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[0:00] Let's just pray together.

[0:13] Lord God, we thank you for fellowship. Thank you, Lord, for brothers and sisters.! Thank you for our church family and assembly of your people that we can get together with today.

[0:26] ! Thank you for hearts that are here today. For each soul, very precious in your sight. Each one you care about tenderly, Lord, and we thank you that you can meet our deepest need today.

[0:42] We ask you, Lord, to visit with us by your Spirit, to empower me, to speak through me, Lord, that your Word would be glorified as it is heard and obeyed, as people would receive something from heaven, something from heaven today.

[0:58] We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. 2 Corinthians 10, verses 3 to 5. 2 Corinthians 10, verses 3 to 5. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not walk after the flesh.

[1:12] For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God. So the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God.

[1:28] And bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. We read here of a war and of weapons. We read of a struggle and strongholds.

[1:42] We are in a war here in Australia. We are engaged in a warfare here as a people. We are flesh. Last time I looked, I've got a human body.

[1:55] And we're all flesh. We're all made of flesh, of human flesh. And it's the reality for us. We're all flesh. And into a struggle. We face a struggle.

[2:05] Living in that body of flesh as we do. Living in a world subject to earth's infirmities and weaknesses. And Paul tells us of his own spiritual struggle.

[2:17] In Romans 7. He said, Sin dwells in me. Sin dwells in me. There was an intensive conflict that was taking place. Within the man Paul. The battle is within and without.

[2:31] Pulling down strongholds is what I want us to just focus in on today. Pulling down of strongholds. 2 Corinthians 10 verse 4.

[2:43] Paul tells of strongholds. Strongholds. And of how we can overcome them. Not by fighting our own effort and fleshly power. But with spiritual weaponry.

[2:56] Spiritual weaponry. So what is a stronghold? What is a stronghold? I think back to my boyhood years where I was privileged to travel through the United Kingdom.

[3:07] With my family we had a travelling holiday through the United Kingdom. And we visited across the nation of the United Kingdom. And one of the places I can remember was the castle at Edinburgh.

[3:22] The castle at Edinburgh. An imposing structure. An impregnable structure. A fortress. A stronghold. A stronghold. And in fact as we were travelling I was really annoying my mum and dad.

[3:34] Because I just said oh there's another castle. There's another castle. I wanted to go and stop. And look at all the different castles. Because it was just such a big thing for me. To see these great castles.

[3:45] These great structures. These historic fortresses. These strongholds. That were so impressive. And strongholds are those fortresses.

[3:57] Those structures. You can see on a battlefield that a stronghold is an entrenchment. A command post. A launching pad for the launching of attacks behind a defence.

[4:10] Now strongholds are spoken of positively and negatively in the word of God. We know that God is a stronghold for us. In Nahum 1 verse 7 it says the Lord is good.

[4:24] A stronghold in the day of trouble. And he knoweth them that trust in him. God is a stronghold for us.

[4:35] That's a good kind of stronghold. On the negative side is what Paul's referring to in this verse here. Spiritually speaking strongholds are an entrenchment.

[4:46] A command post. A launching pad for the enemy's attacks. A mindset. A construct. A reasoning. A thought pattern. That sets itself against the knowledge of God.

[4:58] Against the word of God. That is what we're seeing here in this verse. Such a stronghold is in spiritual darkness.

[5:08] A stronghold that is dark. Because it lacks spiritual truth. What does the word of God say in Psalm 119 verse 130?

[5:22] It says, The entrance of thy words giveth light. It giveth understanding to the simple. This is a brilliant searchlight.

[5:33] A spotlight. A powerful light. The word of God. It brings light. And if there's an area of our lives where the word of God, where God's truth, the light of God's truth is not penetrated, the enemy will use that as a stronghold in our life.

[5:50] It could be those secret areas of disobedience that we cherish. Those areas where the word of God, the light of God, where God's truth is not penetrated. Anything in us that is strong enough to keep us from becoming like Christ is a stronghold for us.

