Choose Your Stronghold – Bill Johnson (Full Sermon) | Bethel Church

welcome it is so wonderful to have

so many people in the room and we’re

slowly opening up and it’s

it’s been a lot of fun for us i’d like

for you to grab your bibles we’re going

to read three portions of scripture

this morning and what what i want you to

do is open to

second chronicles chapter 10.

ii corinthians not chronicles thank you

but if you go to chronicles it’s good it

just won’t be the same as what i’m

reading

second corinthians sorry chapter 10

and then proverbs chapter

21. ii corinthians 10

proverbs 21 and then the last verse

we’ll read will be in nahum

n-a-h-u-m nahum chapter one all right

so let’s take a look at these verses

let’s go ahead and get started

we’ll start with verse three of second

corinthians

chapter ten verse 3

for though we walk in the flesh we do

not war

according to the flesh for the weapons

of our warfare are not carnal

but mighty in god for pulling down

strongholds

casting down arguments in every high

thing

that exalts itself against the knowledge

of god

bringing every thought into captivity

to the obedience of christ i want us to

read verses 4 and 5

again which we will do a number of times

throughout the morning

verse 4 for the weapons of our warfare

are not carnal but mighty in god

for pulling down strongholds

casting down arguments in every high

thing

that exalts itself against the knowledge

of god

bringing every thought into captivity

to the obedience of christ now i’d like

for you to take a look at this passage

in proverbs 21

and then i’ll talk to you for a few

minutes before we open to nahim

proverbs 21 verse 22

a wise man scales the city of the mighty

and brings down the trusted stronghold

a wise man scales the city of the mighty

and brings down the trusted stronghold

proverbs 22 gives us a tremendous

insight

as we think and pray and plan towards

seeing entire cities family lines first

of all then cities and nations discipled

to the lord our ambition has always been

for as long as i can remember

to see not only the conversion of souls

but to see the conversion of culture

itself

a lifestyle that accommodates the work

of god

in a given place and this particular

passage in proverbs gives us

i think a wonderful insight to help us

he said a wise man so wisdom is involved

here a wise man is able to scale a city

so in other words there’s walls

that surround the city wisdom enables a

person

to to rise against an insurmountable

object wisdom and enables a person

to rise against an insurmountable object

and pull down strongholds in which they

trust so it gives us a second clue

strongholds are whatever people trust in

other than

god it’s always been a trust issue

everywhere you go throughout scripture

there is a target of the lord

and in fact i made a statement this week

to some of our team that i’ll make with

you

take whatever you know about trust

amplify it by about a thousand and

that’s how much it’s on the heart of god

it’s it is central to

our relationship with god the scripture

says

that without faith it is impossible to

please him

it doesn’t say without worship it

doesn’t say without prayer it doesn’t

say without fasting it doesn’t

describe any of the other essential

parts of our walk with the lord

it doesn’t say without bible reading as

critical as that is

it says without faith why because the

element of trust

is the focus of the lord why because he

is the most

trustworthy individual in the universe

and it is a violation of creation to not

trust the one

who is worthy of trust it is

uh it is a debt that i owe him

i am indebted to him to reflect his

faithfulness through my trust

when you look at um there’s a there’s a

great warning passage i

i love the scripture i i like the

warning passages in scripture because

they

they help to clean me they’re important

because they purge and clean

and it’s in mark chapter 10 where the

lord says

it is impossible for a wealthy man to

get into the it’s very hard for a

wealthy man to get

into the kingdom of heaven and the

disciples were stunned by his statement

because they considered themselves

blessed so they’re stunned by the

statement it says they wondered then who

can make it

so jesus adds a word to give definition

to the statement he just made he said

it is very hard for a man who trusts

enriches to make it into the kingdom the

element

the issue is trust i’ve asked you the

question before there are different

political

groups and parties and movements in the

earth that are trying to define

how much money a person should make or

should have

i’ll leave the subject alone because it

