachment to worldly things or patterns of sin that

809
00:47:50.039 --> 00:47:54.719
needed to be broken through esthetic practices or spiritual disciplines.

810
00:47:55.320 --> 00:47:59.480
This took on him more mystical approach. Strongholds. That's satan

811
00:48:00.119 --> 00:48:02.639
demon and now you've got to you gotta do things

812
00:48:02.719 --> 00:48:06.760
like fast or or you know, get away your worldly possessions,

813
00:48:06.880 --> 00:48:09.760
join a monastery. You know, you've got to have spiritual

814
00:48:09.880 --> 00:48:12.800
disciplines to fight these strongholds. But again it becomes very

815
00:48:12.880 --> 00:48:13.840
centered about what you do.

816
00:48:14.039 --> 00:48:15.199
You do, you do, you do?

817
00:48:15.400 --> 00:48:17.280
You you have to fight it. It's almost like you

818
00:48:17.480 --> 00:48:20.599
fighting the demons. The demons have got a stronghold, and

819
00:48:20.679 --> 00:48:22.719
now you've got to fight it. Well, in this sermon,

820
00:48:22.880 --> 00:48:25.159
he's very much said, we have to fight it because

821
00:48:25.559 --> 00:48:28.599
the strongholds kill God's power, It hinders his spirit, it

822
00:48:28.760 --> 00:48:30.920
hinders his presence, and it quenches the spirit.

823
00:48:32.480 --> 00:48:34.880
So but it's the medieval time when you get the.

824
00:48:34.960 --> 00:48:38.639
Mystical approach, the mysticism. Now here's what drives me crazy.

825
00:48:40.519 --> 00:48:45.519
Is Christians here a sermon except the teaching. They promote

826
00:48:45.559 --> 00:48:47.440
the teaching. In many cases they don't even know the

827
00:48:47.599 --> 00:48:50.239
origin of the teaching. See they'll think the origin of

828
00:48:50.320 --> 00:48:53.719
the teaching is Second Corinthians chapter ten. But no, in

829
00:48:53.840 --> 00:48:56.480
many cases, you're not. The origin of the teaching is

830
00:48:56.519 --> 00:48:59.199
a Second Corinthians chapter ten. The origin of the teaching

831
00:48:59.239 --> 00:49:02.039
you just heard is an influence from a specific part

832
00:49:02.159 --> 00:49:05.599
in church history, which they're borrowing that influence from, whether

833
00:49:05.679 --> 00:49:09.960
they know it, the demon Satan part more comes from

834
00:49:10.079 --> 00:49:15.880
mysticism during the medieval period, not the early Church. Now,

835
00:49:15.960 --> 00:49:23.599
when we get to modern times, in recent decades, specifically

836
00:49:24.760 --> 00:49:31.800
within the influence of certain strands of charismatic teaching, strongholds

837
00:49:32.039 --> 00:49:36.599
are sometimes interpreted as spiritual blockages created by demonic forces.

838
00:49:37.280 --> 00:49:42.440
Generational sins are psychological patterns. This has led to practice

839
00:49:42.440 --> 00:49:46.039
such as deliverance ministries that focus on identifying and breaking

840
00:49:46.119 --> 00:49:54.079
specific strongholds in believers' lives in modern times charismatic theology.

841
00:49:54.800 --> 00:49:59.599
But guess what charismatic theology built on the mysticism of

842
00:50:00.239 --> 00:50:02.760
the medieval period. A lot of times I say, if

843
00:50:02.800 --> 00:50:06.599
you look at Catholic mysticism, Catholic mysticism in some cases

844
00:50:06.639 --> 00:50:10.199
I think gives rise to charismatic theology. I don't know

845
00:50:10.239 --> 00:50:13.320
if I can one hundred percent prove that historically, but man,

846
00:50:13.480 --> 00:50:19.079
sometimes when you study Catholic mystics, study Catholic mystics, study

847
00:50:19.159 --> 00:50:25.119
Catholic mysticism, you almost inevitably see to me the I'm

848
00:50:25.159 --> 00:50:28.159
not saying a direct line, but I think you see it.

849
00:50:28.599 --> 00:50:32.559
So when you compare these interpretations to the actual text,

850
00:50:33.800 --> 00:50:37.519
much of what is taught today is arguably more of

851
00:50:37.679 --> 00:50:42.599
reading into than a direct drawing from the text. When

852
00:50:42.639 --> 00:50:46.119
you look at how most pastors interpret Tewod Corinthians, chapter ten,

853
00:50:46.480 --> 00:50:49.440
they read into it. They're not drawing from it. They're

854
00:50:49.480 --> 00:50:52.880
doing isogesis, not exo Jesus, which I say all the time.

855
00:50:52.960 --> 00:50:57.440
All right, Paul Focuses seems very quite practical and direct.

856
00:50:58.159 --> 00:51:01.199
He is identifying thoughts and ideas. Is that contradict the

857
00:51:01.320 --> 00:51:06.119
gospel and actively countering them with truth. Well, it's valid

858
00:51:06.159 --> 00:51:09.000
to consider maybe a broader application. It is clear that

859
00:51:09.119 --> 00:51:12.920
many teachings have layered additional interpretations over Paul's original metaphor,

860
00:51:13.239 --> 00:51:17.199
often extending it into areas Paul doesn't even directly address.

861
00:51:21.320 --> 00:51:26.920
This interpretive expansion might be beneficial in some cases, as

862
00:51:26.960 --> 00:51:30.119
it applies the metaphor to broader life challenges, but it

863
00:51:30.280 --> 00:51:33.960
is crucial to recognize and here I'm quoting something that

864
00:51:34.239 --> 00:51:39.920
much of this is application, not exegesis. As with any passage,

865
00:51:40.239 --> 00:51:47.039
the line between interpretation and addition can be thin, so

866
00:51:47.400 --> 00:51:52.079
careful attention to the text itself is necessary if you

867
00:51:52.199 --> 00:52:01.400
want to maintain any form of balance. Now, let's see

868
00:52:01.440 --> 00:52:04.719
what he does here. He's kind of he's already kind

869
00:52:04.760 --> 00:52:07.559
of expanding this. I think he's starting to possibly read

870
00:52:07.639 --> 00:52:09.159
into it. Let's see where he goes.

871
00:52:10.880 --> 00:52:16.079
Amen. And so we do this without realizing. Amen, that

872
00:52:16.280 --> 00:52:21.639
what we do not condemn, we condon't. What we do

873
00:52:21.880 --> 00:52:25.280
not change, we'll keep.

