Nov. 17, 2024

Strongholds

Strongholds

A discussion about 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Spreaker Apple Podcasts Spotify PocketCasts Amazon Music Overcast Audible Castro iHeartRadio Castbox Podchaser TuneIn Deezer Pandora RadioPublic Podcast Addict RSS Feed YouTube Fountain PlayerFM Goodpods Podverse Podyssey Breaker Podurama Audacy JioSaavn
Spreaker podcast player icon Spreaker Spreaker Apple Podcasts podcast player icon Apple Podcasts Apple Podcasts Spotify podcast player icon Spotify Spotify PocketCasts podcast player icon PocketCasts PocketCasts Amazon Music podcast player icon Amazon Music Amazon Music Overcast podcast player icon Overcast Overcast Audible podcast player icon Audible Audible Castro podcast player icon Castro Castro iHeartRadio podcast player icon iHeartRadio iHeartRadio Castbox podcast player icon Castbox Castbox Podchaser podcast player icon Podchaser Podchaser TuneIn podcast player icon TuneIn TuneIn Deezer podcast player icon Deezer Deezer Pandora podcast player icon Pandora Pandora RadioPublic podcast player icon RadioPublic RadioPublic Podcast Addict podcast player icon Podcast Addict Podcast Addict RSS Feed podcast player icon RSS Feed RSS Feed YouTube podcast player icon YouTube YouTube Fountain podcast player icon Fountain Fountain PlayerFM podcast player icon PlayerFM PlayerFM Goodpods podcast player icon Goodpods Goodpods Podverse podcast player icon Podverse Podverse Podyssey podcast player icon Podyssey Podyssey Breaker podcast player icon Breaker Breaker Podurama podcast player icon Podurama Podurama Audacy podcast player icon Audacy Audacy JioSaavn podcast player icon JioSaavn JioSaavn

A discussion about 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

WEBVTT

1
00:00:02.319 --> 00:00:06.080
Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

2
00:00:06.080 --> 00:00:13.160
the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. Good afternoon everyone.

3
00:00:13.439 --> 00:00:17.960
It is Sunday, November seventeenth, twenty twenty four. It is

4
00:00:18.079 --> 00:00:22.359
currently four five pm Central Time, and I am coming

5
00:00:22.399 --> 00:00:26.760
to you live from the Theology Central studio located right

6
00:00:26.920 --> 00:00:33.479
here in Abilene, Texas. How are you feeling today? Are

7
00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:42.280
you upbeat, positive, happy? Or are you discouraged, depressed, frustrated.

8
00:00:42.920 --> 00:00:45.840
Maybe you're just kind of in between. Maybe you don't

9
00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:51.600
feel anything, Maybe you're comfortably numb. What are you feeling today? Well,

10
00:00:51.679 --> 00:00:55.119
for me, right now, I guess I'm feeling a little

11
00:00:55.119 --> 00:00:59.960
bit better. Maybe I've I've reached a level of acceptance,

12
00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:04.079
because if you've been listening to the broadcast, it's kind

13
00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:10.799
of been this downward trajectory from frustrated, to discourage, to depress,

14
00:01:11.040 --> 00:01:16.439
to defeated, to give up to all hope is lost.

15
00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:20.840
It's over. I'm done, I quit, I resign, I retire,

16
00:01:21.319 --> 00:01:26.040
I don't care. I'm walking away. It's nothing matters anymore.

17
00:01:26.280 --> 00:01:30.959
It's meaningless, meaningless, it's hopeless, it's helpless. Who cares anymore?

18
00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:33.599
That's kind of where I reach, And that may sound

19
00:01:33.640 --> 00:01:36.879
a little bit hyperbolic, but there's a lot of truth

20
00:01:37.040 --> 00:01:37.560
to it.

21
00:01:38.439 --> 00:01:40.680
So maybe I feel a little bit better.

22
00:01:41.840 --> 00:01:45.640
I'm not so sure, all right, So as everyone knows,

23
00:01:45.680 --> 00:01:51.719
because I've been mentioning it a lot recently. December twenty

24
00:01:51.799 --> 00:01:55.799
twenty three, I turned on this very microphone and I

25
00:01:56.879 --> 00:02:01.159
was all excited, and I was positive, and I was upbeat,

26
00:02:01.239 --> 00:02:04.879
and I was energetic and I was hopeful. Right, I

27
00:02:04.920 --> 00:02:08.360
had a great idea. In twenty twenty four, we're gonna

28
00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:11.639
do the sermons two point oh the Sermon two point

29
00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:15.919
oh app Sermon Challenge, the Sermon two point oh app

30
00:02:16.120 --> 00:02:19.439
Sermon Challenge. Everyone download the sermon two point oh app,

31
00:02:19.719 --> 00:02:21.919
and then every single day you're gonna listen to one

32
00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:24.400
random sermon on the sermon two point oh app. It's

33
00:02:24.400 --> 00:02:26.520
got to you just choose it at random. It can

34
00:02:26.879 --> 00:02:30.360
just don't pick your favorite pastor favorite church or favorite denomination.

35
00:02:30.840 --> 00:02:33.439
And each day you listen to a sermon, you write

36
00:02:33.479 --> 00:02:35.680
down the name of the sermon and the broadcaster, and

37
00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:37.639
then you write kind of a summary of what the

38
00:02:37.680 --> 00:02:39.840
sermon was about. And the goal is that you will

39
00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:42.360
have a notebook and at the end of twenty twenty

40
00:02:42.360 --> 00:02:45.159
four you will have one sermon for every single day

41
00:02:45.319 --> 00:02:51.479
of the entire year. What a great idea. It will

42
00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:54.840
be you listening to sermons, and I'll be listening to sermons,

43
00:02:54.840 --> 00:02:58.159
and other people will be listening to sermons, and we'll

44
00:02:58.159 --> 00:03:00.400
be discussing them. We'll be talking about them, and I'll

45
00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:04.120
be doing sermon reviews, and it'll be exciting, and we'll

46
00:03:04.159 --> 00:03:07.080
be learning and we'll be challenged. What a great thing

47
00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:09.199
to do for an entire year. By the end of

48
00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:11.240
the year, just think of all the sermons we have heard,

49
00:03:11.479 --> 00:03:13.680
Just think of all the Bible teaching, Just think of

50
00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:16.240
all the lessons we have learned, all the challenges. It

51
00:03:16.280 --> 00:03:19.800
will be amazing. It will be glorious. Okay, maybe I

52
00:03:19.879 --> 00:03:23.400
didn't quite present it that positive, but I really thought

53
00:03:23.400 --> 00:03:25.520
it was going to be a good thing, and maybe

54
00:03:25.520 --> 00:03:28.639
for a good portion of the year it was. But

55
00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:34.680
over time I started becoming very, very frustrated by the situation.

56
00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:39.000
As I have clearly outlined and a lot of broadcast recently, right,

57
00:03:39.479 --> 00:03:41.759
I just felt like, what is going on the way

58
00:03:41.800 --> 00:03:45.599
the scriptures are being handled, This constant making claims that

59
00:03:45.639 --> 00:03:49.439
are just nowhere connected to reality and just bother and

60
00:03:49.479 --> 00:03:51.280
I'm not going to go back and review everything that

61
00:03:51.319 --> 00:03:54.599
I've talked about, but just, oh, what do I do?

62
00:03:54.719 --> 00:03:58.120
And so we've been talking about false comfort, fake comfort,

63
00:03:58.240 --> 00:04:03.439
fraudulent comfort, promises giving an illusion of hope where there

64
00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:06.000
is actually none, and we've been talking about that now

65
00:04:06.039 --> 00:04:12.439
for hours upon hours. So today I can't necessarily say

66
00:04:14.879 --> 00:04:18.800
what began to change. But as I was driving away

67
00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:22.079
from church, I kind of felt at least a little

68
00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:25.639
bit like a weight had been taken off, and I

69
00:04:25.720 --> 00:04:29.279
left the weight somewhere and a back road here in

70
00:04:29.319 --> 00:04:31.920
West Texas, right because I always take the back way

71
00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:35.360
home right out in the middle of nowhere, there's just yeah,

72
00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:38.399
cattle and whatever is out there. I felt like, in

73
00:04:38.439 --> 00:04:40.000
a sense, I stopped at the side of the road,

74
00:04:40.040 --> 00:04:42.199
took the weight and just left it there. And I

75
00:04:42.279 --> 00:04:46.240
feel a little bit better, a little bit better. And

76
00:04:46.319 --> 00:04:52.079
my philosophy, I think, moving forward, my ideology moving forward,

77
00:04:52.319 --> 00:04:56.959
is this, look, Christianity is going to do what Christianity does.

78
00:04:57.040 --> 00:04:59.680
It's been doing it basically my whole Christian life, and

79
00:04:59.800 --> 00:05:04.519
I've always found myself at odds, frustrated and irritated by

80
00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:07.480
a majority of it. I've always felt like an outsider.

81
00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:11.120
I don't really belong I've always been. I feel in

82
00:05:11.240 --> 00:05:15.600
conflict with it. I've said so many times most Christians

83
00:05:16.120 --> 00:05:19.920
I don't really want to even talk the Bible with them.

84
00:05:19.959 --> 00:05:23.519
I just I just always feel at out like an outsider,

85
00:05:23.759 --> 00:05:26.759
and for all of the reasons I have outlined before.

86
00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:29.839
But I'm not going to be able to change that.

87
00:05:31.040 --> 00:05:35.399
I'm not. Maybe maybe there was a time that I thought, yes,

88
00:05:35.720 --> 00:05:38.199
there's got to be there's got to be a room,

89
00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:40.399
there's got to be room for there's got to be

90
00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:46.279
hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions, of people who are

91
00:05:46.279 --> 00:05:50.519
looking for something different, looking for an alternative. But at

92
00:05:50.519 --> 00:05:52.800
this point in my life, I realize there's not that

93
00:05:52.920 --> 00:05:58.120
many who want an alternative. People want just what you

94
00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:00.720
get in christian Oh, they claim they want to alternative,

95
00:06:01.079 --> 00:06:03.199
but and they'll try to they'll try to say that

96
00:06:03.240 --> 00:06:05.680
their church is so radically different than that church by

97
00:06:05.720 --> 00:06:10.759
emphasizing maybe a specific doctrinal distinctive. But churches basically operate

98
00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:11.360
as churches.

99
00:06:11.399 --> 00:06:11.560
Oh.

100
00:06:11.639 --> 00:06:13.519
You may say, well, we don't help a praise band,

101
00:06:13.759 --> 00:06:16.360
but the overall things you do in church and the

102
00:06:16.399 --> 00:06:19.480
way preaching is done, it's far more similar than people

103
00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:20.959
would like to believe.

104
00:06:21.160 --> 00:06:22.120
It's very similar.

105
00:06:22.319 --> 00:06:26.519
In what people expect. So my idea of something different,

106
00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:29.639
it's never it's never going to be popular, it's never

107
00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:31.600
going to gain support. It's not like I'm going to

108
00:06:31.639 --> 00:06:33.560
wake up tomorrow and someone's going to be like, I

109
00:06:34.360 --> 00:06:36.800
so agree with what you're trying to do. I'm going

110
00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:39.839
to send you one hundred thousand dollars so your podcast

111
00:06:39.879 --> 00:06:42.560
is supported for the rest of your life. Like, nothing

112
00:06:42.639 --> 00:06:45.160
like that's going to happen, right, Okay, There's going to

113
00:06:45.199 --> 00:06:49.120
be a small group of people who at least appreciate

114
00:06:49.120 --> 00:06:50.920
what I'm trying to do, and even they may not

115
00:06:51.040 --> 00:06:55.480
always agree. And so what what should I do? Well,

116
00:06:55.560 --> 00:06:57.519
here's what I think I should do. I should just,

117
00:06:57.959 --> 00:07:00.480
I don't know for how long, continue to turn on

118
00:07:00.519 --> 00:07:06.519
the microphone and not so much try to fight it

119
00:07:06.920 --> 00:07:10.160
as much as just say, well, here's what they think,

120
00:07:10.759 --> 00:07:14.680
and here's here's something different. Like I can get frustrated,

121
00:07:14.759 --> 00:07:16.959
I can get angry, I can get mad, and it

122
00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:19.360
does bother me because I do believe a lot of

123
00:07:19.399 --> 00:07:23.639
this preaching leads people to false hope, false comfort, And

124
00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:26.199
we spent two hours yesterday talking about all of the

125
00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:31.199
negative consequences. I do believe it creates some serious mental

126
00:07:31.240 --> 00:07:34.800
and emotional issues. I do believe it creates a lot

127
00:07:34.839 --> 00:07:38.600
of negative things. But I can yell and scream about it,

128
00:07:38.720 --> 00:07:40.959
or I can just say, hey, I can turn on

129
00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:43.639
the microphone talk about what's going on in Christianity and

130
00:07:43.680 --> 00:07:48.000
then do Bible studies, do devotionals, do things and just

131
00:07:48.040 --> 00:07:50.560
try to just try to offer an alternative and just

132
00:07:50.600 --> 00:07:52.519
try to move forward. It's all I can really do.

133
00:07:52.720 --> 00:07:52.839
Now.

134
00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:54.879
I've still got to work my way out of this

135
00:07:55.199 --> 00:07:58.199
pit and still dealing with the false comfort. I think

136
00:07:58.199 --> 00:08:00.839
we did. I think we did pretty at least at

137
00:08:00.920 --> 00:08:03.720
least for our study in Isaiah forty through fifty five.

138
00:08:04.399 --> 00:08:08.279
At least now we can actually get into Isaiah forty

139
00:08:08.399 --> 00:08:11.399
and we can move forward and just do Bible teaching

140
00:08:11.639 --> 00:08:13.720
and not have to correct all of the false comfort

141
00:08:13.720 --> 00:08:16.360
and people misapplying the scripture and taking out of context.

142
00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:19.160
So maybe that's why I feel a little bit better.

143
00:08:19.399 --> 00:08:23.519
Maybe I can't say for sure, but I can still

144
00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:26.879
just keep listening to what's going on in Christianity, and

145
00:08:27.319 --> 00:08:30.000
I can yell and scream, or I can just try

146
00:08:30.040 --> 00:08:33.360
to say here's how they teach it, what about this,

147
00:08:33.799 --> 00:08:34.679
and just move forward.

148
00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:36.559
I don't know if it will work.

149
00:08:36.759 --> 00:08:39.480
Maybe my emotions right now are allowing me to do it.

150
00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:42.320
Who knows. Maybe by the time I'm done doing what

151
00:08:42.320 --> 00:08:44.240
I'm about to do, I'm going to be right back

152
00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:48.440
in the same pit. But here's what I know. It's

153
00:08:48.519 --> 00:08:53.120
November seventeenth. Before we know it, it's over, twenty twenty

154
00:08:53.120 --> 00:08:56.720
four is in the history books, ladies and gentlemen, before

155
00:08:56.759 --> 00:09:00.840
you know it, it's going to be twenty twenty five.

156
00:09:00.919 --> 00:09:05.519
Can you believe that? And whatever we accomplished, and the

157
00:09:05.559 --> 00:09:08.120
sermon's two point oh app sermon challenge, I don't know

158
00:09:08.159 --> 00:09:10.399
if it's going to be seen as a success, but

159
00:09:10.519 --> 00:09:13.519
I'm going to drive this to the end. So it's

160
00:09:13.559 --> 00:09:17.159
November seventeenth. I'm going to just try to maybe increase

161
00:09:17.240 --> 00:09:21.600
the sermon reviews, but try to approach it like, yeah,

162
00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:24.200
are these sermon reviews gonna probably do some of the

163
00:09:24.440 --> 00:09:27.440
things that I keep telling you is driving me crazy? Yes?

