New Life, New Strongholds | Jabin Chavez | City Light Church

Second Corinthians, chapter 10. We're gonna read three verses together. All right, are you ready? You like who you're sitting next to? Do you need a move? If you need a move, this is it. All right. Can I get a little more of this mic? I just sang too much. Voice is tired. Second Corinthians, chapter 10. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but they have divine power to destroy strongholds. Maybe you've heard this phrase before, demonic strongholds. This is really cool because the Bible never says demonic strongholds. Strongholds are not demonic. Strongholds are in the mind. Now, this is what's crazy. Strongholds are natural, but God gives us not just natural, but spiritual weapons to take down strongholds. This is really, what I just said is awesome. Because what it means is it's two against one. The stronghold is in the mind, but you don't just have mental strategies. You also have spiritual strategies. So the stronghold is actually outnumbered.

Whew, I know it's early. I know it's early, but that was powerful. Now watch this. What is a stronghold? He's gonna define a stronghold. He never says a stronghold is a demon. He tells us what a stronghold is, verse five. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion. What is a stronghold? It is an argument and an opinion that is set up against, verse five, the knowledge of God. So see, every time we come into church, we've got lofty opinions and arguments against the truth of God's word, right? Now, that's what a stronghold is. Now he's gonna tell you how to tear down a stronghold. We take every thought, that's a stronghold, captive and make it obedient to Christ, okay? We're gonna talk about that today. New life, new strongholds. New life, new strongholds. Thank you, Lord, for this new life in Christ. Now we ask for new strongholds so that we can walk in supernatural freedom. This is our prayer. In the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Everybody said amen. Amen. Amen and amen. 76% of people who have been in prison

will return within five years of being released. 76% of people who have been in prison will return within five years of being released. By the way, that's why we bring not only the word and not only do we stream our services to those in prison, but that's why we also partner with Hope for Prisoners because we're trying to train and teach people and give people one step forward so that when they leave prison, they're actually leaving with an advantage, amen? And so that's why we partner and that's why we do what we do so that they don't become a part of this 76%. But the reason that that can happen is because freedom is always better, but it's not always easier. Freedom is always better, but not always easier. This is why it's such a challenge. We partner with A21, which is a group that helps women get out of sex trafficking. They're so grateful to get out of that life, but it's so hard. Because how do you go from making $1,000 a night to making $15 an hour at Starbucks? Can we just be honest? That's why we should never judge people who get caught up in those kind of lifestyles. I understand that freedom is better, but it's not always easier. This is why the children of Israel

would get set free from Egypt and immediately wanna go back to Egypt. They're free, but they wanna go back to slavery. Why? Because they have structure, because they have a roof over their head, because they got three square meals a day. Because though they were slaves to Egypt, there was some normalcy to the bondage, where freedom always brings mystery. Freedom is, is the man gonna be here tomorrow? And now we're tent dwellers, and now we're on the move, and now we're walking by faith. See, you don't need faith when you're... and bondage, because the devil will feed you just enough to keep you bound. Freedom takes faith. Freedom takes mystery. This is why Jesus would walk up to sick people in the Bible. It's really offensive if you really think about it. It's offensive. He'd walk up to sick people in the Bible and go, you want to get better? He'd walk up to people and go, what do you want? He walked up to a blind guy and said, what do you want? The blind guy's like... Because he knows with healing comes a new life, comes new responsibility, comes new pain points. The sickness, the bondage of slavery came with pain points, but so does freedom. You actually have to choose if you're willing to be free. Wow. So Jesus said, what do you want? Do you want to get better? And I look at some married people and go, do you really want to be married? At the age of 15, one guy went, yes, like really fast. That's a well-trained man. Amen. Praise God. Do you really want to get financially free? Oh, pastor, we want to get out of debt. Are you sure? If you really want to get out of debt, get rid of Uber Eats right now. Just get rid of it. Just get rid of it. Paying $40 for a Chipotle burrito. That is stupidity. That is ridiculous. I want to be set free. Okay. Get rid of all those apps. I'm just telling you, it's going to take pain. It's going to hurt, but you can be free. I'm trying to encourage you to be free. It doesn't sound like it, but I'm telling you. Because here's