makes me irate

but let me just say let me give you a

kingdom answer instead of a bill answer

which is always better anyway

how much money is too much money there’s

not an amount

it’s whatever amount replaces trust

trust is always the issue always the

issue

to the rich young ruler he had to sell

everything to follow jesus but mary

martha and lazarus

were very wealthy they did not have to

wipe

because their heart issue was somewhere

else jesus

always deals with heart because heart is

where trust comes from

the heart is where trust comes from

trust faith does not come from the mind

it doesn’t say what the mind man

believes under righteousness it says

with the heart

so god is always dealing with the heart

because there must be

the reunification of a

people made in his image that reflect

his faithfulness through

faith through trust that complete cycle

must be recreated in the earth and so

the lord looks for those who

believe those who have faith those who

trust trust is the issue

so in proverbs we have this statement a

wise man

scales the city of the city

and pulls down strongholds in which they

trust

you look in any culture you can go to

any city in our nation or any nation

and through a short amount of time you’d

be able to study that city

and find out what people trust in other

than god

for some it’s uh it’s abuse of alcohol

or drugs or those kinds of things that’s

that’s where they trust when they’re in

trouble when they begin to panic when

they become fearful

they reach for whatever it might be it

has the place of god in their life

they may believe in the existence of god

but their lifestyle

testifies they do not depend on god it’s

a trust issue

and so you can study that city it may be

sports it may be

uh recreational activity it could be any

number of things

it can be many things that are wonderful

blessings and additions to our life

but when that’s what i turn to and

that’s what i trust

then it takes the place of my dependency

on the lord

so the lord now is targeting this issue

of stronghold what is a stronghold

if you go back to medieval times and the

walled cities or the castles the

the place of these huge stones that are

carved out stones that are put on top of

each other

and uh and and what a stronghold is is

it’s a hiding place

in this case for the demonic

it’s a hiding place that is created

in a person’s life through their

thoughts

second corinthians 10 the weapons of our

warfare are not carnal

but they’re mighty for pulling down

strongholds casting down

arguments and thoughts raised up

against the knowledge of god bringing

every thought into captivity

here’s the deal thinking

incorrectly not only empowers the enemy

it gives him a safe place to hide in our

patterns of thought

incorrect patterns of thought are

dwelling places for the demonic

a bad thought is not a hiding place but

a lifestyle of a bad thought creates a

hiding place

a stronghold is a place where they’re

not recognized

if you could imagine a royal family

hiding in the cows

you can’t see them behind the castle

wall they are hiding

they are safe they can go out when they

want to at will

the demonic hides in the thought

patterns and processes

of people’s lives when they are anchored

when those thoughts

reflect the anchor of the soul that

trusts

in something else other than god

the weapons of our warfare are not human

in origin they are not

skills they are not talents they are

they are

literally the the weaponry of god

himself

to deal with the hiding place of the

enemy

in the thought processes of a person’s

life what is it about those thoughts

that gives the enemy a place to hide

these are things that are raised up

against the knowledge of god

not the existence of god the knowledge

of god

the enemy knows he cannot get me to deny

the existence of god i’m too far in i

i couldn’t fall for that one that’s you

know that’s the devil wearing a red

rubber suit carrying a pitchfork he’s

really easy to spot

that one’s not going to work but what

does work

at times is when i find myself thinking

about a problem without the hope of a

redemptive solution

what idea am i thinking i’m thinking

something

that wars against the knowledge of god

there’s not a problem that i

face that he not only doesn’t have the

answer for

he is prepared to release the solution

does that make sense

so anytime i entertain or perhaps it’s

it’s a person let me let me let me back

up and say this i

i’ve i’ve mentioned this a few times in

a

in this whatever strange season we are

in

fear will always attract whatever

information is needed

to legitimize its existence