164
00:09:28.759 --> 00:09:30.720
Are they probably going to drive me crazy? Yes? But

165
00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:33.279
I can just say, Okay, that's what they gave us.

166
00:09:33.639 --> 00:09:37.000
Now let's see what we can do and just just

167
00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:39.399
kind of just not really worry so much that just

168
00:09:39.440 --> 00:09:42.000
they give us their hypotheses, they give us their thesis,

169
00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:44.720
and just kind of say, all right, that's the Christianity

170
00:09:44.759 --> 00:09:48.320
that's out there. By all means, go and enjoy it.

171
00:09:48.600 --> 00:09:51.840
But for us, we're going to approach this text this way.

172
00:09:52.039 --> 00:09:53.759
I think that's what I'm going to try to do.

173
00:09:54.080 --> 00:09:57.320
I don't know if I can maintain such a an

174
00:09:57.399 --> 00:10:02.720
optimistic attitude, but yeah, the I don't know what happened.

175
00:10:02.759 --> 00:10:06.759
I think because Isaiah forty begins with comfort ye comfort yee.

176
00:10:07.399 --> 00:10:09.919
And I know people out there really need true comfort.

177
00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:13.200
I know sometimes I've needed true comfort in life, and

178
00:10:13.240 --> 00:10:17.879
sometimes I believe Christianity has only given me platitudes, cliches,

179
00:10:18.519 --> 00:10:23.559
and empty, fraudulent, meaningless promises that are just lies. It's

180
00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:24.320
just a sham.

181
00:10:24.799 --> 00:10:25.399
It's just.

182
00:10:27.519 --> 00:10:31.240
It's all just just meaningless. So maybe that's why it

183
00:10:31.320 --> 00:10:34.440
hit me more. Maybe it hit me more because of

184
00:10:34.440 --> 00:10:37.799
my own personal feelings. I don't know, But here's what

185
00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:40.399
we're going to do. So here's what happened. I don't

186
00:10:40.399 --> 00:10:44.360
know what day it was. It may have been Wednesday,

187
00:10:45.399 --> 00:10:47.799
may have been Wednesday. I think I was trying to

188
00:10:47.799 --> 00:10:50.200
figure out do I record? What do I record? And

189
00:10:50.279 --> 00:10:52.159
so I went to the sermon's two point oh app

190
00:10:52.159 --> 00:10:54.799
and I looked at the live webcast, and I saw

191
00:10:54.840 --> 00:10:59.000
that a live webcast was beginning, so I just started watching,

192
00:10:59.080 --> 00:11:01.039
kind of had the volume time down because they were singing.

193
00:11:01.399 --> 00:11:03.559
Then they did this weird I think a lot of

194
00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:08.440
these broadcasters don't realize if you're broadcasting, you got to

195
00:11:08.440 --> 00:11:11.879
remember your broadcasting, Like you don't need to start your

196
00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:15.039
broadcast until the sermon begins. If you're going to broadcast

197
00:11:15.240 --> 00:11:19.000
everything in your worship service, it's got to be understood

198
00:11:19.000 --> 00:11:22.559
that everyone's watching. Because they went to this weird thing

199
00:11:22.600 --> 00:11:25.759
where okay, then they stopped and they did prayer requests.

200
00:11:25.759 --> 00:11:28.919
So the person standing behind the pulpit, he's got a notebook.

201
00:11:29.120 --> 00:11:32.559
He's like, okay, brother so and so, you can't hear

202
00:11:33.120 --> 00:11:35.600
brother so and so speak. Really you can't hear him.

203
00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:38.960
So he kind of writes down the prayer requests. Hey,

204
00:11:38.960 --> 00:11:41.120
I don't know if he even repeats it, and then

205
00:11:41.159 --> 00:11:43.879
it'll access he so and so. So everyone gives their

206
00:11:43.879 --> 00:11:46.120
prayer request. You can't really hear half of the prayer

207
00:11:46.120 --> 00:11:49.080
requests because the audience isn't miked, so you really can't

208
00:11:49.159 --> 00:11:53.000
hear any of that. And then they just bring up

209
00:11:53.080 --> 00:11:55.600
like all these people just kind of come forward to pray,

210
00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:58.639
but nobody is miked, so if they're praying, you can't

211
00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:02.120
hear anybody. So it's basically like twenty minutes of silence.

212
00:12:02.440 --> 00:12:06.440
The video camera's going and you've got someone with their

213
00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:08.879
head bowed, but you can't hear anyone praying, So it's

214
00:12:08.919 --> 00:12:09.759
twenty minutes.

215
00:12:09.519 --> 00:12:10.240
Of just silence.

216
00:12:10.639 --> 00:12:13.240
It's like, why would you be recording that? Why would

217
00:12:13.240 --> 00:12:15.279
you be live streaming that? And not to make it

218
00:12:15.320 --> 00:12:19.200
not only worse, when they uploaded their recording, they uploaded

219
00:12:19.240 --> 00:12:22.639
it with all of that, and I'm like, what, who,

220
00:12:23.120 --> 00:12:28.039
who's running your audio visual department? Someone take over, right,

221
00:12:28.200 --> 00:12:29.799
because you would think if you're going to upload it,

222
00:12:29.840 --> 00:12:33.159
you would at least delete all of that and then

223
00:12:33.200 --> 00:12:35.879
cut it. So it's just a sermon because everything else

224
00:12:35.960 --> 00:12:38.440
is not miked properly, you don't even know what's going on.

225
00:12:39.039 --> 00:12:42.279
So but I that was Wednesday, and then but when

226
00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:45.679
they started preaching, I was like, oh, okay, well this

227
00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:48.480
is a very famous passage. I wonder how they're going

228
00:12:48.519 --> 00:12:52.600
to approach it now. On Wednesday, I was still very

229
00:12:52.679 --> 00:12:55.399
much in my frustration, my irritation, and I'm like, you

230
00:12:55.480 --> 00:12:58.879
got to be kidding me. Here's another sermon doing the

231
00:12:59.039 --> 00:13:02.639
exane things that I'm yelling and screaming about. But I

232
00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:05.600
stated to myself, I do want to review that and

233
00:13:05.639 --> 00:13:08.159
do some work on it, because after the sermon, I

234
00:13:08.200 --> 00:13:12.559
spent thirty forty five minutes working on things about the concept.

235
00:13:12.600 --> 00:13:15.799
I've got all of these notes right here. So I'm like, well,

236
00:13:15.879 --> 00:13:17.879
either I try to turn this into a sermon or

237
00:13:18.279 --> 00:13:20.879
we just do the review. So I kept waiting and

238
00:13:20.919 --> 00:13:24.120
waiting for them to upload it, waiting and waiting. Wednesday night,

239
00:13:24.200 --> 00:13:26.759
they didn't upload it. Thursday, they didn't upload it. Friday,

240
00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:30.320
they didn't upload it, Saturday didn't upload it. Finally on

241
00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:35.000
Sunday they uploaded it with this Morning sermon. So they

242
00:13:35.080 --> 00:13:37.759
uploaded this from Wednesday and then this Morning sermon. I

243
00:13:37.799 --> 00:13:40.080
don't know why they waited till Sunday, but okay, maybe

244
00:13:40.120 --> 00:13:42.399
someone came back to church on Sunday and realized no

245
00:13:42.440 --> 00:13:45.799
one uploaded it. I guess nobody in the church. It's sad.

246
00:13:45.879 --> 00:13:50.519
You know what's sad. So many times churches you do podcasting,

247
00:13:50.519 --> 00:13:52.919
you do broadcasting, you upload your sermons, and a lot

248
00:13:52.919 --> 00:13:55.240
of times it's the people in your own church who

249
00:13:55.320 --> 00:14:00.279
don't listen. That's one of the most discouraging things, because

250
00:14:00.279 --> 00:14:03.200
if if people go to that church and they pay attention,

251
00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:06.399
that would immediately contacted the pastor. I said, hey, where's

252
00:14:06.399 --> 00:14:08.679
Wednesday's message? You're ever going to upload it? But you know,

253
00:14:09.480 --> 00:14:11.240
I don't know. Maybe maybe people did call it and

254
00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:14.720
they just didn't feel like uploading it whatever, So I

255
00:14:14.759 --> 00:14:15.679
have it ready to go.

256
00:14:15.840 --> 00:14:16.080
Now.

257
00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:19.320
I know going in that this is probably going to

258
00:14:19.360 --> 00:14:22.600
go really bad as far as I'm going to be disagreeing,

259
00:14:22.600 --> 00:14:25.720
but I'm going to approach it again. I'm just going

260
00:14:25.759 --> 00:14:28.720
to say, that's what Christianity does. I can't worry about it.

261
00:14:28.840 --> 00:14:31.600
I can't fight it. What I can do is say, hey, guys,

262
00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:35.120
you can have this Christianity that's being presented to you,

263
00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:39.480
here's an alternative perspective, and try to just do it

264
00:14:39.519 --> 00:14:42.480
in a much more Now. I'm still I mean, you know,

265
00:14:42.559 --> 00:14:44.960
I'm still dramatic. You know, I'm still going to be

266
00:14:45.559 --> 00:14:48.120
I mean, come on, I mean, that's never going to change,

267
00:14:48.200 --> 00:14:50.080
but hopefully it just won't lead me to the pit

268
00:14:50.200 --> 00:14:55.360
of despair wanting to just you know, I know when

269
00:14:55.360 --> 00:14:57.480
I say this it bothers people, but sometimes you just

270
00:14:57.519 --> 00:14:59.480
look at what goes on in Christianity and you just

271
00:14:59.519 --> 00:15:02.679
kind of want to say, you know what, between my

272
00:15:02.759 --> 00:15:07.159
own but if I consider my own sin, my own failure,

273
00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:10.399
my own weaknesses, my own problems, and then some of

274
00:15:10.440 --> 00:15:12.720
the crazy and just the way the scriptures are handled,

275
00:15:12.759 --> 00:15:14.320
sometimes it just makes you want to just say, you

276
00:15:14.320 --> 00:15:17.159
know what, I just walk away from it all. But

277
00:15:17.399 --> 00:15:20.960
on the other hand, well, here I am, so I

278
00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:23.440
guess as long as I'm here, let's see what we

279
00:15:23.440 --> 00:15:24.159
can accomplish.

280
00:15:24.159 --> 00:15:24.480
Alrighty.

281
00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:27.320
So the text that's about to be preached on is

282
00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:33.399
Second Corinthians chapter ten, verses three through six, where we

283
00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:37.639
read these words, for though we walk in the flesh,

284
00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:43.240
we do not war after the flesh, For the weapons

285
00:15:43.320 --> 00:15:46.600
of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God.

286
00:15:47.279 --> 00:15:54.840
To the pulling down of strongholds. To the pulling down

287
00:15:55.200 --> 00:16:03.799
of strongholds, here is your question in the context of

288
00:16:03.960 --> 00:16:08.279
Second Corinthians, chapter ten, meaning the entire book. So in

289
00:16:08.320 --> 00:16:13.200
the context of Second Corinthians, what would those strongholds be

290
00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:15.840
talking about? In the context of the book. I know

291
00:16:15.919 --> 00:16:18.320
you want to take strongholds, and I want to take strongholds,

292
00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:20.759
and preachers want to take and a stronghold can be this,

293
00:16:20.840 --> 00:16:23.240
and a stronghold can be this, and we just start

294
00:16:23.320 --> 00:16:26.039
making it whatever we want it to make. But obviously,

295
00:16:26.120 --> 00:16:29.000
in the writing of in these words and Second Corinthians

296
00:16:29.080 --> 00:16:32.200
chapter ten, writing to the church at court, those strongholds

297
00:16:32.200 --> 00:16:34.759
have to have some significance to them, right or do

298
00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:37.840
Once again, we don't worry about them. We just insert ourselves.

299
00:16:38.120 --> 00:16:40.919
So that's kind of the question we're going to go after.

300
00:16:41.159 --> 00:16:41.919
What does it mean?

301
00:16:42.360 --> 00:16:46.600
How has church history interpreted this whole idea of strongholds,

302
00:16:47.159 --> 00:16:49.879
and what is he going to do with it? Well,

303
00:16:49.919 --> 00:16:54.519
we're going to find out, and we're going to try

304
00:16:54.519 --> 00:16:57.960
to take it again in a more positive way. I

305
00:16:57.960 --> 00:17:00.200
don't want to connect whatever he does here, want to

306
00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:03.720
necessarily connect it with all of the false comfort false piece.

307
00:17:04.039 --> 00:17:07.160
I don't want to necessarily connect it with that. I

308
00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:09.160
want to kind of move forward from that. All right,

309
00:17:09.640 --> 00:17:12.359
So we will see, all right, And I'm getting all

310
00:17:12.400 --> 00:17:14.920
kinds of weather notifications that the end of the world

311
00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:17.000
is about to happen. So but all right, I'm going

312
00:17:17.039 --> 00:17:19.359
to ignore what's going on. Possibly on that note, I

313
00:17:19.359 --> 00:17:21.359
think we're supposed to get some bad storms soon. I

314
00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:23.480
don't know, but we're just going to move forward. So

315
00:17:23.480 --> 00:17:26.400
if you hear the end of the world happening when

316
00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:28.920
I come back on It's just a storm, all right.

317
00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:31.200
But in the meantime, as long as I got power

318
00:17:31.240 --> 00:17:37.400
internet connection, I got a Bible. Let's hear how at

319
00:17:37.519 --> 00:17:41.039
least some parts of Christianity handle tewo Corinthians, Chapter ten,

320
00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:45.599
Versus three through through five. Basically, I read three through four,

321
00:17:46.160 --> 00:17:48.039
and then we'll see if maybe you look at some

322
00:17:48.119 --> 00:17:50.440
different ways of approaching it. Here we go.

323
00:17:52.400 --> 00:17:56.119
And read down to verse number six, and then I'm

324
00:17:56.119 --> 00:18:01.119
going to jump to first Peter and read one or

325
00:18:01.119 --> 00:18:04.400
two verses and then give you the thought that the

326
00:18:04.440 --> 00:18:08.559
Lord laid on my heart. I'll be honest with you,

327
00:18:09.039 --> 00:18:12.839
this is more of a review than it is anything else.

328
00:18:13.920 --> 00:18:17.000
I'm just coming at it in a different angle, I

329
00:18:17.039 --> 00:18:20.799
guess you would say. And the Bible says, for though

330
00:18:20.839 --> 00:18:23.920
we walk in the flesh, we do not war after

331
00:18:24.039 --> 00:18:29.319
the flesh. Well, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal,

332
00:18:29.440 --> 00:18:33.519
but mighty through God, to the pulling down the strongholds,

333
00:18:34.680 --> 00:18:39.640
casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalted itself

334
00:18:39.720 --> 00:18:45.599
against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought,

335
00:18:45.880 --> 00:18:51.960
to the obedience of Christ. And having in a readiness

336
00:18:52.039 --> 00:19:00.920
to revenge all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. Now

337
00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:03.319
in First Peter chapter number five.

