Breaking Enemy Strongholds

Welcome to Canvas Church. We are in a five-month series, discipleship series through May that we have been simply calling God First and we are searching the scriptures to discover what it truly means to put God First in every single area of our lives, understanding that there is no power in the partially surrendered life, that we must go all in with God, to love Him with all of our heart and all of our soul and all of our mind and all of our strength. And within the series, we have been in a collection of messages for these few weeks that we have been in spiritual warfare because I shared with you a couple of weeks ago that when you were saved, when you heard the gospel and you responded to the gospel and prayed the prayer of faith and put all of your trust in the finished work of the cross, that we were not launched into some spiritual euphoria or spiritual utopia, we were actually launched headfirst into a war. It's the truth. The Bible tells us that it's true and that we should not take it lightly to our own demise. And today, I just want you to know something. As your pastor, what I want more than anything

is to be faithful with the word of God to you and I want you to be free because it's not only that we are committed to help people discover a relationship with Jesus Christ, which is the beginning, we're all about it and it happens here every single week, but that's just part of the equation. We wanna help you deepen your relationship with God and that means that we have to rightly divide all of the word of truth so that we can be aware of the tactics of the enemy and be free. And today, I wanna tackle a heavy, but a very important issue. So I want you to know that. It's heavy, but it's an important issue in the spiritual realm when we talk about spiritual warfare. We're gonna launch right here where Paul tells the Corinthians in chapter 10 about the seriousness of it. Here's what he said. He said, for though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare, he makes it clear we're in war, they are not of the flesh, but they have divine power to destroy strongholds. The reality is there are many, many, many people, even many Christians, please hear this,

who are living with strongholds in their life. Now, the Greek word stronghold here comes from a word that literally means a mountain fortress. And the reason that Paul wrote that is because he wanted the Corinthians to have something they could connect and relate to. In their day, there was what was known as the Acropolis. So they had a fortress that was built at the highest location in their city. And if there was an invading nation, they could all retreat to that place and make a defense and embed themselves there. And they saw it as a place of safety because it was so impenetrable. Well, I want you to understand what he's saying here about a spiritual stronghold in our life because that's what he's talking about. The enemy has built spiritual strongholds in many people's lives. But I want you to give you a working definition of it so that you know what we're talking about. A spiritual stronghold is a deeply ingrained thought or behavioral pattern that's fueled by the enemy that allows negative spiritual influences to dominate specific areas of a person's life. There's all kinds of strongholds out there. There's strongholds of fear, anxiety, and depression. I know many Christians that are bound by these things and they wonder why they're saved, but they're still dealing with this.

There are strongholds of sexual addiction or substance addiction in people's life. There are strongholds of deep insecurity and inferiority. There are a plethora of strongholds and many of them that the enemy builds wherever he can. And what he's saying here when he talks about it's not of flesh but of spirit, he is saying that while these things manifest themselves in the fruit of the physical, the root of them are spiritual. Let me say it again. While they manifest themselves in the physical through anxiety, fear, or addiction, the root of them are spiritual. They cannot be fought just in the flesh. He's not telling us to white knuckle our faith and just dig deeper and try harder. He's saying there's something spiritual going on that we have to be aware of and know about before we can fight effectively the wiles of the enemy. And the enemy is real and he is an equal opportunity constructor. He loves to build emotional strongholds. He loves to build mental strongholds. He loves to build physical strongholds and men and women of every race, color, and creed can and do deal with strongholds in their life. It makes no difference to him where he builds his fortress. What he's after is a base of operation in our lives where he can keep us in bondage

and then war against the work of God that is trying to free us and make us more like Christ. Now, we learned two weeks ago when I taught on knowing your enemy. If you weren't here for that, please go back and listen to that message. It's so important that you know who he is and where he came from. If we learn that Satan is a defeated adversary, if it's true, how is it that he is able to? set up operation and shop in a believer's life. Well, listen carefully, this is important. All he needs is the right habitat. All he needs is the right environment. He's looking for specific environments and certain things, and when he finds them, he now has a base of operation to begin to build a stronghold in our life. I'll give you an example. I was reading a couple weeks ago as I was preparing for this message. I read about a unique bird called a purple martin. Don't know if you've heard of it or familiar. They live mostly in the eastern part of North America, and people who want to attract this unique bird to live on their property have to follow a very strict set of guidelines before this bird will even contemplate making his nest there, and I read this list of things that they instructed people to do.