874
00:52:28.800 --> 00:52:32.239
Please note this is very if you're if you understand,

875
00:52:32.280 --> 00:52:34.119
if you were listening to this sermon and you were

876
00:52:34.199 --> 00:52:38.199
supposed to be identifying law and gospel, this sermon is

877
00:52:38.480 --> 00:52:42.880
law law law, law, law, law, law, law, What we do,

878
00:52:43.039 --> 00:52:44.559
what we do, what we do, what we do, what

879
00:52:44.639 --> 00:52:45.079
we don't do?

880
00:52:45.360 --> 00:52:45.599
We do?

881
00:52:45.760 --> 00:52:48.639
We do, we do, And he's already removed God from

882
00:52:48.679 --> 00:52:53.119
doing anything because once the stronghold, we build the stronghold

883
00:52:53.440 --> 00:52:56.440
by not conforming ourselves to the image of Christ. What's

884
00:52:56.519 --> 00:52:59.159
the stronghold is there? It hinders the presence of God,

885
00:52:59.400 --> 00:53:02.159
kills the power of God, quench the spirit. Then we

886
00:53:03.079 --> 00:53:06.800
we have to then fight against this. It's we we,

887
00:53:07.039 --> 00:53:10.400
it's all about it's all directed at what you do.

888
00:53:10.800 --> 00:53:16.960
This is a law based sermon, isn't that right? A man?

889
00:53:17.480 --> 00:53:21.400
And so Paul tells us this that a stronghold comes

890
00:53:21.480 --> 00:53:24.480
from the wrong kind of thoughts and the wrong kind

891
00:53:24.559 --> 00:53:28.679
of things in our life. Amen. And it really pulls

892
00:53:28.800 --> 00:53:31.960
us down when we begin to think that what we

893
00:53:32.239 --> 00:53:38.599
think is better than what God thinks. Anytime you hear

894
00:53:38.800 --> 00:53:40.719
somebody say yeah, but.

895
00:53:42.800 --> 00:53:44.880
Or I know, but.

896
00:53:46.559 --> 00:53:49.280
They're getting ready to reveal the strongholds in their life.

897
00:53:50.599 --> 00:53:57.039
I know what you said, preacher, but don't even worry

898
00:53:57.039 --> 00:54:03.679
about what the preacher says. Was God say? When God

899
00:54:03.880 --> 00:54:08.760
says this way, y'all dress And you still say, but

900
00:54:10.239 --> 00:54:13.360
can I remind you saw only goats. But somebody helped

901
00:54:13.360 --> 00:54:18.599
me right there. Anyway, that's not truth, sheeple, but.

902
00:54:18.760 --> 00:54:27.360
Too Hey, now, now he just turned this into how

903
00:54:27.519 --> 00:54:30.400
God tells you to dress? How God, because you know,

904
00:54:30.440 --> 00:54:33.199
when you read your Bible, it's just it lays out

905
00:54:33.360 --> 00:54:35.639
exactly how you're supposed to dress. See, I mean, now,

906
00:54:35.800 --> 00:54:38.360
oh boy, all right, you see this is becoming very

907
00:54:38.440 --> 00:54:45.039
behavioral focused. It's it's law based behavior moralism. This is

908
00:54:45.079 --> 00:54:49.199
becoming a moralistic, law based sermon. That's what this is becoming.

909
00:54:49.480 --> 00:54:50.599
This is not gospel.

910
00:54:51.119 --> 00:54:55.079
This is law. This is moralism, and it's reading things

911
00:54:55.159 --> 00:54:56.800
into the text that I don't know are there. Well,

912
00:54:56.840 --> 00:54:59.639
let's see if it if it turns and we get

913
00:54:59.679 --> 00:55:01.000
to a gospel idea.

914
00:55:02.679 --> 00:55:07.840
Amen, most time they'll but harder and goats. Amen. But

915
00:55:07.840 --> 00:55:10.840
then you would think about that it is when we

916
00:55:11.199 --> 00:55:16.000
believe that we know better than God, Amen, that we

917
00:55:16.239 --> 00:55:20.159
have allowed the foundation for these strongholds to be laid.

918
00:55:22.039 --> 00:55:24.079
I know what, I know what the Bible said, but.

919
00:55:26.159 --> 00:55:26.880
I know, but.

920
00:55:31.920 --> 00:55:35.840
Isn't that awful? I think that's I think that's a

921
00:55:36.000 --> 00:55:41.519
sad statement to come out of the mouth of somebody

922
00:55:41.599 --> 00:55:47.519
who claims that they're a child of God. Amen. I

923
00:55:47.719 --> 00:55:53.039
just believe that's just wrong. If God said the world

924
00:55:53.199 --> 00:55:57.559
is round, then don't argue with and by the way

925
00:55:57.599 --> 00:56:03.280
he did, Amen, the world is rouned a man, and

926
00:56:03.360 --> 00:56:05.280
I believe it's in the book Job where he said

927
00:56:05.320 --> 00:56:08.480
that it's round. I don't know where that came from.

928
00:56:08.760 --> 00:56:12.880
But anyway, if God says this is the way you

929
00:56:13.039 --> 00:56:16.559
should be, then why are you thinking that you can

930
00:56:16.639 --> 00:56:21.039
be otherwise? Why do we do that? Is that not

931
00:56:21.280 --> 00:56:22.440
direct rebellion?

932
00:56:25.239 --> 00:56:29.800
Why do we do that? Let's see if we could

933
00:56:29.880 --> 00:56:30.840
figure this out.

934
00:56:32.000 --> 00:56:33.159
Why do we do this?

935
00:56:35.480 --> 00:56:42.440
Because we are sinners by nature. We have a sinful nature.

936
00:56:43.440 --> 00:56:47.320
We are still sinners even after conversion. I know you

937
00:56:47.480 --> 00:56:51.320
told everyone you're changed on the inside, but what you

938
00:56:51.559 --> 00:56:54.800
just demonstrated is by saying that we're changed on the inside.

939
00:56:55.000 --> 00:56:57.960
Now you're left with, well, why do we constantly go

940
00:56:58.119 --> 00:57:01.199
against God? Why do we constantly think opposite to God?

941
00:57:01.480 --> 00:57:04.960
Because we are still sinners. We have been saved by

942
00:57:05.119 --> 00:57:09.320
an imputed righteousness, but we are still sinners.