338
00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:06.799
Okay, and he's getting ready to go to First Peter

339
00:19:06.920 --> 00:19:08.720
chapter five. I'm assuming he's going to go to First

340
00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:11.920
Peter chapter five, verse eight about Satan be a roaring

341
00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:14.240
lion seeking whom he may devour. I think that's where

342
00:19:14.279 --> 00:19:16.920
he's headed. But before he gets there, let me make

343
00:19:16.960 --> 00:19:18.599
it very clear, because I want to. I don't know

344
00:19:18.640 --> 00:19:21.000
if you heard it. He's going to preach and share

345
00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:27.640
what God has laid on his heart. Now, I've told

346
00:19:27.680 --> 00:19:30.640
you to watch for this in preaching over and over

347
00:19:30.759 --> 00:19:34.920
and over. I know preachers don't mean. I can't speak

348
00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:36.720
for what preachers mean to do or don't mean to do.

349
00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:42.160
Whatever the intention is, it's manipulative, ladies and gentlemen. If

350
00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:44.480
I sit here and then I'm saying what I'm about

351
00:19:44.519 --> 00:19:47.359
to teach you is what God laid on my heart,

352
00:19:47.480 --> 00:19:51.440
what God gave me, then you cannot challenge it. You

353
00:19:51.480 --> 00:19:55.000
cannot question it, because how dare you question a message

354
00:19:55.079 --> 00:19:58.880
that God gave to someone. But preachers of all philological

355
00:19:58.960 --> 00:20:01.640
background say, God laid this on my heart. God laid

356
00:20:01.680 --> 00:20:03.720
this on my heart. Well, Preacher one says, God laid

357
00:20:03.720 --> 00:20:05.839
this on my heart. Preacher two says, God lead this

358
00:20:05.880 --> 00:20:09.480
on my heart. And the two sermons absolutely contradict one another,

359
00:20:09.640 --> 00:20:11.359
and one is saying that the other one is wrong,

360
00:20:11.400 --> 00:20:13.240
and the other one is saying the other one is wrong. Well,

361
00:20:13.279 --> 00:20:15.279
God could not have laid it on both of their

362
00:20:15.319 --> 00:20:18.119
hearts to preach something that contradicts one another and say

363
00:20:18.160 --> 00:20:20.400
that the other one is wrong. God is not speaking

364
00:20:20.440 --> 00:20:22.240
to one of them, or God is not speaking to

365
00:20:22.279 --> 00:20:24.519
any of them. And I will argue God is not

366
00:20:24.559 --> 00:20:27.880
speaking to anyone up outside of the pages of Scripture.

367
00:20:27.960 --> 00:20:30.200
So God didn't lay it on your heart. God didn't

368
00:20:30.200 --> 00:20:32.960
give you the message. God didn't speak to you. You read,

369
00:20:33.240 --> 00:20:36.079
you studied your thought, and you came up with a sermon.

370
00:20:36.720 --> 00:20:39.400
God does not download the sermon into you. He doesn't

371
00:20:39.440 --> 00:20:41.720
give you the sermon, because if he does, it would

372
00:20:41.759 --> 00:20:44.400
be infallible. And if God has given us sermons and

373
00:20:44.440 --> 00:20:46.680
God is laying on our heart what to preach, then

374
00:20:46.759 --> 00:20:51.200
ladies and gentlemen, there would not be fifty bazillion different

375
00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:55.119
denominations and groups with all kinds of different theological backgrounds.

376
00:20:56.119 --> 00:21:02.519
There would be unity. There would be consistency, once again,

377
00:21:02.599 --> 00:21:07.960
that's Christianity making these claims that are just so contradictory

378
00:21:08.240 --> 00:21:13.400
to reality. But just keep that in mind, because I

379
00:21:13.720 --> 00:21:17.720
didn't listen to everything. But I believe he comes back

380
00:21:17.720 --> 00:21:18.920
in and says.

381
00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:20.960
Something.

382
00:21:21.000 --> 00:21:23.039
I think he says something later in the sermon that's

383
00:21:23.079 --> 00:21:25.759
somewhat controversial, and then I think he basically says, he

384
00:21:25.880 --> 00:21:28.680
that's what God told me to say, meaning then you

385
00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:32.119
can't challenge him or or do anything. So I guess

386
00:21:32.160 --> 00:21:34.559
what I could do is any time I say something controversial,

387
00:21:34.599 --> 00:21:36.799
I can say, well, that's what God told me to say.

388
00:21:36.920 --> 00:21:39.720
I mean, I mean, you see how just manipulative that is.

389
00:21:40.640 --> 00:21:43.759
It's Oh, it's such a game. But I think he's

390
00:21:43.759 --> 00:21:47.480
getting ready to go to First Peter chapter five, if

391
00:21:47.519 --> 00:21:50.000
I remember correctly now that remember that was Wednesday. I've

392
00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:53.680
done lots of reading, studying, listening to sermons, preparing sermons.

393
00:21:54.720 --> 00:21:57.160
I believe it's on Peter five eight where he's going

394
00:21:57.200 --> 00:22:00.480
because yep, be sober, be vigilant, because you're at adversary.

395
00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:04.119
The devil as a roaring line walketh about seeking whom

396
00:22:04.279 --> 00:22:07.799
he may devour. Now he's going to connect that with

397
00:22:07.880 --> 00:22:11.359
the Second Corinthians ten. For though we walk in the flesh.

398
00:22:11.359 --> 00:22:13.160
We do not war after the flesh. For the weapons

399
00:22:13.160 --> 00:22:15.799
of our warfare are not colonel, but are mighty through God.

400
00:22:15.839 --> 00:22:18.240
To the pulling down of strongholds. Now, is a satan

401
00:22:18.279 --> 00:22:22.279
that establishes the strongholds? Or do we establish the strongholds? Okay,

402
00:22:22.599 --> 00:22:27.000
lots of questions. Is Satan connected to this? For the

403
00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:33.200
weapons of our warfare? Do we is Paul referencing a warfare? Again,

404
00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:37.960
we always just assume that satan and spiritual warfare is

405
00:22:37.960 --> 00:22:42.279
the issue. Are we assuming that's what Paul is referencing. Well,

406
00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:44.640
let's see what he does here.

407
00:22:46.279 --> 00:22:51.079
In verse number seven, no verse eight. I'm sorry, we

408
00:22:51.160 --> 00:22:56.279
all know this verse very well. Be sober, be vigilant,

409
00:22:56.440 --> 00:23:00.200
because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring line talk

410
00:23:00.400 --> 00:23:07.759
about seeking whom he made a vow who resist steadfast

411
00:23:08.039 --> 00:23:13.519
in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished

412
00:23:13.680 --> 00:23:19.559
in your brethren that are in the world. Peter reminds

413
00:23:19.720 --> 00:23:25.079
them that they're not the only ones that goes through this. Basically,

414
00:23:25.119 --> 00:23:27.799
what he said right there in verse number nine is

415
00:23:27.839 --> 00:23:30.680
that you had to keep in mind you're not all

416
00:23:30.759 --> 00:23:36.359
by yourself, and so don't get to that place in

417
00:23:36.400 --> 00:23:39.440
your life where you pity yourself because you think you're

418
00:23:39.480 --> 00:23:43.240
the only one that's got problems. The truth of the

419
00:23:43.279 --> 00:23:48.240
matter is, if you're breathing, you got problems. Isn't that right?

420
00:23:49.359 --> 00:23:53.200
And so we know for a fact that we're all

421
00:23:53.720 --> 00:23:57.640
in this thing, and we're all part of the same

422
00:23:57.720 --> 00:24:01.680
old flesh, that we're all part of the same problems.

423
00:24:01.759 --> 00:24:04.680
I mean, your problems may be may look a little

424
00:24:04.680 --> 00:24:07.240
bit different than mine, but in the inn they end,

425
00:24:07.400 --> 00:24:10.200
it's a problem no matter how you look at it. Amen.

426
00:24:11.319 --> 00:24:14.039
But I want to preach just a little while on

427
00:24:14.079 --> 00:24:18.519
the on what a stronghold is does and all that

428
00:24:18.599 --> 00:24:22.720
other stuff. And basically, like I said, it's more of

429
00:24:22.759 --> 00:24:25.759
a review than it is anything else. So let's pray,

430
00:24:25.799 --> 00:24:29.119
and that's the Lord to help us tonight. Father, we

431
00:24:29.160 --> 00:24:31.759
love you, we praise you, and we thank you tonight

432
00:24:33.400 --> 00:24:36.160
that we have the privilege of being in the house

433
00:24:36.200 --> 00:24:42.759
of God. Lord. What a wonderful honor to be saved

434
00:24:42.759 --> 00:24:45.079
by the grace of God and have a place to

435
00:24:45.160 --> 00:24:49.559
come to worship and get out this world. Lord for

436
00:24:49.599 --> 00:24:53.880
a few minutes, learn about the Word of God. Lord.

437
00:24:54.200 --> 00:24:57.559
I'm thankful for my Bible. I bless your Holy Name

438
00:24:57.720 --> 00:25:01.920
for it. Every time I open it, I'm reminded of

439
00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:05.279
the power of God and how you've preserved it these

440
00:25:05.319 --> 00:25:11.559
six thousand years. Lord, you put this thing together, and

441
00:25:11.599 --> 00:25:15.839
you have held it together by your spirit. And no

442
00:25:15.880 --> 00:25:18.960
matter what men may do or what the devil might

443
00:25:19.119 --> 00:25:24.400
try to do, it's still the Word of God. And Lord,

444
00:25:24.400 --> 00:25:29.319
it's forever settled in heaven. It'll never change. So tonight

445
00:25:29.440 --> 00:25:33.519
I give you glory for that, and I praise your

446
00:25:33.559 --> 00:25:38.200
Holy name. No matter how many times we may read

447
00:25:38.200 --> 00:25:42.240
a verse or how many times we may preach a message,

448
00:25:42.440 --> 00:25:45.400
that there's always something that we can glean from it

449
00:25:45.480 --> 00:25:49.559
that we didn't glean before. Word of God is alive

450
00:25:50.880 --> 00:25:55.319
and it's sharper than any two edges sword use it. Tonight,

451
00:25:55.440 --> 00:26:01.000
I pray, o, God, as only you can spirit touch

452
00:26:01.079 --> 00:26:04.519
us and help us give us that which we need. Lord,

453
00:26:04.559 --> 00:26:08.480
that which we cannot do for ourselves. Would you please,

454
00:26:08.720 --> 00:26:12.880
or God, we give you the glory for it in

455
00:26:13.039 --> 00:26:20.000
Jesus name, Amen, and Amen. I know that we we

456
00:26:20.039 --> 00:26:25.680
all understand that the very first step in having a

457
00:26:25.799 --> 00:26:33.720
relationship with God comes by salvation. If you're not saved,

458
00:26:33.799 --> 00:26:37.839
you have absolutely no relation with God. As a matter

459
00:26:37.880 --> 00:26:41.319
of fact. According to the scripture, we're dead to God,

460
00:26:41.599 --> 00:26:46.359
we are separated from God, we are not his And

461
00:26:46.880 --> 00:26:51.039
according to Matthew chapter number seven, there will be many

462
00:26:51.079 --> 00:26:54.920
at the judgment seat that he looks at and says,

463
00:26:55.160 --> 00:27:00.319
depart from me, for I never knew you. And so

464
00:27:00.359 --> 00:27:03.079
there are a lot of people that don't understand the

465
00:27:03.160 --> 00:27:05.559
fact that you got to be born again in order

466
00:27:05.599 --> 00:27:10.559
to have any kind of relationship with God Almighty. Now

467
00:27:10.599 --> 00:27:15.640
that's the first step to relationship. It's salvation. The second

468
00:27:15.759 --> 00:27:19.480
thing is this, the very next step after God saves

469
00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:23.799
us by his grace, is the fact that we begin

470
00:27:24.200 --> 00:27:28.920
to be conformed to the image of His son. The

471
00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:32.119
Bible says in many places that we are to put

472
00:27:32.160 --> 00:27:36.039
off the old and put on the news. This is

473
00:27:36.079 --> 00:27:39.599
not a process that happens overnight. This is not something

474
00:27:39.720 --> 00:27:42.599
that you wake up the next day after you have

475
00:27:42.720 --> 00:27:45.640
made your profession of faith and boom there you are.

476
00:27:46.599 --> 00:27:50.200
This is something that takes years and years and years

477
00:27:50.319 --> 00:27:55.400
to perfect. If you will, it takes years for you

478
00:27:55.480 --> 00:27:58.160
to get the junk out of your life. And that's

479
00:27:58.240 --> 00:28:01.640
what I want to talk about out and focus on tonight.

480
00:28:02.400 --> 00:28:05.640
Is that very thing. We'll say a bunch of different things.

481
00:28:05.680 --> 00:28:07.960
But I want you to keep that thought in mind,

482
00:28:08.680 --> 00:28:13.960
is that we, as God's children, need to be conforming

483
00:28:14.119 --> 00:28:17.920
the God's image or the God's Son's image a amen,

484
00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:21.759
every single day of our life a man. And when

485
00:28:21.799 --> 00:28:25.160
we're not conforming to His image, I can promise you this,

486
00:28:26.039 --> 00:28:28.039
we're building strongholds. Amen.

487
00:28:29.960 --> 00:28:32.480
Okay, So there's a lot of emphasis on we we

488
00:28:32.480 --> 00:28:36.279
we we we we right, So we have to conform,

489
00:28:36.519 --> 00:28:39.640
we have to be It makes it sound like we

490
00:28:39.720 --> 00:28:43.240
have to conform ourselves to the image of God. We

491
00:28:43.319 --> 00:28:46.759
have to do it. We we we Now, the question

492
00:28:46.960 --> 00:28:49.680
is he says, it takes years and years and years

493
00:28:49.720 --> 00:28:51.839
to perfect it. Well, you're never going to be perfectly

494
00:28:51.880 --> 00:28:53.759
conformed to the image of Christ. I don't care how

495
00:28:53.799 --> 00:28:55.799
hard you work in no matter what you do, because

496
00:28:55.839 --> 00:28:58.000
you have a sinful nature. But the emphasis is on

497
00:28:58.119 --> 00:28:59.799
we have to do it. So then the question is

498
00:29:00.480 --> 00:29:04.279
do we conform ourselves to the image of Christ or

499
00:29:04.359 --> 00:29:08.839
does Christ conform us to His image? Are we doing

500
00:29:08.880 --> 00:29:11.640
it or is he doing it? Or is it a

501
00:29:11.720 --> 00:29:16.519
synergistic So is it monogistic synergistic? If it's monogistic, it's

502
00:29:16.519 --> 00:29:19.640
the work of God. It's a synergistic we're both involved.

503
00:29:19.839 --> 00:29:21.920
And if we're both involved, and I mean, this is

504
00:29:21.920 --> 00:29:24.480
where it becomes very complicated. But he says, when we're

505
00:29:24.559 --> 00:29:29.880
not being conformed, we're building strongholds. So either you are

506
00:29:30.680 --> 00:29:33.680
you are conforming yourself to the image of Christ, or

507
00:29:33.839 --> 00:29:37.359
you are building strongholds. So we do the building of

508
00:29:37.400 --> 00:29:40.279
the stronghold, or we do the conforming to the image.

509
00:29:40.359 --> 00:29:42.359
It sounds like that it's all up to us.

510
00:29:42.680 --> 00:29:46.079
You are either building a stronghold or you're working to

511
00:29:46.160 --> 00:29:48.720
conform yourself to the image of Christ every day.

512
00:29:48.759 --> 00:29:49.559
You're either you're.

513
00:29:49.400 --> 00:29:52.640
Doing one because if you're not conforming, you are building.

514
00:29:53.000 --> 00:29:55.319
If you're not conforming to the image of Christ, you're

515
00:29:55.359 --> 00:29:59.039
building a stronghold. That is kind of his high hypothesis.