[6:07] A stronghold for us. So where does the enemy build strongholds today? He builds strongholds in our minds. We read, as it says, Every high thing.

[6:21] Imaginations. Standing against the knowledge of God. It's talking about the mind. The mind is the place where the enemy builds his strongholds. A stronghold is, as someone has called it, a house made of thoughts.

[6:35] It's that faulty thinking pattern that the world would pressure us to follow suit with the world view that is contrary to God. That holds people captive in deception and away from the knowledge of God and his truth.

[6:49] Strongholds are imaginations, it says. Imaginations. That intellectual arrogance that some people have. That imagination. That human reasoning. That human argument.

[7:01] That contradicts God's truth. And faith. Strongholds are imaginations. Strongholds are every high thing that exalts itself.

[7:12] Every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. Every high thing. Human philosophies. Human systems of thought and worldly ways. Things that would take God's place.

[7:24] And take that undermining of God's authority. Every high thing. Every high thing. It's the stronghold of pride.

[7:35] Man's pride is like that impressive fortress. That stronghold. That people think are beyond a tank.

[7:49] That cannot be pulled down. Pride. Pride. The pride of man. We see that in Genesis in the garden. Where Eve was attacked. Where the serpent.

[8:00] Where the enemy. The devil. Beguiled Eve. Because he told her how things were going to change for her. He gave her the temptation of a greater power. Of a greater knowledge.

[8:11] And that appealed to Eve and Adam's fleshly prideful hearts. And a battle rages today within all of us for control of our thought life.

[8:23] Satan wants to build that self-will in us. He wants to give us that temptation as he gave to Eve. He wants to control our thinking. To block the voice of God's Holy Spirit.

[8:37] And so Satan's strongholds are evident today. Satan's strongholds filling people with bitterness. With fear. With resentment. With those things that will barrage our minds.

[8:49] And our thought processes. Strongholds that will oppress people. And destroy them. And burden and bind them. And barricade them within a fortress. These are the strongholds that we have to counter today.

[9:03] Have you ever found it when you're trying to witness to someone? You're trying to witness to them. You're trying to tell them about the gospel. And it's like it's just too hard to break through. It's hard to break through to them.

[9:14] There's a barrier there. There's obstacles there. They're building up a wall around themselves. There is a stronghold there. In the lives of people like that. Too hard to break through.

[9:25] There's a stronghold. A fortress that encompasses them. And holds them captive. Strongholds at work today.

[9:36] Strongholds such as those that drive people with sinful desires. The lust of the eyes. The lust of the flesh. The pride of life. Strongholds that destroy people.

[9:47] They destroy spiritual life. They destroy your testimony. They destroy your home. Strongholds. Strongholds are the habits of sin. The habits of sin.

[9:57] The things that we try to excuse. The habits that then become attitudes. That then become patterns of behaviour. And then we try to justify them. It's been said that Satan inhabits our habits.

[10:12] It could be that those habits that are contrary to God. Are strongholds in our lives. So we need to discern those strongholds. We need to discern.

[10:23] Detect them. Recognise them. And remove them. So how do we do this? How can we demolish these strongholds? What needs to be done to demolish?

[10:34] To pull down. To tear down. To destroy these strongholds? It calls for a deliberate, intentional demolition. A deconstruction. Now I know, parking back to my younger days too.

[10:47] That my dad's got an anointing for demolition. You know, here we've had some older houses that my family bought and did up. And my dad used to get the hammer and smash them to pieces and break the walls down.

[11:01] And then rebuild them in these old prodigies. And make something worthwhile out of these rooms that were then refashioned. And as there was a deconstruction, there was also a construction.

[11:13] God wants us to be demolition workers. A demolition job needs to be done to those strongholds that are pulling us down in our lives. We need to pull them down.

[11:24] Pull down the strongholds. Demolish them. Cast them down. Tear them down. Again, there's a military metaphor here where the sense of it is to destroy by force.