fear will always attract whatever

information is needed to legitimize

existence

here’s the crazy thing so does jealousy

and resentment

jealousy and resentment also attract

whatever information is necessary

to legitimize to validate

the existence of jealousy and resentment

but also comes with it the ability or

capacity because we know so much

spiritually

we give it a virtuous name

when you give a dysfunction a virtuous

name you not only give it permission to

remain

you give it permission to set down roots

and tell it until it begins to shape

personality

this is where this is where extreme

tenderness to the lord is vital the

farther you go with god

the farther you go with god the more you

are

capable of giving a virtuous name to a

problem

because you know more knowledge puffs up

knowledge puffs up bible doesn’t say

carnal knowledge it just says

knowledge pops up so the answer

isn’t to ignore learning

knowledge understanding wisdom the

requirement of the lord for us

is that what we learn is to take us to

the person

because it’s in encountering the person

of the lord jesus christ

we don’t walk away strutting about all

the great things we’re about to do with

our life

there’s something very significant that

the lord is wanting to work

into the heart of the church right now

and i i feel like it’s

there’s so many things i was torn in so

many directions for this morning

first of all just over overjoyed happy

we’d be together

and uh and i’m i’m in a very good mood

even though

i maybe maybe you need to think i need

to read some more jokes i’m not sure

what the story is here but

um i i i feel strongly

that we are about to witness both the

the goodness

the kindness of the lord and the

severity of the lord

and and this whole first love issue of

absolute sensitivity

to the work of the holy spirit is is so

central in my life

so central to who we are and there’s the

reminder that it’s the lamb of god who

sits on the throne for eternity

why the lamb why not the lion because we

we will live with a continuous

remembrance

not of our sin but of our need for grace

our need for constant dependency on god

so throughout all eternity 100 billion

years from now

the lamb will still be on the throne and

we will be celebrating the fact that we

are saved celebrating that we are new

creation

we are we are absolutely new and we

continuously live in that overwhelming

joy

of having been redeemed back to the

subject here at hand the weapons of our

warfare are not carnal they’re not

natural they are mighty in god

for pulling down strongholds what are

the strongholds

they’re the places of trust in us

and or others casting down

arguments i’m glad there’s none of that

going on right now

listen to me once you get the victory of

pulling down strong worlds here

you’re positioned to pull it in culture

but you have to do it here first what

you win here

positions you to read to influence there

because there is a demonic power behind

so much if i could say all the lies that

war against the knowledge of god

there’s a demonic power it’s the fiery

darts it’s the fiery darts

of scripture when a person has dealt

well with their own thought life and

and won the battle so to speak in an

area you become positioned

to recognize it in others but not to

point it out

you know it’s not that it’s that’s a

prayer job

now there seems to be in my neighborhood

there seems to be this

this bent for example i remember in the

house we moved in in weaverville

uh as soon as we moved in a lady

across the street came over she said

just to let you know everybody on your

side of the street gets a divorce when

they move in here

good to be in your neighborhood yeah

yeah

they just it wasn’t that everybody but

it’s this house that house that house

they move into this neighborhood they

move on outside of the street they get

divorced i said well it stops here

it stops here this this this this

whatever

whatever power has been behind that

it doesn’t have an ear here it doesn’t

have a voice here

and so when you have when you have

personal victory in an area

it positions you not to point or yell at

people or accuse or do any of that stuff

it’s in prayer we say god we ask right

now that the spirit of revelation be

released

to counter that lie that our community

or my neighborhood

has actually believed in that there is a

solution by leaving our spouse

what do you think why do you think

praise

is a weapon of warfare

praise is a weapon of war

i know for me if we’re if there’s a

struggle in health

i’m going to exalt him for being the

healer

what’s happening the battle is first

here

and once i engage in praise with

