Who Gets to Define Reality?
Rev. Melanie Elms Preached on 8/18/2026
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56:25
Summary
Rev. Melanie Elms explores the military context of 2 Corinthians 10, challenging believers to dismantle the mental fortresses and 'rival narratives' that oppose God's truth, using the divinely powerful weapons already at their disposal.
Key points
- •Strongholds in 2 Corinthians 10 are defined as arguments and lofty opinions-entrenched thought patterns and narratives that position themselves against the knowledge of God.
- •Spiritual warfare is not just a coping mechanism for anxiety; it is a conquest strategy to take back territory in the mind that has been occupied by lies.
- •A stronghold is built 'one brick at a time' through self-protection, inherited worldviews, or past hurts, and it often operates like a fortress with its own internal water supply to resist surrender.
- •Believers are not under-armed; the weapons of warfare are 'divinely powerful' according to God's definition of power, not the world's metrics of charisma or volume.
- •True peace and freedom are the 'spoils' of war that follow the dismantling of these mental and spiritual structures through the lordship of Christ.
Scripture
Spiritual Warfare
Spiritual Growth
Authority
Purpose
Scripture
Life application
Identify one repetitive negative narrative you believe about yourself (e.g., 'I am a loser' or 'I am only as good as my last performance') and consciously 'arrest' that thought this week by replacing it with a specific scriptural truth about your identity in Christ.
Reflection questions
- What are the 'bricks' that have built up the current strongholds in your life (past words, family legacy, or self-protection)?
- In what ways have you been negotiating with a fortress that God has given you the authority to level?
- How does viewing 'taking thoughts captive' as a military conquest rather than just a therapy tip change your approach to your prayer life?
- Which areas of your mind are currently 'occupied territory' where you have allowed a lie to define your reality?
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Full transcript
0:00I must decrease and he must increase.
0:00Praise the Lord. Well, welcome to
0:00Tuesday night midweek Bible study.
0:03Pastor and I are swapping
0:06places tonight. He's in Miami, Miami
0:10church. And I am here last week. I was
0:14teaching there and he was here. Y'all
0:17are going to get tired of me. Too bad.
0:19So sad. This is what you got.
0:24No, I I'm privileged to be in this place
0:27and being here to teach. And I don't
0:29take it lightly. I know people say that
0:31and they should say it because we're we
0:34are
0:36we are given a moment,
0:39a short brief moment to impart something
0:43that is eternal.
0:45And it's it's much more important than a
0:48self-help seminar or even learning a
0:51trade. That's important for the here and
0:53now, but when you're long gone, it does
0:55nothing for your soul. It'll maybe some
0:58have something to do with what they say
1:00about you in your funeral, right? But I
1:03want the impact that I make in this life
1:07to be more about what did I how did I
1:10influence people for the eternal the
1:13eternal good.
1:15So that's what we're doing here tonight.
1:17And I am talking to people who took the
1:20time out of their schedule to be here on
1:23a Tuesday night. Some of y'all do it
1:24just by wrote. Okay? do it by duty. You
1:27know, this is Tuesday night set aside
1:29for midweek service. And you've got that
1:31in your calendar and your rhythm. And
1:32that's noble and that's just and we do
1:36it because of that. But that's not what
1:38drives us to do it. Okay? We know there
1:42is a revelation that each of us have.
1:45And if you don't have it, I think you're
1:47here tonight so you do have it. But we
1:49got to remind ourselves of this. This is
1:52something that's more important than the
1:54food I put in my body. It's more
1:57important than the water that I drink in
2:01order to be sustained and to quench my
2:03thirst. The eternal everlasting word of
2:06God. It's his actual words.
2:10Scripture is his voice. And so we're
2:12here to talk about that tonight. Thank
2:14you, Sister Winter Elms.
2:20Um
2:21So, we're going to get into it real
2:23quick here. And I don't want to take up
2:25too much time. And as I was preparing
2:28this, I I got to thinking about who
2:30remembers what I spoke on three weeks
2:32ago. Was it three weeks ago? Yes. A
2:35sword. Do you have your sword? I left
2:37mine over there. It's got to stay closed
2:40because listen, I got to whip that sword
2:42out every once in a while. I have an
2:43enemy. Y'all don't have an enemy. You
2:46have an enemy?
2:47>> Well, okay. We got to act like it.
2:50Listen, sometimes the enemy is myself
2:52and all the devil has to do is just come
2:54up and affirm what I just said about
2:56myself. He doesn't have to do a whole
2:58lot, but what he's good at, and I hate
3:01to give him credit for this, but listen,
3:02he's been around for millennia. You got
3:06to understand, he doesn't eat or sleep.
3:08He's been worked on on his task and his
3:11schemes for thousands of years.
3:14And we've been here how long? That's
3:17why, you know, the word of God says
3:18we're but of our life is but a vapor in
3:20light of that. We're just here for a
3:22moment and we vanish.
3:25Let's make the most of what it is that
3:27we are here on earth to do. So, I
3:29appreciate you all being here tonight. I
3:31will see you Saturday. We need more
3:33people to sign up. We're excited about
3:35it. Brother Sean Hixon was going to um
3:37do an announcement tonight, but let's
3:39pray for him in just a moment because he
3:41has been called to my husband was called
3:43to it.
3:45um and be he was on his way to to the
3:48church in Miami. So he asked for the
3:50Shawn to
3:52play the part there as a chaplain. Um
3:54police officers, it's alarmingly high
3:58how many are committing suicide.
4:01And right at this very moment, there's
4:03something that is the the devil wants to
4:05take us all out. Whether you're a
4:07Christian or not, he's here to steal,
4:09kill, and destroy.
4:12steal hope, kill the mind and the body,
4:15and then destroy the family.
4:17So, let's pray for brother Sean. He's in
4:19the middle of that right now. We ask the
4:21Lord to give him wisdom and strength and
4:24divine power right now to say what needs
4:26to be said in the name of Jesus for this
4:29police officer to realize that he
4:32belongs to you first. Oh God, give him
4:35that hope. Infuse him with that hope and
4:37quiet quiet the enemy's voice right now.
4:41Seal the lips of the enemy's voice right
4:43now that it cannot be heard. In the name
4:45of Jesus, I pray and bring deliverance
4:47to this situation. Bring salvation to
4:49the situation in the name of Jesus. Use
4:52your servant for your glory in the name
4:55of Jesus. Give him strength and wisdom
4:57in the powerful name of Jesus. In Jesus
5:00name we seal it. Amen. And amen. Thank
5:02you, Jesus. We are um when I spoke last
5:07and I'm sorry I don't have I don't like
5:10preaching or teaching from my laptop. I
5:13feel like this kind of sets like a gate
5:15or a fence between us and I just don't
5:17like it. I think doesn't look very good.