[11:37] That's the intent of this word to pull down. To destroy by force. And that's what the Old Testament prophets had to do. For example, Jeremiah, in his calling, he was told to pluck up and plant.

[11:52] He was told to break down and build up. As far as altars. And we know Elijah did that. He cast down the altar of Baal. And then he built up the altar of the Lord.

[12:03] There's a breaking down and there's a building up right through the word of God. And that is the same in our lives, in our spiritual lives. There's spiritual forces at work. There's a spiritual conflict going on.

[12:14] We need to deconstruct and demolish the enemy's works. The enemy's strongholds. So how? How can we do this work of demolition?

[12:25] It costs for us to be equipped with weapons of warfare. The weapons of our warfare. And these weapons that the word speaks of are weapons to fight a spiritual war.

[12:38] So they must be not man-made weapons, but spiritual weapons. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal. They're not man-made, human-made methods. But they are not the philosophies of the world, of fleshly effort.

[12:53] But they are spiritual weapons. It says the weapons of our warfare. Now this word warfare, it's not got the sense of just one battle.

[13:04] It's got the sense of a campaign. Friends, the enemy is waging a campaign against you. You know, there might be times in your life where you think, Oh, I've not won that battle.

[13:15] But, you know, life's full of battles, isn't it? It's a campaign. An enemy, the enemy of our soul, the devil, is waging a campaign against you.

[13:27] A campaign to destroy mankind, to destroy us, to keep people out of God's kingdom. And so the sense of this word warfare, the weapons of our warfare, has got the sense of waging a campaign.

[13:39] So don't think, if you have times where you're feeling defeated, the war's not over yet. You might have lost a battle here and there, but the war's not over yet. Amen?

[13:50] The war's not over yet for you, soldier. The battle is the Lord's. And he will wage that warfare, that campaign. He will oppose that campaign of the evil one, the enemy of our soul.

[14:04] It says that our weapons are mighty, mighty through God. These are spiritual weapons to fight with. And they are mighty, they are powerful in God. You might not realise it, you might not think it.

[14:16] You are powerful in God, as you have those weapons of warfare that he gives to you. And so Christian soldier today, I say to you, get your armour on.

[14:28] Get your armour on today. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God. The weapons that God gives us are great and powerful through God's Spirit, to bring to pass his purposes in our lives.

[14:42] So go, grab your armour today. Grab your armour. In Romans 13, 12 it says, The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

[14:57] What a contrast there. Cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armour of light. We are living in a world that is darkened by the oppressive power of sin.

[15:10] I think back to a time where Julie and I were in Mount Isa, and we travelled nearly one kilometre beneath the earth's surface. We took the lift down to about one kilometre, almost beneath the surface of the earth.

[15:28] And then we boarded this jig down these narrow tunnels, and we sped along with, probably only going 30 kilometres an hour, but in these narrow tunnels, it seemed like we were going like the clappers.

[15:40] And then the guide stopped to party, and he warned us what he was going to do, and he flicked the switch off. He flicked the switch off one kilometre beneath the earth.

[15:54] And what darkness it was. The darkness was like so overwhelming, oppressive, you couldn't see the thing that's in front of your eyes.

[16:05] There's just no light at all. And I think of the darkness of hell. I think it's going to be darkness forever. I think of the darkness, the dominion of darkness, the prince of darkness, the prince of this world, and the darkness that is inside the lives of people outside of God.

[16:23] It's an oppressive, tangible darkness. When I think of darkness, it makes me think of when I see cockroaches.

[16:34] I don't know. I just think of the cockroaches what it's like to live in those dark places, don't they? And then you put the lights on, and they scurry, and run for their shelter.

[16:47] And I think of the darkness of sin, the darkness of the kingdom, of the evil one. And sin is like that. It's a darkness. It makes your flesh crawl to think of the darkness, of the repulsiveness, the vileness, of the sinfulness of our sin.

