PULLING DOWN STRONG HOLDS 

II COR. 10:1-6 

          Second Corinthians, written by Paul, to the Church at Corinth, has two major purposes.  In it Paul spoke against false teachers who were claiming to be apostles and he defends the authenticity of both his own apostleship and his message.  Who these false teachers are is not really said but most believe they were Jews.  These false teachers elevated the Law of Moses, and promoted allegiance to themselves as men who were direct descendents of Moses and interpreters of the Law.  These men taught that Paul’s ministry and his message were as suspect as Paul’s travel plans.  In other words no one, they claimed, knew where Paul’s teachings where coming from or where they were going to.  The attack on Paul and his teachings was affecting these young Christians and Paul feared that many would be turned from the gospel. The last 4 chapters of this book, beginning here in chapter 10 are where Paul begins to defend his apostleship and his message.

          Paul begins by urging the people to listen and respond to him.  He says basically, “I am writing you with the same meekness and gentleness that Christ displayed when he calmly accepted the wrong done against him.  But if this continues, and I must come among you to defend you against those who are trying to harm you, I will come with great boldness.  Those who opposed Paul felt that Paul could talk a good game, but his bark was worse than his bite.  By the world’s standards they considered him weak and timid.  This brings us to verses 3 – 6 because Paul reminds the people that though we live physically in the world our way of life and of handling the battles of this life are not of this world. Paul says, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.”  The word used for strong hold in the Greek is ochuroma and in Hebrew is mibtsar.  These words are best translated in English by fortress or fortified cities.  In Bible days a strong hold was a city fortified with defensive walls, towers and gates to protect the city from being attacked by its enemies.  The walls we are speaking of here were usually 15 to 25 feet thick and about 25 feet high.  Sometimes these fortified cities would have several walls for added protection.  Many people lived outside the city walls.  But in times of danger, the people would retreat to the city and barricade themselves in behind the safety of these great walls.  People trusted the fortified city walls to protect them.  Once family, friends, leaders, etc. were safely inside the wall, soldiers could go out and fight the enemy without the fear of an unprotected home land.  Both those who were inside and the enemy from the outside saw these fortified cities as impenetrable. 

          When we consider the strong hold that have been established in our lives we must understand that they were designed by our enemy in an attempt to keep out his enemy.  In other words in the lives of Christians  strong holds are obstacles designed by the devil to keep the Spirit of God and the Word of God from being effective in our lives and thus block us from developing the character of God.  I want to talk today about PULLING DOWN STRONG HOLDS OR OVERCOMING OBSTACLES.  Because the type of obstacles we face and the strong holds in our lives can vary so greatly this message may take more than one week to complete.  In fact because of the number of examples God has given me it may take several weeks.  But before we dive into the issue of strongholds and obstacles, Paul said in 2 Corinthians that we have mighty weapons that are to be used to pull down these strong holds.

What are these weapons?  Now some would say the whole armor of God as recorded in Ephesians 6.  But armor is for protecting not for advancing and attacking.  However, listed among the armor is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.  So, most of us know that the Word of God is to be a weapon for us to use against the enemy in our war on sin.  We know that Jesus used the Word in Matthew 4: 1-11 when He had to do battle with Satan.  Is the Word of God our only weapon? Surely it is not. 

Some would say prayer is a weapon.  Though prayer can be a weapon, I see it more as our energy source, the sustaining force that gives us the drive and power to stay in the battle when the fight is hard.    What other weapons do we have to aid us in pulling down the strong holds of our lives?  Through the examples that God has given me to use he has shown me several things that I never really considered to be weapons.  I now see that anything that God uses to attack and pull down the strong holds of the enemy or to cause us to overcome the obstacles set up by the enemy is a weapon.  And of course, in His wisdom God uses a variety of weapons suited for the obstacles and strong holds we face.

JOSHUA 6:1-2

          Jericho was the greatest stronghold of that time.  The people of Jericho, hearing that the children of Israel were coming had already blockaded themselves behind the wall.  But God tells Joshua, “I am going to give this city and this people into your hand” and gave him instructions on how to take the city.  Consider what a conquest of this magnitude would do for Joshua, his confidence and his credibility with the people.  God did not pick some small weak city for Joshua’s first battle.  He picked the biggest and the best, the city that was seen as impenetrable.  A victory here would convince the Israelites for follow Joshua as they had Moses, and would put the fear of God in the surrounding Canaanite cities.       

          The obstacle for Joshua and the Children of Israel is the wall around Jericho.  It seemed impenetrable.  As humans, sometimes we build walls around ourselves.  We don’t always intend to but we do.  You see in growing up and suffering the hurts that come with living we look for ways to shield ourselves and protect our selves from hurt.  How do we do this?  We set up defense mechanisms.  We lock away little parts of ourselves.  Depending on how often or how bad the hurts have been we may have several layers of defense mechanisms and our walls may be thick and unscaleable by those seeking to get to know us.  Now when we began setting up defenses to protect ourselves it may have seemed like the right thing to do.  But these walls that keep hurts out also keep us locked in.  They are a hindrance to the move of God in our lives because the do not allow use the emotional freedom that God desires for us.  Believe it or not, God want to tear down our walls.  They are strong holds that they enemy is using to hinder the work of God in our lives.  However, oftentimes giving over these fortified areas in our lives to God can be the most difficult thing that we have to do.  We have relied on these mechanisms to protect us and now we are being asked to rely solely on God.  Even when we agree to release all of ourselves over to God, we find it difficult to do because the mechanisms seem to be automatic and self activating.  It takes the power of God and the plan of God to tear down these walls.