5:21So this is what I got because my printer
5:23doesn't work. I mean it worked. It
5:25printed
5:27a third of everything.
5:29So in between every single line is a
5:32line. So, I'm trying to read it. Of
5:34course, I rebuked it in Jesus name. And
5:36I said, "Devil, I'm still going to
5:37teach."
5:39So, I realized, and I don't know if it's
5:42just a season I'm in. I don't think it
5:44is, but I think it's what the Lord is
5:46trying to get across to his body here at
5:49the cathedral. We are part of the
5:52Capitol C church, of course, but God has
5:55a narrative for this church,
5:58for this people, for this church family.
6:00And that's what we ask for. Lord Jesus,
6:03I know where we are in the scheme of
6:05things, you know, the whole scheme of
6:06things. When we step back and we look at
6:08what's happening in the end times, we
6:10say, "Yeah, we're in the last days and
6:11the church has got to rise up and we're
6:13seeing some things. We're seeing people
6:15rise up." I just saw a um a clip couple
6:19days ago um of Donnie Wahberg. Does
6:22anybody know who he is? Which which boy
6:24band was he part of? Because I can't
6:26remember.
6:29New Kids on the Block. Thank you very
6:30much. There's several of those that were
6:33popular back in the day and new edition,
6:35New Kids on the Block and few others. I
6:37couldn't remember, but he was getting
6:39baptized
6:40and his whole Instagram is about what
6:43Jesus is doing in his life. And y'all,
6:45it's not just things like, "Oh, I'm so
6:48glad I'm saved." kind of thing. It's
6:49like he's getting into spiritual
6:51warfare. I mean, he's going deep.
6:53Listen, we can't be as people who people
6:56of the name who have truth. We can't sit
6:59back This is our time to rise and say,
7:01"Join us. We are the army of the Lord.
7:05I'm a part of the angel armies."
7:07And I want to be on the front line when
7:09it counts. There's times we have to step
7:12back and rest, but I want to be on the
7:13front line when it counts.
7:15>> Amen. I don't want my to live my whole
7:18life and then I look back on it and say,
7:20"I didn't fight enough for the Lord. I
7:23didn't stand stand up enough for him."
7:26And there are people who are getting the
7:28revelation of the name of Jesus and its
7:30power and the over in baptism and all of
7:33that and we've not been able to witness
7:35to them personally. But I can tell you
7:38right now the prayers that we pray about
7:40revival, it reaches places we can't go.
7:43>> Don't be discouraged when you're praying
7:45for certain things. Get a little more
7:47specific. You know what I mean? Get more
7:49specific. But say, "Lord, we need
7:51revival right here. We need revival."
7:54Like we need Corneliuses to walk through
7:56these doors.
7:58Pray. Start praying that. I have that
7:59written down in my journal. That's one
8:01of the prayers I'm praying. Send the
8:02Corneliuses to the house of faith. We
8:05need they fortify this church. And I'm
8:08praying for that like the revival
8:10brother Galani last year in April
8:13preached for us. And he was part of SEL
8:14team six. They didn't call it that back
8:17in the day. Um along with brother Wolf
8:20and my husband's uncle, Uncle Nick. And
8:23um they were there in San Diego area,
8:26Elone or whatever. I don't know the
8:27exact area, Imperial Beach. And they
8:31have a wonderful story, okay? And it's I
8:33don't want to mess it up, so I won't
8:34tell the whole story, but brother
8:36Galoney now is now pastor. Well, he's
8:38turned his church over. He's a the
8:40bishop there, but he was the Lord was
8:43working on him and working on his friend
8:45who was Brother Wolf at the same time in
8:48different ways. Long story short, they
8:50ended up finding a little Pentecostal
8:51church that didn't have that many
8:54people, but they had been coming to the
8:56church every day and praying at five
8:57o'clock. And their prayer was, "Give us
9:00revival. Give us revival. Send revival.
9:05Send revival." And do you know that at
9:08one point they had more sealed team, six
9:11people in the altar than they did actual
9:13saints of that church? They had such a
9:16revival just overflow overflowed. And
9:19that's what I pray sometimes. Lord, we
9:21need a seal team six kind of revival.
9:25>> I I I don't care if they outnumber us.
9:27If they come in and there there's just
9:29so many people, y'all, it's already
9:30happening. Did you see on Sunday
9:33>> when you were here when I look from here
9:35and I look out on y'all may not can see
9:38it because it's different vantage point.
9:40There are so many newbies out here. I
9:42love newbies. I'm a newbie. I got a lot
9:46to still learn. But there are plenty of
9:48people out here that need a Bible study.
9:51And some of y'all feel trapped. I don't
9:52know h I don't know how to do it. It's
9:54not my personality. I it this is not
9:57natural for me. The great commission
9:59doesn't make room for that.
10:03The great commission doesn't make room
10:04for, well, I'm an introvert.
10:07Amen.
10:08>> It says, "Go ye therefore." It didn't
10:10say a few of you. Those of you that know
10:12how to talk, those of you that know the
10:14word really well, those of you that are
10:16extroverts, those of you that have
10:17charisma, it says everybody go out
10:19there, find souls, and you talk to them
10:22and tell them about Jesus, your
10:24testimony.
10:26And then you make disciples. You don't
10:28convert them. Jesus does that.
10:31>> You and the Holy Ghost partner together,
10:33say, "Well, we're going to do this
10:34together now. You know, Lord, I don't
10:37know how to do it. I'm feeble of speech
10:40like Moses. I I just don't know what I'm
10:42going to say.
10:44He kept coming to the Lord five
10:45different times saying that fin five
10:47times and the Lord said, I like I told
10:50you, get out there and do it. I will put
10:53words in your mouth for goodness sake.
10:55Do you reme not remember who I am and
10:58who you serve and who you belong to? So,
11:01Saturday, we're going to have some
11:02practical tips on how you can fulfill
11:05the great commission with your
11:07personality and your hang-ups and your
11:10doubts and your fears.
11:12So, Saturday, I'll see you here.
11:15Thank You're welcome, Sean.
11:18I told him I'd like I think he'd do a
11:20great job and I guess I had to do He
11:24says, "You can do it, Sister." I said,
11:25"No, no, you'll do a great job." And
11:27then he doesn't come out to church
11:28tonight. Okay. So, the lesson we're
11:31gonna That was for free. The lesson
11:34tonight is who gets to define reality
11:38and I'm on the same kind of trajectory.