[17:05] It speaks to us of the strongholds, the strongholds of darkness that are over the lives of people. In Ephesians 4, 18, we read, having the understanding darkened.

[17:19] Having the understanding darkened. And being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, through the blindness of their heart. What a picture of the lost.

[17:32] Their understanding darkened. Alienated, in other words, cut off from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their hearts.

[17:44] People are blinded today. People are blindfolded. Groping around in the dark. Engulfed by a darkness. And yet some think they're somehow enlightened.

[17:57] They think that this is a, that worldly philosophies and learnings will enlighten them. And yet, truly they are in, in a very bleak darkness.

[18:11] Their conscience is seared. Their foolish heart is darkened. They are without wisdom. They are alienated from the life of God. What a picture, graphic picture, of the strongholds.

[18:25] And yet God arms us with weapons of light. With weapons of light. Let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light.

[18:37] Christian soldier, man, woman here today, Christian soldier, cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light. The weapons of light can break down those strongholds of darkness that hold people captive.

[18:53] God's light and tune can guide the way. His word can enlighten, truly enlighten.

[19:04] The entrance of thy words bringeth light. What are these weapons that we need? These weapons, these weapons of light. This armour of light.

[19:16] God's spirit is vital in this warfare that we fight. God's power is critical to shatter those strongholds. You think of when a demolition job needs to be done on a huge building.

[19:31] They put the dynamite there. And we need that dynamite, that dynamos, that power of God that can totally wipe out the works of the evil one.

[19:42] We need the Holy Spirit to work in us, to draw us closer to God, that greater empowerment. As we draw close to Him, He will draw close to us. And He will empower you, Christian.

[19:53] He will empower you, young person, older person. He will empower you to have that new mind, that new way of thinking, that new way of living, that mind of Christ. Another aspect in this warfare that we wage, it says for the same, that we come into the obedience of Christ.

[20:13] There's a new master, there's a new obedience, there's a new purpose. Because greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. You are a victorious, mighty conqueror, because He is in you today.

[20:26] It tells us further of a captivity of every thought, of a captivity of every thought, to come and bring every thought, yielding that thought to the obedience of Christ, yielding our thinking to the authority of God.

[20:44] We need the Spirit of God to make that happen, to bring victory, to guide and lead us through. We need the power of God unleashed in our lives. Let's not hold it back. Let's not grieve or hurt the Holy Spirit.

[21:02] Let us unleash the Holy Spirit. In Ephesians 6 verse 10, it says, finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. The might and power of God.

[21:14] You know, sometimes we think, I can do it in my own strength. I can do it my own way, living the Christian life. And we fail to stop and ask God to supply. Ask God to yield us and flow in us and through us.

[21:29] We look back at the Battle of Jericho as an example of how to demolish spiritual strongholds. If you were there that day that the children of Israel trod into the Promised Land and they came to that place, that place called Jericho, they came to that formidable stronghold that was the city of Jericho.

[21:49] A strong fortress, a strong stronghold that stood in their way. And without taking Jericho, the enemy would always have a position of strength over God's people.

[22:02] A position of strength to attack them and to hold them back. Jericho did not fall by human method. Jericho did not fall by them barraging the walls and storming the gates and bringing ladders and climbing and using all the military technology that they had at that time.

[22:25] They did what God said. They did what God said. God said, go and march to the city. Go and march around it seven days. And you will go around once each day and on the seventh day you will march around it seven times.

[22:40] then blow the trumpets and the walls will come down. That took faith, didn't it? You know, there would be some, I'd imagine, amongst the crowd that day, amongst the hardened veterans, the soldiers of that day, they might have thought, you know, that doesn't, that's not in the military strategy book to follow that kind of procedure.

[23:03] that doesn't compute with my human reasoning. And yet, as they did obey God, as they in faith did what God's word was to them to do, God brought the victory.