516
00:29:59.160 --> 00:30:02.200
That is kind of his argument. All right, you either

517
00:30:02.240 --> 00:30:06.599
are conforming or you are building. Wow, okay, all right,

518
00:30:07.079 --> 00:30:11.119
that's very black and white. Either or Okay. I don't

519
00:30:11.119 --> 00:30:13.240
know if it's that simple, but okay, So but just

520
00:30:13.359 --> 00:30:17.039
note you do the building of the stronghold, you do.

521
00:30:18.519 --> 00:30:24.160
All right, let's see what he does with this, and

522
00:30:23.880 --> 00:30:28.160
so think about this. So the next step is conforming

523
00:30:28.759 --> 00:30:32.680
and I mentioned that here because this is where our

524
00:30:32.799 --> 00:30:37.359
strongholds really and truly begin to take root. If we

525
00:30:37.519 --> 00:30:42.640
fail to see and understand our responsibility as a saved individual,

526
00:30:43.319 --> 00:30:46.359
then there's going to be areas in our life that

527
00:30:46.400 --> 00:30:48.599
we don't work on and that we don't go to

528
00:30:48.640 --> 00:30:52.160
work on, and that we fight God over, and there's

529
00:30:52.160 --> 00:30:54.400
gonna be things in our life that we're not willing

530
00:30:54.440 --> 00:30:58.000
to give up and Listen, this is the big one,

531
00:30:58.319 --> 00:31:00.839
things that we just do not to change.

532
00:31:03.880 --> 00:31:07.039
Now you can kind of see that his understanding of

533
00:31:07.200 --> 00:31:11.880
stronghold is areas in your life that need to be changed.

534
00:31:12.599 --> 00:31:16.880
It's about behavior. So stronghold seems to be the way

535
00:31:16.920 --> 00:31:20.680
he seems to be articulating it. A stronghold is a

536
00:31:20.880 --> 00:31:25.960
behavior in your life that you are not well allowing

537
00:31:26.079 --> 00:31:27.359
to be conformed to the image of Christ.

538
00:31:27.359 --> 00:31:28.519
In other words, here's a behavior.

539
00:31:28.680 --> 00:31:30.880
You need to conform that behavior to the image of Christ,

540
00:31:30.920 --> 00:31:33.160
which means it possibly you would stop doing that, and

541
00:31:33.240 --> 00:31:36.599
if you don't, now you've built a stronghold. So stronghold

542
00:31:36.720 --> 00:31:40.440
seems to equate to behavior. Just keep that in mind.

543
00:31:40.839 --> 00:31:42.279
You know you may not, I know you're going to

544
00:31:42.319 --> 00:31:45.720
be shocked by this. Not everyone agrees in Christian history

545
00:31:46.279 --> 00:31:49.279
what exactly the stronghold is I know that's shocking, Okay,

546
00:31:49.480 --> 00:31:53.880
I say that jokingly because so many Christians just seem

547
00:31:53.920 --> 00:31:56.480
to think, well, this is the way it is. Do

548
00:31:56.519 --> 00:31:59.480
you realize two thousand years of church history, there's only

549
00:31:59.559 --> 00:32:03.400
like setny different ideas of what it could be. I

550
00:32:03.440 --> 00:32:08.119
love how assertive and dogmatic we always think that we are,

551
00:32:08.200 --> 00:32:11.279
but it really is never that simple. So his idea

552
00:32:11.359 --> 00:32:15.640
is stronghold equals behavior behavior that you are not conforming

553
00:32:15.680 --> 00:32:17.839
to the image of Christ. If your behavior is not

554
00:32:17.920 --> 00:32:20.400
conformed to the image of Christ, then in your behavior

555
00:32:20.400 --> 00:32:23.319
you're building a stronghold. That seems to be how he's

556
00:32:23.400 --> 00:32:26.279
articulating it. Now he may expand on it, and it

557
00:32:26.319 --> 00:32:28.960
may just he may keep adding to it. So before

558
00:32:29.000 --> 00:32:30.319
you know it, you may not even really know what

559
00:32:30.359 --> 00:32:32.960
a stronghold is, or maybe he will not. Let's find out.

560
00:32:34.680 --> 00:32:39.440
Amen, So we enter into a relationship with Christ with

561
00:32:40.039 --> 00:32:44.920
all this garbage in our life, one bit by bit,

562
00:32:45.160 --> 00:32:48.279
step by step, God wants us to grow in his grace,

563
00:32:49.160 --> 00:32:52.000
and we need to understand and realize that we have

564
00:32:52.039 --> 00:32:57.319
a responsibility Amen, to change the things that we need to.

565
00:32:57.680 --> 00:33:02.279
Everybody said, well, God changed my life. God changed you

566
00:33:02.359 --> 00:33:05.480
on the inside, but you have and I had a

567
00:33:05.519 --> 00:33:09.640
responsibility of change in things as God dealt with us.

568
00:33:09.720 --> 00:33:10.319
Isn't that right?

569
00:33:12.960 --> 00:33:18.039
Okay? So God changed us on the inside. So what

570
00:33:18.440 --> 00:33:22.720
so his hypothesis seems to be is that internally we've

571
00:33:22.720 --> 00:33:25.920
been completely changed. So I guess on the inside there's

572
00:33:25.960 --> 00:33:29.759
no sinful nature. I mean, if we've been complete like,

573
00:33:29.799 --> 00:33:32.119
this is always the weird. This is where Christianity does

574
00:33:32.160 --> 00:33:35.039
this double speak that we've been We've been struggling with

575
00:33:35.079 --> 00:33:37.519
this for all of twenty twenty four, all of twenty

576
00:33:37.559 --> 00:33:40.079
twenty four, we've been struggling with over and over and over.

577
00:33:40.119 --> 00:33:42.519
Since December twenty twenty three, we've been struggling with it

578
00:33:42.599 --> 00:33:46.079
because sermon after sermon after sermon gives us this weird like,

579
00:33:46.480 --> 00:33:49.720
so exactly, could you just explain it? So on the

580
00:33:49.759 --> 00:33:53.920
inside I'm completely changed, Like if I'm changed on the inside,

581
00:33:54.000 --> 00:33:56.119
then that means there is nothing left of the old.

582
00:33:56.319 --> 00:33:59.200
That seems to be speaking of the eradication of the

583
00:33:59.240 --> 00:34:02.559
sinful nature. But yet I've got to change way wall

584
00:34:02.559 --> 00:34:04.960
whoah wah wait, I'm changed on the inside. So it

585
00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:08.199
seems like God does the changing on the inside. Now

586
00:34:08.280 --> 00:34:11.199
I have to change the outside. So the changing on

587
00:34:11.280 --> 00:34:14.039
the outside is up to me. God did the changing

588
00:34:14.119 --> 00:34:16.559
on the inside, but I have to change on the outside.

589
00:34:16.679 --> 00:34:18.800
But if I've been changed on the inside, what is

590
00:34:18.840 --> 00:34:21.320
there to change on the outside, Because then it doesn't

591
00:34:21.360 --> 00:34:26.760
the outside reflect the inside. How is there a disconnect

592
00:34:26.880 --> 00:34:30.519
between the inside and the outside. On the inside, ooh,

593
00:34:30.760 --> 00:34:33.599
I've been completely transformed. I'm a new creature, whole things

594
00:34:33.679 --> 00:34:36.440
are passed away all but on the outside, I'm still

595
00:34:36.480 --> 00:34:39.360
a sinner. Well, where what is motivating the outside? What

596
00:34:39.559 --> 00:34:42.679
is driving the outside behavior? If the inside has changed,

597
00:34:42.840 --> 00:34:49.280
why is the outside not changed. This is so.

598
00:34:50.920 --> 00:34:54.360
That we all see I started off so.

599
00:34:54.599 --> 00:35:01.760
Positive and calm, but hey, that's okay. Look, look, I'm

600
00:35:01.800 --> 00:35:03.519
gonna try to state it in a positive way. This

601
00:35:03.719 --> 00:35:07.199
is the Christianity that you can go experience. Go to

602
00:35:07.320 --> 00:35:13.039
any church and you get this conflated, convoluted, an almost

603
00:35:13.159 --> 00:35:17.079
self contradictory idea of wait, so wait, I'm completely new

604
00:35:17.159 --> 00:35:19.199
on the inside, but yet my outside is wrong. Well,

605
00:35:19.480 --> 00:35:21.400
now said, this is what leads to. What it leads

606
00:35:21.480 --> 00:35:23.800
to is see the inside everything is perfect, but the

607
00:35:23.840 --> 00:35:26.400
outside is wrong. Why is the outside wrong? Because you

608
00:35:26.519 --> 00:35:29.000
listen to rock and roll and watch Netflix. So if

609
00:35:29.039 --> 00:35:31.400
you'll just stop doing that stuff, then then the outside

610
00:35:31.400 --> 00:35:34.159
will match the inside. Because so then it's the external

611
00:35:34.239 --> 00:35:37.519
things that drive the outside, and it's not the inside

612
00:35:37.599 --> 00:35:42.800
driving the It gets all confusing, and Jesus says, our

613
00:35:42.880 --> 00:35:44.360
sin comes from inside.

614
00:35:44.760 --> 00:35:46.480
Well, why is there the outside wrong?

615
00:35:46.519 --> 00:35:49.400
If the he just said, the God has completely changed

616
00:35:49.440 --> 00:35:53.360
the inside completely. Well, if God changed the inside, I'm

617
00:35:53.400 --> 00:35:56.760
assuming he didn't do it fifty percent, forty percent, thirty percent,

618
00:35:57.199 --> 00:35:59.679
will I'm assuming he did it one hundred percent. Well,

619
00:35:59.719 --> 00:36:04.679
then that means perfection not only should be expected, it

620
00:36:04.760 --> 00:36:07.679
should just be assumed that you're gonna be perfect and

621
00:36:07.760 --> 00:36:11.400
I'm gonna be perfect because we've been changed on the inside. Oh,

622
00:36:11.519 --> 00:36:12.760
this gets all confusing.

623
00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:18.599
Amen. And so God don't just wave a wand at

624
00:36:18.719 --> 00:36:20.280
us and boom, everything's new.

625
00:36:21.000 --> 00:36:21.960
No, he gives us.

626
00:36:21.920 --> 00:36:25.719
New life a man, But you know what, we dragged

627
00:36:25.800 --> 00:36:29.039
that old nature along with us every step of the way.

628
00:36:31.159 --> 00:36:34.039
Okay, No, wait a minute. God changed us on the inside,

629
00:36:34.719 --> 00:36:37.440
but we dragged the old nature along. So wait a minute.

630
00:36:37.440 --> 00:36:40.119
So God didn't change the old nature. Okay, now I'm confused.

631
00:36:40.119 --> 00:36:43.079
All right, So God changed me on the inside, but

632
00:36:43.239 --> 00:36:47.159
he didn't really change everything on the inside because the

633
00:36:47.280 --> 00:36:52.880
old nature is still there. So I'm changed, but not

634
00:36:53.159 --> 00:36:59.000
really changed. And God doesn't just miraculously change me on

635
00:36:59.119 --> 00:37:02.960
the outside. I have to do the changing. God changes

636
00:37:03.000 --> 00:37:04.800
on the inside, but he doesn't really change on the

637
00:37:04.880 --> 00:37:08.039
inside because the old nature is still there. God's not

638
00:37:08.360 --> 00:37:11.679
going to wave a magic wand and change me. I

639
00:37:11.880 --> 00:37:14.000
have to do something. But the problem is I continue

640
00:37:14.039 --> 00:37:16.119
to drag my old nature around. But I continue to

641
00:37:16.159 --> 00:37:18.400
drag my old nature around because God didn't get rid

642
00:37:18.440 --> 00:37:21.039
of my old nature. Why didn't God get rid of

643
00:37:21.079 --> 00:37:23.119
the old nature? And why are you telling me God

644
00:37:23.239 --> 00:37:25.519
changed me when you then turn around thirty seconds later

645
00:37:25.760 --> 00:37:27.960
and say, well, you're not really changed because you still

646
00:37:28.000 --> 00:37:28.719
have the old nature.

647
00:37:28.760 --> 00:37:29.480
If I still have the.

648
00:37:29.480 --> 00:37:31.559
Old nature, then I haven't been changed.

649
00:37:33.159 --> 00:37:33.280
Now.

650
00:37:33.320 --> 00:37:35.800
You may say he added something to the inside, but

651
00:37:35.880 --> 00:37:39.039
he obviously didn't change the inside if the old nature

652
00:37:39.280 --> 00:37:39.920
is still there.

653
00:37:42.719 --> 00:37:46.199
And there are things that we have done before we

654
00:37:46.360 --> 00:37:49.599
got saved, Amen, that we didn't get rid of the

655
00:37:49.719 --> 00:37:52.880
day we got saved, Amen. And then all of a

656
00:37:52.960 --> 00:37:55.800
sudden we realized, you know what, God don't want me

657
00:37:55.920 --> 00:37:58.920
to do that, and we begin to wrestle with God

658
00:37:59.079 --> 00:38:01.559
over that, and the next thing, you know, we got

659
00:38:01.599 --> 00:38:05.519
a stronghold in our life. That right, hear me in

660
00:38:05.679 --> 00:38:08.719
y'all stay with me now. And so here we find

661
00:38:08.760 --> 00:38:12.360
out that the purpose of pulling down strongholds and casting

662
00:38:12.440 --> 00:38:16.320
out these imaginations is to help rent ourselves of the

663
00:38:16.440 --> 00:38:19.840
wrong kind of thinking and the wrong kind of activities

664
00:38:19.920 --> 00:38:20.760
that's in our lives.

665
00:38:23.599 --> 00:38:27.159
So strongholds, and now he seems to add thinking to it.

666
00:38:27.480 --> 00:38:31.519
So stronghold is wrong behavior, though primarily he's focusing on behavior.

667
00:38:31.840 --> 00:38:34.760
So let me let him finish this sentence, and then

668
00:38:34.800 --> 00:38:36.639
we're going to do a little kind of just looking

669
00:38:36.679 --> 00:38:38.679
at how people and church history have understood this.

670
00:38:38.840 --> 00:38:41.079
Right, So let's just do a little bit of try.

671
00:38:41.000 --> 00:38:43.239
To get to a good point where I can kind

672
00:38:43.280 --> 00:38:45.519
of jump into some church history.

673
00:38:47.360 --> 00:38:50.400
Amen. And the reason we do that is so that

674
00:38:50.599 --> 00:38:54.000
the presence of God is not hindered in our life.

675
00:38:54.039 --> 00:38:56.960
And that's what a stronghold will do. It will hinder

676
00:38:57.119 --> 00:39:01.079
the presence of God in your life. Stronghold you have

677
00:39:01.760 --> 00:39:06.079
a man, Any negative stronghold you have is nothing more

678
00:39:06.559 --> 00:39:10.239
a man than the power of God killer a man.

679
00:39:12.800 --> 00:39:18.440
So if you have a stronghold, it will kill the

680
00:39:18.599 --> 00:39:21.920
power of God, it will hinder the presence of God.

681
00:39:22.239 --> 00:39:26.760
So a stronghold is stronger than the power of God,

682
00:39:27.559 --> 00:39:31.599
and a stronghold is stronger than the presence of God.

683
00:39:32.079 --> 00:39:34.119
That is a radical concept.

684
00:39:34.599 --> 00:39:37.559
Hey, God, I thought God was omnipotent, So how can

685
00:39:37.639 --> 00:39:40.559
a stronghold kill the power of God. It's like, here's

686
00:39:40.599 --> 00:39:42.239
the power of God that could be in your life.