the thing about new life. New life feels so good and so desirable until it starts feeling new. Right? It's like, I need new life. I need a new, I need to walk with Jesus. The world hasn't satisfied. I've hit rock bottom. I need new, new, new, new, new, until it's time to start new. And then new just starts feeling like transition. New usually starts with loneliness because you're leaving one friend group and you're trying to find the new friend group. But while you're, while you're trying to find it, you're just in a weird spot. Everything's new. It's, it's new things you got to do on a Friday night. And it's new ways of spending money. And it's, it's new, new, new, new, new, new language, new thoughts, new, new, new, new. And so all of that sounds good at first until you got to start doing it. And then you go, oh my God, this is a challenge. So here's what I want to tell you, child of God. Number one, you got to, you just got to embrace this. We are in a fight. We are in a fight. Verse three says, we are waging war that we are in a spiritual battle and that spiritual battle is happening in our mind. For some of you, you go, man, in some ways life actually felt easier before I was a Christian. Well, of course you were on the same team as the devil. You were going in the same direction. You never swam upstream. You just went with the current of culture. So you never, you never had to face any kind of spiritual resistance until you said yes to Jesus. That's why Jesus would say the gates of hell cannot prevail against the church. The gates of hell are standing in opposition to you. And so as you start moving forward in God, eventually you're going to hit the gates of hell. When you hit them, don't give up. When you hit them, don't get discouraged. When you hit them, don't go back to your old life. When you hit them, realize, oh, these gates can't stand very long. They cannot prevail against me. So I'm going to start pushing back against the powers of hell. Say amen. Come on, somebody give God praise. So resistance reminds me I'm going in the right direction. Well, that was a lot of R's. Let me hit you one more time. Resistance reminds me I'm going in the right direction. I've learned to be encouraged by Goliath because it means I'm moving forward, taking territory. So we're in a battle. And the battle, Paul says, is right here in the mind. So let me just remind you about your God and your enemy in one verse. The thief comes, that's the devil, to steal, kill, and destroy. That's all he wants to do in your life. Jesus says, but I've come that you might have life and have it to the full. So there is a battle going on over the most valuable thing in the universe, and that's your soul. Is anything, Jesus said, is anything worth more than your soul? The answer is no.

The devil wants your soul. God wants your soul. The devil wants to destroy your soul. God wants to bring life to your soul. So there is this battle happening. And the battle is happening within. But friend, you can win the war within. But you can't win a fight that you don't admit you're in. So first you just got to admit, I'm in it. And now that I'm in it, see, because you'll never use the weapons until you know you're in it. So many of you are defeated because you've never picked up the weapons because you're trying to live in denial. You're trying to keep your head in the sand. And the reason you're getting your tail whooped by the devil is because you haven't taken up the weapons. But you'll never take up a weapon until you understand first you're in a fight. The devil wants your marriage. The devil wants your soul. The devil wants your kids. The devil wants your future. The devil wants your business. The devil wants your mind. And if you're not admitting that you're in a fight over those things that God has given you, you're always going to be defeated. But if you'll just say, I'm in a fight, now you can take up weapons and you can get the victory. And what you're doing, think about this. The devil is defeated, but you now have to enforce the victory that Jesus paid for. Okay. All right, all right, all right, all right. Thank you. You tried. You tried to clap. It was all good, Greg. You tried. Shout out.

Okay, okay, okay. So I have to first admit I'm in a fight, and then number two, I have to admit I have a stronghold. I have to admit that I have opinions, and I have arguments against God. Yo. You got to settle that. So what is a stronghold? Okay. A stronghold at its most basic actual definition is a castle or a fortress. How are castles and fortresses built? They're built brick by brick. One by one. Brick by brick. Brick by brick. They're built. They're built. Stone by stone, they're built. They don't just appear. They're built. They don't just show up one day. They're built. A stronghold now spiritually is anything that we rely on and the reason we use to fortify our opinion. That's a stronghold. A stronghold is when one experience becomes truth to you. All men are. Bro, all women are. All marriages are. Everyone in Vegas is. All preachers are. Don't judge me. Strongholds. Strongholds. Everyone in our family does. Who do you think you are? We all. And we build strongholds. It's when one experience becomes truth to you.