943
00:57:09.960 --> 00:57:13.239
Okay, I don't understand why do we still do it?

944
00:57:13.639 --> 00:57:17.440
It's as obvious as obvious can be. Because we have

945
00:57:17.599 --> 00:57:20.719
a sinful nature, we have a sinful heart, and we

946
00:57:20.920 --> 00:57:23.679
continue to sin and our think our ways are not

947
00:57:23.840 --> 00:57:27.199
God's ways, our thoughts are not his thoughts. Every part

948
00:57:27.280 --> 00:57:32.159
of us is still under sin. Other than our positional standing,

949
00:57:32.360 --> 00:57:36.320
which is perfect before God, but practical standing, we are sinners.

950
00:57:36.440 --> 00:57:39.239
I don't understand why this is complicated. That's why we

951
00:57:39.400 --> 00:57:39.679
do this.

952
00:57:42.840 --> 00:57:46.920
Remember what we read over there in First Peter. It's

953
00:57:46.960 --> 00:57:50.559
an open door for the one that's a seeking whom

954
00:57:50.679 --> 00:57:54.719
He made the best that is, that is a Isn't

955
00:57:54.760 --> 00:58:01.280
it amazing that our opinion can I outrank God's opinion? Amen?

956
00:58:01.400 --> 00:58:04.760
And so when this takes place in our minds, and Amen,

957
00:58:04.880 --> 00:58:07.599
when we decide that, in spite of knowing the difference

958
00:58:07.679 --> 00:58:10.920
between right and wrong, we still choose wrong, we have

959
00:58:11.159 --> 00:58:15.480
laid the foundation for disaster and a stronghold in our life.

960
00:58:17.719 --> 00:58:21.199
Well, if we lay the foundation for a stronghold every

961
00:58:21.320 --> 00:58:24.840
time we think wrong or do wrong, then ladies and gentlemen,

962
00:58:24.880 --> 00:58:27.480
we got more strongholds built in our lives. Then I

963
00:58:27.639 --> 00:58:32.199
can even count. Because we are continually not doing what

964
00:58:32.320 --> 00:58:36.760
God tells, We're in a perpetual state of sin. Perpetually.

965
00:58:39.880 --> 00:58:43.320
So all right, okay, let's well, I can't believe we're

966
00:58:43.320 --> 00:58:45.280
already at an hour let's see, we'll see if we

967
00:58:45.320 --> 00:58:49.000
can get a little like I got like twenty pages

968
00:58:49.039 --> 00:58:52.599
of notes here on strongholds and how it's okay, let's

969
00:58:52.679 --> 00:58:55.159
let's see, let's see if he let's see where he goes.

970
00:58:57.559 --> 00:59:01.400
Amen, and so so think about this. We have done

971
00:59:01.559 --> 00:59:04.960
what Paul tells us not to do in this same letter.

972
00:59:06.079 --> 00:59:10.039
Don't give place to the devil. That's what strongholds do.

973
00:59:11.119 --> 00:59:13.199
It gives place to the devil. We give him a

974
00:59:13.719 --> 00:59:16.880
secure place. That's what a stronghold is. And you know

975
00:59:17.000 --> 00:59:20.760
what he does in that secure place. He begins to influence.

976
00:59:21.719 --> 00:59:26.719
Our lives. Now, please note this, what he's giving you

977
00:59:26.960 --> 00:59:32.000
is medieval mysticism. He is immediately saying that the stronghold

978
00:59:33.440 --> 00:59:35.800
we give it over, it's a place for Satan. And

979
00:59:35.880 --> 00:59:38.760
then Satan influenced my lives. In other words, without the stronghold,

980
00:59:38.800 --> 00:59:40.880
I guess Satan can't influence my life. But if I

981
00:59:41.119 --> 00:59:44.159
build a stronghold, then Satan influences my life. So now

982
00:59:44.199 --> 00:59:47.280
he's connecting the stronghold with Satan. He connected the stronghold

983
00:59:47.360 --> 00:59:49.800
with one Peter five eight. And we've already said that

984
00:59:50.239 --> 00:59:54.079
there's already that that's not what the text is about.

985
00:59:55.480 --> 00:59:55.840
All right.

986
00:59:56.079 --> 00:59:59.039
That okay, but let's see I want I want to

987
00:59:59.360 --> 01:00:01.360
I could do a lot work on that itself. But

988
01:00:01.440 --> 01:00:02.679
let's see where else he goes.

989
01:00:05.760 --> 01:00:09.519
And as he's influencing our lives. Hey, man, you know

990
01:00:09.599 --> 01:00:13.480
what we're doing. We're digging. We're digging a deeper hole.

991
01:00:18.840 --> 01:00:23.639
That habit gets stronger and stronger and stronger, that act,

992
01:00:23.840 --> 01:00:28.239
that thought gets deeper and deeper and deeper, until finally,

993
01:00:30.000 --> 01:00:34.199
nobody's gonna get it down of you. And God's told

994
01:00:34.199 --> 01:00:36.159
you so many times that he's tired of telling you,

995
01:00:36.199 --> 01:00:39.400
and he's not gonna get it down you. Not that

996
01:00:39.519 --> 01:00:42.079
he can't, he just won't.

997
01:00:44.760 --> 01:00:47.159
So you can get to a place where God will

998
01:00:47.239 --> 01:00:49.719
not even get the thought out of you. God will

999
01:00:49.760 --> 01:00:52.760
not even do anything. Now he says God can, but

1000
01:00:52.920 --> 01:00:55.440
our earlier he made an argument that God can't, because

1001
01:00:55.480 --> 01:00:58.679
he says strongholds kills the power of God, hinders the

1002
01:00:58.719 --> 01:01:00.880
presence of God, and quench the space. Now he's saying

1003
01:01:00.920 --> 01:01:03.119
God could get rid of it, but God won't get

1004
01:01:03.199 --> 01:01:04.960
rid of it. Well, if God won't get rid of it,

1005
01:01:05.119 --> 01:01:06.920
what he's saying, then you've got to get rid of

1006
01:01:07.000 --> 01:01:14.719
it without God's assistance. This is insane. There's no way

1007
01:01:15.199 --> 01:01:19.079
he's thought this through, this whole thing. I don't even know.

1008
01:01:19.320 --> 01:01:22.280
I don't even know what to call this position. It's like,

1009
01:01:22.760 --> 01:01:25.320
you don't need God to get rid of stronghold. Now

1010
01:01:25.360 --> 01:01:27.920
you're the one who build them. You're the one responsibility

1011
01:01:27.960 --> 01:01:29.880
to take them down because God can't take them down.