11:41It seems like pathway that I was three
11:43weeks ago. We were talking about
11:45warfare. We're talking about the sword
11:47and uh that was part of the series. So,
11:50this is this is somewhat like followup
11:53in some ways. Um, so we're going to read
11:562 Corinthians
11:58chapter 10 verses 3-6. I need everybody
12:02to turn there and I need a tissue
12:05tissue. How do you say tissue in
12:08Spanish?
12:12>> Okay,
12:14everybody ra wave yours if you have it.
12:16Okay, I'm allergic to speaking before
12:19people because every time I get up, I
12:21got the sniffles.
12:23You know this comes this comes directly
12:25from my dad. You notice he does this.
12:34He also prays like this.
12:37I don't know if that's more spiritual or
12:39what, but he's such a spiritual man. I'm
12:40gonna start doing it. Maybe my prayers
12:43will be that powerful, too. Text two 2
12:47Corinthians, as President Trump says. 2
12:49Corinthians chapter 10, verse three.
12:52Now, this is in the ESV. Any doesn't
12:55matter. We can look at it in the King
12:57James. That's what a lot of us quote
13:00most of. Um, okay. So, we're going to
13:02read it together. Everybody look at your
13:04Bible or look up here. And I will not do
13:06it in Spanish. No. For though we walk in
13:10the flesh, we do not war after the
13:12flesh. Verse four. For the weapons of
13:17our warfare are not carnal, but mighty
13:20through God to the pulling down of
13:22strongholds. Verse five, casting down
13:25imaginations and every high thing that
13:28has exalted itself against the knowledge
13:31of God and bringing into captivity every
13:35thought to the obedience of Christ.
13:37Verse six, and having in a readiness to
13:41revenge all disobedience when your your
13:44obedience is fulfilled. Now, that's the
13:46new that's the King James. I need to see
13:48it in the ESV.
13:55Is it there?
13:59We're going to read I'm going to read it
14:00slowly, okay? I'm not going to rush this
14:02reading because this is this is where
14:03the whole sermon lives, okay? In this
14:05reading.
14:07ESV. For though we walk in the flesh, we
14:10are not waging war according to the
14:12flesh. For the weapons of our everybody
14:16say our
14:17>> our warfare. Everybody say our warfare.
14:21>> Our warfare
14:22>> are not of the flesh
14:24but have divine power to do what?
14:27Destroy strongholds.
14:30We destroy arguments and every lofty
14:35opinion. That's a that's a key word
14:38there. Raised against the knowledge of
14:41God. And we take every thought captive
14:44to obey Christ.
14:47We don't have to worry about it obeying
14:48us. We're too frail for that. To obey
14:50Christ, being ready to punish every
14:52disobedience when your disobedience is
14:55complete. All right. Everybody in this
14:57room knows verse five pretty much. Okay.
15:00Take every thought captive.
15:03We've heard it before at least once.
15:06It's on a coffee mug.
15:08It's on a bookmark or maybe on the back
15:10of a a bumper sticker.
15:15And it's it's it's a verse. It's the
15:17kind of verse that we hand to somebody
15:18at 2 am when their anxiety won't quit or
15:21ourselves take every thought captive. It
15:24shows up in sermons about worry. It
15:26shows up in sermons about depression,
15:28about lust, about that reel or that tape
15:32that just keeps running over in your
15:33head at three in the morning. And and
15:35listen, the application of that is not
15:37wrong. Take every thought captive. It's
15:40not The application is not wrong. Please
15:42hear me tonight. I want to say that
15:43upfront. I don't want anybody to think I
15:45came to take something from you tonight.
15:48That application is real. It's held
15:50people together. It's held me together.
15:52Okay? I talked about this last year at
15:54the uh worship by the waves about ants,
15:58you know, the negative thoughts and what
16:00to do with them. This just a practical
16:01thing. They use that in therapy. Therapy
16:04is okay. We're talking about something
16:06much richer, deeper here. Here's the
16:09thing. Paul is not writing about it's
16:11he's not giving you a self-help tip
16:13right there.
16:15Paul is in the middle of describing a
16:17military siege.
16:20This is military language. We had the
16:22sword of the spirit was talking about
16:23loving to fight and all that. We're
16:25still in the same vein, y'all. I'm not
16:28one I'm not a brat brawler, okay? But
16:30it's going to sound like it after times
16:32I we've been doing the justice series
16:34down in um in Miami
16:37church. And um so I find me, you know,
16:41getting pretty pumped up about that too,
16:43you know, and I think these people don't
16:45know me as well as y'all do. And I think
16:49they're gonna go, "Oh my word, who did
16:50we just vote in? This is a little This
16:53is a little bit a lot."
16:56But
16:58God did it. So if y'all want to come
17:00this Sunday, we're having Revival Sunday
17:02down there at 48 4 PM, not AM.
17:09The Lord will have me up at 4 a.m. now.
17:11400 PM. And we're trying to just build
17:14this church down there. We welcome
17:16anybody who wants to help us.
17:19It's a lot. It's a lot. And we are
17:23honored to do it because God is in it.
17:26So the Greek behind this verse is not
17:28therapy language. We use it in therapy,
17:31of course, but that's not the the
17:33initial language here. It's conquest
17:35language. Everybody say conquest.
17:38>> Conquest.
17:39>> Now, we don't it's not an average
17:41everyday word that it's not an average
17:43everyday thing that we do. Okay? I
17:45understand that. That's why we need to
17:47get into this and and and get it in our
17:50our hearts so that we can rest in this
17:53this knowledge. So once you see it this
17:55way, you'll realize it could be that
17:57we've been quoting this verse at about
18:00onetenth of its horsepower our entire
18:02lives.
18:04So this is where the verse actually
18:06lives. Let's talk about it. Context
18:08first. Always. Context first. Always.
18:11So, we've got to see where historically,
18:13culturally, scripturally, all of these
18:15have got to merge to show us the proper
18:17picture of what was going on when Paul's
18:19writing this. Okay? It's second
18:21Corinthians. Know that he's writing this
18:23letter somewhere in Macedonia. He wrote
18:25his first letter to the Corinthians.
18:27These were people of God in the church
18:29he established in Corinth. Okay? He
18:31writes the first letter and he finds out
18:33about a year later, I got to write
18:35another letter. How many letters would
18:37he be singing sending to the Americans
18:39right now? we'd be on our 52nd.
18:44>> But I'm telling you, he when he wrote
18:46this, he was not calm.
18:50>> We got a we had a chance to go to
18:52Corinth when we were when y'all bought
18:54us that wonderful trip to Greece and
18:58Turkey a few years back for our 30th
19:00anniversary being here as past pastors.
19:03And it was one of our favorite trips
19:05we've ever taken. We enjoyed ourselves.
