Spiritual Strongholds Part 3

One of the difficulties around understanding spiritual warfare is that the Bible says so very little about it! If the scriptures have everything we need for salvation and life we can only assume that the Spirit does not require us to know that much about spiritual warfare. What we do need to understand is the victory Christ has won for us and to live in that. However, there are tantalising little insights that scripture gives us that point to certain realities of which we have only a limited understanding. One of those insights is in regard to how spiritual strongholds can affect whole geographical areas.

One of the things scripture hints at is that the demonic powers are structured in some sort of hierarchy. This would make absolute sense because we know that angels seem to have a hierarchy. In Jude v9 we read a reference to Michael as an ‘Archangel’ or ‘chief angel’ and as demons are simply fallen angels it would seem logical that a similar hierarchy would also transfer in their fallen state. When Paul talks about our spiritual battle with ‘principalities and powers’ there is a suggestion that this refers to levels of demonic structure.

There are also intriguing references in Daniel about angels fighting against spirits who appear to have influence of a geographical area (Daniel 10, 12). This has led to a train of thought that there are ‘territorial spirits’ who are able to influence and even control a geographical area. There is a lot that rings true about this idea, we only have to look at certain areas or cities to see that there can be certain values or beliefs that have a spiritual stranglehold on that area. However, despite the fact that many books have been written on this, we have to be really careful about how far we follow this train of thought, as the Bible is not definitive on ‘territorial spirits’ at all. It also has no record of Christians dealing directly with a ‘higher level’ demon who would have influence over an area.

Are there ways of understanding how the demonic influences geographical areas? My next post or two will offer a suggestion.

Spiritual Strongholds Part 2

2 Cor. 10:3 "...On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ"

Paul describes strongholds as arguments and pretensions. As I said in my previous post wrong teaching and damaged emotions can lead to wrong thinking and behaving. Therefore strongholds are areas of our live in which we have been persuaded to believe and follow something contrary to God’s word, they set themselves up against the knowledge of God. How can we demolish these strongholds?

Firstly, remember that Jesus has already won the victory "He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." (Col 2:13- 15). Jesus has done it all, any and every demonic power has been disarmed. The only weapon they have against you is deception and lies.

Secondly, because we are demolishing wrong thinking we need to demolish it with the truth. Strongholds are such an effective weapon of the enemy because so many people in the west know the Word of God. By reading, learning and meditating on the word of God we allow its truth to shape our thinking. Paul calls us to allow our minds to be renewed (Rom 12:2) . We take every thought captive to Christ when we seek to bring our thoughts and motivations to be in line with the will of Christ. This happens when the truths of God’s word are applied into our lives by the Holy Spirit. David Devenish in his book ‘Demolishing Strongholds’ lists some basic truths of scripture that are foundational for every christian in demolishing a stronghold;

1. We have been born again (1 Peter 1:3)
2. When we are, we are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17)
3. We are fully accepted by Jesus (Romans 15:7)
4. We are not condemned (Romans 8:1)
5. We are secure in our relationship with Him (Romans 8:38,39)
6. We have been blessed with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3)

Thirdly, we then begin to live by the truth of what we believe. This takes a combination of prayer and action. If you struggle with feelings of rejection learn to live and act according the truth that you are accepted by God. Let that thought be the one that counteracts all the negative thoughts of rejection. Which version of your life will you live by the one you have been persuaded to believe by the enemy, who is the father of lies, or the one that is described by God in scripture, who is the source of all truth. This also takes prayer. Ask the Holy Spirit to help live you by the truth revealed in the Bible. He is the one who walks with us to lead us into all truth (John 15:13). It is the truth that will set you free (John 8:32).

Today, why don’t you take some time out to reflect on the scriptures above and begin to allow them to shape your thinking about who God is, what he is like, who you are and what you are capable of.

Strongholds Part 1

As part of our current sermon series on spiritual warfare this week I will be putting on my blog a few reflections on the area of spiritual strongholds. I touched on this on Sunday (16.10.11) but wanted to have a space to say a few other things that I didn’t have time for within the sermon. I particularly wanted to do this because strongholds are very rarely discussed and yet are such a powerful weapon of the enemy.

"We do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Cor. 10:3

I described strongholds as patterns of wrong thinking, and therefore wrong behaving, that have become deeply engrained within us. They are recurring or repeating thoughts that are not in line with the truth that God has given us in scripture. Wrong thinking can dramatically and negatively affect the course and quality of our lives. Strongholds have the power to influence individuals, churches, communities, cities and nations.

They are created by wrong teaching, consistently giving in to temptation, others people’s wrong attitudes and behaviour towards us, the pressure of the culture around us and a variety of other ways. Through these the enemy seeks to create sustained ways of thinking that are detrimental to our relationship with God or to the quality of our lives. Wherever the enemy gains ground in your life he will seek to make it permanent by establishing a stronghold around that area.

For instance, a simple example would be someone hurts you and you feel bitterness towards them. You decide not to work through the process of forgiving them and so the bitterness grows. It would be really easy for the enemy to capitalise on that bitterness and so the enemy says ‘You can’t let anyone else get close to you, they may hurt you as well’ or ‘Why should you forgive them, don’t let them off the hook’ or ‘Why is it always you that gets hurt?’ From a point of giving in to temptation (choosing not to forgive) strongholds of isolation, anger or self-pity can develop and become thoughts that start to shape how we live, relate to people and even how we feel about God.

The good news is that we can find freedom from strongholds, as Pauls says we have weapons that ‘have divine power to demolish strongholds’. Over the next few days I will be sharing some thoughts about strongholds, both personal and cultural, and looking for clues in scripture that point to the weapons we have to tear them down.