What is a stronghold? - 2 Cor 10:4

What is a Stronghold?

October 2, 2011

2 Corinthians 10:4

Introduction

• Hebrews 12:1
• Do we have a sin that "so easily besets us"?
• Does it seem that whenever we stumble on our Christian path, it is usually or often, this one sin?
• There is something about this particular sin which keeps on getting in our way, taking away from the enjoyment of the Christian way of life
• But it is Jesus' purpose for us that we experience freedom in our lives
• He tells us, "The truth shall set you free"
• He tells us he came to preach good news to the poor, to heal the sick, and to set the captives free
• Today we are going to start a journey, together, to discover how we can lay these besetting sins aside, leaving them behind us, and experiencing the freedom Jesus intends for us

We are spiritual beings

• 1 Thessalonians 5:23
• For us to be sanctified or made holy "through and through" involves every part of our being.
• It describes us as a complete person
• Paul then emphasizes this by describing us in different words - "may your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless ..."
• By this we infer that a person is made up of different parts - the spirit, the soul and the body
• The spirit:
• Ecclesiastes 12:7 - when we die, our body our outer shell, is left in the grave. Our spirit, however, returns to God who gave it
• John 14:16-17 Jesus promises us a Helper, Comforter, One who comes alongside (the meaning of the Greek word paraklete)
• He was not yet in the disciples, though He did work with them and empower them to do the works that Jesus did (see Luke 9 and 10)
• It was only at the day of Pentecost, that the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, with accompanying signs - boldness, speaking in tongues the Holy Spirit gave them, the sound of a mighty wind in the house, and the appearance of tongues of fire, resting on each of them
• Additionally, in verse 23 Jesus says that the Father and Jesus will make their home with the believer
• So now the Holy Spirit, the Father and Jesus came to dwell in each of them, the complete Trinity.
• God is spirit - we find this in John 4:24
• Our spirit is the part of us where God dwells
• Before God comes to dwell in our spirit, our spirit is dead
• Eph 2:1-5 God made us alive with Christ, before that time we were dead in our transgressions and sins
• But it is the Spirit that gives life - John 6:63
• Jesus came to give us life - John 1:4
• This all happens in our human spirit - before Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit take up residence, our human spirit is dead, lifeless. When God comes, he imparts life to our spirit, because He has life in Him
• So now our spirit, which was lifeless, is alive!
• Our body:
• We all know what our body consists of - it is physical, it can be touched and felt. It is the part of us that remains in the grave when we die, as we saw before in Ecc 12:7
• Finally, the soul:
• What is left of our person after we consider our spirit and our body, is what happens in our minds
• This then is the soul
• It can be broadly described as being of three parts - our thinking, our emotions, and our power of choice (or our will)
• It is here that the battles of our life are fought
• 2 Cor 10:1-6
• We are constantly in a battle with our thoughts
• We fight to keep our thoughts obedient to Christ
• But we fall down so many times
• The apostle Paul, great Christian as he was, also had this constant battle
• He describes it in Romans 7:15-25
• He wants to do the right thing but tumbles so often to do the opposite of what he wants
• Isn't this just like us?
• Particularly with this "besetting sin"

We are like a house, from a spiritual perspective

• Matt 12:23-45
• This describes the person as a house, to which this spirit had free access, because the house was unoccupied
• Houses have entry points - doors, windows
• It is through these entry points that people can come into the house
• For Satan, the enemy of our souls, sin provides these entry points
• When we sin once in a particular area, and then repent from the heart, little damage may be done, though some sins do have larger impact than others
• But if we continue to sin in this area, it is as though we are building layer upon layer of sin, and this forms a stronghold where the enemy takes up residence.
• The enemy says he has rights because we invited him in by sinning in this area

Conclusion

• It seems so unfair that the enemy can slip into our lives unnoticed
• We may not be convinced that Christians, who have been filled with the Spirit, could be affected by the enemy in this way
• However, the fact remains that Christians are afflicted by these besetting sins, and can be set free
• In the coming weeks we will examine how we can eradicate these strongholds
• I know we have a lot of questions and preconceptions about this subject
• Please be patient as we dig deeper during the coming weeks