1012
01:01:30.000 --> 01:01:32.519
Because the stronghold kills the power of God. It hinders

1013
01:01:32.559 --> 01:01:34.760
the presence of God, it quinches the spirit, and God

1014
01:01:34.800 --> 01:01:37.079
gets tired of telling you. So God won't even do it.

1015
01:01:37.280 --> 01:01:43.559
So you're on your own. I tell you, every stronghold,

1016
01:01:43.760 --> 01:01:47.159
every stronghold, is a hindrance to our relationship with God.

1017
01:01:49.639 --> 01:01:53.800
The reason they're there is because we have failed in

1018
01:01:53.960 --> 01:02:01.000
conforming to the image of God's Son. Amen. Amen. So

1019
01:02:01.119 --> 01:02:04.000
it's important that we realize that we aren't dealing. Now

1020
01:02:04.079 --> 01:02:09.400
listen what I'm about to you. And by the way,

1021
01:02:09.920 --> 01:02:13.880
it doesn't that prove how depraved our nature is. When

1022
01:02:13.920 --> 01:02:17.360
we're saved by the grace of God and we steal,

1023
01:02:19.079 --> 01:02:21.800
think what we think is better than what God thinks.

1024
01:02:24.119 --> 01:02:27.320
Okay, now wait a minute. Earlier he said God changes us.

1025
01:02:27.679 --> 01:02:30.880
Now he's acknowledging how depraved our nature is. So is

1026
01:02:30.960 --> 01:02:33.360
our nature depraved or has our nature been changed? Can

1027
01:02:33.480 --> 01:02:35.000
someone explain any.

1028
01:02:34.840 --> 01:02:42.440
Of this to me? We still oppose what God said.

1029
01:02:42.639 --> 01:02:45.280
I don't oppose God. Well, if you ain't lining up

1030
01:02:45.320 --> 01:02:48.679
with the book, you are, Isn't that right? I know

1031
01:02:48.840 --> 01:02:51.760
this is simple preaching, and I know you've heard it before.

1032
01:02:54.480 --> 01:02:56.599
Well, if you don't line up with the book, you're

1033
01:02:56.639 --> 01:03:00.840
opposing God. You're perpetually opposing God. Because God's book says

1034
01:03:00.920 --> 01:03:03.079
be holy as He is holy. You're never holy as

1035
01:03:03.119 --> 01:03:05.639
He is holy. So you are in a perpetual state

1036
01:03:05.840 --> 01:03:08.639
of opposition to God. He says, be perfect taus, your

1037
01:03:08.639 --> 01:03:09.639
heavenly Father is perfect.

1038
01:03:09.719 --> 01:03:09.960
You're not.

1039
01:03:10.159 --> 01:03:12.280
You're in a perpetual opposition to God.

1040
01:03:12.480 --> 01:03:13.800
I can go on and on and on and on.

1041
01:03:14.039 --> 01:03:17.639
So why does he keep acting like some none of

1042
01:03:17.760 --> 01:03:20.039
you or all of you are in opposition to God?

1043
01:03:20.199 --> 01:03:23.119
He acts like, well, some of you. No, every single

1044
01:03:23.280 --> 01:03:27.239
person is in opposition to God perpetually. We are not

1045
01:03:27.920 --> 01:03:32.000
positionally because positionally I am holy as God is holy.

1046
01:03:32.199 --> 01:03:35.000
I am perfect because of imputed righteousness. But he's not

1047
01:03:35.159 --> 01:03:39.559
offering any discussion about imputed righteousness. This is all action, action, action, action,

1048
01:03:40.000 --> 01:03:42.599
And I think he's not even allowing the text to

1049
01:03:42.639 --> 01:03:45.159
define what a stronghold is. But well, I'm going to

1050
01:03:45.199 --> 01:03:46.519
try to wrap this up as soon as I can.

1051
01:03:46.559 --> 01:03:47.679
We got to go a little bit further.

1052
01:03:50.039 --> 01:03:52.360
Just what God told me. So I'm telling you what

1053
01:03:52.480 --> 01:03:56.320
God told me to hear that.

1054
01:03:57.440 --> 01:04:00.239
This is what God told me to tell you. I'm

1055
01:04:00.320 --> 01:04:02.960
telling you what God told me to tell you. So

1056
01:04:03.119 --> 01:04:07.960
you can't argue with this sermon. This sermon comes from God.

1057
01:04:08.679 --> 01:04:11.760
Even though we've already pointed out logical fallacies. We've already

1058
01:04:11.800 --> 01:04:14.280
pointed out that some of this comes from medieval mysticism,

1059
01:04:14.480 --> 01:04:16.840
but none of that matters because God told him to

1060
01:04:16.880 --> 01:04:19.559
say this. So this comes directly from God. This is

1061
01:04:19.639 --> 01:04:23.880
basically inspired scripture. Basically, you should go to the sermonadio website,

1062
01:04:24.079 --> 01:04:26.519
get the text, print it out, put it in your

1063
01:04:26.559 --> 01:04:37.159
Bible because it comes from God. Oh man, so I

1064
01:04:37.239 --> 01:04:39.320
guess what I'm saying doesn't come from God. But what

1065
01:04:39.400 --> 01:04:40.840
if I was to tell you that what I'm saying

1066
01:04:40.880 --> 01:04:43.159
comes from God and he's saying what he's saying is

1067
01:04:43.199 --> 01:04:45.119
coming from God. Because make sure you know all the

1068
01:04:45.199 --> 01:04:48.079
other people who have different interpretations of this passage would

1069
01:04:48.079 --> 01:04:50.800
say that that's what God says. And know what God

1070
01:04:50.880 --> 01:04:53.559
says is what he says. So I don't have been

1071
01:04:53.960 --> 01:04:55.639
Do we even know what God said anymore?

1072
01:04:55.760 --> 01:04:57.440
Who knows? I thought it was in the Bible, But

1073
01:04:57.800 --> 01:05:02.440
what do I know? So it's important that we realize

1074
01:05:02.519 --> 01:05:04.960
what we're dealing with here. Now. We're not dealing with

1075
01:05:05.119 --> 01:05:10.840
just random thoughts. You have them all day long. We're

1076
01:05:10.880 --> 01:05:13.000
dealing with something that you think on all the time.