declaring who he is the knowledge of god

casting down thoughts and ideas raised

up against the knowledge of god

i deal with it first here and then i

become positioned

to bring about transformation in the

location where i live

i declare his greatness there’s there’s

presence and power

that is exercised against the lies that

have been raised up against the

knowledge of god

the battle you in here

positioned you to win the same battle

out here

this passage in nahum

is a personal favorite

naam chapter 1

verse 7 the lord is good

a stronghold in the day of trouble

and he knows those who trust in him

look at it again the lord is good a

stronghold in the day of trouble

he knows those who trust in him

i want you to make mental note once

again

that stronghold this time it’s a

stronghold

of the revelation of the goodness of god

uh another place in scripture says that

the name of the lord

is a hiding place it’s a tower of

strength it’s where we

hide ourselves so if you can picture it

this way

a people who understand truly heartfelt

understanding of the goodness of god

automatically have a hiding place a

stronghold in which they dwell

and it’s evidenced by what we trust in

when problems come up

it’s very easy to think of an individual

or a repeated problem with hopelessness

and blame it on the lack of character in

the individual which basically

is declaring father this one

is out of your reach

and what happens when i do that and i

have

what happens when i do that i create

a stronghold of thinking

that removes me from being a part of a

redemptive solution

because i have categorized that

individual and in that

particular place i have fallen into a

trap

believing things that are unredeemable

nobody would ever say that because we

know that god can do anything

but it’s not it’s not your theology

it’s your lifestyle

it’s not your theology every believer

says god

can do anything everything anything

and they’ve got a problem and they don’t

believe he’ll fix it

so the theology is right the lifestyle’s

wrong

the lifestyle is fueled by thought life

so the thought life is not just focused

on finding the lie and removing it

because he says take every

every thought to the obedience of christ

a thought pattern is not

transformed until i am seeing a

situation through the eyes of jesus

thinking the redemptive solutions that

he’s thinking

until then i’m still in that place of

need i’m not in the place

of bringing change

the lord is good he is a stronghold

he knows those who trust him

do you ever wish you could read the

bible for the first time again

i love the simplicity of faith

of a brand new believer

like i just uh

i got this bible this last week

that was the bible wigglesworth smith

wigglesworth carried with him

his little pocket bible

he wrote in the back of this bible he

said never compare this book with other

books

comparisons are dangerous never think

or say that this book contains the word

of god

it is the word of god it is supernatural

in origin eternal in duration

inexpressible in value infinite in scope

regenerative empower infallible

in authority universal in interest

personal in application inspired

in totality read it through write it

down

pray it in work it out and pass it on

it is the word of god this is what he

wrote in the back of his bible

it’s not complicated if he said it it’s

true

if he didn’t it probably isn’t it it’s

not

complicated

if i have more input from social media

then i do the word of god

my discouragement is self-inflicted

it’s a calculated decision i find myself

thinking

of this person they will never change

at what point do i stop the lie

because i’m building a hiding place

for the demonic that will actually help

to fulfill

the very lie i’ve come to believe i

would never

say it but my approach to a problem

oftentimes reflects that it’s a

stronghold

and the lord is preparing us in this

season

to be able to address the impossible

we’ve said this for 20 years so this is

nothing new but i feel like he’s

heightening

heightening our awareness of something

today

he’s enabling us to be aware

where we have fallen for the lie

where

where i have entertained

the enemy’s ideas

in my personal castle

so i believe that the lord is bringing

this

um i actually had i’ve been

struggling this week with i’ve been

looking forward to being with you just

basically so i get a 100 hugs you know

i’m hug deprived just want you to know

that

and someday we’re going to have a masked

burning party

they’re going to be right out in the

parking lot bring all your mass we’re

going to burn them in jesus name

[Laughter]