And now your truth is arguing against actual truth, which is God's Word. Because you know that your truth isn't truth, right? Thankfully, our nation for the most part is woken up to that. That was like a big thing a few years ago. Their truth. Just share your truth. For the most part, we've wised up to that and we're realizing that it's stupidity because we don't have a truth. We have experiences that are not true. They're just experiences. Because if it's not true all the time, every time perfectly, then it's not truth. It's experience. But a stronghold is when you let your experience become truth to you. One more time. Is this all right? Second Corinthians 10.5. One more time. A stronghold is an argument and it is a lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God. Second Corinthians 10.5. It's an argument. So what happens a lot, even in church, you're arguing with God's Word. Or in life, we start arguing with God's truth. And notice it's a lofty opinion. It starts getting taller and taller. And here's what happens with strongholds. You think you're safe in the stronghold,

but you're actually small. The stronghold is actually making you smaller, not safer. Well, you know, I'm just careful. Maybe you've just gotten small. Here's a stronghold, I'll never get hurt again. Really? How you gonna do that? How you gonna do that for the next 80 years of your life, never get hurt again? Never gonna get hurt again? That's a stronghold. And it's limiting you and it's putting a lid on you and it will keep you small forever. And you'll never be able to fulfill your potential and it'll happen in friendships, it'll happen with authority, it'll happen in relationships, it'll happen in failure where one thing, just because you fail doesn't mean you're a failure and just because you fail doesn't mean you're never gonna fail again. I'll never do that again, are you sure? And let me just say this too, like as we're talking about stronghold, you gotta be really careful with personality tests. Never let a personality test define you. It may show you a few things about yourself. Like some of the way that y'all trust your horoscope. Libra season!

Why would you let a star define you when you could let the one who created the stars? Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Virgo! Virgo! Virgo! I'd never date a Virgo. Some of y'all have possibly missed out on who God has for you over what month they were born in. What the heck you talking about? That's a stronghold, bro. That's all soul realm, that ain't spiritual, that's not God, that's soul, that's dark. And now listen, listen, and we take that as truth. Never forget this about a stronghold, we do not see things as they are, we see things as we are. I see you through my stronghold. I see you through my stronghold. Hey, nice hat, I see that. City light hat, thank you. I see you through my stronghold. These people don't like me.

They hate my boots, my wife made me wear them. What was I thinking? Why didn't I just wear a pair of Nikes? They're probably on Yelp right now looking for a new church. I see you through my, that's why I gotta be healthy. That's why I gotta be healthy. Or I will start preaching to you through unhealthy. Have you ever heard a preacher just like go off and you're like, what was that? Why are you yelling at us, we're here. Have you ever, all these people leaving the church. And it's like, I'm here still, pastor. Because they preach through their stronghold. By the way, not only do I see you through my stronghold, you're listening to me right now through your stronghold. And you're seeing me through your strongholds. That's why sometimes I'll open up my Instagram and I say that I never check my DMs, but sometimes I do in a moment of weakness. It's always stupid. And I'll check my DMs and someone will go, how dare you, I cannot believe you said during the sermon, X, Y, Z. And I look at it and I go, I never said that. I didn't say it, but they heard it because they heard it right through their stronghold. And all of a sudden, the preacher's starting to say things that he never said, but you heard it because you hear and you see through your stronghold.