19:07We relaxed. It was just wonderful time
19:11and it was refreshing but was all it was
19:14also a learning trip. We went to
19:15Ephesus, we went to Athens, we went to
19:18Corenth and some of those pl uh churches
19:21of Asia and that the Bible talks about
19:23in Revelation.
19:25So, and it was a cruise for most of it.
19:27It was just amazing. So we took a day
19:29trip to Corinth and it was very
19:31inspiring to see and hear we stood at at
19:35the Beimma where Paul had preached and
19:38it's just crazy when you stand in the
19:40same places that some of the apostles
19:42did or the or Jesus himself. It's you're
19:45just standing there going could that
19:46rock be the same rock that maybe they
19:48sat on or ate their lunch? It changes
19:52your world and your world view. But we
19:55we went to Corinth and um we we tried to
19:59walk up
20:01um where they they had that the big
20:03temple there in Corinth and um the pagan
20:07gods they would worship there and there
20:08was
20:10I hate to say the word but prostitution
20:12in the temple there and um so we we
20:16tried to walk up there. It was we
20:17couldn't get all the way up there. It
20:18was quite a quite a long track. But um
20:22so Paul is writing to this, it was a
20:25Roman culture and Roman uh culture at
20:28the time. He's writing his second letter
20:30to them.
20:32Chapters 10 through13
20:35of 2 Corinthians. 10 through13 are
20:38probably the hottest four chapters Paul
20:40has ever written.
20:4210 through13. go home and read them
20:45because this is what's happening in
20:47those chapters. Rival teachers. Now,
20:49Paul would not consider them rivals to
20:51him because he's saying they're not
20:52preaching the truth necessarily and
20:55they're just stirring up discord, but
20:57they considered themselves superior and
21:00they were rival teachers. They had
21:01walked into the very church he had
21:03planted
21:05and they had gone after him.
21:08not his doctrine first, but his
21:10presence, him himself. So, this is what
21:14they said about him. Listen to this.
21:15Now, this is Paul quoting them, which is
21:18hilarious to me. He's quoting what
21:21they're saying about him in 2
21:23Corinthians 10:10.
21:25His letters are weighty and strong, but
21:27his bodily presence is weak, and his
21:30speech is of no account.
21:35They attack the man, the pastor, the
21:38founding pastor. He's not there. So they
21:42can come in, set themselves up. Now
21:45listen, this is church people talking.
21:47Okay? That's not Rome. This is the
21:49congregation.
21:51Y'all, it's y'all. It would be y'all.
21:56Me. They said he wasn't impressive
21:58enough to be trusted. Okay? So he calls
22:01them. Now, this is what he calls them.
22:02It's holy sarcasm. Okay, but Paul is
22:04known for that. Super apostles. They're
22:08super apostles.
22:11And in 11, chapter 11 verse 6, he
22:13actually conceds half of the charge of
22:15what they're saying. He's saying, well,
22:16even if I am unskilled in speaking, I'm
22:19not so in knowledge.
22:21Burn.
22:23Burn.
22:25They didn't like the way maybe it was a
22:26speech impediment. Maybe he was not
22:29good-looking enough. Maybe he didn't
22:30look like the cool people of the day. I
22:33don't know exactly, but they didn't
22:34think that his speech was up to par.
22:37Listen, this was the Pharisee of all
22:38Pharisees, Paul. All right? So, he knew
22:41what he was talking about. He knew the
22:44scriptures, but not just that, he had
22:46been radically converted, radically
22:49saved. And you add that testimony to the
22:52knowledge of the scriptures. Yes, he
22:54could stand there and say what he had to
22:56say and with authority. and they were
22:59mocking him. So,
23:02here's a revelation for thought tonight.
23:05The first stronghold Paul goes after in
23:07this passage, it's not just some demon
23:09in the sky.
23:11It's a narrative in the room. What's
23:14being said? What's being said? What?
23:17Because because what we say and
23:20behaviors that we have, it comes from a
23:23thought process. It comes from thoughts.
23:25It's what is originated from. So
23:29a story had been built about Paul from
23:31these people and who he was and then who
23:33God was in turn and what power looks
23:35like and a whole congregation had moved
23:39into that and started paying rent.
23:43They started listening and believing.
23:46Everybody's got a narrative that
23:48somebody else has built that you may
23:50have already moved into.
23:52Take inventory and think about it. So
23:55notice Paul doesn't leave us guessing
23:57what a stronghold is. He's going to tell
23:59us. He defines it in the very next
24:01breath and we're going to get into that
24:03because we can pass through a few of
24:05these and we've heard it times before
24:07and so we think we know what it is. Just
24:10like I can start reading a book or the
24:13Bible and I'm down almost a whole
24:16chapter and I'm like thinking, what did
24:18I just read? I have to go back and read
24:20the whole thing. But I've read all the
24:21words. They weren't getting in here.
24:24strongholds.
24:26Verse four says strongholds. Verse five
24:29says this is what they are arguments.
24:32Every lofty opinion raised against the
24:35knowledge of God. The strongholds are
24:37the arguments.
24:39Paul tells you this himself. He's not
24:41being mysterious or spooky. He's being
24:43military. Military. So let's talk about
24:47the four words that can change the whole
24:49thing. This is the engine of the
24:51message, y'all. Okay? getting it primed
24:53and getting it pumped. You better listen
24:54to me. Stay with me. As my dad says,
24:57y'all stay with me. It can Can you hear
25:00me?
25:03Let's do this slow. Let each word land
25:05before we continue to move forward.
25:06Let's talk about strongholds. And I have
25:08the Greek here. And some of the the
25:11Greek that I will talk about tonight I
25:13can pronounce and others I can't. And
25:15that's okay because I don't I'm not
25:17fluent in Greek.
25:19I wish I were because Greek, the Greek
25:22and Hebrew language is much more
25:24colorful. It paints actual pictures. One
25:27word can mean mean a whole different
25:29picture than another. The English
25:31language is not quite like that. That's
25:33why we give the Greek and Hebrew
25:34sometimes, not because we're trying to
25:36sound like scholars. We're trying to
25:38make certain we get it in the context of
25:40that scripture when it was written and
25:42why how it was seen. So strongholds,
25:45it's a fortress. It's a fortified place.
25:48It's not made of cardboard. It wasn't
25:51made in a day. Remember that. It's not
25:53made in a day. This word appears exactly
25:56one time in the entire New Testament,
26:00and it's right here. Paul reaches it for
26:03it once in his life, and this is where
26:05he spends this word. So, Corinth was a
26:08Roman colony. I mentioned that. And Rome
26:11had um burned this old Greek city to the
26:14ground about 46 BC and Julius Caesar had
26:19decided to refound it and like a hundred
26:22years later. Okay. And so this is what's
26:25so interesting. It was settled by mainly
26:29by freed men. They were ex-slaves.