[23:16] And God will bring the victory for you, brother. God will bring the victory for you, sister, if you'll obey God, if you'll take God at his word and God will bring his power and victory to your situation.

[23:30] Another wonderful demolition equipment is the Bible. One of the most powerful pieces of our demolition equipment is the Bible, the word of God.

[23:45] Now, the word of God is an offensive weapon. An offensive weapon it discerns, it is absolute truth, it brings light to our understanding. Hebrews 4.12, it says, for the word of God is quick or alive and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword.

[24:01] He is thinking even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. The Bible is a living book, a book of living principles for life.

[24:17] And by God's truth we can cast down those wrong thinkings, we can cast down the deception that holds people captive. As we study the word of God, as we declare the word of God, as we apply the word of God, as we memorise the word of God, it's one of the weapons of our warfare.

[24:35] What did the Lord Jesus do at that place of temptation? He said, it is written. God's word, God's truth is part of that demolition equipment, that part of the weapons of our warfare to counteract the false philosophies and the wrong falsehoods of the world and its lies.

[24:56] God's truth is part of that the Bible creates faith. It shows us the right way to think. It helps make us free. The Lord Jesus said, and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.

[25:08] John 8, 32. Another powerful weapon in our arsenal to fight this spiritual battle is the weapon of prayer. The weapon of prayer.

[25:20] In James 5, 16, it says, the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. We need prayer. Prayer that's specific prayer.

[25:31] Prayer that's earnest prayer. Prayer that's fervent prayer. Powerful prayer. By prayer, we can assault the gates of hell. The word says the church, the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church of the living God.

[25:46] It's by prayer as we trust him, as we seek him, as we yield to him in fervent prayer that we will see that enemy's gates will yield.

[25:58] Submit yourselves to God in humility as James 4, 7 says, draw near in your hearts to God. Don't underestimate the power of prayer.

[26:10] Don't underestimate it. Don't neglect to pray. When you're feeling at the end of yourself, it's all the more reason to pray. When you're feeling like your power is not enough, all the more reason to pray.

[26:22] Talk to your Lord. Talk to your Father in heaven. Talk to your living God, the one with whom you have that living relationship. Talk with him as a friend, as your master.

[26:36] Fight with the weapon of prayer. Biblical faith is another powerful weapon. Hebrews 11, verse 6, Biblical faith, Biblical faith, it's a faith that motivates us to please God.

[26:59] It's a weapon. It's a shield for us. The faith shield. When Satan throws his wrong ideas your way, when those thoughts barrage you, as the enemy barrage your mind with thoughts that are contrary to God's way for your life, faith is a shield for you.

[27:17] Trust in the Lord and you can have victory in him. Casting down imaginations and every high thought that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

[27:32] Sadly, many people today, they wrestle against God. It's a constant wrestling match for them. Their pride, their self-will, their fleshly wisdom, they will not yield to God.

[27:45] People today reject the knowledge of God. They would rather follow vain human philosophies and hopeless theories, man-made ideas. They vainly cling to the lies of humanism, of evolution, lies, rather than come to the knowledge of God.

[28:04] They build up the walls of the strongholds around them. And yet, those strongholds really lock them in and hold them prisoner. Those strongholds of their own earthly, vain philosophies of humanism, of evolution and such like, they form a barrier, a blockage, a blockade, a stronghold that holds them captive, imprisoned within.

[28:32] Romans 1 tells us of such that they reject God. They willfully will not honour Him. They turn their backs upon Him. They choose rather the path of sin and rebellion.

[28:43] They reject God's authority over them. 2 Corinthians 4 verse 4 tells us of the lost. It says, in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.

[28:56] Lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ in which the image of God should shine unto them. The light must shine into those dark strongholds. Friends, we must commit to the work of demolition.

[29:09] For the loved ones we know who are outside of Christ, they are imprisoned and trapped in these fortresses, in these strongholds of unbelief. Let us commit to the work of demolition in our life too.