This is a very finicky and particular bird, and they said if you want to attract a purple martin, here's some bylines and instructions. The birdhouse that you build must be all white. The interior cannot be painted at all, but left natural. There can be no trees or buildings within 60 feet of the birdhouse. Proximity to water like lakes or ponds are highly preferred. The house should be elevated between 15 to 20 feet on a pole. The area immediately under the birdhouse must be clear of any brush, shrubs, or debris, and the list went on and on and on of all these very specific things that these birds are looking for, and the point was this, that if you do all of these things right, this bird may nest where you are because he's looking for a very specific climate. Satan gains strongholds in our life in the very same manner. He's looking for a certain climate, a certain atmosphere, and certain conditions, and when he finds them in our heart and in our life, he starts to shut up, set up shop, and settle in, and then go to war. This is why Ephesians 4 and 27 is a big deal, and we're gonna be in Ephesians 4 a lot today as I teach the Bible to you, but I want you to see this one. He said, and do not give the devil a foothold in your life.

One translation says, neither give place to the devil. What he's saying is, to the Ephesians, Paul said, be very, very careful. Closely examine your life consistently because if the enemy finds the right environment, he will nest there and do work, and this also gives us an implication that we cannot afford to miss. Please notice this. We're talking about strongholds. Overwhelming strongholds always begin as inconspicuous footholds. Overwhelming strongholds always begin as inconspicuous footholds. Every adulterous affair, everyone, is preceded by a season of seemingly harmless, flirtatious behavior, everyone. Every raging alcoholic started with an afternoon drink just to take the edge off, and then one day turned into two, and two turned into three, and six weeks turned into a year, and a year turned into 10. Every person completely bound by fear, anxiety, or doubt got there by slowly entertaining the subtle whispers of the world and the enemy in their life. We look at a foothold and we dismiss them, but when the enemy looks at a small foothold, he rejoices in them because he knows the opportunity is here, and it's very real,

and he's off and running. He is patient, and he is the master of the long game. He is the master of the long game. He loves to start small because small things go easily unnoticed. But while we don't notice them in the shadows, he begins to slowly lay block after block and brick after brick until a full-blown stronghold has been erected right under our nose. And one day we wake up and we don't even know how we got so far so fast, or how we're going to get out of this dilemma that we're in. Now I wanna say this. Satan cannot take any ground in our life that we do not give him, but God says that if it does happen in our life, here's the good news, there is a way to break strongholds in our life. So as I preach this to you today, as I teach through the word of God today, if you are dealing with this or struggling with this in your life, the good news is, listen closely, there is a way that we can be free. And I wanna show you three words that the Bible gives us in both Ephesians 4 and James 4 to tear down every demonic stronghold in our life. And it begins with this really, really, really important word that a lot of people overlook, but it's a big one in the life of a believer.

It's repentance. It starts with repentance. Let's go to Ephesians 4, verse 22. Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life. This is repentance, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit of God renew your thoughts and your attitudes, and now put on your new nature. When you were saved, God gave you a new nature. That's why the Bible calls it being born again. There's all types of euphemisms for salvation. The best one is born again. You are born new by the Spirit of God and you were created to be like God, righteous and holy. You've been given a new set of genetics by God. So he says the first step to breaking down a stronghold in our life is to repent. What does repent mean? It means to make a turn. It means to make a turn and to make a course correction. To turn every day from myself, understanding that my flesh is bound by sin and corruption, and turn every day back to the new nature that God has given me at salvation. Reminding yourself daily of your identity in Christ is vital to living in freedom. What is your identity? Second Corinthians 5 and 17. If any man be in Christ, if you are in Christ,