26:33These are people who had been given a
26:35new city Corinth and been given a new
26:37name.
26:40So we sit on that for a little bit
26:41because fre Paul is writing about
26:44freedom and identity in a city full of
26:46formerly owned people.
26:50People who had chosen a new name for
26:52themselves. And when those people walked
26:54out of their church,
26:57they didn't have to imagine a fortress
26:59because in that city, they would look up
27:02to one every time they walked out. And
27:04it was called the Acro Corinth. And it
27:07was a very it was a fortified it was
27:08this limestone monolith. It was massive
27:11and it rose almost 2,000 feet above sea
27:14level
27:15and the city set on like a terrace. It's
27:19a really y'all can just look this up
27:21because it's neat and I'm glad we got a
27:23chance to go. But it sits up about 300
27:25feet. So this big rock tower when they
27:29would walk outside they would see it and
27:31it's about 1500 feet straight up
27:34straight up in the middle of the city
27:35and it had been there for a long time.
27:38So
27:39it had three miles of defensiveness
27:42walls two miles of circuit and what's
27:44important to know here is that inside
27:46these walls was a spring.
27:49Inside the walls was a spring. So if you
27:51wanted to thirst somebody out, lay siege
27:53to the city, thirst them out, you
27:55couldn't do it that at that one at
27:57Acroorinth because it had spring inside.
28:00So this is what they looked up to when
28:02they would go outside one fortress and
28:05holding it was the same as shackling an
28:07entire nation. If you held that fort,
28:10the whole nation was shackled.
28:14So that is what a stronghold is. It it
28:16is not a bad mood.
28:19It is not just a rough season. It's not
28:22just having a few bad thoughts. It's not
28:25just being having a bad day or bad week.
28:29A stronghold is a high place with a
28:32defense system and a water supply that
28:34has decided it does not have to
28:36surrender.
28:39And somebody in here is carrying a
28:42fortress and you're calling it a
28:45personality.
28:49Some of us may have come in here and
28:51have a fortress in our mind, a fortified
28:54place that has been built for 30 years
28:58and you call it legacy.
29:03Let's talk about the the word arguments.
29:06Verse five, arguments here in the Greek
29:08loismos, I can say that one. It means
29:11reasonings, calculations. This is the
29:14case you're building. That's what
29:15arguments mean. It's a legal
29:17Greek word. It's a legal term. You're
29:20building a case. You're reasoning it
29:22out. You're calculating the cost. It's
29:24used only twice in the New Testament.
29:27One right here in Corinthians and in
29:29Romans 2:15.
29:31Do you have that for me? This is where
29:33it's describing thoughts that accuse and
29:35excuse.
29:38They show that the work of the law is
29:39written on their hearts while their
29:41conscience bear also bears witness and
29:44their conflicting thoughts accuse or
29:46even excuse them.
29:49That's the kind of arguments and
29:50calculations that we can make. This is
29:53what I'm talking about a stronghold.
29:54These arguments that set themselves up
29:56against the knowledge of God. It is
29:58saying I'm going to excuse you or accuse
30:02you, but either way you're shackled.
30:07which tells you something. This is a
30:10courtroom language as much as it is a
30:12siege language. It's the argument. It's
30:13the reasoning you hide behind
30:18anything that positions itself as the
30:20final word on reality. That's what this
30:22talking about. Number three, every lofty
30:24opinion. We're talking about the four
30:25words that change everything. Every
30:27lofty opinion,
30:29hyposoma,
30:31it's a raised up thing. It's what's
30:33called a height. Not height. A height. I
30:37used to say height when I was growing
30:39up. I realized there's no th on the end.
30:41It's a height.
30:43Jamaicans should be really good at that.
30:45Did y'all like to say height?
30:49Um, y'all tend to put an H where there's
30:52no H. And then where there is a H, you
30:54don't say it. Have you noticed that you
30:55Jamaicans? Maybe all islanders.
30:58>> Not all of us. Okay. But it's what I've
31:01noticed with a few of you. it.
31:04This is called an it.
31:06I love y'all. I'm trying to talk like
31:08y'all half the time. Okay. So, it's a
31:10raised up thing. It It shows itself by
31:13its height. So, this is still in the
31:14siege talk. Paul's eye is now moving up
31:17the wall. Okay. Notice the verb raised
31:20against the knowledge of God. This means
31:22it was built.
31:25Somebody had to stack the stones.
31:28Somebody
31:29didn't do this on accident. It didn't
31:31happen overnight.
31:33Every one of these had gotten
31:35constructed one brick after self-p
31:36protection of self-p protection at a
31:38time. Let's go to every thought.
31:41It's called no emma in the Greek. Number
31:43four, every thought. You're taking
31:44notes. This should be easy. I'm giving
31:46you numbers. I like notes like that.
31:48I've told my husband, can you please can
31:51you please tell us what your your your
31:53points are? So then as I'm going I I got
31:57the first one and and this third one,
31:59but what was the second one? What? A lot
32:02of times I don't get the third one
32:03because I'm up here trying to figure out
32:05a song, what key we're doing and who's
32:07going to sing what. So a lot of my notes
32:10are not complete. All right. So every
32:13lofty opinion, we talked about that.
32:15Every thought here, the word Greek word
32:17is noa. And this is where I need you to
32:19lean in a little bit.
32:22This word no emma is not a passing
32:24thought. Okay? It's not a mood. It's not
32:28a feeling that just floated through the
32:30mind. Okay?
32:32It's the mind and what the mind
32:34produces.
32:36It's a design, a purpose, an idea with
32:39an architecture. We have thoughts. If if
32:42a thought if a if a bad thought comes to
32:45you out of nowhere, out of the blue,
32:47it's happened. Say amen.
32:49and it's not always nice and you wonder
32:51what in the world and you feel
32:52condemnation immediately. That's the
32:54enemy of your soul.
32:57That's the enemy of your soul. Now, what
32:59you can do sometimes is set something
33:02before your eyes that allows the the
33:05devil access to your mind,
33:09something you're watching, something
33:11you're listening to.
33:13And so, we have to make a covenant with
33:15our eyes. as David said, I make a
33:17covenant with my eyes that I will not
33:19sin against the Lord.
33:23So there are times you see some things
33:25there there's a billboard you know
33:26you're driving down you know it's there
33:28she so you look at it and you're like
33:30and then more thoughts come.
33:33So we can set ourselves in a bad
33:35position but a lot of times if it's just
33:36out of nowhere you just got to tag that.
33:38I don't care if it sounds like your
33:39voice or not. It's the enemy. You tag
33:41it. You say I rebuked it. I cast that
33:43down. I cast it out. I have favor with
33:46the Lord. I belong to him first. Boom.