Come on, have you ever gotten in a fight with your spouse through your stronghold? I cannot believe you said, and it's like, no, babe, I didn't even. Because we are, all of the information that's coming into our life is coming through our stronghold. That's why you gotta be healthy. That's why you gotta fight for your mind. That's why we gotta win the war within. Or we will end up limiting ourself through our stronghold. Your stronghold is your default setting. Where do you go to first, that's your stronghold. Ooh, I like that, I'm gonna start preaching with these. That's your first. Wherever you go first, that's your stronghold. That's why Jesus said, seek first the kingdom of God. In other words, in the context of our sermon, make the kingdom your stronghold because your default, where you go to first, that's your stronghold. Babe, it's been a great week. Babe, it's been a great day. Let's celebrate, let's eat. That's a stronghold, dog. Don't judge. me? That's a stronghold. Man, it's been a tough day. Man, it's been so hard. Man, nobody knows how many hours I've been putting in. You know what? I deserve canes tonight. That's a stronghold. And some of us do it with food, and others of us do it with alcohol, and others of us do it with drugs, and others

of us do it with sex. And you know, my wife won't sleep with me, so you know what? I get to go to the strip clubs because she ain't gonna have sex with me. I get to have some kind of outlet. No, you don't. That's a stronghold, sir. Pornography is a stronghold that says, I deserve pleasure. That's a stronghold. And you got to tear that down because it'll destroy your mind. It's built off of a victim mentality that says, I deserve that. I'm feeling lucky tonight. Let's go hit the tables. You're not feeling lucky. You're bored. I'm just gonna go to the club tonight, see a few friends. No, you're lonely. It's a stronghold. I'm not judging you. We all got them, and we all have to fight them. Some of you just lie. You don't know how to tell the truth. That's a stronghold. You've gotten so used to lie. Others of you gossip. You don't know how to not tear somebody down. Some of you, oh man, it's been good, but you never know. That's a stronghold. Negativity is a stronghold. Oh man, just my luck. It always happens to me. It doesn't always happen to you. That's a stronghold. You're not the only person that gets a blowout on the road. Everybody's tire blows out eventually. That doesn't just happen to you. You see that? That's a stronghold, y'all. And because one thing happened to you, you're now telling yourself that is truth, but that's not true. So what is your default setting? You need to identify the insecurity or the fear or the lust or the anger or the gossip or whatever it is, and then you have to start replacing it. Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me show you the first stronghold in the Bible. It's right here in Genesis 3. In Genesis 3, the serpent was more crafty than all the wild animals the Lord God had made, and he said to the woman, did God really say? So notice this. We have the devil

talking and we have God talking. You can't eat from any of the tree. Now we have the woman talking and the woman said. So notice we have God's voice, the devil's voice, and the woman's voice. Everybody say God's voice, the devil's voice, my voice. Okay, always remember this. In any temptation, there's three voices. That's actually really encouraging because it means that God is always present in the temptation. The woman said, we may eat from the trees in the garden, but God did say you must not eat from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it or you will die. The devil says you will certainly not die, the serpent said to the woman, for God knows that when you eat from it, your eyes will be open and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. And when the, now notice this, notice this, notice this, because she did good at first. She goes, no, we can eat from all the other trees. We just can't eat. Like, it's good at first, but when the woman saw, what's a stronghold? It's an imagination. What's a stronghold? It's an opinion. She starts forming. She's not talking to God, she's talking to the devil. Never talk to the devil. How about let's just start there? Stop having conversations with Satan. Amen. By the way, it doesn't happen by a serpent sliding into your room or a dude in a red suit with a pitchfork coming into your room. It happens through podcasts, TV shows, music. Okay. All right. Let me keep going here. And it's not just like evil demonic music. Sometimes it could just be music that is just soulless. You just don't need to be listening to it in the season you're in. I remember one time I was on a long drive and I thought, I'm just gonna put on some good country music. I feel like country music would be the right. Man, I was so depressed two songs in. I wanted a beer. I