687
00:39:42.280 --> 00:39:44.440
I'm sorry, you got a stronghold bull boom. The power

688
00:39:44.519 --> 00:39:48.119
is gone. It got defeated. So I have to get

689
00:39:48.199 --> 00:39:50.440
rid of the stronghold so that I can have the

690
00:39:50.519 --> 00:39:52.320
power of God. But wouldn't it be the power of

691
00:39:52.400 --> 00:39:54.920
God that gets rid of the stronghold. But the stronghold

692
00:39:55.039 --> 00:39:57.239
kills the power of God. So then I get rid

693
00:39:57.280 --> 00:40:00.039
of the stronghold without the power of God, because the

694
00:40:00.159 --> 00:40:01.679
power of God can't help me get rid of the

695
00:40:01.719 --> 00:40:04.800
stronghold if the stronghold kills the power of God. Therefore

696
00:40:04.800 --> 00:40:07.360
I must get rid of the stronghold in my own power,

697
00:40:07.599 --> 00:40:11.119
because God's power is useless against the stronghold because it

698
00:40:11.239 --> 00:40:15.599
kills God's power. Do you understand the complete logical insanity

699
00:40:15.719 --> 00:40:20.239
that this is presenting. Hey, I need the power and

700
00:40:20.360 --> 00:40:23.880
presence of God to overcome the stronghold. I'm sorry, the

701
00:40:23.960 --> 00:40:27.079
stronghold hinders the presence of God, and the stronghold kills

702
00:40:27.119 --> 00:40:29.159
the power of God. So you've got to get rid

703
00:40:29.199 --> 00:40:30.079
of the stronghold in.

704
00:40:30.119 --> 00:40:30.880
Your own power.

705
00:40:31.159 --> 00:40:34.199
Well, then why do I even need God. I get

706
00:40:34.320 --> 00:40:36.320
rid of the stronghold, then I get the power of God.

707
00:40:36.519 --> 00:40:38.239
But I need the power of God in order to

708
00:40:38.280 --> 00:40:44.000
get rid of the stronghold. And we have heard this

709
00:40:44.320 --> 00:40:49.840
flawed logic so many times in sermons, and every single

710
00:40:49.920 --> 00:40:52.119
time the people in the pew are going, Amen, Amen,

711
00:40:52.400 --> 00:40:54.039
nobody stops and go, wait a minute, how.

712
00:40:54.000 --> 00:41:02.039
Does this work? How does this work? It is a

713
00:41:02.239 --> 00:41:06.360
spirit quencher in our lives. And so you know, we

714
00:41:06.639 --> 00:41:11.119
we have talked about how how a stronghold can be

715
00:41:11.280 --> 00:41:13.440
positive or it can be negative. They can.

716
00:41:15.039 --> 00:41:19.519
All right, So it quenches the spirit, and it hinders

717
00:41:19.559 --> 00:41:22.039
the presence of God, and it kills the power of God.

718
00:41:22.360 --> 00:41:26.679
You've got a stronghold. God is helpless, hopeless and useless

719
00:41:26.840 --> 00:41:29.639
and helping you. You've got to pull yourself up by

720
00:41:29.679 --> 00:41:33.480
your own bootstraps and you've got I'm tearing down this stronghold.

721
00:41:33.760 --> 00:41:37.280
God can't help you because the stronghold hinders the presence

722
00:41:37.320 --> 00:41:40.000
of God, kills the power of God, and quenches the spirit,

723
00:41:44.760 --> 00:41:51.199
oh man, the logic here. And what's so irritating is

724
00:41:51.239 --> 00:41:52.880
there was a time in my Christian life I would

725
00:41:52.880 --> 00:41:54.880
have just been eating this up. I'd have been writing

726
00:41:54.920 --> 00:41:57.039
all these I would have had a notebook book full

727
00:41:57.079 --> 00:41:58.679
of all of these notes, and I'd be like, Oh,

728
00:41:58.960 --> 00:42:01.079
I'm going to preach this. I'm gonna teach this. This

729
00:42:01.320 --> 00:42:04.039
is good stuff. No, now I'm like, this is the

730
00:42:04.119 --> 00:42:08.239
most Like how did I not catch the logical fallacies here? Like?

731
00:42:08.519 --> 00:42:10.079
How do I not see We'll wait a minute.

732
00:42:10.119 --> 00:42:10.280
Then.

733
00:42:10.760 --> 00:42:14.039
What you're arguing is that I bring down strongholds and

734
00:42:14.199 --> 00:42:20.679
my own power because God's power can't withstand. A stronghold.

735
00:42:22.840 --> 00:42:26.400
Be a source of protection from evil and the enemy.

736
00:42:26.440 --> 00:42:29.320
That's why David said many times in the Psalm, and

737
00:42:29.440 --> 00:42:33.320
you heard it throughout the Bible, that God is our refuge.

738
00:42:33.880 --> 00:42:36.320
You know what a stronghold is. It's a dwelling place.

739
00:42:36.400 --> 00:42:40.719
It's a secure place. Amen. But then there's the other

740
00:42:40.880 --> 00:42:43.360
side of it. They can also become the means from

741
00:42:43.400 --> 00:42:47.360
which the devil's influence comes in. It is a place

742
00:42:47.519 --> 00:42:51.800
we use to justify and defend our wrong acts and

743
00:42:51.920 --> 00:42:55.760
our wrong thinking. I mean, think about this. We literally

744
00:42:55.960 --> 00:43:00.400
become sympathetic toward what we know is contrary to the

745
00:43:00.440 --> 00:43:04.840
will of God. We pet that thing and we protect

746
00:43:04.960 --> 00:43:09.440
that thing so that we can continue to practice that thing.

747
00:43:09.679 --> 00:43:14.280
Help me, now, So a stronghold can be positive, a

748
00:43:14.280 --> 00:43:17.079
stronghold can be negative, and a stronghold negative is where

749
00:43:17.119 --> 00:43:22.280
basically it is where Satan can get influence into us,

750
00:43:22.679 --> 00:43:25.559
and it creates a situation where now we will protect

751
00:43:25.920 --> 00:43:28.960
and we will excuse, and we will justify our wrong

752
00:43:29.199 --> 00:43:32.440
right because it has such influence. Now, remember, it kills

753
00:43:32.480 --> 00:43:35.719
God's It hinders God's presence, kills God's power, and quenches

754
00:43:35.760 --> 00:43:38.119
the spirit. So you can't look to God for help here,

755
00:43:39.000 --> 00:43:41.519
You're gonna have to take care of it yourself. Now

756
00:43:41.719 --> 00:43:43.400
we'll get back to this. Let me just try to

757
00:43:43.480 --> 00:43:47.320
take you through this idea. Now, if you did not

758
00:43:47.599 --> 00:43:52.599
know this idea of strongholds has been elaborated, sign on.

759
00:43:52.960 --> 00:43:58.320
It's been talked about, elaborated, preached, taught so much throughout

760
00:43:58.480 --> 00:44:06.119
church history, varying degrees of interpretation. Paul seems to use

761
00:44:06.239 --> 00:44:16.320
strongholds in this context metaphorically to describe arguments. Ideas are

762
00:44:16.519 --> 00:44:21.559
patterns of thought that stand in opposition to the knowledge

763
00:44:21.760 --> 00:44:26.840
of God. Please note, typically it's just a metaphor to

764
00:44:27.079 --> 00:44:32.840
describe arguments, ideas, and patterns of thought that stand in

765
00:44:32.880 --> 00:44:37.800
opposition to the knowledge of God. The immediate passage focuses

766
00:44:37.840 --> 00:44:43.480
on taking every thought captivity to captive and demolishing false arguments,

767
00:44:43.559 --> 00:44:48.599
indicating Paul is likely addressing intellectual or ideological barriers rather

768
00:44:48.719 --> 00:44:53.360
than demonic strongholds or psychological issues, as later interpretations of

769
00:44:53.440 --> 00:44:56.639
some kind suggested. He's saying a stronghold is where Satan

770
00:44:56.719 --> 00:45:00.760
gets your influence. What others have said in his no no, no, no,

771
00:45:01.199 --> 00:45:04.960
it's just a place where there's wrong thoughts, wrong ideas,

772
00:45:05.199 --> 00:45:08.519
and we got to fight against wrong thoughts, wrong ideas,

773
00:45:08.679 --> 00:45:12.079
and wrong teaching. This is not about Satan. This is

774
00:45:12.159 --> 00:45:18.440
about thinking. But over the centuries, many interpretations have broadened

775
00:45:19.440 --> 00:45:24.320
the term stronghold beyond Paul's context. If we look at

776
00:45:24.400 --> 00:45:27.719
Paul's context, this is about thinking, This is about ideas,

777
00:45:28.000 --> 00:45:31.639
This is about ideology, this is about philosophy. But we've

778
00:45:31.679 --> 00:45:35.719
already already here. This is a place where Satan gets

779
00:45:35.760 --> 00:45:38.480
his influence into us. He's already brought Satan into this.

780
00:45:40.320 --> 00:45:47.000
Let's look at historical philological interpretations. Historical philological interpretations the

781
00:45:47.239 --> 00:45:52.320
Early Church Fathers and tended not and I mean, I

782
00:45:52.400 --> 00:45:54.960
can't be you know, unanimous here and say every single one,

783
00:45:55.119 --> 00:45:57.559
but they tended to interpret strongholds more in line with

784
00:45:57.679 --> 00:46:03.840
Paul's message, focusing on intellectual pride false teachings, but they

785
00:46:04.039 --> 00:46:10.800
did add entrenched sins. So they kind of stayed with, hey,

786
00:46:11.039 --> 00:46:15.960
it's the thinking, it's it's it's about ideas, thoughts, false teaching,

787
00:46:16.239 --> 00:46:19.119
but they said it also could involved entrenched sins. So

788
00:46:19.280 --> 00:46:23.119
now it goes from thinking to well, now that's where

789
00:46:23.119 --> 00:46:28.239
the behavior becomes kind of in They typically saw strongholds

790
00:46:28.639 --> 00:46:34.800
as internal, mental, or spiritual barriers within a person's mind

791
00:46:35.639 --> 00:46:39.119
that resisteth God's truth. A stronghold is where in my

792
00:46:39.519 --> 00:46:43.719
thinking I'm resisting God's truth. And now now in this sermon,

793
00:46:43.920 --> 00:46:45.679
he did a little bit of that, this is where

794
00:46:45.760 --> 00:46:49.719
we are are thinking, and we start now protect, but

795
00:46:49.880 --> 00:46:52.360
he still he goes right back to behavior. But it's

796
00:46:52.400 --> 00:46:55.880
where my thinking is contrary to God's word, which we

797
00:46:55.920 --> 00:46:58.239
already know. We already struggle with that because God's thoughts

798
00:46:58.280 --> 00:47:00.400
are not our thoughts, His ways are not our ways.

799
00:47:00.960 --> 00:47:04.440
But primarily if you go to the early Church Fathers,

800
00:47:05.199 --> 00:47:10.599
they make it intellectual mental right. They do add the

801
00:47:10.800 --> 00:47:14.280
entrenched sins, but they kind of primarily stay with well

802
00:47:14.480 --> 00:47:17.039
where I think the focus should be. But then we

803
00:47:17.199 --> 00:47:21.280
jump to the mid evil period and we get mystical approaches.

804
00:47:22.360 --> 00:47:25.400
You see, in mid evil times, the idea of spiritual

805
00:47:25.480 --> 00:47:30.360
warfare grew to include a more elaborate system of thought

806
00:47:30.559 --> 00:47:36.639
around spiritual strongholds, and they sometimes tied this to demons

807
00:47:37.400 --> 00:47:44.840
or specifically territorial spirits. Some mystics began to describe strongholds

808
00:47:45.199 --> 00:47:49.880
as attachment to worldly things or patterns of sin that

809
00:47:50.039 --> 00:47:54.719
needed to be broken through esthetic practices or spiritual disciplines.

810
00:47:55.320 --> 00:47:59.480
This took on him more mystical approach. Strongholds. That's satan

811
00:48:00.119 --> 00:48:02.639
demon and now you've got to you gotta do things

812
00:48:02.719 --> 00:48:06.760
like fast or or you know, get away your worldly possessions,

813
00:48:06.880 --> 00:48:09.760
join a monastery. You know, you've got to have spiritual

814
00:48:09.880 --> 00:48:12.800
disciplines to fight these strongholds. But again it becomes very

815
00:48:12.880 --> 00:48:13.840
centered about what you do.

816
00:48:14.039 --> 00:48:15.199
You do, you do, you do?

817
00:48:15.400 --> 00:48:17.280
You you have to fight it. It's almost like you

818
00:48:17.480 --> 00:48:20.599
fighting the demons. The demons have got a stronghold, and

819
00:48:20.679 --> 00:48:22.719
now you've got to fight it. Well, in this sermon,

820
00:48:22.880 --> 00:48:25.159
he's very much said, we have to fight it because

821
00:48:25.559 --> 00:48:28.599
the strongholds kill God's power, It hinders his spirit, it

822
00:48:28.760 --> 00:48:30.920
hinders his presence, and it quenches the spirit.

823
00:48:32.480 --> 00:48:34.880
So but it's the medieval time when you get the.

824
00:48:34.960 --> 00:48:38.639
Mystical approach, the mysticism. Now here's what drives me crazy.

825
00:48:40.519 --> 00:48:45.519
Is Christians here a sermon except the teaching. They promote

826
00:48:45.559 --> 00:48:47.440
the teaching. In many cases they don't even know the

827
00:48:47.599 --> 00:48:50.239
origin of the teaching. See they'll think the origin of

828
00:48:50.320 --> 00:48:53.719
the teaching is Second Corinthians chapter ten. But no, in

829
00:48:53.840 --> 00:48:56.480
many cases, you're not. The origin of the teaching is

830
00:48:56.519 --> 00:48:59.199
a Second Corinthians chapter ten. The origin of the teaching

831
00:48:59.239 --> 00:49:02.039
you just heard is an influence from a specific part

832
00:49:02.159 --> 00:49:05.599
in church history, which they're borrowing that influence from, whether

833
00:49:05.679 --> 00:49:09.960
they know it, the demon Satan part more comes from

834
00:49:10.079 --> 00:49:15.880
mysticism during the medieval period, not the early Church. Now,

835
00:49:15.960 --> 00:49:23.599
when we get to modern times, in recent decades, specifically

836
00:49:24.760 --> 00:49:31.800
within the influence of certain strands of charismatic teaching, strongholds

837
00:49:32.039 --> 00:49:36.599
are sometimes interpreted as spiritual blockages created by demonic forces.

838
00:49:37.280 --> 00:49:42.440
Generational sins are psychological patterns. This has led to practice

839
00:49:42.440 --> 00:49:46.039
such as deliverance ministries that focus on identifying and breaking

840
00:49:46.119 --> 00:49:54.079
specific strongholds in believers' lives in modern times charismatic theology.

841
00:49:54.800 --> 00:49:59.599
But guess what charismatic theology built on the mysticism of

842
00:50:00.239 --> 00:50:02.760
the medieval period. A lot of times I say, if

843
00:50:02.800 --> 00:50:06.599
you look at Catholic mysticism, Catholic mysticism in some cases

844
00:50:06.639 --> 00:50:10.199
I think gives rise to charismatic theology. I don't know

845
00:50:10.239 --> 00:50:13.320
if I can one hundred percent prove that historically, but man,

846
00:50:13.480 --> 00:50:19.079
sometimes when you study Catholic mystics, study Catholic mystics, study

847
00:50:19.159 --> 00:50:25.119
Catholic mysticism, you almost inevitably see to me the I'm

848
00:50:25.159 --> 00:50:28.159
not saying a direct line, but I think you see it.