33:48I'm done. And then go fill it with
33:49something else. But we're not talking
33:51about those kinds of things. This is a
33:53design. This is an idea that has
33:55structure and and architecture. It's
33:57been built. That's what we're talking
33:59about. So Paul is using this exact word
34:02elsewhere in his very letter in 2
34:04Corinthians 2:1. Stay with me. We are
34:06not ignorant of his designs. The same
34:09word is used there. We're and he's
34:11talking about Satan's designs, his
34:14schemes. 2 Corinthians 4:4, he uses the
34:17word again. The god of this world, the
34:19god of this world has blinded the minds
34:22of the believers. 2 Corinthians 11:3,
34:25your thoughts will be led astray. So you
34:28see this, this six times in the word,
34:31this word appears in the New Testament.
34:33And five of the times is in 2
34:35Corinthians right here. This is Paul
34:37word, Paul's word in this letter. And
34:40every time he uses uses that word here
34:43about thoughts, there's a war on for the
34:46control room. Paul has not left the
34:49siege. He's just moved from the fortress
34:51walls down now inside the soldiers
34:54inside. Okay, that's where we are now.
34:57That's a pretty impressive fortress that
34:59right there, by the way, Sister
35:01Miriam, I appreciate it. That helps us.
35:05That helps us. Number five, the word
35:08captive. And I will not try to say it in
35:12Greek
35:14because it has more it has more vowels
35:16in this
35:18with a few little Oh, I can't say it.
35:21All right, we're going to slow down a
35:23little bit. This is the hinge. Okay,
35:25we're headed somewhere about to We're on
35:26the other side. We're coming down on
35:28this this lesson. I'm not going to be
35:30much longer unless y'all don't get it.
35:32Then I'm going to keep repeating it.
35:35We'll just keep repeating. No. So these
35:39this word captive is built from two
35:41Greek words. One is spear and the other
35:45is to be taken. So one taken at spear
35:48point in other words a prisoner of war.
35:52Captive is a prisoner of war. P
35:57I'm my grandpa my mom's dad was a P for
36:0133 months in Japan.
36:03Actually papa in uh New Guinea.
36:07Um, we did not know that until he died.
36:11We knew he was over there. He would talk
36:13about a few things and the funny thing
36:15because he was a extremely funny man.
36:18Loud. Talked a mile a minute. That's
36:21where Winter and I get it from, I guess.
36:24Funny. Knew the scripture. He also
36:27cursed a lot.
36:29Um, got baptized just about three weeks
36:32before he passed away.
36:34But he knew the scriptures and he knew
36:37this was the correct and right way. And
36:40um but one of the funny things he would
36:41always say because I would be mesmerized
36:44by his toes. Okay,
36:46I'll explain. We would go visit him
36:49Christmas time and sometimes in the
36:51summer. And most of the time, unless he
36:53was outside, he he raised um uh hunting
36:57dogs,
36:58kurs, and not for the bobc
37:03and hounds. And um so when he was in
37:06inside the house, he would take his
37:08shoes off and his feet
37:11had to be cared for sometimes by a nurse
37:13because his toes were toenails were
37:17black, black as night and about that
37:19thick. And he would always say, "Yeah,
37:22yeah, you see that? You see that
37:23Melanie? You see that Melanie? Those
37:25feet have been in the swamps,
37:28New Guinea jungles." He said, "I 33
37:30years, I mean 33 months in New Guinea
37:32Jungle and never saw a woman." That was
37:35his whole line. He and it never had a a
37:37period in it. It was just one line. 33
37:40months in New Guinea Jungle, never saw a
37:42woman. And I remember as a kid going,
37:45"What does that have to do with anything
37:47that stuck in his mind like that was sad
37:50to him? That was torture.
37:52Never saw a woman.
37:55That's the kind of grandpa I had. That's
37:58just about all he would talk about is
37:59about that. But he was taken prisoner of
38:01war. And I will say this, my mom grew up
38:04thinking the Japs. I know that's not
38:06nice. And my my apologies if it comes
38:10across wrong, but that's what he would
38:12talk about say about Japanese because
38:14they held him captive. And so he she
38:17thought the Japs, she didn't even know
38:19who they were. What is a But they
38:22were horrible people. And when she got
38:26older and realized the whole history of
38:28things, she would thought, "Oh, I
38:29understand now. He was being held
38:32captive, prisoner of war." Some of us
38:36have strongholds in our minds and we are
38:39prisoners of war.
38:42And we just see it as, oh, this is how
38:44it's always been. This is my
38:46personality. This is my legacy from my
38:49parents. This is what I was told when I
38:51was six. This is what I've always proven
38:53out to be. This is how life will always
38:55be and you are prisoner of war in your
38:58mind.
39:00And here's what we have to understand
39:01about how this works. When a city fell,
39:04they didn't take just the dangerous
39:05people.
39:07Know this. They took everybody. They
39:10took the garrisons, the officers, the
39:12servants, the ones who fought, the ones
39:13who never picked up a weapon. Every
39:16single one. This is not a coping
39:18strategy that we're talking about right
39:20here. This is a conquest strategy.
39:22Because here's what I've watched us do
39:24with this verse many times. We treat it
39:26like border patrol.
39:29A bad thought comes to the checkpoint,
39:31we stop it, we search it, we deny entry,
39:34we quote a verse at it, and we go back
39:36to sleep.
39:38Not all bad, but there's some thoughts
39:42and philosophies
39:44we have to take down. Paul isn't running
39:48a checkpoint here. He's taking the city
39:51back.
39:53He's not just saying, "Oh, yeah, you can
39:54go. You can stay. This is He's not
39:56sitting there going, "Yeah, like the
39:58guard gates down here in South Florida.
40:00You can go in. You can pass."
40:05We have to arrest a thought for
40:09trespassing.
40:11You don't belong here. The thought,
40:13there are many thoughts that we never
40:14arrest because it doesn't look
40:16dangerous.
40:18Where does it lead? Where does it lead?
40:20Okay, let's talk about the weapons.
40:22We're on the back end now. We're coming
40:23back to verse four because Paul already
40:25told us how this gets done and we run
40:27right past it. Okay, here's Revelation
40:30tonight. Some of you might already have
40:33heard this and figured it out, but I
40:35hadn't. So, sit with me for a moment.
40:39The weapons of our warfare are not of
40:41the flesh, but have divine power. The
40:44word the Greek word here divine power
40:48literally means powerful to God.
40:52So it's saying powerful as God reckons
40:56power.
40:58Now
40:59that may have went shoo I don't know.
41:01Not because you're not smart. You're
41:03really smart and y'all probably already
41:05got it. But when we look we can think we
41:08know what power is.