1077
01:05:14.519 --> 01:05:19.920
It's something that attacks your mind. It's something that comes

1078
01:05:19.960 --> 01:05:21.960
across your mind, and you know what, you like it,

1079
01:05:23.880 --> 01:05:29.239
You pet it, you take care of it. Amen, it

1080
01:05:29.320 --> 01:05:34.360
doesn't bother you like the music that you listen to.

1081
01:05:38.400 --> 01:05:41.480
I mean, I've watched some people. I've watched some people. Man,

1082
01:05:41.559 --> 01:05:44.079
they throw their records out, They throw their tapes out,

1083
01:05:44.159 --> 01:05:46.559
their cassettes out, They threw it all out. Man, they

1084
01:05:46.679 --> 01:05:50.239
throwed it all out. And now just go check the radio.

1085
01:05:52.519 --> 01:05:56.920
And how in the name of bubblegum has music got

1086
01:05:57.000 --> 01:06:00.360
involved in this? And throw throwed their records and take

1087
01:06:00.719 --> 01:06:04.920
what year is this sermon preached? And to go to

1088
01:06:05.000 --> 01:06:08.159
the radio. Who's going to the radio. It's twenty twenty four,

1089
01:06:08.280 --> 01:06:10.840
for crying out loud, Well, what does music have to

1090
01:06:10.920 --> 01:06:12.960
do with this? So if you listen to music he

1091
01:06:13.079 --> 01:06:16.519
doesn't approve of. Then, ladies and gentlemen, you have a stronghold.

1092
01:06:16.960 --> 01:06:19.599
Stronghold is when you like music that he doesn't like.

1093
01:06:23.159 --> 01:06:26.599
What I don't understand.

1094
01:06:27.039 --> 01:06:31.079
I don't understand. Okay, let's just remember God told him

1095
01:06:31.079 --> 01:06:32.800
that all this stuff. God told him all of this.

1096
01:06:33.280 --> 01:06:36.119
Remember this all comes from God. This is like you know,

1097
01:06:36.519 --> 01:06:41.039
infallible preaching, wonder where the.

1098
01:06:41.039 --> 01:06:44.280
Power God went in her life? I wonder where the

1099
01:06:44.360 --> 01:06:45.920
presence of God is in life.

1100
01:06:48.039 --> 01:06:51.280
See, if you have wrong music, it kills the power

1101
01:06:51.360 --> 01:06:53.760
of God, and it kills the presence of God. So

1102
01:06:54.000 --> 01:06:58.119
your music is stronger than God. Now, if I open

1103
01:06:58.239 --> 01:07:01.440
up right now any music stre app and I start

1104
01:07:01.480 --> 01:07:05.280
playing music, if it's not the music God approves of, Boom,

1105
01:07:05.360 --> 01:07:07.719
I just killed the power of God in my life. Boom,

1106
01:07:07.800 --> 01:07:09.599
I just drove the presence of God out of my

1107
01:07:09.719 --> 01:07:13.480
life because my music streaming app is stronger than the

1108
01:07:13.599 --> 01:07:18.360
onipotent God of the universe. It's just he can't handle it.

1109
01:07:18.400 --> 01:07:21.559
He's like, that's the wrong music. My power, My power

1110
01:07:21.719 --> 01:07:26.639
gets weak. Do you see the logic here? So if

1111
01:07:26.679 --> 01:07:28.800
I get a stronghold, and what is a stronghold, stronghold

1112
01:07:28.800 --> 01:07:31.760
could be wrong music? You have wrong music. That's a stronghold.

1113
01:07:31.880 --> 01:07:34.480
Now guess what boom? Because you like it? Well, if

1114
01:07:34.519 --> 01:07:36.840
you didn't like the music, I guess that would. I

1115
01:07:37.039 --> 01:07:39.719
don't even understand how this even works anymore. This is

1116
01:07:39.960 --> 01:07:42.719
just all right. But remember this is all supposedly comes

1117
01:07:42.760 --> 01:07:43.079
from God.

1118
01:07:45.960 --> 01:07:50.239
Amen, oh Bridger, you don't understand. I'm spiritual enough to

1119
01:07:50.360 --> 01:07:50.800
handle it.

1120
01:07:50.920 --> 01:07:51.920
You a fool.

1121
01:07:54.280 --> 01:07:58.920
As foolish thinking all that is is an open door

1122
01:07:59.039 --> 01:08:02.320
for the devil. Hey man, if he gets the foot

1123
01:08:02.360 --> 01:08:04.679
in there, it won't just be a stronghold and become

1124
01:08:04.760 --> 01:08:05.599
a stranglehold.

1125
01:08:08.320 --> 01:08:11.559
I wonder if he's quoting Ted Nugent. I'm joking. I'm

1126
01:08:11.599 --> 01:08:14.960
making a music reference. Okay, never mind, never mind, never mind, Okay,

1127
01:08:15.360 --> 01:08:17.720
a few music people will get what I'm talking about. Okay,

1128
01:08:17.960 --> 01:08:26.359
all right. Music is a door to satan. If you

1129
01:08:26.439 --> 01:08:30.600
listen to the wrong music, the doorpans. Not like I'm Thriller,

1130
01:08:30.760 --> 01:08:35.560
the door opens and then here comes satan. Music is

1131
01:08:35.640 --> 01:08:40.800
the doorway to the devil. Music. Now, your sinful nature

1132
01:08:40.880 --> 01:08:43.479
that's inside of you. Music. See, you need to be

1133
01:08:43.560 --> 01:08:50.479
worried more about music than your sinful nature. How come

1134
01:08:50.520 --> 01:08:52.600
I've known lots of people who don't listen to rock

1135
01:08:52.640 --> 01:08:55.039
and roll or rap. I think I know this person

1136
01:08:55.079 --> 01:08:58.680
by the name of Kin And he killed Abel. And

1137
01:08:58.840 --> 01:09:04.000
he never heard even Elvis Presley. He never heard the Beatles,

1138
01:09:04.399 --> 01:09:06.880
Chuck Berry. I could go on and on and on,

1139
01:09:07.000 --> 01:09:11.239
and he never even heard the architects of rock and roll.

1140
01:09:11.479 --> 01:09:17.079
He never heard Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden. He never heard Zeppelin. Hey,

1141
01:09:17.199 --> 01:09:19.600
I could go all the way up to modern indie bands.