849
00:50:28.599 --> 00:50:32.559
So when you compare these interpretations to the actual text,

850
00:50:33.800 --> 00:50:37.519
much of what is taught today is arguably more of

851
00:50:37.679 --> 00:50:42.599
reading into than a direct drawing from the text. When

852
00:50:42.639 --> 00:50:46.119
you look at how most pastors interpret Tewod Corinthians, chapter ten,

853
00:50:46.480 --> 00:50:49.440
they read into it. They're not drawing from it. They're

854
00:50:49.480 --> 00:50:52.880
doing isogesis, not exo Jesus, which I say all the time.

855
00:50:52.960 --> 00:50:57.440
All right, Paul Focuses seems very quite practical and direct.

856
00:50:58.159 --> 00:51:01.199
He is identifying thoughts and ideas. Is that contradict the

857
00:51:01.320 --> 00:51:06.119
gospel and actively countering them with truth. Well, it's valid

858
00:51:06.159 --> 00:51:09.000
to consider maybe a broader application. It is clear that

859
00:51:09.119 --> 00:51:12.920
many teachings have layered additional interpretations over Paul's original metaphor,

860
00:51:13.239 --> 00:51:17.199
often extending it into areas Paul doesn't even directly address.

861
00:51:21.320 --> 00:51:26.920
This interpretive expansion might be beneficial in some cases, as

862
00:51:26.960 --> 00:51:30.119
it applies the metaphor to broader life challenges, but it

863
00:51:30.280 --> 00:51:33.960
is crucial to recognize and here I'm quoting something that

864
00:51:34.239 --> 00:51:39.920
much of this is application, not exegesis. As with any passage,

865
00:51:40.239 --> 00:51:47.039
the line between interpretation and addition can be thin, so

866
00:51:47.400 --> 00:51:52.079
careful attention to the text itself is necessary if you

867
00:51:52.199 --> 00:52:01.400
want to maintain any form of balance. Now, let's see

868
00:52:01.440 --> 00:52:04.719
what he does here. He's kind of he's already kind

869
00:52:04.760 --> 00:52:07.559
of expanding this. I think he's starting to possibly read

870
00:52:07.639 --> 00:52:09.159
into it. Let's see where he goes.

871
00:52:10.880 --> 00:52:16.079
Amen. And so we do this without realizing. Amen, that

872
00:52:16.280 --> 00:52:21.639
what we do not condemn, we condon't. What we do

873
00:52:21.880 --> 00:52:25.280
not change, we'll keep.

874
00:52:28.800 --> 00:52:32.239
Please note this is very if you're if you understand,

875
00:52:32.280 --> 00:52:34.119
if you were listening to this sermon and you were

876
00:52:34.199 --> 00:52:38.199
supposed to be identifying law and gospel, this sermon is

877
00:52:38.480 --> 00:52:42.880
law law law, law, law, law, law, law, What we do,

878
00:52:43.039 --> 00:52:44.559
what we do, what we do, what we do, what

879
00:52:44.639 --> 00:52:45.079
we don't do?

880
00:52:45.360 --> 00:52:45.599
We do?

881
00:52:45.760 --> 00:52:48.639
We do, we do, And he's already removed God from

882
00:52:48.679 --> 00:52:53.119
doing anything because once the stronghold, we build the stronghold

883
00:52:53.440 --> 00:52:56.440
by not conforming ourselves to the image of Christ. What's

884
00:52:56.519 --> 00:52:59.159
the stronghold is there? It hinders the presence of God,

885
00:52:59.400 --> 00:53:02.159
kills the power of God, quench the spirit. Then we

886
00:53:03.079 --> 00:53:06.800
we have to then fight against this. It's we we,

887
00:53:07.039 --> 00:53:10.400
it's all about it's all directed at what you do.

888
00:53:10.800 --> 00:53:16.960
This is a law based sermon, isn't that right? A man?

889
00:53:17.480 --> 00:53:21.400
And so Paul tells us this that a stronghold comes

890
00:53:21.480 --> 00:53:24.480
from the wrong kind of thoughts and the wrong kind

891
00:53:24.559 --> 00:53:28.679
of things in our life. Amen. And it really pulls

892
00:53:28.800 --> 00:53:31.960
us down when we begin to think that what we

893
00:53:32.239 --> 00:53:38.599
think is better than what God thinks. Anytime you hear

894
00:53:38.800 --> 00:53:40.719
somebody say yeah, but.

895
00:53:42.800 --> 00:53:44.880
Or I know, but.

896
00:53:46.559 --> 00:53:49.280
They're getting ready to reveal the strongholds in their life.

897
00:53:50.599 --> 00:53:57.039
I know what you said, preacher, but don't even worry

898
00:53:57.039 --> 00:54:03.679
about what the preacher says. Was God say? When God

899
00:54:03.880 --> 00:54:08.760
says this way, y'all dress And you still say, but

900
00:54:10.239 --> 00:54:13.360
can I remind you saw only goats. But somebody helped

901
00:54:13.360 --> 00:54:18.599
me right there. Anyway, that's not truth, sheeple, but.

902
00:54:18.760 --> 00:54:27.360
Too Hey, now, now he just turned this into how

903
00:54:27.519 --> 00:54:30.400
God tells you to dress? How God, because you know,

904
00:54:30.440 --> 00:54:33.199
when you read your Bible, it's just it lays out

905
00:54:33.360 --> 00:54:35.639
exactly how you're supposed to dress. See, I mean, now,

906
00:54:35.800 --> 00:54:38.360
oh boy, all right, you see this is becoming very

907
00:54:38.440 --> 00:54:45.039
behavioral focused. It's it's law based behavior moralism. This is

908
00:54:45.079 --> 00:54:49.199
becoming a moralistic, law based sermon. That's what this is becoming.

909
00:54:49.480 --> 00:54:50.599
This is not gospel.

910
00:54:51.119 --> 00:54:55.079
This is law. This is moralism, and it's reading things

911
00:54:55.159 --> 00:54:56.800
into the text that I don't know are there. Well,

912
00:54:56.840 --> 00:54:59.639
let's see if it if it turns and we get

913
00:54:59.679 --> 00:55:01.000
to a gospel idea.

914
00:55:02.679 --> 00:55:07.840
Amen, most time they'll but harder and goats. Amen. But

915
00:55:07.840 --> 00:55:10.840
then you would think about that it is when we

916
00:55:11.199 --> 00:55:16.000
believe that we know better than God, Amen, that we

917
00:55:16.239 --> 00:55:20.159
have allowed the foundation for these strongholds to be laid.

918
00:55:22.039 --> 00:55:24.079
I know what, I know what the Bible said, but.

919
00:55:26.159 --> 00:55:26.880
I know, but.

920
00:55:31.920 --> 00:55:35.840
Isn't that awful? I think that's I think that's a

921
00:55:36.000 --> 00:55:41.519
sad statement to come out of the mouth of somebody

922
00:55:41.599 --> 00:55:47.519
who claims that they're a child of God. Amen. I

923
00:55:47.719 --> 00:55:53.039
just believe that's just wrong. If God said the world

924
00:55:53.199 --> 00:55:57.559
is round, then don't argue with and by the way

925
00:55:57.599 --> 00:56:03.280
he did, Amen, the world is rouned a man, and

926
00:56:03.360 --> 00:56:05.280
I believe it's in the book Job where he said

927
00:56:05.320 --> 00:56:08.480
that it's round. I don't know where that came from.

928
00:56:08.760 --> 00:56:12.880
But anyway, if God says this is the way you

929
00:56:13.039 --> 00:56:16.559
should be, then why are you thinking that you can

930
00:56:16.639 --> 00:56:21.039
be otherwise? Why do we do that? Is that not

931
00:56:21.280 --> 00:56:22.440
direct rebellion?

932
00:56:25.239 --> 00:56:29.800
Why do we do that? Let's see if we could

933
00:56:29.880 --> 00:56:30.840
figure this out.

934
00:56:32.000 --> 00:56:33.159
Why do we do this?

935
00:56:35.480 --> 00:56:42.440
Because we are sinners by nature. We have a sinful nature.

936
00:56:43.440 --> 00:56:47.320
We are still sinners even after conversion. I know you

937
00:56:47.480 --> 00:56:51.320
told everyone you're changed on the inside, but what you

938
00:56:51.559 --> 00:56:54.800
just demonstrated is by saying that we're changed on the inside.

939
00:56:55.000 --> 00:56:57.960
Now you're left with, well, why do we constantly go

940
00:56:58.119 --> 00:57:01.199
against God? Why do we constantly think opposite to God?

941
00:57:01.480 --> 00:57:04.960
Because we are still sinners. We have been saved by

942
00:57:05.119 --> 00:57:09.320
an imputed righteousness, but we are still sinners.

943
00:57:09.960 --> 00:57:13.239
Okay, I don't understand why do we still do it?

944
00:57:13.639 --> 00:57:17.440
It's as obvious as obvious can be. Because we have

945
00:57:17.599 --> 00:57:20.719
a sinful nature, we have a sinful heart, and we

946
00:57:20.920 --> 00:57:23.679
continue to sin and our think our ways are not

947
00:57:23.840 --> 00:57:27.199
God's ways, our thoughts are not his thoughts. Every part

948
00:57:27.280 --> 00:57:32.159
of us is still under sin. Other than our positional standing,

949
00:57:32.360 --> 00:57:36.320
which is perfect before God, but practical standing, we are sinners.

950
00:57:36.440 --> 00:57:39.239
I don't understand why this is complicated. That's why we

951
00:57:39.400 --> 00:57:39.679
do this.

952
00:57:42.840 --> 00:57:46.920
Remember what we read over there in First Peter. It's

953
00:57:46.960 --> 00:57:50.559
an open door for the one that's a seeking whom

954
00:57:50.679 --> 00:57:54.719
He made the best that is, that is a Isn't

955
00:57:54.760 --> 00:58:01.280
it amazing that our opinion can I outrank God's opinion? Amen?

956
00:58:01.400 --> 00:58:04.760
And so when this takes place in our minds, and Amen,

957
00:58:04.880 --> 00:58:07.599
when we decide that, in spite of knowing the difference

958
00:58:07.679 --> 00:58:10.920
between right and wrong, we still choose wrong, we have

959
00:58:11.159 --> 00:58:15.480
laid the foundation for disaster and a stronghold in our life.

960
00:58:17.719 --> 00:58:21.199
Well, if we lay the foundation for a stronghold every

961
00:58:21.320 --> 00:58:24.840
time we think wrong or do wrong, then ladies and gentlemen,

962
00:58:24.880 --> 00:58:27.480
we got more strongholds built in our lives. Then I

963
00:58:27.639 --> 00:58:32.199
can even count. Because we are continually not doing what

964
00:58:32.320 --> 00:58:36.760
God tells, We're in a perpetual state of sin. Perpetually.

965
00:58:39.880 --> 00:58:43.320
So all right, okay, let's well, I can't believe we're

966
00:58:43.320 --> 00:58:45.280
already at an hour let's see, we'll see if we

967
00:58:45.320 --> 00:58:49.000
can get a little like I got like twenty pages

968
00:58:49.039 --> 00:58:52.599
of notes here on strongholds and how it's okay, let's

969
00:58:52.679 --> 00:58:55.159
let's see, let's see if he let's see where he goes.

970
00:58:57.559 --> 00:59:01.400
Amen, and so so think about this. We have done

971
00:59:01.559 --> 00:59:04.960
what Paul tells us not to do in this same letter.

972
00:59:06.079 --> 00:59:10.039
Don't give place to the devil. That's what strongholds do.

973
00:59:11.119 --> 00:59:13.199
It gives place to the devil. We give him a

974
00:59:13.719 --> 00:59:16.880
secure place. That's what a stronghold is. And you know

975
00:59:17.000 --> 00:59:20.760
what he does in that secure place. He begins to influence.

976
00:59:21.719 --> 00:59:26.719
Our lives. Now, please note this, what he's giving you

977
00:59:26.960 --> 00:59:32.000
is medieval mysticism. He is immediately saying that the stronghold

978
00:59:33.440 --> 00:59:35.800
we give it over, it's a place for Satan. And

979
00:59:35.880 --> 00:59:38.760
then Satan influenced my lives. In other words, without the stronghold,

980
00:59:38.800 --> 00:59:40.880
I guess Satan can't influence my life. But if I

981
00:59:41.119 --> 00:59:44.159
build a stronghold, then Satan influences my life. So now

982
00:59:44.199 --> 00:59:47.280
he's connecting the stronghold with Satan. He connected the stronghold

983
00:59:47.360 --> 00:59:49.800
with one Peter five eight. And we've already said that

984
00:59:50.239 --> 00:59:54.079
there's already that that's not what the text is about.

985
00:59:55.480 --> 00:59:55.840
All right.

986
00:59:56.079 --> 00:59:59.039
That okay, but let's see I want I want to

987
00:59:59.360 --> 01:00:01.360
I could do a lot work on that itself. But

988
01:00:01.440 --> 01:00:02.679
let's see where else he goes.

989
01:00:05.760 --> 01:00:09.519
And as he's influencing our lives. Hey, man, you know

990
01:00:09.599 --> 01:00:13.480
what we're doing. We're digging. We're digging a deeper hole.

991
01:00:18.840 --> 01:00:23.639
That habit gets stronger and stronger and stronger, that act,

992
01:00:23.840 --> 01:00:28.239
that thought gets deeper and deeper and deeper, until finally,

993
01:00:30.000 --> 01:00:34.199
nobody's gonna get it down of you. And God's told

994
01:00:34.199 --> 01:00:36.159
you so many times that he's tired of telling you,

995
01:00:36.199 --> 01:00:39.400
and he's not gonna get it down you. Not that

996
01:00:39.519 --> 01:00:42.079
he can't, he just won't.

997
01:00:44.760 --> 01:00:47.159
So you can get to a place where God will

998
01:00:47.239 --> 01:00:49.719
not even get the thought out of you. God will

999
01:00:49.760 --> 01:00:52.760
not even do anything. Now he says God can, but

1000
01:00:52.920 --> 01:00:55.440
our earlier he made an argument that God can't, because

1001
01:00:55.480 --> 01:00:58.679
he says strongholds kills the power of God, hinders the

1002
01:00:58.719 --> 01:01:00.880
presence of God, and quench the space. Now he's saying

1003
01:01:00.920 --> 01:01:03.119
God could get rid of it, but God won't get

1004
01:01:03.199 --> 01:01:04.960
rid of it. Well, if God won't get rid of it,

1005
01:01:05.119 --> 01:01:06.920
what he's saying, then you've got to get rid of

1006
01:01:07.000 --> 01:01:14.719
it without God's assistance. This is insane. There's no way

1007
01:01:15.199 --> 01:01:19.079
he's thought this through, this whole thing. I don't even know.

1008
01:01:19.320 --> 01:01:22.280
I don't even know what to call this position. It's like,

1009
01:01:22.760 --> 01:01:25.320
you don't need God to get rid of stronghold. Now

1010
01:01:25.360 --> 01:01:27.920
you're the one who build them. You're the one responsibility

1011
01:01:27.960 --> 01:01:29.880
to take them down because God can't take them down.

1012
01:01:30.000 --> 01:01:32.519
Because the stronghold kills the power of God. It hinders

1013
01:01:32.559 --> 01:01:34.760
the presence of God, it quinches the spirit, and God

1014
01:01:34.800 --> 01:01:37.079
gets tired of telling you. So God won't even do it.