i i i can’t promise but that’s what i

would like to do

it may be at my house you just come to

my house we will burn their mouths

and a few other things will burn yeah

but i i have this this sense that

through this

strangest season of my life

the lord has been training us for

something

that we’re unaware of

and i’m i’m i would assume all of us are

not maybe not in the same boat but

certainly similar i’ve never seen so

much swirling

in thought in ideas and you know

arguments and

stuff just just in the air as in

recent days and i feel like the lord

is allowing us to be exposed to the

chaos

so we have no mistake recognizing peace

the peace of god is the complete absence

of chaos that is the definition by

nature

the peace of god is the complete absence

of chaos

and he has allowed us if you will to be

exposed to some of the craziest things

ever not so that we walk through life

being victims

if you experience sorrow maybe a friend

has fallen into some deception

i i got news this week of a of a dear

friend who is uh

getting divorced and never would have

expected

never never never ever would have

expected it i don’t know what happened

but when you have pain like that if you

just feel

sad and do nothing with it you’re

wasting your time

god gave you a an ability to feel

so that it would take you to him i don’t

know

how to pray for this situation but i do

know

the enemy has had his way and so i pray

the mercy of god to come upon this

couple the mercy of god to touch

each individual heart god i don’t know

what’s happened or where

this is where you pray in tongues a lot

he always gets it right

i mean i may pray this prayer oh god

give me a ferrari with 700 horsepower

and then i pray in tongues the holy

spirit says man don’t give him that car

he’ll kill himself that’s what i’m

praying in tongues

i’m praying i don’t even know he just

canceled out my prayer he it’s not

praying

that that’s how this works to me so i

don’t know how it works to you but

but he always he always refines my

refines my prayer

he says no he’ll kill himself if he has

that card don’t do that don’t do it

but if you feel grief or you feel pain

or you feel

troubled if it doesn’t take you to him

in prayer

you’re wasting your sensitivities

it’s a gifting it’s like eyesight if you

you know if you see something coming at

you that’s going to hit you and you

don’t

duck your head then you’re wasting your

eyesight

we perceive because he’s positioned us

to make a difference or react

accordingly

all right let’s read this passage um

one last time in first

second corinthians or chronicles if you

prefer

chapter 10 verse 4 the weapons of our

warfare

are not carnal they are mighty

in god for the purpose of

pulling down strongholds

casting down arguments every high thing

that exalts itself

against the knowledge of god

to the point where we learn to bring

every thought

into captivity to the obedience of

christ

it’s an interesting picture through that

last phrase bringing every thought

captive when i see uh bringing every

thought captive

i think of a like a soldier who was

warring against us

all right so let’s just take that

thought for a minute let’s just say

we’re in an army and we have a soldier

i take him captive but he becomes so

captive that he becomes a soldier for us

it’s not putting him in restriction

where he doesn’t function

it’s seeing that thought process so

transformed

that it now works for us taking every

thought

captive to what the obedience of christ

what is that it’s the mind of christ

taking this deceptive thought about your

neighbor

take it captive until it starts

reflecting the mind of christ about your

neighbor

hostages taking our

thoughts hostage

until they are transformed in nature and

they actually reflect

the fact that there is nothing

impossible he has a redemptive solution

for every situation

he will cause every situation that

pertains to my life to work for

good which means for his glory and for

my strength

i like the phrase casting down

that reminds me of wigglesworth

my my grandfather told me he said not

everybody liked wigglesworth

because his faith was so abrasive you

know

active faith

offends inactive faith

faith in action offends faith as a

concept

faith that is active in the moment

offends

faith that’s waiting for something to

happen someday

wigglesworth would say don’t treat the

devil kindly

so when he would rebuke a demon that

demon knew he rebuked him

some people suggest a demon leave

as though they were making a suggestion

it says casting down take that

vile thing that just

isolated that person into an

unredemptive position in their life

take that vile thought that just

declared

over your economics that there is no

solution you’ve actually tried

everything

and there is no solution take that vile

thought

cast it at the feet of jesus who is

himself jehovah jireh

take that thought that says your

marriage cannot be healed or restored

take that thought captive because it is

born in the pit of hell

you take it captive and you cast it down

and you bring into subjection all these

things that you’re thinking

seeing and feeling until what you’re

seeing thinking and feeling

reflects his heart in his nature

it’s not complicated it just means

i’ve got to have more input from what he

said

instead of from everything else that’s

around me

why don’t you stand we’re going to pray

wrap this up

i i believe i i believe the lord put

this on my heart for today i do i

believe

i believe he directed my heart i’ll be

honest with you i had something else

i was wanting to do

uh just as of this morning we eric and i

walked over to the offices i went into

my office

and boom it became clear completely

off what i had prepared my heart to do i

could

i could feel the heart of the lord for

the mental health of the body of christ

it is for you but it is also through you

