OUR SPIRITUAL WEAPONS A "stronghold" is a fortress – a fortified area that appears invincible. Within the "stronghold," or "fortress," there are things to which those outside of the fortress have no access. -- Tomorrow:
Devotion 32 of 44
STRONGHOLDS
In this text, the "strongholds" are like the walls of Jericho, which appeared to be invincible. They were high, thick, and broad, so that no one had any access to the inhabitants within them as long as the gates were shut. However, as you well know, Israel had some weaponry that was not after the human order. This weaponry was activated by a shout of faith and the blasting of the priest's trumpets, so that the walls "fell down flat" (Josh 6:20), just as God said they would (Josh 6:5). Is there anyone who imagines that the piercing sound of the trumpets and the greatness of the shout of the people brought those walls down? Their weaponry, even though it consisted of a shout and a blast, was "mighty through God." He used the "weak" things of the world to confound the "mighty" (1 Cor 1:27).
Here, I take "strongholds" to refer to bastions of erroneous thought. This refers a vast network of flawed thoughts gathered together within the framework of inaccurate suppositions. The "strongholds" are the hypotheses that allow for the particular views that are being held.
For example, if I imagine that God saves people independently of their own involvement, that "stronghold" appears to justify believing that once I am in Christ, I cannot "fall away," "deny the faith," or at last be a "castaway." Again, if I accept the postulate that there is "no resurrection of the dead" (1 Cor 15:12-13), or that the "world to come" is not the primary world (Heb 2:5), that "stronghold" will make it easy to settle down in this world, and become friends with it.
If, as in the case of our text, the premise is that all believers are alike, and none of them have received any more than the others, that "stronghold" will permit the criticism of the apostle Paul, or the refusal to believe what he has taught, or a view of him that presents him as weak and unable to resist the pressure of his peers. Such views, however, are foolish to the extreme, and are subject to sure destruction.
In our time, there are "strongholds" of thought extant within the church that must be "pulled down." I will name a few of them.
1. The most important work of the church is to reach the lost.
2. God's love is unconditional.
3. The family is the fundamental social unit.
4. Life in this world is the primary life.
5. The youth are the future church.
6. The "deep things of God" are too difficult for people who are not leaders.
7. That credentials recognized by the world are essential to a successful work for the Lord.
8. That the church is primarily intended to be a worldly influence.
These, and other, postulates are daubed with untempered mortar. They are representative of the conclusions of men, not the affirmations of God.
The "weapons of our warfare are mighty through God" to the utter desolation of these walls of thought – walls that hold men within the circumference of the lie, leaving them with the notion that they are safe. In other words, God is committed to desolating these "strongholds." That is why He has given His people weapons that are used to accomplish that purpose.
Allow me to cite a single example of the destruction of a great mental fortress. When Saul of Tarsus was "breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord" (Acts 9:1), he was held within a fortress of erroneous thought. Accepting the premise that Jesus Himself was an imposter, Saul confessed, "I thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth" (Acts 26:9). All of this was done thinking he was being "zealous toward God" (Acts 22:3). How could this man be rescued from such a mighty fortress? Jesus Himself appeared to him while he was en route to persecute the saints. With one stroke of His sword, He brought that "stronghold" down, and Paul was freed from its confinement. Immediately he inquired what Jesus wanted him to do, and abruptly ceased any and all opposition to His people. He never again – not a single time – opposed the saints of God!
In Corinth, there were spiritual "strongholds" that allowed some professing believers to demean Paul. Paul is affirming the weapons he possesses are fully capable of decimating those strongholds, causing great shame and regret to come upon those who dared to oppose him. Paul is further pleading with them to avoid the need for him using this weaponry.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, grant me grace to discard any and all humanly devised weapons, and take up the ones You have provided.