1142
01:09:19.800 --> 01:09:22.720
He never no, I mean I could go, But he

1143
01:09:22.840 --> 01:09:26.520
killed somebody. How come? And how come we had homosexuality

1144
01:09:26.840 --> 01:09:32.159
before the village people, We had homosexuality before disco. I mean,

1145
01:09:32.199 --> 01:09:34.199
I can go. What in the world? How come we

1146
01:09:34.279 --> 01:09:37.600
have all these horrible how come we had a man going, hey,

1147
01:09:37.640 --> 01:09:40.000
I know what I'll do. Hey, Hey, all the men

1148
01:09:40.079 --> 01:09:42.079
in the city, you can have my daughters and do

1149
01:09:42.199 --> 01:09:44.319
whatever you want with them. And how did the daughters like,

1150
01:09:44.439 --> 01:09:46.760
let's get dad drunk and have sex with him. And

1151
01:09:46.880 --> 01:09:48.560
how how come we have all of this stuff going

1152
01:09:48.600 --> 01:09:51.680
on in the Bible? And guess what, we don't have rap,

1153
01:09:52.119 --> 01:10:00.640
rock and roll. We don't. Oh no, wouldn't the doorway

1154
01:10:00.880 --> 01:10:04.199
to the devil be the sinful nature that is in you?

1155
01:10:04.920 --> 01:10:07.800
Wouldn't that be the doorway to the isn't your nature

1156
01:10:08.079 --> 01:10:10.239
the thing that opens the door to the devil? Not

1157
01:10:10.399 --> 01:10:11.560
the music you listen to.

1158
01:10:16.600 --> 01:10:19.039
That's why so many people struggle with it. Why can't

1159
01:10:19.079 --> 01:10:21.760
you get some women out of their breeches? Why breach

1160
01:10:21.840 --> 01:10:24.359
to them forty years and you can't get them out

1161
01:10:24.399 --> 01:10:25.039
of their bridge?

1162
01:10:25.159 --> 01:10:25.359
Why?

1163
01:10:25.520 --> 01:10:28.239
Because it's become such a stronghold in their lives.

1164
01:10:28.520 --> 01:10:33.399
What you can't get the women out of their breeches

1165
01:10:37.680 --> 01:10:42.600
because their breeches is a stronghold. Hey, ladies, if you

1166
01:10:42.680 --> 01:10:47.880
wear pants, that's a stronghold. You've got a demonic stronghold

1167
01:10:48.159 --> 01:10:51.079
because I can't get you out of your breeches. That

1168
01:10:51.199 --> 01:10:54.840
even doesn't even sound right. Robbie, he's been trying to

1169
01:10:54.840 --> 01:10:57.119
get women out of their breeches for forty six years

1170
01:10:57.199 --> 01:11:00.319
like that. I think that just sounds all incorrect. Okay, okay,

1171
01:11:00.319 --> 01:11:01.800
I just need to stop ale on my head. Let's

1172
01:11:01.840 --> 01:11:02.399
just continue.

1173
01:11:03.960 --> 01:11:06.279
I can't you get people that are say, by the

1174
01:11:06.359 --> 01:11:10.760
race of God to turn the country music holf because

1175
01:11:10.800 --> 01:11:14.640
it's become such a stronghold. Oh no, but I'm fair

1176
01:11:14.720 --> 01:11:16.880
to left to take it. But you can't quit it.

1177
01:11:19.840 --> 01:11:30.279
Country music is a stronghold. Oh man, I give up.

1178
01:11:30.399 --> 01:11:32.920
Ladies and gentlemen, I give them. I don't know what

1179
01:11:33.079 --> 01:11:33.960
to do anymore.

1180
01:11:34.119 --> 01:11:41.359
I don't This is law, law, law, law, behavioral, moralism, pietism,

1181
01:11:43.520 --> 01:11:44.960
medieval mysticism.

1182
01:11:45.119 --> 01:11:45.680
I don't know what this.

1183
01:11:45.920 --> 01:11:49.640
Let me just help you. Here the stronghold mentioned and

1184
01:11:49.760 --> 01:11:54.800
Second Corinthians ten I believe two me you know no

1185
01:11:55.079 --> 01:11:58.720
verse three? Okay or four? Okay? Let me make it

1186
01:11:58.800 --> 01:12:02.439
very here, all right, the stronghold mentioned in Second Corinthians

1187
01:12:02.560 --> 01:12:05.960
chapter ten four, if I can read correctly, for the

1188
01:12:06.000 --> 01:12:08.600
weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God.

1189
01:12:08.720 --> 01:12:12.720
To the pulling down of strongholds Second Corinthians ten four.

1190
01:12:13.159 --> 01:12:18.560
Those strongholds mentioned there in ten four are effectively defined

1191
01:12:18.840 --> 01:12:23.560
in verse five, because look at verse five, casting down

1192
01:12:23.760 --> 01:12:30.199
imaginations and every high thing that casteth itself against the

1193
01:12:30.359 --> 01:12:34.560
knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity.

1194
01:12:35.039 --> 01:12:35.399
All right.

1195
01:12:36.000 --> 01:12:38.840
Paul provides a fuller picture of what he means by

1196
01:12:38.960 --> 01:12:43.840
strongholds right. Verse five clarifies that the strongholds Paul refers

1197
01:12:43.880 --> 01:12:50.399
to our intellectual are ideological structures, specifically arguments and lofty

1198
01:12:50.600 --> 01:12:54.479
opinions that set themselves against the knowledge of God. These

1199
01:12:54.520 --> 01:12:59.279
are not physical structures or necessarily even supernatural forces, but

1200
01:12:59.479 --> 01:13:04.960
rather mental or philosophical constructs that oppose God's truth. Paul

1201
01:13:05.119 --> 01:13:09.319
uses military language to describe a kind of spiritual battle

1202
01:13:09.600 --> 01:13:14.279
where these strongholds are attacked and demolished through divine means.

1203
01:13:14.840 --> 01:13:19.960
In other words, the strongholds are patterns of thought, entrenched beliefs,

1204
01:13:20.199 --> 01:13:23.800
or arguments that resist God's revelation and truth. By defining

1205
01:13:23.840 --> 01:13:26.399
strongholds in this way, Paul focuses on the need for

1206
01:13:26.439 --> 01:13:29.600
spiritual discernment and the truth of the Gospel to confront

1207
01:13:29.680 --> 01:13:33.720
and dismantle ideas and worldviews contrary to God's knowledge. This

1208
01:13:33.880 --> 01:13:37.039
aligns with Paul's emphasis on taking every thought captive to

1209
01:13:37.159 --> 01:13:41.640
obey Christ, showing that these are internal mental barriers rather

1210
01:13:41.760 --> 01:13:46.359
than external or demonic entities. This is about wrong thinking.