missed my dog. Felt like my wife left me. I mean, it was all, I was like, ah, this is dark. I was like, ah. Is that real to anybody else? Okay. Maybe it's just because I'm a feeler, but I was like, okay. When she saw, so because of her conversation with Satan, look at that. Now she's seeing through her stronghold. And look what she tells her. This is all opinion. This tree's good for food, I bet it's full of vitamins and minerals. Man, it looks great, it's desirable, it'll make me wise. None of that was true. I bet it tastes so good, none of that's true. She took it, she ate it. Look at that, look at her dumb, dumb husband just sitting there the whole time. And he ate it too. We blame Eve for it, but Adam was right there. And she starts forming an opinion that went against the knowledge of God. And we are forming opinions about ourself and about others and about God and about our life that go against the knowledge of God. And it brings shame and it brings defeat and it brings pain. So here is the good news of the sermon, get ready. Strongholds must be replaced. And let me just say it like this, strongholds can be replaced. How do we do it? Verse five, taking every thought captive. We're not just removing them or tearing them down.

Right, I grew up in 1990s Charismatic Church where the strongholds are coming down, we're gonna tear it down, we're gonna shout, we're gonna praise God, we're gonna walk around the walls of Jericho until they fall down. That's not, that's great, but that's not, they have to be replaced. The way to do this is by taking every thought captive. This word captive means to be taken captive by force, watch this, by the sword. By a weapon. You roll up on the thought with a weapon and the weapon is a sword. Does anybody know what this thing is called right here? Anybody know what this is called? The Bible says in Ephesians six, taking up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. So the thought comes and I take it captive. I take it captive by the Word of God. I pull out a weapon on it and I say, freeze. And I stop it in that moment. I don't see, Eve had a conversation with Satan when she should have taken him captive. Because Adam and Eve had the authority in the garden to say, get out of our garden, this belongs to us. But instead of taking the enemy captive, they had a conversation with him. Never have a conversation with the devil, take him captive by the sword of the Spirit,

which is the Word of God. And argue with the argument with the truth of God's Word. Jesus was tempted three times in the wilderness. Every time Satan tempted him, Jesus says, it is written. If you are the Son of God, make these stones into bread. Jesus didn't say, well, no, I am the Son of God. No, I really am. I'm God in the flesh. I'm fully God and I'm fully man. I'm 200% man. I'm the Son of God and I'm fully man. I'm 200%. And if I wanted to, I could, but I'm not. No, he didn't say any of that. Watch me. Jesus didn't use his position against the devil. Jesus didn't even use his authority against the devil. Jesus used the Word against the devil. Okay, ooh, this is powerful. This is revelation. Watch me, watch me. This is good. It's not always good. This one's good. Some of you have beat yourself up for being in warfare and beat yourself up for being tempted. And you're thinking, if I really was the child of God, if I really was a Christian, and you're going to your position, but you don't go to your position in warfare,

you go to God's Word in warfare. Don't go to how you feel. Go to what God has said. So I don't go, man, if I was really a man of God, I wouldn't be tempted. If I was really a man of God, I wouldn't have said that. If I was really a man of God, I wouldn't have been angry. If I was really a man of God, I would be more, but don't go there. When you're feeling it, just go to the Word of God and stand on God's Word, not on your position or on your feelings, which means you're gonna have to know the Bible. Because I have to, first, I have to demolish the strongholds. And this part's painful. I'm just gonna be honest with you, this part's painful. Because as you start tearing it down, the first thing that happens is you feel exposed. That make sense? You feel naked, you feel, okay, now what do I do on a Friday night? Okay, now what do I do on a Saturday? Okay, now what do I do around the office? Okay, now how do I talk to women now? Okay, now how do I not gossip? Okay, now how do I not go negative? Okay, how do I not be angry? Okay, how do I not lust? Okay, how do I not cuss?

Okay, how do I not drink anymore? How do I, right, so you start. Right, when you're breaking an addiction, the thought of not doing it is terrifying. Okay, leave me hanging, it's okay. I know, I know that feeling. What will life be like without it? So at first you just feel exposed. What will I feel like without that language? What will I feel like without these conversations? What will I feel like without doing that thing? It's scary until you start building a new castle. And now you can be committed to what David said, the Lord has become my stronghold. Now, I want you to notice that phrase. The Lord has become, everybody say become. Doesn't happen overnight. It's brick by brick. It's day by day. It's week by week. New strongholds are built just like old strongholds. Brick by brick. Everybody say brick by brick. Day by day, verse by verse, prayer by prayer, Sunday after Sunday, small group after small group. Worship song after worship song, little by little. And all of a sudden I start building new strongholds. I am loved. I'm a child of God. I'm healed by the stripes of Jesus.