if you have prayed the prayer of salvation, put your faith in the finished work of Christ, you are not just an upgraded version of your old self. Bible says you are a new creation. You're a completely new creation. Old things have passed away, all things have become new. You've got to remind yourself, you are not who you used to be in Christ. You are free and like him. Then, we're gonna walk through this. In verse 25 through 31, Paul describes, this is so important, the kind of environments that the enemy is looking for, like the purple martin, to build his nest or his stronghold. He wants us to have a clear example of the kind of places in our lives that the enemy is looking for. Now, before I get into it, this is not an exhaustive list. I'm gonna give you five or six things Paul lists, but don't go, well, I don't have that, that, that or that. That's not, it's not being specific, even though it is. There are more, there are way more. He's just giving us an idea of what the enemy is looking for in our life. So let me show it to you. Here's what he says to the Ephesians about strongholds. Ephesians 4.25, he said, so here's the deal. He's on the prowl, he's walking the earth, looking whom he may devour, and he's looking for environments,

and if you have this environment, be aware of it. Stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. Paul basically said, if you are a liar, or even part of your life is not lived in truth, we have created a climate for the enemy to be attracted to. Why? Because John 8 and 44 says that not only is Satan a liar, but it says that he is the father of the lie, the father of the lie. He created the lie, he gave birth to the lie. So whenever we do not speak the truth or live in truth, we are essentially harboring and loving his baby. If you want the enemy to feel home in your life, live a lie, love a lie, embrace a lie. But we destroy the enemy's habitat whenever we live the truth, love the truth, and embrace the truth. Why? Because John 14 and six says Jesus is true. John 17 says his word is truth. John 14 says his spirit is truth. And so I want us to just examine our souls together right now, and I want you to ask yourself, honestly and openly, is there any part of my life that is not lived in complete truth and honesty? If there isn't, repent and turn from it. And listen, there's a lot of ways that you can lie. There's a lot of ways that we can lie

and not live in the truth. I'll never forget hearing a pastor tell his story about how the Holy Spirit convicted him, and you're gonna laugh at it, but I mean, this was something in his life that was really important. He said he had been driving his truck for two months and he was just lazy. He knew that his taillight had been out for two months, but he hadn't stopped and got it fixed. And he gets pulled over one day in his hometown, and the cop comes up to him and he recognizes him. He said, hey, Pastor John, how are you? He said, I'm doing well. He said, did you know your taillight's out? And he said, before I caught myself, I said, my taillight's out? And he said, yeah, your taillight's out, man. You're gonna have to get that fixed. And he said, thank you, man. I'll get it fixed immediately. And so then he lets him go, and he said he pulls back on the road. He said he goes about a mile, and the Holy Spirit said, you're a liar. He said, I'm not lying. I said my taillight's out. He said, you knew how you said it. You know exactly the tone you said it in. That was duplicitous.

That wasn't truthful. That wasn't honest. Now you would hear that, and you would say, oh, Pastor, that's so small. That's so mediocre. Overwhelming strongholds start by inconspicuous footholds. Little things in our life that we dismiss, that's not anything to us. But again, we dismiss them as small. The enemy rejoices in them because when he finds anything in our life that is duplicitous or not like Christ, he finds a place that he can begin to do work from. And he's not afraid of playing the 20-year game. He's not afraid of the 10-year game. He's the master of the long game. Is there any part of our life, I'm asking again, is there any part of our life that has not lived in complete honesty and truth? If not, repent and turn from it and turn back to God. Keep going, it gets better. Verse 26 and 27, and don't sin by letting anger control you. Don't let the sun go down while you're still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil. Are you a person that is given to fits of rage? The altar's open anytime you need to pray, okay? Do you constantly give in to your anger? Are you easily angered? I am ashamed to admit to you as your pastor that this is an area of my life

that I have struggled with my entire life. And there have been moments that I have dismissed it and said, well, my daddy was, well, my grandfather was. And if you always find an excuse, you'll never find freedom. There comes a moment that you gotta own your stuff, man, and you can't make excuses for it anymore. Boys do that, man up and take ownership for what's going on in their life. And I can't just excuse it by saying, well, genetically I'm this, or that was how I was raised, or this is what I saw. See, this is why I love football so much, because I was actually rewarded for aggression. The harder I hit, the madder I got, the more they said, atta boy, atta boy. So I loved it. I loved it because it gave me this outlet to just be as mad as I wanted to be. But the enemy finds this as a stronghold. It's a dangerous place in our lives that we have to be careful about. I've always had to be careful about it. I've repented for it so many times that I still struggle with it. But the Bible says he's attracted to it because in Revelation 12, Satan himself is full of great wrath. So when he finds this in a human heart,

