Tearing Down Strongholds — E.A. Johnston

Wealth and Walk in Ephesians

Ephesians is one of the richest books in our Bibles, and it contains deep treasures of spiritual truth that are both enriching and invaluable to the Christian. The first three chapters of Ephesians deal with our wealth in Christ.

The last three chapters deal with our walk in Christ. This message, friends, is on our walk with Christ and dealing with strongholds that hinder our walk with Christ. The definition of a stronghold is a fortified place or a well-defended place.

Defining Spiritual Strongholds

We will discuss spiritual strongholds and what they are. I submit to you, friends, that there are spiritual strongholds in nations. There are spiritual strongholds in cities. Some cities are more spiritual strongholds than others, and there are spiritual strongholds in families.

I will discuss the latter. First, I will define what is not a stronghold. I used to play too much golf and watch too much TV, and these two things stole a lot of my time. They each had a hold on me to a certain degree, but I would not consider them a stronghold.

Golf and TV are both out of my life now, more because they were time wasters, and I've made better use of that time in giving it to Bible study and prayer. But although golf and TV had a hold on me, they were not a stronghold.

A stronghold is a place of sin that has a stronghold on you. A stronghold has you in its grip and under its power. A stronghold, if not properly dealt with, can lead to utter ruin and destruction in a person's life.

I would put anger in the category of a stronghold. Anger unchecked in a home can both divide and destroy it. I would place an alcohol addiction or a drug addiction as a stronghold. An addiction is something you have to have, and you will have it no matter the cost.

That addiction has a stronghold on you. I knew a dear Christian man many years ago who was injured in Vietnam. And while in a hospital there, he was given methadone for pain, and he developed an addiction to it, and also to morphine.

And he would be at church every Sunday for a while, and then he was gone for six months or longer at a time. For he was in jail for stealing to get his drugs. That's a stronghold. Do you see what I mean by that term?

A stronghold is both harmful to you and harmful to those around you. I believe a sexual addiction would fall into the category of a stronghold. Something that is a dissipating habit that is hard to break.

I knew a man in Sunday school class years ago who was married to a pretty wife, but he was addicted to strip clubs. And every Saturday night, he'd be in a strip club and on church on Sunday morning. But that was a stronghold in his life that had to be dealt with.

Spiritual strongholds are harmful to you and to your family. In my message today, friends, I will cover how to recognize, and with God's enablement, how to tear down a stronghold in our life. Because you know what, friends?

If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. The title of my message today, friends, is Tearing Down Strongholds. And my text can be found in Paul's letter to the Ephesians. You may turn in your Bibles there now, friends.

The Christian’s Battle in Ephesians 6

We will be in chapter 6 and in verses 10 through 18. We're going to examine who our enemy is, what our battle is, what our weapons are, and how to attain victory and receive deliverance from a stronghold.

In Ephesians chapter 6, the Apostle Paul deals specifically with how to do spiritual warfare. He speaks of the Christian's armor, and in particular, how to wear the armor of God to resist the devil. I am reminded of a story concerning the great British preacher Charles Spurgeon.

At the Pastors College in London, Spurgeon would host a weekly lecture whereby he would call upon one of his students and ask them to preach a message for the entire faculty and student body. On one such occasion, a young student was preaching on the subject of the armor of God from our text in Ephesians chapter 6.

And the young man's eloquence was such that, as he described the Christian's armor, you could almost hear the click and the clank as each piece of armor was put on. Then, when he finished his great oratory, with the shield of faith in one hand and the sword of the Spirit in the other, he confidently called out, Now, where is the devil?

In the back of the room sat the famous Spurgeon, who cupped his chubby hand to his face and replied, He's inside the armor. We will look now at our text and examine the spiritual warfare involved in a stronghold.

Hear now. It is the word of God, and may the Spirit of the Lord attend the reading of His holy word. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Let me pause here, friends.

The apostle Paul tells us how to be strong for this battle, but he's quick to inform us that the power needed for this battle is above that of man's. He says to be strong with spiritual power from the Lord Jesus.

The battle is the Lord's. Our foes are too great for us to overcome on our own. Paul goes on to say, Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Let me pause here again, friends.

We can only stand against the wiles of the devil if we are dressed in God's armor, the whole armor of God. To stand is a defensive posture. You would stand ready in a fighting stance to resist an attack from an opponent.

When I was doing martial arts, I learned how to stand in a fighting stance, nimble on my feet and ready to fight. But Paul warns us here that our fight is not with another man, and this is the very reason why we need the armor of God and spiritual power from the Lord, because for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of the world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Demonic Hierarchy and Spiritual Strongholds

Let me pause here, friends. Paul is describing the evil spirit world of demonic hierarchy. There are some chief demons in charge of strongholds in nations and cities. There is a spiritual chain of command just like the military.

He names evil spirits as principalities, powers, rulers of darkness. If you could see the demonic activity around you throughout the day, it would make the hair stand on the back of your neck. I once knew a Satan worshiper, and he told me that he sacrificed animals to Lucifer, and he was assigned a prince demon who told him what to do.

And this Satan worshiper told me that his eyes were open to the netherworld. He could see demons. He said that when he went to the local mall, he could see demons walking between people and following them.