1015
01:01:37.280 --> 01:01:43.559
So you're on your own. I tell you, every stronghold,

1016
01:01:43.760 --> 01:01:47.159
every stronghold, is a hindrance to our relationship with God.

1017
01:01:49.639 --> 01:01:53.800
The reason they're there is because we have failed in

1018
01:01:53.960 --> 01:02:01.000
conforming to the image of God's Son. Amen. Amen. So

1019
01:02:01.119 --> 01:02:04.000
it's important that we realize that we aren't dealing. Now

1020
01:02:04.079 --> 01:02:09.400
listen what I'm about to you. And by the way,

1021
01:02:09.920 --> 01:02:13.880
it doesn't that prove how depraved our nature is. When

1022
01:02:13.920 --> 01:02:17.360
we're saved by the grace of God and we steal,

1023
01:02:19.079 --> 01:02:21.800
think what we think is better than what God thinks.

1024
01:02:24.119 --> 01:02:27.320
Okay, now wait a minute. Earlier he said God changes us.

1025
01:02:27.679 --> 01:02:30.880
Now he's acknowledging how depraved our nature is. So is

1026
01:02:30.960 --> 01:02:33.360
our nature depraved or has our nature been changed? Can

1027
01:02:33.480 --> 01:02:35.000
someone explain any.

1028
01:02:34.840 --> 01:02:42.440
Of this to me? We still oppose what God said.

1029
01:02:42.639 --> 01:02:45.280
I don't oppose God. Well, if you ain't lining up

1030
01:02:45.320 --> 01:02:48.679
with the book, you are, Isn't that right? I know

1031
01:02:48.840 --> 01:02:51.760
this is simple preaching, and I know you've heard it before.

1032
01:02:54.480 --> 01:02:56.599
Well, if you don't line up with the book, you're

1033
01:02:56.639 --> 01:03:00.840
opposing God. You're perpetually opposing God. Because God's book says

1034
01:03:00.920 --> 01:03:03.079
be holy as He is holy. You're never holy as

1035
01:03:03.119 --> 01:03:05.639
He is holy. So you are in a perpetual state

1036
01:03:05.840 --> 01:03:08.639
of opposition to God. He says, be perfect taus, your

1037
01:03:08.639 --> 01:03:09.639
heavenly Father is perfect.

1038
01:03:09.719 --> 01:03:09.960
You're not.

1039
01:03:10.159 --> 01:03:12.280
You're in a perpetual opposition to God.

1040
01:03:12.480 --> 01:03:13.800
I can go on and on and on and on.

1041
01:03:14.039 --> 01:03:17.639
So why does he keep acting like some none of

1042
01:03:17.760 --> 01:03:20.039
you or all of you are in opposition to God?

1043
01:03:20.199 --> 01:03:23.119
He acts like, well, some of you. No, every single

1044
01:03:23.280 --> 01:03:27.239
person is in opposition to God perpetually. We are not

1045
01:03:27.920 --> 01:03:32.000
positionally because positionally I am holy as God is holy.

1046
01:03:32.199 --> 01:03:35.000
I am perfect because of imputed righteousness. But he's not

1047
01:03:35.159 --> 01:03:39.559
offering any discussion about imputed righteousness. This is all action, action, action, action,

1048
01:03:40.000 --> 01:03:42.599
And I think he's not even allowing the text to

1049
01:03:42.639 --> 01:03:45.159
define what a stronghold is. But well, I'm going to

1050
01:03:45.199 --> 01:03:46.519
try to wrap this up as soon as I can.

1051
01:03:46.559 --> 01:03:47.679
We got to go a little bit further.

1052
01:03:50.039 --> 01:03:52.360
Just what God told me. So I'm telling you what

1053
01:03:52.480 --> 01:03:56.320
God told me to hear that.

1054
01:03:57.440 --> 01:04:00.239
This is what God told me to tell you. I'm

1055
01:04:00.320 --> 01:04:02.960
telling you what God told me to tell you. So

1056
01:04:03.119 --> 01:04:07.960
you can't argue with this sermon. This sermon comes from God.

1057
01:04:08.679 --> 01:04:11.760
Even though we've already pointed out logical fallacies. We've already

1058
01:04:11.800 --> 01:04:14.280
pointed out that some of this comes from medieval mysticism,

1059
01:04:14.480 --> 01:04:16.840
but none of that matters because God told him to

1060
01:04:16.880 --> 01:04:19.559
say this. So this comes directly from God. This is

1061
01:04:19.639 --> 01:04:23.880
basically inspired scripture. Basically, you should go to the sermonadio website,

1062
01:04:24.079 --> 01:04:26.519
get the text, print it out, put it in your

1063
01:04:26.559 --> 01:04:37.159
Bible because it comes from God. Oh man, so I

1064
01:04:37.239 --> 01:04:39.320
guess what I'm saying doesn't come from God. But what

1065
01:04:39.400 --> 01:04:40.840
if I was to tell you that what I'm saying

1066
01:04:40.880 --> 01:04:43.159
comes from God and he's saying what he's saying is

1067
01:04:43.199 --> 01:04:45.119
coming from God. Because make sure you know all the

1068
01:04:45.199 --> 01:04:48.079
other people who have different interpretations of this passage would

1069
01:04:48.079 --> 01:04:50.800
say that that's what God says. And know what God

1070
01:04:50.880 --> 01:04:53.559
says is what he says. So I don't have been

1071
01:04:53.960 --> 01:04:55.639
Do we even know what God said anymore?

1072
01:04:55.760 --> 01:04:57.440
Who knows? I thought it was in the Bible, But

1073
01:04:57.800 --> 01:05:02.440
what do I know? So it's important that we realize

1074
01:05:02.519 --> 01:05:04.960
what we're dealing with here. Now. We're not dealing with

1075
01:05:05.119 --> 01:05:10.840
just random thoughts. You have them all day long. We're

1076
01:05:10.880 --> 01:05:13.000
dealing with something that you think on all the time.

1077
01:05:14.519 --> 01:05:19.920
It's something that attacks your mind. It's something that comes

1078
01:05:19.960 --> 01:05:21.960
across your mind, and you know what, you like it,

1079
01:05:23.880 --> 01:05:29.239
You pet it, you take care of it. Amen, it

1080
01:05:29.320 --> 01:05:34.360
doesn't bother you like the music that you listen to.

1081
01:05:38.400 --> 01:05:41.480
I mean, I've watched some people. I've watched some people. Man,

1082
01:05:41.559 --> 01:05:44.079
they throw their records out, They throw their tapes out,

1083
01:05:44.159 --> 01:05:46.559
their cassettes out, They threw it all out. Man, they

1084
01:05:46.679 --> 01:05:50.239
throwed it all out. And now just go check the radio.

1085
01:05:52.519 --> 01:05:56.920
And how in the name of bubblegum has music got

1086
01:05:57.000 --> 01:06:00.360
involved in this? And throw throwed their records and take

1087
01:06:00.719 --> 01:06:04.920
what year is this sermon preached? And to go to

1088
01:06:05.000 --> 01:06:08.159
the radio. Who's going to the radio. It's twenty twenty four,

1089
01:06:08.280 --> 01:06:10.840
for crying out loud, Well, what does music have to

1090
01:06:10.920 --> 01:06:12.960
do with this? So if you listen to music he

1091
01:06:13.079 --> 01:06:16.519
doesn't approve of. Then, ladies and gentlemen, you have a stronghold.

1092
01:06:16.960 --> 01:06:19.599
Stronghold is when you like music that he doesn't like.

1093
01:06:23.159 --> 01:06:26.599
What I don't understand.

1094
01:06:27.039 --> 01:06:31.079
I don't understand. Okay, let's just remember God told him

1095
01:06:31.079 --> 01:06:32.800
that all this stuff. God told him all of this.

1096
01:06:33.280 --> 01:06:36.119
Remember this all comes from God. This is like you know,

1097
01:06:36.519 --> 01:06:41.039
infallible preaching, wonder where the.

1098
01:06:41.039 --> 01:06:44.280
Power God went in her life? I wonder where the

1099
01:06:44.360 --> 01:06:45.920
presence of God is in life.

1100
01:06:48.039 --> 01:06:51.280
See, if you have wrong music, it kills the power

1101
01:06:51.360 --> 01:06:53.760
of God, and it kills the presence of God. So

1102
01:06:54.000 --> 01:06:58.119
your music is stronger than God. Now, if I open

1103
01:06:58.239 --> 01:07:01.440
up right now any music stre app and I start

1104
01:07:01.480 --> 01:07:05.280
playing music, if it's not the music God approves of, Boom,

1105
01:07:05.360 --> 01:07:07.719
I just killed the power of God in my life. Boom,

1106
01:07:07.800 --> 01:07:09.599
I just drove the presence of God out of my

1107
01:07:09.719 --> 01:07:13.480
life because my music streaming app is stronger than the

1108
01:07:13.599 --> 01:07:18.360
onipotent God of the universe. It's just he can't handle it.

1109
01:07:18.400 --> 01:07:21.559
He's like, that's the wrong music. My power, My power

1110
01:07:21.719 --> 01:07:26.639
gets weak. Do you see the logic here? So if

1111
01:07:26.679 --> 01:07:28.800
I get a stronghold, and what is a stronghold, stronghold

1112
01:07:28.800 --> 01:07:31.760
could be wrong music? You have wrong music. That's a stronghold.

1113
01:07:31.880 --> 01:07:34.480
Now guess what boom? Because you like it? Well, if

1114
01:07:34.519 --> 01:07:36.840
you didn't like the music, I guess that would. I

1115
01:07:37.039 --> 01:07:39.719
don't even understand how this even works anymore. This is

1116
01:07:39.960 --> 01:07:42.719
just all right. But remember this is all supposedly comes

1117
01:07:42.760 --> 01:07:43.079
from God.

1118
01:07:45.960 --> 01:07:50.239
Amen, oh Bridger, you don't understand. I'm spiritual enough to

1119
01:07:50.360 --> 01:07:50.800
handle it.

1120
01:07:50.920 --> 01:07:51.920
You a fool.

1121
01:07:54.280 --> 01:07:58.920
As foolish thinking all that is is an open door

1122
01:07:59.039 --> 01:08:02.320
for the devil. Hey man, if he gets the foot

1123
01:08:02.360 --> 01:08:04.679
in there, it won't just be a stronghold and become

1124
01:08:04.760 --> 01:08:05.599
a stranglehold.

1125
01:08:08.320 --> 01:08:11.559
I wonder if he's quoting Ted Nugent. I'm joking. I'm

1126
01:08:11.599 --> 01:08:14.960
making a music reference. Okay, never mind, never mind, never mind, Okay,

1127
01:08:15.360 --> 01:08:17.720
a few music people will get what I'm talking about. Okay,

1128
01:08:17.960 --> 01:08:26.359
all right. Music is a door to satan. If you

1129
01:08:26.439 --> 01:08:30.600
listen to the wrong music, the doorpans. Not like I'm Thriller,

1130
01:08:30.760 --> 01:08:35.560
the door opens and then here comes satan. Music is

1131
01:08:35.640 --> 01:08:40.800
the doorway to the devil. Music. Now, your sinful nature

1132
01:08:40.880 --> 01:08:43.479
that's inside of you. Music. See, you need to be

1133
01:08:43.560 --> 01:08:50.479
worried more about music than your sinful nature. How come

1134
01:08:50.520 --> 01:08:52.600
I've known lots of people who don't listen to rock

1135
01:08:52.640 --> 01:08:55.039
and roll or rap. I think I know this person

1136
01:08:55.079 --> 01:08:58.680
by the name of Kin And he killed Abel. And

1137
01:08:58.840 --> 01:09:04.000
he never heard even Elvis Presley. He never heard the Beatles,

1138
01:09:04.399 --> 01:09:06.880
Chuck Berry. I could go on and on and on,

1139
01:09:07.000 --> 01:09:11.239
and he never even heard the architects of rock and roll.

1140
01:09:11.479 --> 01:09:17.079
He never heard Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden. He never heard Zeppelin. Hey,

1141
01:09:17.199 --> 01:09:19.600
I could go all the way up to modern indie bands.

1142
01:09:19.800 --> 01:09:22.720
He never no, I mean I could go, But he

1143
01:09:22.840 --> 01:09:26.520
killed somebody. How come? And how come we had homosexuality

1144
01:09:26.840 --> 01:09:32.159
before the village people, We had homosexuality before disco. I mean,

1145
01:09:32.199 --> 01:09:34.199
I can go. What in the world? How come we

1146
01:09:34.279 --> 01:09:37.600
have all these horrible how come we had a man going, hey,

1147
01:09:37.640 --> 01:09:40.000
I know what I'll do. Hey, Hey, all the men

1148
01:09:40.079 --> 01:09:42.079
in the city, you can have my daughters and do

1149
01:09:42.199 --> 01:09:44.319
whatever you want with them. And how did the daughters like,

1150
01:09:44.439 --> 01:09:46.760
let's get dad drunk and have sex with him. And

1151
01:09:46.880 --> 01:09:48.560
how how come we have all of this stuff going

1152
01:09:48.600 --> 01:09:51.680
on in the Bible? And guess what, we don't have rap,

1153
01:09:52.119 --> 01:10:00.640
rock and roll. We don't. Oh no, wouldn't the doorway

1154
01:10:00.880 --> 01:10:04.199
to the devil be the sinful nature that is in you?

1155
01:10:04.920 --> 01:10:07.800
Wouldn't that be the doorway to the isn't your nature

1156
01:10:08.079 --> 01:10:10.239
the thing that opens the door to the devil? Not

1157
01:10:10.399 --> 01:10:11.560
the music you listen to.

1158
01:10:16.600 --> 01:10:19.039
That's why so many people struggle with it. Why can't

1159
01:10:19.079 --> 01:10:21.760
you get some women out of their breeches? Why breach

1160
01:10:21.840 --> 01:10:24.359
to them forty years and you can't get them out

1161
01:10:24.399 --> 01:10:25.039
of their bridge?

1162
01:10:25.159 --> 01:10:25.359
Why?

1163
01:10:25.520 --> 01:10:28.239
Because it's become such a stronghold in their lives.

1164
01:10:28.520 --> 01:10:33.399
What you can't get the women out of their breeches

1165
01:10:37.680 --> 01:10:42.600
because their breeches is a stronghold. Hey, ladies, if you

1166
01:10:42.680 --> 01:10:47.880
wear pants, that's a stronghold. You've got a demonic stronghold

1167
01:10:48.159 --> 01:10:51.079
because I can't get you out of your breeches. That

1168
01:10:51.199 --> 01:10:54.840
even doesn't even sound right. Robbie, he's been trying to

1169
01:10:54.840 --> 01:10:57.119
get women out of their breeches for forty six years

1170
01:10:57.199 --> 01:11:00.319
like that. I think that just sounds all incorrect. Okay, okay,

1171
01:11:00.319 --> 01:11:01.800
I just need to stop ale on my head. Let's

1172
01:11:01.840 --> 01:11:02.399
just continue.

1173
01:11:03.960 --> 01:11:06.279
I can't you get people that are say, by the

1174
01:11:06.359 --> 01:11:10.760
race of God to turn the country music holf because

1175
01:11:10.800 --> 01:11:14.640
it's become such a stronghold. Oh no, but I'm fair

1176
01:11:14.720 --> 01:11:16.880
to left to take it. But you can't quit it.

1177
01:11:19.840 --> 01:11:30.279
Country music is a stronghold. Oh man, I give up.