[29:22] To deconstruct those strongholds brick by brick by brick. Pull them down, discern the lies and replace them with God's truth. Strongholds.

[29:35] Replace the lie with God's truth. Let me close with a warning here of this spiritual conflict that rages all around us and within you.

[29:46] This spiritual conflict. Don't miss the reality of this today. This is not some airy-fairy theoretical lecture. This is about the rubber hitting the road for you in your life.

[29:59] This is about the conflict that's going on day by day by day, moment by moment moment by moment in your life and lives of others around you. This force is contrary to God and pitted against you.

[30:12] Take heed to yourselves, the Bible says. Take heed. Watch out. It says, don't grieve the Holy Spirit. It says, neither give place to the devil.

[30:25] Ephesians 4, 27. Friends, it says, neither give place to the devil. The enemy of your soul wants to find a lodging place in your life.

[30:42] The enemy of your soul wants to find a place. He wants to get behind the lines of defence. He wants to find a vantage point from which to shoot his fiery dance.

[30:56] He wants to find that weak point, as it were, an Achilles heel. He wants to find that weak point, that place where he can get behind your lines of defence.

[31:08] Don't allow him a chink in your armour. Don't allow a chink in your armour. Ephesians 6 is a good one as a take home later reference to look up.

[31:19] We know the whole armour of God, a panoply, a whole armour, it's a complete, total, can I think of the word, it's a complete defence system.

[31:36] The whole armour of God. Don't miss any part. Check Ephesians 6. Put on a whole armour of God. Don't miss any piece. Don't allow a chink in your armour.

[31:48] Don't give the enemy an inch. Don't give him an opportunity. Don't allow him a place, a base of operation. There's a two-fold method in James 4.

[32:01] It says, number one, submit yourselves therefore to God, and number two, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. It's a two-fold thing. Submit to God, yield to him, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

[32:16] It says further, draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. I kind of think of a magnet when I think of that. As we draw nigh to God, we're probably more just like the piece of metal sitting there, but he is like the magnet, and bang, draw nigh to God, he will draw nigh to you.

[32:36] Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Draw nigh to him, draw close to him. The word urges us, be on your guard. Let's guard our fault life.

[32:49] identify the strongholds. Take stock today. Consider it for your own life. Maybe make a little bit of a checklist for yourself. Make it a personal checklist today about your thought life.

[33:04] Identify the strongholds. Identify those areas where the light of God's truth has not shone fully. has not surrendered in some departments, in some areas.

[33:16] Ask God to deal with these things. If you give the enemy half a chance, he will set up camp. If you give him a place, neither give you place to the devil.

[33:29] He will enslave you within a stronghold. He will build a fortress around you with that cherished sin. He will put that pattern of thinking in your life. In 2 Corinthians 2 verse 11 it says of Satan getting an advantage over us, getting the better of us.

[33:47] 2 Corinthians 2 verse 11. The archdeceiver wants to find a vantage point. A vantage point. Again, I think again, as a youngster in those castles, and we went out the turret of the castle, and we looked out and there's those little arrow slits, those little arrow slits in the structure of the castle, where the archer would look down and would be quite safe to shoot his arrows at any attacking armies.

[34:22] The word of God tells us that the enemy shoots fiery darts. He's like an archer firing fiery darts. Fiery darts. It's all easier for him if he's got a stronghold with some arrow slits in it.

[34:37] We've got to pull down the strongholds, brother and sister. We've got to pull down the strongholds. Don't give that arch deceiver a vantage point in your life. Don't let him set up strongholds there in your mind.

[34:49] Recognise and remove the enemy's vantage points over your life. Don't give Satan an advantage over your life. The devil wants to camp out.

[35:02] If you give him place to, he wants to camp out and set up a place in your life. He camps out in this unclean place. I think of that darkness again.

[35:15] I think of the cockroaches. I think of the vileness. It's so horrible. I hate touching cockroaches. I hate those little creatures that hide in the dark places.