He said demons are all over the place, and they are active in their warfare. He told me that certain cities are strongholds of Satan, where wicked spiritual rulers and principalities reign more so than others.

He told me that when he was in the city of Rome, he saw more demons there than anywhere else. There were hordes and hordes of demons walking up and down the streets of Rome. These evil entities are stronger than we, more cunning than we are, and more organized than we could ever imagine.

So the apostle Paul, recognizing this fact of a spiritual hierarchy of demons, more powerful than mortal man, needs to be engaged in spiritual warfare that is above and beyond man. I'll use the following illustration, friends, to put this in perspective.

You are at home. There is a knock at the door. You answer the door, and it is Satan. He comes in and wrecks havoc in your home. The next week, there is another knock at your door. You hesitate. You pause.

But you still answer the door, even with more caution. But Satan comes barreling in and overpowers you, and wrecks havoc on you and your home. You feel overwhelmed and powerless against this supernatural opponent.

Now, the knock of temptation comes again. But instead of you answering the door, you have the Lord Jesus go answer the door. The devil shrinks and flees away when he sees the Lord Jesus. Only Christ's power, by His Spirit, can effectively tear down a spiritual stronghold.

It is a power above man's. But Paul tells us how to fight this battle. Look at verse 13, friends. He says to take, to appropriate, this armor of God. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand.

The Armor of God: Defense and Offense

Now it is here where the Apostle Paul goes into the pieces of the armor, and where we hear the click and the clank as we put them on. Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. Now Paul is moving from a posture of defense to a fighting posture of offense. A shield wards off blows, but it can also strike blows as well.

To quench means to put down, to put out a fire, to proactively put out a burning fire. The fiery darts of Satan are aimed at our Achilles heel, our weak spot, our sin that so easily besets us. We have a brilliant opponent who knows our weaknesses, and he knows our track record of false.

He knows which hot button to push, and which bait to stick under our nose. He knows how to build a fortified place in our lives that is well defended, and is a stronghold, a stronghold area in our lives.

If we try to resist his onslaughts in our flesh, we are bound to fall, bound to fail, against such a superior opponent whose wiles brought down Adam and Eve. It's not a battle, friends, with a mortal man, but with a supernatural being.

An angel, a fallen angel, but an angel no less. Satan is not only a fallen angel, but a judged angel, who knows his time is short, so he works overtime to devour and destroy as many lives as he can. He has a spiritual hierarchy that sits on thrones of influence in communities.

I live in a city that is such a spiritual stronghold. I can look out my window and see the $60 million building that is the headquarters for the Church of Scientology. There is 8 ,000 Scientologists who live in my community.

There isn't an evangelical church around here for miles and miles, because this city is a demonic stronghold. So as Satan can control a city, so he can control a family member who gets tangled up in his wiles and is defenseless.

Spiritual warfare is the real deal, friends. And if you are clueless as to what is taking place in your life, you will be held strong by that stronghold. Only Christ, by his power, can tear down that stronghold and deliver you.

Look at all the instances in the Gospels where Christ confronted demons and cast them out. Look at our last two verses of our text and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

We see our spiritual weapons, the power of the Word of God and the power of his might by his Spirit. When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the desert, he answered that devil with the Word of God. Get thee hence, Satan, for it is written, Jesus used the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

Every time the devil came at him, the devil doubled back because of those piercing sword thrusts of the Word of God. Now look at these last two aspects of the weaponry of the Christian. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.

Watchfulness, Prayer, and Daily Communion

Let me pause here, friends. Notice praying in the power of the Spirit. Now notice the perseverance of prayer in regard to tearing down a stronghold and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.

I will stop there. This last aspect is as important, if not more important than all the preceding ones. Watching. Think of a watchtower in a fortified city. Along the watchtower are watchmen who guard against an attack on the city.

They are continually on the lookout for trouble, for anything suspicious that would cause a problem. This watchfulness of the Christian life speaks of the daily quiet time with God. Because if Satan can get you there, he will get you anywhere.

You must jealously guard your daily quiet time with God in Bible study and prayer. This habit of a disciplined daily quiet time with God, friend, will give you the watchfulness necessary to be on your toes, so to speak, against the wiles of the devil.

I believe our battle is won or lost in the quiet time of walking with our Lord. So what do you do if you recognize a stronghold in your life or in the life of a family member? Begin immediately to tear it down with God's help and deliverance.

Repentance and Earnest Seeking for Deliverance

I believe before God will deliver us, he wants to see earnestness on our part in our sincere desire to be rid of a stronghold. With this thought in mind, I would get serious with God in a serious seeking of him.

God won't accept a partial surrender of anything that is harmful in our lives. Jesus gave his all on the cross for our sins. He expects no less from us. I would follow the outline found in the book of Joel in seeking God in earnestness and prayer.

Then I would cast myself upon God for his mercy in a deliverance of a stronghold. Here is that little outline in Joel, taken from chapter 2 and verses 12 through 14. And turn unto the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil, who knoweth if he will return and repent and leave a blessing behind him, even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God.

If you are struggling with a stronghold in your life, friend, then admit it, be honest, and quit denying, and give it to God. His desire is for liberty, liberty for you, and liberty from that stronghold.

Freedom Through the Son

Well, I hope this little message on spiritual strongholds has been a help to you, friend. It certainly has been a help to me. Remember, if the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Let us pray.