it's the perfect place for him to set up shop, go to work, because he feels right at home in an angry heart. So are you compelled by anger? Are you given to anger? Be careful, he's working in you already, and you may not even know it. Let's keep going. Verse 28, if you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work and then give generously to others in need. Satan is highly attracted to this. Why? Because he himself is a thief. John chapter 10, Jesus said what? The thief cometh to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly. Now, I can hear you saying, pastor, there's nobody here probably a thief. But listen, it's deeper than what you're thinking. Thievery is not just limited to picking someone's pocket, it can include wrecking someone's reputation. Slander, gossip, how much of that crap goes on? Even in the church. But listen, talking bad about people with and to others and running them down, assassinating their character, listen, man, this is dangerous. Some people love to gossip.

They love to get the dirt. They wanna find out every nasty little detail they can about others and then disguise it as prayerful concern. We should pray with so-and-so because let me tell you what I just heard. All right, and we disguise it. And the enemy goes, mm, that's what I want, brothers talking about brothers. That's what I'm looking for, sisters, running down sisters. That's what I'm looking for, backbiting and criticism among the brethren. There is another thing that God addresses about thievery. I gotta hit it because I wanna be faithful to you. I was 21 years old and one year into my walk with God when I read this scripture and it gripped and convicted me and my wife and I realized what an important issue that this was to my spiritual life. But we're talking about thievery, so let me just hit it, okay? It's in Malachi 3 and eight. He said, will a man rob God? Yet you're robbing me. And they said to Israel, how have we robbed you? In your tithes and in your contributions. My life forever changed the day that I realized that God called us to be givers and generous, not because he's trying to get money out of our wallet, but because he's trying to get idols out of our hearts. Not money out of my wallet, but idols out of my hearts.

And I read how strong the language was in Malachi and I realized that God did not just view my reluctance to give my first and best to him as a lack of trust. He saw it as something deeper and more significant. But significantly, the enemy sees this as a prime place to set up a stronghold. Greed in our heart gives him great ground to fight from and build a stronghold. Let's keep going. Verse 29, don't use foul or abusive language. I just got a bunch of you right here, bud. Somebody cut you off in traffic, baby. You don't wanna record her in your car. Let everything you say be good and helpful so that your words will be an encouragement to those that hear. Now look, I'm kinda kidding, I'm kinda not. Because he's not really talking about that. He's not talking about getting cut off in traffic and you cursing somebody out. Yes, that's included, but again, he's doubling down really on the thievery issue. He's doubling down because one translation says, as he talked about, he goes on and says, make sure your words are. Make sure your words build up and not tear down. He's talking about doubling down on slander. He's talking about stealing someone's reputation or character or tearing down their character through gossip. We've heard this our whole lives, but it's really true.

If you cannot find something good to say, keep your pie hole shut. That's the JM version, that's the JMV, okay? Doesn't say that, but kinda says that. I just put a little redneckery in there, right? If you can't find something good to say, hey man, don't say anything. I don't know if y'all know this or not. Did you know that there's this amazing thing that you can do if you read something on Facebook you don't agree with? It's called scroll. Do you realize you don't have to comment on everything you disagree with, but you don't have to get into it with everybody online? There are some things that are too weighty and too significant for there to be text. There are some things that have to be spoken word to word, man to man, woman to woman. It needs to be addressed so that we can read our body language and the tone of our voice. Some things are too important to lead to black and white for others to interpret what we mean. I'm preaching. We gotta be careful. And I've seen so many believers fall into this trap. But let me give you this last one that he covers, because I think this is the biggest one that the enemy Bill Strong holds out of, I really do. Verse 31, get rid of all bitterness, man.