I'm accepted by God. I'm saved, I'm saved. I know I screwed up this week, but I don't need to get saved again. I don't need to get re-baptized again for the 17th time. Pastor, can I get baptized again? You can, but at some point it just becomes a Christian pool party. Eventually you gotta believe in the blood of Jesus. Eventually you gotta believe that God's grace is stronger than your sin. Amen. Say amen, somebody. Come on, I'm redeemed from the curse. I'm forgiven, I'm holy, I'm free, I'm well supplied. I'm protected. And now this stronghold don't make me small. This stronghold makes me big and safe. And now I start seeing through. Like I'm really convinced y'all love me. Yeah, well I wasn't asking for it, but thank you. But I really do, I'm just like, oh man, they love me. I love them. It's more about my health than any, it's more about this than anything else. Everybody stand, everybody stand. Follow the leader, come on, everybody stand. You're not dismissed yet, but. Let's stand. That's a stronghold, I gotta beat the traffic.

That's a stronghold. That's a stronghold in this city. I'm telling you right now, it's a stronghold in this city. I promise you, if you'll wait 10 more minutes, Cracker Barrel will still be there in 10 minutes. I promise, it'll still be, your car will still be there in 10 minutes. That's a stronghold, okay. Stop shaving, okay, sorry. Now I've built something new. Now I've built something that's keeping me safe. Now I'm seeing through the truth of God's word. It's so powerful. I'm gonna go back to me for a second, because I'm just gonna expose all my junk in my trunk, since y'all like when I tell you I'm a mess. Let me tell you where the food thing comes from. It comes from, it goes all the way back to a father wound that I wanna be celebrated. That's all it is. Now I know it. The healthier my mind has gotten in the last 18 months, it's shown up in my body. Lost 65 pounds in 18 months, but watch this, watch this. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Don't encourage me, because I got a lot more to lose, and I don't wanna be happy about it yet. It's all, dad didn't celebrate me, so I'm gonna celebrate myself. Mama's not proud, but I'm proud of me.

I'll go eat another steak. I'll go to Ruth Chris again. That's all I hear, it's all I hear. It's all I hear. So the more secure I am. The less I find identity in anything, anything, the healthier you are, the less you need identity in anything. It could be anything. It all just goes back to that. Now that's mine. So I had to build a new house, which was I'm loved by God. God's crazy about me. I love God. What a, what an unbelievable, gracious God to give me this life. Oh my. And I had to replace my need to be celebrated with gratitude. So my authority, parental pastoral brokenness had to be broken with a new stronghold of who I am in Christ. God is my father. And I'm so grateful. I'm entitled to nothing. I'm grateful for everything. And I'm, and I'm in that. And I hate that I'm in that at 42. I wish I had figured that out at 32, but I didn't. So here I am. And some of you are like, Oh my God, this would have been great 20 years ago. Well, here you are. Right? Best time of planting a tree was 20 years ago. Next best time is today. Right? So let's start new strongholds today. You're not too old to start a new stronghold. You're not too old to build a new man. Come on. I feel victory. Somebody shout. Come on. I feel victory in the house right now. Just, just lift your hands with me. If, if, if you're ready to rebuild some, some strongholds in your life, just lift your hands with me. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Lord, you see every fight we're in. You see every stronghold we're in. You see every giant we're facing, but we really do want to build some new strongholds. We, we really do. And so our, we're, we're committing to new thoughts, new strongholds, a new life. Jesus, you ask those people, do you want to get better? And Lord, our answer to that is, yeah, we want to get better. We want to be healed from the very top of our head to the very soles of our feet, every door, every room in our heart and in our soul. We open it to you. We ask you, Holy Spirit, invade with your truth.