1211
01:13:47.199 --> 01:13:50.159
And please note he says God can't help God may

1212
01:13:50.239 --> 01:13:52.800
not even help you, and that the stronghold destroys God.

1213
01:13:52.880 --> 01:13:55.760
But look what it says, for though we walk in

1214
01:13:55.800 --> 01:13:57.920
the flesh, we do not war after the flesh, For

1215
01:13:58.000 --> 01:14:00.600
the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty

1216
01:14:00.720 --> 01:14:04.000
through God. To the pulling down of strongholds, the text says,

1217
01:14:04.039 --> 01:14:08.479
it's God who it's spiritual power that pulls down the stronghold.

1218
01:14:08.640 --> 01:14:11.319
And he says that the stronghold kills the power of God,

1219
01:14:11.840 --> 01:14:14.640
hinders the presence of God, and quenches the spirit. Well, then,

1220
01:14:15.119 --> 01:14:17.560
according to him, it's me who pulls down the stronghold.

1221
01:14:17.680 --> 01:14:21.199
It's not me, it's God. How because I go to

1222
01:14:21.279 --> 01:14:24.039
the word of God, and the Word of God confronts

1223
01:14:24.239 --> 01:14:27.720
the wrong thinking and the wrong ideology and the wrong belief.

1224
01:14:28.000 --> 01:14:32.960
It gives me truth, and truth fights these mental strongholds

1225
01:14:33.000 --> 01:14:35.359
and tells me that thinking is wrong and that thinking

1226
01:14:35.439 --> 01:14:37.199
is wrong. But let me get let me make it

1227
01:14:37.319 --> 01:14:39.640
very clear. I can get all of my thinking right.

1228
01:14:40.359 --> 01:14:42.880
I can get my thinking completely right. I can pull

1229
01:14:42.960 --> 01:14:46.399
down every mental stronghold that my thinking is perfectly in

1230
01:14:46.479 --> 01:14:49.600
line with God. But I'm still going to sin. I'm

1231
01:14:49.760 --> 01:14:52.920
still going to rebel because the sin and the rebellion

1232
01:14:53.119 --> 01:14:55.800
comes from a sinful nature that is still inside of

1233
01:14:55.880 --> 01:14:57.720
me until glorification.

1234
01:15:02.239 --> 01:15:07.960
Isn't that right? You so spiritual? Why can't you quit it? Well,

1235
01:15:08.039 --> 01:15:13.600
for one, you don't want to, Amen, that's the biggest problem. Amen,

1236
01:15:13.680 --> 01:15:16.159
you have never tried to quit it. You're one of

1237
01:15:16.199 --> 01:15:21.920
them that goes. But but what you enjoy it? But

1238
01:15:22.079 --> 01:15:25.079
what you like feeding the flesh? What did Paul say?

1239
01:15:25.399 --> 01:15:29.359
We're in the flesh, but we don't work after it? Amen,

1240
01:15:30.520 --> 01:15:33.199
My goodness, I didn't mean to be this mean as tonight.

1241
01:15:33.359 --> 01:15:36.199
I thought i'd be this is the Wednesday night grab.

1242
01:15:36.279 --> 01:15:38.000
But you know what, I'm just gonna preach to night

1243
01:15:38.000 --> 01:15:43.319
any So you think about this though. Strongholds deal with

1244
01:15:43.439 --> 01:15:47.560
areas in our life that we have allowed ourselves. Amen.

1245
01:15:47.640 --> 01:15:51.760
To be put in bondage by a stronghold is something

1246
01:15:51.840 --> 01:15:55.239
that will keep you in prison. It's something that you

1247
01:15:55.520 --> 01:15:57.760
no matter how hard you want or even if you

1248
01:15:57.840 --> 01:16:02.279
want to, you will not why because it's your stronghold.

1249
01:16:03.560 --> 01:16:06.800
In your mind, you will say I'm gonna get rid

1250
01:16:06.840 --> 01:16:10.399
of this, But when the time comes to get rid

1251
01:16:10.439 --> 01:16:15.760
of it, in your heart you just can't do it. Wait.

1252
01:16:16.319 --> 01:16:18.359
So in my mind I say I'm going to get

1253
01:16:18.439 --> 01:16:20.479
rid of this, but in your heart you can't. Wait

1254
01:16:20.520 --> 01:16:23.159
a minute. I thought the strong the stronghold is wrong thinking.

1255
01:16:23.720 --> 01:16:25.560
If my thinking says I want to get rid of this,

1256
01:16:25.800 --> 01:16:28.760
then that means there's no stronghold, because the stronghold is

1257
01:16:28.760 --> 01:16:41.479
about our think. I don't understinking stand. All right, I'm

1258
01:16:41.520 --> 01:16:43.359
just gonna play a couple more seconds, and then I'm

1259
01:16:43.399 --> 01:16:46.039
just gonna stop. I think we've I mean, you hear

1260
01:16:46.119 --> 01:16:49.159
their perspective. I'm offering you the history. I've offered you

1261
01:16:49.399 --> 01:16:52.159
the history of views on stronghold, and I've helped you

1262
01:16:52.239 --> 01:16:57.000
to understand that the strongholds are defined by the text itself.

1263
01:17:00.720 --> 01:17:03.600
Are y'all hearing me? You say, how in the world

1264
01:17:03.680 --> 01:17:05.640
did it get there? Will listen to what I'm about

1265
01:17:05.680 --> 01:17:08.960
to tell you. They are the result of an accumulation

1266
01:17:09.319 --> 01:17:20.159
of uncrucified thoughts, unsanctified attitude, and an unholy activity. All

1267
01:17:20.319 --> 01:17:25.600
this has been allowed, all these thoughts that enter into

1268
01:17:25.680 --> 01:17:29.479
your mind. You didn't stop them. I didn't stop them.

1269
01:17:30.800 --> 01:17:33.359
And because I didn't stop them or you didn't stop them,

1270
01:17:33.399 --> 01:17:37.960
we've allowed them to become strongholds in our life. Amen.