41:11I'm just going to call him out because I
41:13already told you I'm living vicariously
41:16through Austin.
41:17He has his first competition on Saturday
41:20with jiu-jitsu and I I'm telling you
41:22right now, good thing I'm not able to go
41:24because I'm going to be here at the
41:25soulinning thing with all of y'all.
41:29But had if I were going, I already know
41:31that my teeth will be ground down
41:33because I'm
41:35I when I watch that kind of thing, I'm
41:37doing all the twists. I don't know
41:39what's going on, but I feel like I'm
41:41helping.
41:45Yes. Okay. So, he's he's one of He just
41:51started in the end of June or July, I
41:53don't know. He's already got a strike,
41:55by the way.
41:59Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, and he's rolling
42:01with in early mornings. Most are not
42:04white belts. They're blue and brown and
42:06black belts. So he's a tough cookie.
42:09He's strong. He's powerful. He got the
42:12Holy Ghost. So he's even more powerful
42:14in Jesus name. Gotcha. Tap out.
42:19No. So I can look at that and say
42:22there's power right there, man. Now now
42:23he's top in his class or this guy's top
42:26in his class. But imagine that same
42:28person going out and trying to wrestle
42:30with the same technique with a moose
42:32from Alaska or a black bear. Oh, no. No,
42:36no.
42:37There's levels of power. But listen to
42:40this word.
42:42The weapons of whose warfare?
42:46>> Thank you very much. Good class. Good.
42:49The weapons of our warfare are not of
42:51the flesh, but they are divine. They're
42:54powerful according to what God says is
42:57power.
42:59He says, "These are the weapons I give
43:01you.
43:02>> Not just in your cute little strength
43:04because you're so feeble. These are
43:07weapons that are so powerful." God says
43:09they're powerful. God doesn't say, "Oh,
43:11look at how cute. I'm going to give her
43:12a little bit of power right here." No,
43:14he says this is the same measure.
43:17What's powerful to God as he reckons
43:19power, which is the whole argument of
43:22this letter, you guys, Paul is coming.
43:25He came saying, "Your presence is weak."
43:27This is what they're saying about Paul.
43:28Your presence is weak. Your speech is
43:30nothing. And this is what Paul says.
43:32You're measuring with the wrong letter,
43:34a ruler. You're grading power on Rome's
43:38curve. Their culture, their ideas, their
43:42philosophies. And listen, Rome of all
43:45people should have taught them better.
43:46Okay? Rome didn't take fortresses by
43:49charging the wall. Listen to this. They
43:52didn't charge the wall. This is how Rome
43:53took fortresses. They made the wall
43:56irrelevant.
44:01There is a uh a fortress that Caesar
44:03built. It's called Allesia. And he
44:07wanted to keep um was a very powerful
44:10chieftain inside.
44:13And his name is This is a great name for
44:15your next child. Genesis
44:19Versen
44:21Versentoric.
44:23Versactics,
44:25call him verse for short.
44:29That had all of the ABCs in it.
44:33So this huge fortress, it was had two
44:35complete rings of fortification, had an
44:38inner ring of 11 Roman miles to keep
44:40this chieftain inside, had an outer ring
44:43of 14 to keep the relief army out, and
44:46roughly 37 kilometers of wall, ditch,
44:49and tower. And they did not charge it.
44:52They just encircled it.
44:56And this Acroor that I was talking about
44:58earlier tonight, this that big rock that
45:01stood up there in the middle of Corinth,
45:03that incomparable rock, it finally fell
45:06in 243 BC. And it wasn't by a siege. It
45:09wasn't by a ram. This is the cool thing
45:11about that little history lesson. 100
45:14men took their shoes off and climbed it
45:17in the dark.
45:19They climbed it and went inside.
45:23The greatest fortress in Greece was
45:26never broken from the inside. It fell to
45:29what got inside or didn't break from the
45:32outside. It fell to what was inside.
45:35So the church,
45:39there's an old an older echo underneath
45:41all of this. The Greek Old Testament of
45:43Proverbs 22 or 21:22 uses the same two
45:46words that Paul uses, tear down and
45:49stronghold. And this is what Proverbs
45:5121:22 says, "A wise man scaled fortified
45:55cities and pulled down the stronghold in
45:57which they trusted."
46:00And many commentators think that Paul
46:02had this verse in mind when he was
46:03writing this second letter to Corenth.
46:06Wisdom takes the fortress. Not muscle,
46:08not volume, not the better argument
46:10shouted louder, not speaking in tongues
46:12at the loudest for 15 solid hours, which
46:16doesn't hurt you, by the way. But that's
46:18not how it's done.
46:21If you want the picture in full color,
46:23think of Jericho. We know the story of
46:25Jericho. Joshua took the battle of Jero.
46:28Jericho. Jericho. Joshua the battle of
46:31Jericho. And the walls.
46:34You may talk about Gideon, you hear me
46:37talk about? Okay. I'm like, pastor, I
46:40get up here and I got his anointing.
46:45So, here we're talking about Jericho.
46:48Seven priests, seven trumpets, six days
46:50of walking, seven times on the seventh
46:52day, one shout, and the wall fell
46:54crumbling down.
46:57God didn't doesn't he doesn't have to
46:59have a battering ram. He's always been
47:01looking for a people who would just keep
47:03walking even when nothing is happening
47:06yet.
47:09So yes, keep taking thoughts captive.
47:12Keep fighting the 2 a.m. real that goes
47:14on in your mind. Fight it. That is a
47:16real real.
47:19But go deeper because Paul's question
47:21isn't how do I manage my thought life?
47:26People that don't even have the Holy
47:28Ghost can talk through that and get
47:30therapy and and do well with it. Paul's
47:35question is, who gets to define reality?
47:41And I need to ask you some things
47:42tonight.
47:44Winter, if you'd like to come on up or
47:45whoever is going to play.
47:48Are there lies you have accepted about
47:50yourself that need to be dismantled,
47:54not managed?
47:56not medicated,
47:59not decorated,
48:02but fully dismantled.
48:05Something that's been built over time
48:08can be detonated and come down in an
48:11instant.
48:13But more than likely, you're just going
48:14to have to figure out why is it there to
48:17begin with and where did it start
48:20and who built this? Who got this going?
48:23I know you're a we're definitely a part
48:25of it. We're we're sitting over there
48:26stacking stone.
48:28Are there worldviews you're holding on
48:30to? Frameworks you inherited from a
48:34family, maybe from hurt. Some people
48:37talk about church hurt. And the reason
48:39there's church hurt, you can't get hurt
48:41by somebody that doesn't matter to you.
48:45Because if you're easily offended,
48:46that's one thing. Hurt's different.