JOSHUA 6:8-14

          If someone came to us with this battle plan for fight a great city and penetrating its wall, we would seriously doubt that they plan had come from God.  For surely God knew that breaking down a wall would require several battering rams hitting the wall simultaneously at several different locations. This is the way man would do it, but God says “His weapons are not carnal, but they are mighty and will pull down strong holds”.  Just as God had a plan for Joshua, He has a plan for how to tear down the walls and defense mechanisms we have built up in our lives.  His plan is specific to each of us.  JOSHUA 6:15-20

          After following God’s instructions, the wall fell flat and the Children of Israel walked right into the city and conquered it.  There was nothing about this conquest that was done the way the world would have done it.  In our lives we must seek God for the plan to overcome obstacles and tear down strong holds and then we must follow each detail of the plan.  Also, keep in mind that the plan may not make much sense to you and especially not to others but that’s okay because the wisdom of God often seems foolish to men.

Along with walls there are areas, attitudes, habits and sins that we face that present themselves as impenetrable strong holds in our lives.  These strong holds are barriers to our growth and development.  Though we try to shake them, they continue to pop up, presenting themselves as hindrances to our developing a closer relationship with God.  They are strong holds, fortified areas that the enemy has set up in our lives.  He developed these strong hold through our life experiences, the hurts and pains of emotional battles and the sinful indulgences of our pre-saved lives.  There are strong holds, that seem to be impenetrable in our lives, but  God has a plan and weapons to address these strong holds and remember “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.” 

MARK 2:1-5

          The obstacle here for this sick man and his friends was the crowd surrounding the house where Jesus was teaching.  For some, the people that surround them are obstacles, they are hindrances to keep you from drawing closer to God.  Sometimes we don’t have a lot of control over who is around us.  We must go to work or school and we don’t get to choose who we work with or who is in our classes.  There was not much that these young men could do about the mass of people trying to get in to see Jesus.  They could not move the crowd and certainly no one was just going to step out of the way so they could get through.  The people in the crowd all wanted to see Jesus and all felt that their need or desire was urgent.  Understand that the crowds of people that present obstacles to your spiritual growth all have underlying motives for interacting with you.  More than likely you either  have something that they want or they are like crabs in a box trying to hold on to you to make sure you do not get too far ahead of them.  You may say they are just friends.  But ask yourselves this, “What true friend would be trying to influence me to do things that they know are bad for me, or would try to hinder me from doing the right thing?”  And you know something, people in your life who are hindrances will not just go away.  As soon as you start doing good and God starts blessing you, they show up time and time again.  You can stop trying to interact, they will come by or call.  You need a weapon to overcome these bad influences.

          When these men found that they could not get through the crowd, what weapon did God us?  He used determination.  These guys were determined to get through to Jesus so much so that they tore the roof off of the house.  They did not keep beating against the crowd trying to move it forward.  They looked for a way to gain entrance for themselves without having to bother with the crowd.  It takes determination to fight off the wicked influences of those who surround us, of unsaved friends and coworkers.  Set it in your heart and mind that you will not be like those who are outside of the will of God.  Be determined to gain entrance into the very presence of God, by living a holy and righteous life.  Titus 2:11-13 says “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,  teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” We must be determined not to give in to worldly lust or the worlds way of doing things.  We must be determined not to be influence by the ungodly that surround us and live outside of the will of God.  We must be determined to press our way towards Jesus  and not be hindered by the people around us who do not understand our godly way of doing things.  Determination is a weapon to be used against the crowd of bad influences that surround us.

          I never thought of determination as a weapon before.  I thought of it only as an attitude.  But attitudes can be powerful weapons.  When I was unsaved it was my attitude about life that kept me living for the devil.  Now that I am saved my attitude about life helps live for God. Determination is a powerful attitude.  In our spiritual lives determination can be a weapon against spiritual laziness and apathy.  It can be a weapon against sin.  It will surely be a weapon useful in addressing strong holds in our lives.  Determination says don’t quit, keep fighting when all else is saying just quit.  Sometimes determination will keep you holding on even when hope run out.  You can not see determination with the natural eye.  But it is a powerful attitude and a valuable spiritual weapon. 

As we continue this series of messages begin to evaluate you life and recognize the weapons being used or available for use by the Spirit of God to combat your enemies.  They may not be the typical weapons that you would expect.  If you are being confronted by obstacles and strong holds God has appropriate weapons for overcoming the obstacle and pulling down the strong hold and though  “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, they are mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.”