Rage and anger, harsh words and slander, as well as evil behavior. I honestly believe Satan builds more strongholds through bitterness and unforgiveness than anywhere else. Because we all struggle with forgiveness. I don't care who you are, I don't care where you come from. Dude, if you've ever been hurt, if you've ever been taken advantage of, if someone's ever gotten the best of you and did it unapologetically, someone intentionally or unintentionally does you wrong, bitterness begins to brew, slowly stir in our heart, and before long, we're not just angry at the thing that was said to us or the thing that was done to us. Deep down, we actually begin to hate the individual who did it. And one of the great dangers of bitterness and unforgiveness is that it never stays static, it just doesn't. It's not benign, it metastasizes in all of our life and spreads and can eventually affect everything in our heart and life. The Bible is telling us that forgiveness is the spark that begins to burn down the stronghold of the enemy. And when we see forgiveness through the lenses of Scripture we are able to see it correctly. Now, what do you mean by that, pastor? Because here's the right way to view forgiveness. In the shadow of my hurt, forgiveness feels like a decision to reward my enemy.

But in the shadow of the cross, forgiveness is simply a gift from one undeserving soul to another. When we're in our flesh and we operate out of our hurt and that bitterness in our heart, to forgive them feels like a reward for something they don't deserve. That's the wrong way to view it. Forgiveness is actually looking at our life in the shadow of the cross, understanding that he shouldn't have forgiven us either and we didn't deserve it either, but out of his goodness, his mercy and his great love, his everlasting love, in that while we were yet sinners, he died for us on the cross and gave us forgiveness. And then he says, as you have freely received from me, you must freely give to others. In the shadow of my hurt, forgiveness feels like a decision to reward my enemy. But in the shadow of the cross, forgiveness is simply a gift from one undeserving soul to another. So Paul says the first step to breaking Satan's strongholds in our life, it starts with repentance. Repentance is not a one-time affair for the believer. I know sometimes we portray it that way inadvertently. God forgive us as pastors doing that. It's not this one moment when we give the altar call and people give their life to Christ

and we repent and turn from our sin. The Bible says in 1 John 1 and 9, which was written to the believers, he said, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins. Repentance should be a part of a daily discipline in the believer's life, why? Because we live in a fallen, broken world and we're still in a fallen, dilapidated body and there are things that are warring against the work of God. And as they creep in, we recognize it and then turn ourselves over to God again. Ephesians four, we turn from our old ways and we turn to God every single day. Anywhere there is unrepentant sin in our life is legal ground for the enemy to take. But when we repent, we destroy his habitat. Number two, here's the second word in the Bible. Starts with repentance. Now we're able to resist. James chapter four, and he gives grace generously as the scriptures say God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. So humble yourselves before God. Now resist the devil and now as you resist, he will flee from you. Let me say it this way if you're taking notes. Affectual repentance paves the way for effective resistance. You can't.

effectively resist until you effectively repent. Because repentus says this place that I once gave to the enemy, I now give back to God. I surrender and submit all of these places to his ways in my life. In other words, he's not saying, suck it up buttercup, pull yourself up by the bootstraps, white knuckle this thing, and just dig deep and try harder. It doesn't work. We're no match for the enemy. We actually find power not through white knuckling it and going mano a mano, we find power when we resurrender and submit to the power of the Holy Spirit. When we say, not my will, but your will be done. I see my weakness, but in you I am made strong. Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world. We push back the enemy's strongholds in our lives through full submission and full surrender to God because now, listen, the habitat, the habitat that he needed to survive has been eliminated. All of those things he needed in Ephesians four to work in are gone. Why? Because he can't live in love. He can't live in love. He can't dwell in forgiveness. He can't work out of mercy. He can't thrive in honesty. He can't do work from integrity. He can't build a stronghold where there's truth.