[35:28] But more than that, what of the sin? The sin that does so easily beset us. The enemy wants to set up a place, an unclean place, a dark place, a beachhead, a citadel, a stronghold, a base camp from which you can launch his attacks further into your life, from which you can undermine the work of God in your life.

[35:51] Don't give him ground. Don't let him sneak in. It can happen without us knowing it. I know we've had in times past the awful trouble of pigeons nesting in a roof.

[36:04] pigeons. They just come. The rats of the sky they call them. Pigeons. They make such a mess.

[36:17] It's like a pigeon nesting in your roof. That's what sin can be like as a stronghold in your life. Satan will lodge there and foul up your life in that stronghold.

[36:30] So don't give him a place. Guard your thoughts. Don't harbor wounds and hurts. Don't let anything come between you and God. Don't let any jealousies or hurts accommodate in your life.

[36:43] Don't accommodate the sin in your life. If there's unforgiveness resolve it now. Resolve the unforgiveness. Resolve the lack of love to your brother. Resolve those things, those chinks in your armour, those weak points in your life, those things that you've yet to yield to him.

[37:00] Surrender them now. Don't allow any strongholds but rather demolish them. Resolve those things that the love of God, the faith of God would fill you, that you have that right approach to others to him.

[37:14] To know that victory in your life, to know that you can rejoice in the work of the cross completed and accomplished for you. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

[37:27] 1 Corinthians 15, 57. We've trodden a pathway through the battlefield. We've taken a trip to the battle zone. We've seen the strongholds.

[37:40] We've defined them, those thought patterns, those things that are against the knowledge of God. We've seen the spiritual darkness that envelops the minds of men. We've seen the destructive desires and habits that hold people captive.

[37:55] We've seen those strongholds. We've seen the demolition that needs to happen. We've seen the demolition work of imaginations of every high thing. And we've seen the means of that demolition, the weapons of our warfare.

[38:07] Mighty through God the weapons of our warfare. Weapons of light, weapons of God's spirit, weapons of obedience to Christ, of captivity of every thought. Weapons of finding God's way as Jericho, going God's way when we face challenges.

[38:24] When we see the weapons of the Bible, the weapons of prayer, the weapons of faith, the weapon of the knowledge of God. And friends, to close, the determination that we need to keep, the vigilance that we need to maintain, the ongoing vigilance that we need to maintain, neither give place to the devil.

[38:47] You might have victory. You might be walking with the Lord, but what's going to happen tomorrow? What's going to happen next week? What's going to happen, or what's already happened that you're feeling burdened down by, and condemned by?

[38:58] It could be a stronghold in your life. Pull it down, pull it down, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.

[39:09] Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you that this victory, you've won it for us at the cross. We know we can walk in that victory. We know, Lord, that even though battles may, at times, be tough, and we may not win every battle yet, Lord, the war will be won.

[39:26] The war has already been won and we're on the winning side, Lord, not by any working of our own, but because the battle is yours and we are more than conquerors through you who have loved us.

[39:38] Help us, Lord, to recognise, to identify those areas of our life that we've not yielded yet, those areas of darkness where your spirit, where your light, your word, has not penetrated yet.

[39:50] Help us, Lord, to recognise and to see the vantage point the enemy has over our life. Help us, Lord, to yield every area, to take captive every thought to obey you.

[40:03] That every thought will be under your mastery, under your authority. We pray if there's any yet to trust you today, if there's any yet to know you, that don't have the knowledge of God yet, that by faith, by your spirit's power, they might yield their hearts, their will, and come to know you even now, as they trust the work that you've done in dying on the cross for our sin, that people might come to know you today and seek prayer from others today.

[40:32] We pray if there's any believers here struggling, struggling with temptation, struggling with conflict, with those strongholds that have yet to pull down, give them the power, Lord, now.

[40:44]  Give us the power, Lord, now, to pull down those strongholds to get the victory in Christ we pray. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. Amen.