1271
01:17:39.840 --> 01:17:41.640
See now he's going back to the thoughts. But he

1272
01:17:41.840 --> 01:17:44.560
just previously said that in your mind. You said you're

1273
01:17:44.560 --> 01:17:47.720
gonna well, then that's not in my mind? So mind,

1274
01:17:48.479 --> 01:17:50.399
Well boy, here we go. We're getting back to wait,

1275
01:17:50.520 --> 01:17:51.800
is it my mind? Is it my heart? Is it

1276
01:17:51.880 --> 01:17:53.840
my spirit? We're getting back to all member, we had

1277
01:17:53.840 --> 01:17:58.319
all of those discussions. No, this is about wrong thinking.

1278
01:17:58.640 --> 01:18:01.000
I do agree that we can get thinking in our mind.

1279
01:18:01.079 --> 01:18:03.279
But this is not about behavior. This is not about music.

1280
01:18:03.479 --> 01:18:05.760
This is not about women wearing breeches, This is not

1281
01:18:05.840 --> 01:18:09.840
about country music. This is about thinking things that are different.

1282
01:18:09.960 --> 01:18:14.479
For example, love your enemy. My thinking says, I don't

1283
01:18:14.560 --> 01:18:16.720
want to love my Not only do my feelings in

1284
01:18:16.760 --> 01:18:21.279
my heart, but my thinking is, well, well you're going

1285
01:18:21.359 --> 01:18:24.960
to justify well this and that you're gonna make excuses

1286
01:18:25.119 --> 01:18:27.319
turn the other cheek. Well, God didn't really mean it

1287
01:18:27.399 --> 01:18:30.119
that way. That When are we have a tendency to

1288
01:18:30.399 --> 01:18:33.159
argue in our mind with what the scriptures actually say.

1289
01:18:33.600 --> 01:18:35.920
We have wrong thinking, We may have wrong beliefs, We

1290
01:18:36.039 --> 01:18:39.159
may have a wrong interpretation of scripture. Who knows we

1291
01:18:39.279 --> 01:18:42.000
could be offering up a wrong interpretation of Second Corinthians

1292
01:18:42.119 --> 01:18:44.640
Chapter ten, verses three through five.

1293
01:18:47.840 --> 01:18:49.600
Well, when you heard a preach or preach on it

1294
01:18:49.720 --> 01:18:53.079
twenty five thirty years ago, why didn't you quit?

1295
01:18:53.159 --> 01:18:53.319
Then?

1296
01:18:56.640 --> 01:18:58.279
Think about it? If you to quit, then you wouldn't

1297
01:18:58.319 --> 01:19:01.359
be having that the trouble you're having. And now twenty

1298
01:19:01.439 --> 01:19:02.359
five years later.

1299
01:19:04.439 --> 01:19:08.159
See his philosophy. Just stop. You don't even need God,

1300
01:19:08.800 --> 01:19:13.760
just stop, just quit, Just stop, all right, ladies and gentlemen,

1301
01:19:13.840 --> 01:19:17.960
just stop sinning, you'll never have a stronghold. Well, why

1302
01:19:18.039 --> 01:19:20.920
don't we stop? He's already mentioned because of how depraved

1303
01:19:20.960 --> 01:19:24.239
her nature is? So does my right thinking fix my

1304
01:19:24.479 --> 01:19:28.039
wrong nature? No, my right thinking will help me be

1305
01:19:28.279 --> 01:19:31.159
willing to acknowledge my wrong nature and be willing to

1306
01:19:31.199 --> 01:19:32.880
acknowledge that what I'm doing is wrong.

1307
01:19:33.000 --> 01:19:34.239
At least let me see that.

1308
01:19:37.119 --> 01:19:39.119
All right, we have to stop there. We're at seventy

1309
01:19:39.239 --> 01:19:41.880
nine minutes. Thank you for joining me on this Sunday

1310
01:19:41.920 --> 01:19:45.520
afternoon to Sunday evening, as we've had a very positive

1311
01:19:45.600 --> 01:19:50.119
experience hearing someone present a different perspective of Christianity. I've

1312
01:19:50.159 --> 01:19:53.600
offered you an alternative. You can choose whichever one you want.

1313
01:19:53.800 --> 01:19:55.640
And I'm not going to get frustrated, and I'm not

1314
01:19:55.680 --> 01:19:59.159
going to get angry, because ultimately it doesn't matter. Christianity

1315
01:19:59.239 --> 01:20:01.279
is going to go the way Christianity is going to go.

1316
01:20:01.640 --> 01:20:04.079
I will always be on the outside looking in, and

1317
01:20:04.239 --> 01:20:08.079
that's okay. Someone there should be some room for people

1318
01:20:08.159 --> 01:20:12.520
out there who may call into question that entire approach,

1319
01:20:13.399 --> 01:20:16.159
or you may love that entire approach and disagree with mine.

1320
01:20:16.600 --> 01:20:19.399
I've tried to offer history. I've tried to offer a

1321
01:20:19.479 --> 01:20:23.279
textual basis. I could go in two more here, but

1322
01:20:24.399 --> 01:20:26.479
there you go. Just remember a lot of what you

1323
01:20:26.560 --> 01:20:29.520
hear about strongholds is is of Jesus. It's being read

1324
01:20:29.520 --> 01:20:31.960
into the text. It's not being pulled from the text.

1325
01:20:32.319 --> 01:20:34.119
And it's very easy for you to think it's coming

1326
01:20:34.199 --> 01:20:36.560
from the text because the pastor is telling you it's

1327
01:20:36.560 --> 01:20:38.800
come from it, But it's actually being placed upon it.

1328
01:20:39.720 --> 01:20:43.720
And we are all guilty of doing that. So that's

1329
01:20:43.760 --> 01:20:46.640
his perspective. You can you can you can go with

1330
01:20:46.760 --> 01:20:48.560
that one, or you can go with what I've tried

1331
01:20:48.600 --> 01:20:53.760
to offer as somewhat of a alternative. That's the beautiful

1332
01:20:53.840 --> 01:20:56.960
thing about it. Ultimately, you get to decide. All right,

1333
01:20:57.560 --> 01:21:00.920
Thanks for listening. I'm getting weather or notification that rain

1334
01:21:01.159 --> 01:21:04.760
is on its way, so and I think my food

1335
01:21:05.000 --> 01:21:07.000
has arrived, so I think I'm going to go get food.

1336
01:21:07.079 --> 01:21:09.239
All right, Thanks for listening. Everyone, have a good evening.

1337
01:21:10.239 --> 01:21:10.760
God bless