and it’s through you unto a culture

that you will not convince through

debate

in some cases it’s going to be your

engagement

in prayer that pulls out the rug from

that spirit of deception that is

influencing your neighbor the way he’s

influenced them

they see no solution because they’ve

locked into a covenantal agreement

with the powers of darkness but your

prayers

not manipulation not pointing the finger

not

argument and debate but you going before

god saying

god i really care for this neighbor

and they are trapped they don’t see it

i know i can’t convince them but i know

that you can

we begin to pull down the strongholds of

thought

they think healing of a marriage is

impossible

i know god that’s a lie so i pulled that

thought down in the name of jesus right

now that that has been

raised up in their thinking as a god

and it is not a god it is an inferior

thought

and we take that thing got from my

friend who has

a cycle of going bankrupt after

bankruptcy after bankruptcy

they are locked into thinking they can

never

be successful in their life and god i

know that that’s a lie from hell

i know it’s a lie from hell it’s an

absolute lie it’s

not in your promise you never promised

us that we would never come out of

cycles

of pain you did the opposite so i take

that thought captive

that that has been raised up against the

knowledge of god

your very name is jehovah jireh and i

take that lying spirit

and i confront you in the name of jesus

that lying devil that is about

hopelessness

into my friend who believes it’s

impossible for them to ever have

an economic solution it’s a lie from

hell

it’s a lie from hell i pulled that

thought down and in his place i release

the revelation

of jehovah jireh the god who always

provides

the god who is always more than enough

you bind and you lose

you bind and you lose you bind here

what’s bound there you loose here what’s

loose there

if it’s not in the mind of christ it’s

not worth releasing

got to stop saying the stuff that he

isn’t thinking

i’m so tired of my own opinion

i’m serious it bores me to tears

must have the mind of christ i must have

the word of the lord

i have to when he speaks i live

when i think without him i die

i’m about to start over so i’m telling

you better but i don’t know

i’m i’m just that was a threat that was

a threat i’m just joking

all right we’re going to pray and i want

you to put your hands in front of you

just an act of faith to receive because

i do believe that

jesus has brought this to the forefront

today

because it is in his heart to repeat to

release

a grace a grace

to deal with the lies have been raised

up in our own

our own lives the lies

i look to your father father of truth

you cannot lie you cannot deceive

you who is faithful and true so

completely trustworthy you are

perfectly perfectly trustworthy

we owe you absolute trust and together

we look to you right now and i’m asking

that you would give us as a gift a grace

a heightened

awareness of the things we’ve

entertained

the times we’ve welcomed the enemy of

our soul into our homes

and have made them comfortable with our

thinking

today we expel those lies

and i pray that you would over these

next seven to ten days

there would be such a heightened

awareness of what is true

a heightened awareness of what is filled

with hope a heightened awareness

of what is on your heart for this hour

help us to never again waste a painful

moment

let them always bring us to you

always bring us to you i ask that a

spirit of wisdom and revelation

rest upon this body of people those who

are watching

online i bless this company of believers

i bless you in the name of jesus and i

pray for a

wisdom to scale the walls of the city

and to bring down strongholds that

people have placed

trust in other than the name of the lord

that this company of people would be

known by their neighbors

they just trust god they simply

trust him when push comes to shove they

just

trust god it makes no sense they just

trust god let that be the living reality

of this body of believers in fact i pray

for the city of reading

that reading would rise to a place of

absolute trust

that this city would love you well that

this city

would absolutely trust you

i pray this in jesus name

now i know there’s a chance there could

be somebody here in the room

and there’s many who are watching online

bethel tv do not have a personal

relationship with the lord jesus christ

i want to invite anybody in the room

that has never made

a personal commitment to receive jesus

into your life

where you understand you know what

forgiveness of sin is and you are

actually transformed literally from the

inside out

it’s a conversion experience not by our

works it’s by his

but we turn our life to him that’s

that’s what invites that invasion of god

and if there’s anybody in this room that

i want in just a moment i want you to

put a hand up

and those that are online that are

watching on bethel tv

and youtube just we’ve got pastors

online with you

just write the note i want to know jesus

i want to know jesus just put that in

the note and a pastor will get right to

you and pray with you

but is there anybody here that would say

that’s me i don’t want to leave the

building until i know

i’ve been born again until i know i’ve

been forgiven

of god okay all right

i would assume that it’s a house filled

with believers but

it’s not worth taking the risk i just

pray for you that god would give such

prosperity of soul

that your emotional life your mental

life

would be so overflowing with the mind of

christ

that literally the mind of christ would

be contagious through your words

that somehow you would speak a word and

people would

change their thinking simply because

what you said

may the mind of christ settle upon this

city

in jesus name amen amen tom come and

help us