When we live in the truth of God's word and embrace the fruit of the Spirit daily, we eliminate the habitat he needs to survive and he has no place to work from and no place to war from. Here's the third word, renewal. Let's go back to Ephesians four. So throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, watch it, let the Spirit of God renew your thoughts and your attitudes. Not just your thoughts, but your attitudes. Not just what you think, but the way you do what you do and your perspective and worldview on life. Put on your new nature created to be like God, righteous and holy. This word renew is the Greek word ananeo. Ananeo, you know what it means? It means to rearrange correctly, to reorder or to renovate. What he's saying is when we repent and we say I recognize now there are some things in my life that are not like Christ, that I have slowly slipped into or I've drifted away and I've let these things into my life inadvertently. They seem small, but now I realize they're not small. They're actually big areas where the enemy is beginning to work in my life from. And I see things in my life that I wish were different and I wondered how I got here and now I understand.

I opened the door because of these things in my life, but today I recognize it, repent from it, turn from that, turn back to the Holy Spirit to God in my new nature. Then we resist by resurrendering and submitting to God. God, this place that I now gave to the devil, now I turn back and give to you. And then we allow the Holy Spirit to begin to renew. In other words, he begins to put God's instructions and God's will back in their proper place, back the way they should be, the way God designed it to be from the beginning. We begin to think correctly about life. We begin to think correctly about marriage. We begin to think correctly about how to live in honesty. We begin to think correctly about how to live a life that is pleasing and honoring to God. As we grow in Christ, ladies and gentlemen, we should be developing a deeper and more intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit. Why? Because he is that voice that provides powerful and godly leadership in our lives. Let me say it to you like this. We will either make space in our lives for the enemy to occupy, or we will make room in our lives for the Holy Spirit to fill. One or the other. There's no demilitarized zone.

There's no neutral safe place in this war. You will either create space in your life for the enemy to live and dwell, or we will make room in our lives for the Holy Spirit to fill. That's why Ephesians five implores us. He said, don't grieve the Holy Spirit, but be filled with the Holy Spirit of God. He says that because he's saying we have a choice. We have a choice. We can either grieve the Spirit and be filled with Satan, or grieve Satan and be filled with the Spirit. But I want you to think correctly about this, because I think sometimes when we use the word in the Bible that gives us filling, filling, filling, I think sometimes we go to the most rudimentary element. We go, well, the Holy Spirit's like water, and I'm like a jug. Nah, that's not it. That's not it. It's deeper than that. It's more important than that. It's bigger than that. It's more significant than that. Bible says in first Corinthians six, don't you Realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Bro, you're the temple of the Holy Spirit who lives in you and given to you by God. You do not belong to yourself

for you've been bought with a high price, so you must honor God with your body. The Holy Spirit is not a thing or an it. He is a gentleman. He is a person. He is the third part of the Godhead of the Trinity. And he desires and longs to live and dwell in our temple and what he's saying through all of these things about repenting and giving everything over to him, what he's saying is this. Not that you're a jug and there's areas of your life that he's not filled with. He's saying he lives and dwells in your home and there should not be a broom closet in your life that he doesn't have a key to. Because we're really good at compartmentalizing our lives. Now come on, you know it's true. We say, living room, hang out all you want, baby. Kitchen, make yourself a PB&J, do whatever you want. Bedroom, don't mess with that one. Don't go there. This broom closet, I don't want you to look in there and mess with anything in there. I'm protecting this, I like this over here, I'm mourning this over here. And the more that we compartmentalize our lives and tell the Holy Spirit there's areas you can touch and areas you can't, the areas that we tell him he can't are the areas where the enemy proliferates and begins to lay brick by brick

and build strongholds in our lives. And what I'm praying for you today and what I'm saying to you today, listen man, I'm preaching to me, bro. Even pastors have strongholds in their life if they're not careful. And I've had many in my life over the years. And I want you to be free and I wanna be free and God wants us to be free. And it starts by repentance and then resistance and then renewal. It means that we follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit in everything in our life, in the big things, in the small things, in our social life, in our business life, in our married life, in our financial life. There's not an area of our life that he doesn't have a key to because when we are truly filled with the Spirit, there won't be room for anything or anyone else. When we are filled with the Spirit of God, there won't be room for anything else. Strongholds are broken when we repent and make a turn. Strongholds are broken when we resist and make a stand. Strongholds are broken when we are renewed and make a change. You can be free.