48:50offended. You know, it's like, okay, I
48:52was offended over that remark. But when
48:55something gets hurt, when you get hurt,
48:56something gets to your core and it lasts
48:59and it wounds you, that's a little
49:01different.
49:03We got to be careful about offenses
49:05because the Bible says offenses will
49:06come. Look out for it. It's happening
49:10and you get to choose what you're going
49:12to do with it when it gets there.
49:15So,
49:17there are things that maybe there's a
49:19person that said some things over your
49:21life. Maybe it's an ex,
49:24maybe a family member, somebody who may
49:26not even be in your life anymore, but
49:28they've said things that do not align
49:30with the truth and the knowledge of God.
49:32And somebody in here has a fortress with
49:34a name on it.
49:37I'm the one who always gets left.
49:41I'm too far gone.
49:44I'm a loser. I'm only as good as my last
49:47performance.
49:49I'm only as good as my last name.
49:53God shows up for other people.
49:56There may be somebody in here that who
49:58who's been walking around with that wall
50:00for many years and you're calling it
50:01humility.
50:06It's not humility. This is occupied
50:08territory.
50:12And you know, we have to somehow talk
50:14sometimes we need to talk about and the
50:16word of God talks about confess one to
50:18another some things. It's good for and
50:21it's holy. Be careful who you confess
50:22to, but but confess. There are times and
50:25there's there's moments that are
50:28important opportunities for us to
50:30confess our our doubts or maybe our our
50:32feebleness. It's okay. In fact, I think
50:35it's a it's a healthy thing because
50:37somebody can get to thinking that I'm
50:39here because of growth and not because
50:42of grace.
50:45Oh, she she never has those issues
50:47because I've never talked about the fact
50:49that I have some downtimes. I have some
50:51low moments. I've had to fight some
50:53bears and some lions in my life.
50:57And they may not look exactly like
50:58yours, but it's still a trial.
51:03And we don't just slay this giant. We
51:06don't just slay this demon. We don't
51:08just slay and cast down this. We dissect
51:10it. We find out what it's been feeding
51:12on.
51:14You got to take an opportunity to find
51:16out. Some of us have been walking in
51:18that stronghold so long, that fortified
51:21city, that we've gotten to a point where
51:22we don't recognize that it is that. We
51:25don't see the chains.
51:27We don't feel the constraints and the
51:29shackles because we've lived it so long.
51:32We've been staying in that we almost
51:34feel safe. Let me tell you something.
51:35Sometimes misery is a companion.
51:38Sometimes doubt and anger and bitterness
51:41has become your friend because it's all
51:44you've known.
51:47I know this. It's it's a something
51:49that's for with all of us.
51:52We've got to understand that a fortress
51:55that still has a water supply will
51:58outlast outlast your good intentions
52:00every single time.
52:05Here's what I came to tell you, and this
52:08is the good part. It's all been good,
52:11but now we just sitting around going,
52:12"Well, how do I what do I do? Well, what
52:15do I do with it? How do I how do I fix
52:17it?" Listen, saints of the most high
52:20God. It does not matter what the enemy
52:22says to you about who you are and what
52:24you are. It doesn't matter what you've
52:26gotten accustomed to hearing yourself
52:27say about yourself. Some of y'all go to
52:30the mirror, and I know this because I've
52:31done it before. Oh my lord, you look
52:33hideous,
52:35which may be true, okay? But you know
52:38what I'm grateful for? The fact that I
52:40have two legs to stand up to look into
52:42the mirror. Okay? And I was able to walk
52:45there on my own accord. And the fact
52:46that I have a mirror. The fact that I
52:49have a house that I can put a mirror up
52:51in. Oh, that's nice. But I'm so fixated
52:53on I don't look like everybody thinks I
52:56should look and I look a little
52:57terrible. Or have you said about
52:59yourself, what an idiot. I'm such an
53:01idiot. I've said it. The Lord's
53:02convicted me.
53:04You would never hopefully ever come up
53:07to somebody else and go, "You're an
53:09idiot. What an idiot. If you do, I'll
53:13see you in my office, which is my car
53:15because I don't have an office.
53:18Or it's up here. There's my office.
53:21I will see you outside. Catch me
53:23outside.
53:26Who's the idiot? Come on. Who's the
53:27idiot now? Okay.
53:31You are not under armed.
53:37Verse four already settles this. It's
53:39settled. It is written the weapons are
53:41already divinely powerful according to
53:44what God reckons is power. You are not
53:46waiting on a shipment. You're not
53:48waiting on a better season. You're not
53:50waiting on a stronger anoint an
53:51anointing. You're not waiting even on a
53:53clearer word. It is written. The siege
53:56equipment is already in your hands.
54:01Every philosophy that's against the
54:03knowledge of God, take it prisoner.
54:05Every argument, take it prisoner. Every
54:08framework, every architecture that's
54:09against the knowledge of God, take it
54:11prisoner. Every proud height ever
54:13stacked up against the knowledge of God.
54:15Bring it under the lordship of Jesus
54:18Christ. If you don't know your word, you
54:21don't know how to do that.
54:24You've got to know the word. How does it
54:26mirror the word? Everyone. Not just the
54:29bad ones. Everyone. And when that rock
54:32finally comes down, the personal
54:33application you were after in the first
54:35place, the peace, this is what you're
54:38going for. You're looking for the the
54:40result, the peace, the quiet mind, the
54:44freedom at 2:00 a.m. when your mind's
54:47racing. That's not the war, y'all.
54:49That's the spoils.
54:53The personal application is real. It's
54:55just downstream of something much
54:56bigger.
55:00Somebody's been trying to negotiate with
55:02a fortress that God already gave you the
55:04authority to level.
55:07Stop negotiating.
55:10Take the city.
55:13Take the city. I want us all to stand
55:17right now. Brother John, if you'll come
55:18up here, he's going to pray over us.
55:21And what we need right now is divine
55:23revelation on what that stronghold is in
55:26your life. Because I'm telling you now,
55:31it is not the will of God that you walk
55:34out your life day to day and you acquies
55:41and you give place to the enemy of your
55:44soul and he uses these strongholds
55:48against you.
55:50You've got to find your place. You've
55:52got to find yourself in this tonight and
55:55ask the Lord right here and right now.
55:57And those of you who want to come on up
55:58to the front, I want you to come up here
56:00and say, "Lord, as I near first closer
56:04here in the altar, I'm asking for
56:06revelation on in my mind and my heart in
56:09my life these strongholds that she's
56:11talking about because I know it's there.
56:14Lord speak to me in the name of Jesus so
56:17that I can take the city in the name of
56:21Jesus. Let it be Lord in Jesus name. In
56:23Jesus.
56:24>> Lord Jesus in your name we pray right