1178
01:11:30.399 --> 01:11:32.920
Ladies and gentlemen, I give them. I don't know what

1179
01:11:33.079 --> 01:11:33.960
to do anymore.

1180
01:11:34.119 --> 01:11:41.359
I don't This is law, law, law, law, behavioral, moralism, pietism,

1181
01:11:43.520 --> 01:11:44.960
medieval mysticism.

1182
01:11:45.119 --> 01:11:45.680
I don't know what this.

1183
01:11:45.920 --> 01:11:49.640
Let me just help you. Here the stronghold mentioned and

1184
01:11:49.760 --> 01:11:54.800
Second Corinthians ten I believe two me you know no

1185
01:11:55.079 --> 01:11:58.720
verse three? Okay or four? Okay? Let me make it

1186
01:11:58.800 --> 01:12:02.439
very here, all right, the stronghold mentioned in Second Corinthians

1187
01:12:02.560 --> 01:12:05.960
chapter ten four, if I can read correctly, for the

1188
01:12:06.000 --> 01:12:08.600
weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God.

1189
01:12:08.720 --> 01:12:12.720
To the pulling down of strongholds Second Corinthians ten four.

1190
01:12:13.159 --> 01:12:18.560
Those strongholds mentioned there in ten four are effectively defined

1191
01:12:18.840 --> 01:12:23.560
in verse five, because look at verse five, casting down

1192
01:12:23.760 --> 01:12:30.199
imaginations and every high thing that casteth itself against the

1193
01:12:30.359 --> 01:12:34.560
knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity.

1194
01:12:35.039 --> 01:12:35.399
All right.

1195
01:12:36.000 --> 01:12:38.840
Paul provides a fuller picture of what he means by

1196
01:12:38.960 --> 01:12:43.840
strongholds right. Verse five clarifies that the strongholds Paul refers

1197
01:12:43.880 --> 01:12:50.399
to our intellectual are ideological structures, specifically arguments and lofty

1198
01:12:50.600 --> 01:12:54.479
opinions that set themselves against the knowledge of God. These

1199
01:12:54.520 --> 01:12:59.279
are not physical structures or necessarily even supernatural forces, but

1200
01:12:59.479 --> 01:13:04.960
rather mental or philosophical constructs that oppose God's truth. Paul

1201
01:13:05.119 --> 01:13:09.319
uses military language to describe a kind of spiritual battle

1202
01:13:09.600 --> 01:13:14.279
where these strongholds are attacked and demolished through divine means.

1203
01:13:14.840 --> 01:13:19.960
In other words, the strongholds are patterns of thought, entrenched beliefs,

1204
01:13:20.199 --> 01:13:23.800
or arguments that resist God's revelation and truth. By defining

1205
01:13:23.840 --> 01:13:26.399
strongholds in this way, Paul focuses on the need for

1206
01:13:26.439 --> 01:13:29.600
spiritual discernment and the truth of the Gospel to confront

1207
01:13:29.680 --> 01:13:33.720
and dismantle ideas and worldviews contrary to God's knowledge. This

1208
01:13:33.880 --> 01:13:37.039
aligns with Paul's emphasis on taking every thought captive to

1209
01:13:37.159 --> 01:13:41.640
obey Christ, showing that these are internal mental barriers rather

1210
01:13:41.760 --> 01:13:46.359
than external or demonic entities. This is about wrong thinking.

1211
01:13:47.199 --> 01:13:50.159
And please note he says God can't help God may

1212
01:13:50.239 --> 01:13:52.800
not even help you, and that the stronghold destroys God.

1213
01:13:52.880 --> 01:13:55.760
But look what it says, for though we walk in

1214
01:13:55.800 --> 01:13:57.920
the flesh, we do not war after the flesh, For

1215
01:13:58.000 --> 01:14:00.600
the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty

1216
01:14:00.720 --> 01:14:04.000
through God. To the pulling down of strongholds, the text says,

1217
01:14:04.039 --> 01:14:08.479
it's God who it's spiritual power that pulls down the stronghold.

1218
01:14:08.640 --> 01:14:11.319
And he says that the stronghold kills the power of God,

1219
01:14:11.840 --> 01:14:14.640
hinders the presence of God, and quenches the spirit. Well, then,

1220
01:14:15.119 --> 01:14:17.560
according to him, it's me who pulls down the stronghold.

1221
01:14:17.680 --> 01:14:21.199
It's not me, it's God. How because I go to

1222
01:14:21.279 --> 01:14:24.039
the word of God, and the Word of God confronts

1223
01:14:24.239 --> 01:14:27.720
the wrong thinking and the wrong ideology and the wrong belief.

1224
01:14:28.000 --> 01:14:32.960
It gives me truth, and truth fights these mental strongholds

1225
01:14:33.000 --> 01:14:35.359
and tells me that thinking is wrong and that thinking

1226
01:14:35.439 --> 01:14:37.199
is wrong. But let me get let me make it

1227
01:14:37.319 --> 01:14:39.640
very clear. I can get all of my thinking right.

1228
01:14:40.359 --> 01:14:42.880
I can get my thinking completely right. I can pull

1229
01:14:42.960 --> 01:14:46.399
down every mental stronghold that my thinking is perfectly in

1230
01:14:46.479 --> 01:14:49.600
line with God. But I'm still going to sin. I'm

1231
01:14:49.760 --> 01:14:52.920
still going to rebel because the sin and the rebellion

1232
01:14:53.119 --> 01:14:55.800
comes from a sinful nature that is still inside of

1233
01:14:55.880 --> 01:14:57.720
me until glorification.

1234
01:15:02.239 --> 01:15:07.960
Isn't that right? You so spiritual? Why can't you quit it? Well,

1235
01:15:08.039 --> 01:15:13.600
for one, you don't want to, Amen, that's the biggest problem. Amen,

1236
01:15:13.680 --> 01:15:16.159
you have never tried to quit it. You're one of

1237
01:15:16.199 --> 01:15:21.920
them that goes. But but what you enjoy it? But

1238
01:15:22.079 --> 01:15:25.079
what you like feeding the flesh? What did Paul say?

1239
01:15:25.399 --> 01:15:29.359
We're in the flesh, but we don't work after it? Amen,

1240
01:15:30.520 --> 01:15:33.199
My goodness, I didn't mean to be this mean as tonight.

1241
01:15:33.359 --> 01:15:36.199
I thought i'd be this is the Wednesday night grab.

1242
01:15:36.279 --> 01:15:38.000
But you know what, I'm just gonna preach to night

1243
01:15:38.000 --> 01:15:43.319
any So you think about this though. Strongholds deal with

1244
01:15:43.439 --> 01:15:47.560
areas in our life that we have allowed ourselves. Amen.

1245
01:15:47.640 --> 01:15:51.760
To be put in bondage by a stronghold is something

1246
01:15:51.840 --> 01:15:55.239
that will keep you in prison. It's something that you

1247
01:15:55.520 --> 01:15:57.760
no matter how hard you want or even if you

1248
01:15:57.840 --> 01:16:02.279
want to, you will not why because it's your stronghold.

1249
01:16:03.560 --> 01:16:06.800
In your mind, you will say I'm gonna get rid

1250
01:16:06.840 --> 01:16:10.399
of this, But when the time comes to get rid

1251
01:16:10.439 --> 01:16:15.760
of it, in your heart you just can't do it. Wait.

1252
01:16:16.319 --> 01:16:18.359
So in my mind I say I'm going to get

1253
01:16:18.439 --> 01:16:20.479
rid of this, but in your heart you can't. Wait

1254
01:16:20.520 --> 01:16:23.159
a minute. I thought the strong the stronghold is wrong thinking.

1255
01:16:23.720 --> 01:16:25.560
If my thinking says I want to get rid of this,

1256
01:16:25.800 --> 01:16:28.760
then that means there's no stronghold, because the stronghold is

1257
01:16:28.760 --> 01:16:41.479
about our think. I don't understinking stand. All right, I'm

1258
01:16:41.520 --> 01:16:43.359
just gonna play a couple more seconds, and then I'm

1259
01:16:43.399 --> 01:16:46.039
just gonna stop. I think we've I mean, you hear

1260
01:16:46.119 --> 01:16:49.159
their perspective. I'm offering you the history. I've offered you

1261
01:16:49.399 --> 01:16:52.159
the history of views on stronghold, and I've helped you

1262
01:16:52.239 --> 01:16:57.000
to understand that the strongholds are defined by the text itself.

1263
01:17:00.720 --> 01:17:03.600
Are y'all hearing me? You say, how in the world

1264
01:17:03.680 --> 01:17:05.640
did it get there? Will listen to what I'm about

1265
01:17:05.680 --> 01:17:08.960
to tell you. They are the result of an accumulation

1266
01:17:09.319 --> 01:17:20.159
of uncrucified thoughts, unsanctified attitude, and an unholy activity. All

1267
01:17:20.319 --> 01:17:25.600
this has been allowed, all these thoughts that enter into

1268
01:17:25.680 --> 01:17:29.479
your mind. You didn't stop them. I didn't stop them.

1269
01:17:30.800 --> 01:17:33.359
And because I didn't stop them or you didn't stop them,

1270
01:17:33.399 --> 01:17:37.960
we've allowed them to become strongholds in our life. Amen.

1271
01:17:39.840 --> 01:17:41.640
See now he's going back to the thoughts. But he

1272
01:17:41.840 --> 01:17:44.560
just previously said that in your mind. You said you're

1273
01:17:44.560 --> 01:17:47.720
gonna well, then that's not in my mind? So mind,

1274
01:17:48.479 --> 01:17:50.399
Well boy, here we go. We're getting back to wait,

1275
01:17:50.520 --> 01:17:51.800
is it my mind? Is it my heart? Is it

1276
01:17:51.880 --> 01:17:53.840
my spirit? We're getting back to all member, we had

1277
01:17:53.840 --> 01:17:58.319
all of those discussions. No, this is about wrong thinking.

1278
01:17:58.640 --> 01:18:01.000
I do agree that we can get thinking in our mind.

1279
01:18:01.079 --> 01:18:03.279
But this is not about behavior. This is not about music.

1280
01:18:03.479 --> 01:18:05.760
This is not about women wearing breeches, This is not

1281
01:18:05.840 --> 01:18:09.840
about country music. This is about thinking things that are different.

1282
01:18:09.960 --> 01:18:14.479
For example, love your enemy. My thinking says, I don't

1283
01:18:14.560 --> 01:18:16.720
want to love my Not only do my feelings in

1284
01:18:16.760 --> 01:18:21.279
my heart, but my thinking is, well, well you're going

1285
01:18:21.359 --> 01:18:24.960
to justify well this and that you're gonna make excuses

1286
01:18:25.119 --> 01:18:27.319
turn the other cheek. Well, God didn't really mean it

1287
01:18:27.399 --> 01:18:30.119
that way. That When are we have a tendency to

1288
01:18:30.399 --> 01:18:33.159
argue in our mind with what the scriptures actually say.

1289
01:18:33.600 --> 01:18:35.920
We have wrong thinking, We may have wrong beliefs, We

1290
01:18:36.039 --> 01:18:39.159
may have a wrong interpretation of scripture. Who knows we

1291
01:18:39.279 --> 01:18:42.000
could be offering up a wrong interpretation of Second Corinthians

1292
01:18:42.119 --> 01:18:44.640
Chapter ten, verses three through five.

1293
01:18:47.840 --> 01:18:49.600
Well, when you heard a preach or preach on it

1294
01:18:49.720 --> 01:18:53.079
twenty five thirty years ago, why didn't you quit?

1295
01:18:53.159 --> 01:18:53.319
Then?

1296
01:18:56.640 --> 01:18:58.279
Think about it? If you to quit, then you wouldn't

1297
01:18:58.319 --> 01:19:01.359
be having that the trouble you're having. And now twenty

1298
01:19:01.439 --> 01:19:02.359
five years later.

1299
01:19:04.439 --> 01:19:08.159
See his philosophy. Just stop. You don't even need God,

1300
01:19:08.800 --> 01:19:13.760
just stop, just quit, Just stop, all right, ladies and gentlemen,

1301
01:19:13.840 --> 01:19:17.960
just stop sinning, you'll never have a stronghold. Well, why

1302
01:19:18.039 --> 01:19:20.920
don't we stop? He's already mentioned because of how depraved

1303
01:19:20.960 --> 01:19:24.239
her nature is? So does my right thinking fix my

1304
01:19:24.479 --> 01:19:28.039
wrong nature? No, my right thinking will help me be

1305
01:19:28.279 --> 01:19:31.159
willing to acknowledge my wrong nature and be willing to

1306
01:19:31.199 --> 01:19:32.880
acknowledge that what I'm doing is wrong.

1307
01:19:33.000 --> 01:19:34.239
At least let me see that.

1308
01:19:37.119 --> 01:19:39.119
All right, we have to stop there. We're at seventy

1309
01:19:39.239 --> 01:19:41.880
nine minutes. Thank you for joining me on this Sunday

1310
01:19:41.920 --> 01:19:45.520
afternoon to Sunday evening, as we've had a very positive

1311
01:19:45.600 --> 01:19:50.119
experience hearing someone present a different perspective of Christianity. I've

1312
01:19:50.159 --> 01:19:53.600
offered you an alternative. You can choose whichever one you want.

1313
01:19:53.800 --> 01:19:55.640
And I'm not going to get frustrated, and I'm not

1314
01:19:55.680 --> 01:19:59.159
going to get angry, because ultimately it doesn't matter. Christianity

1315
01:19:59.239 --> 01:20:01.279
is going to go the way Christianity is going to go.

1316
01:20:01.640 --> 01:20:04.079
I will always be on the outside looking in, and

1317
01:20:04.239 --> 01:20:08.079
that's okay. Someone there should be some room for people

1318
01:20:08.159 --> 01:20:12.520
out there who may call into question that entire approach,

1319
01:20:13.399 --> 01:20:16.159
or you may love that entire approach and disagree with mine.

1320
01:20:16.600 --> 01:20:19.399
I've tried to offer history. I've tried to offer a

1321
01:20:19.479 --> 01:20:23.279
textual basis. I could go in two more here, but

1322
01:20:24.399 --> 01:20:26.479
there you go. Just remember a lot of what you

1323
01:20:26.560 --> 01:20:29.520
hear about strongholds is is of Jesus. It's being read

1324
01:20:29.520 --> 01:20:31.960
into the text. It's not being pulled from the text.

1325
01:20:32.319 --> 01:20:34.119
And it's very easy for you to think it's coming

1326
01:20:34.199 --> 01:20:36.560
from the text because the pastor is telling you it's

1327
01:20:36.560 --> 01:20:38.800
come from it, But it's actually being placed upon it.

1328
01:20:39.720 --> 01:20:43.720
And we are all guilty of doing that. So that's

1329
01:20:43.760 --> 01:20:46.640
his perspective. You can you can you can go with

1330
01:20:46.760 --> 01:20:48.560
that one, or you can go with what I've tried

1331
01:20:48.600 --> 01:20:53.760
to offer as somewhat of a alternative. That's the beautiful

1332
01:20:53.840 --> 01:20:56.960
thing about it. Ultimately, you get to decide. All right,

1333
01:20:57.560 --> 01:21:00.920
Thanks for listening. I'm getting weather or notification that rain

1334
01:21:01.159 --> 01:21:04.760
is on its way, so and I think my food

1335
01:21:05.000 --> 01:21:07.000
has arrived, so I think I'm going to go get food.

1336
01:21:07.079 --> 01:21:09.239
All right, Thanks for listening. Everyone, have a good evening.

1337
01:21:10.239 --> 01:21:10.760
God bless