A Guide To Tearing Down Strongholds | Preston Morrison

The number one thing which makes the Christian life so difficult is not Satan. It is actually any door in a Christian's life which is open to Satan. Open doors in your heart turn your heart into the devil's favorite workshop open doors can lead to strongholds and strongholds can lead to bondages a stronghold is a place in your life where it is easier to do what Satan wants than it is to do what God wants. The easiest believer to pick off is the believer with no supernatural security system.

What is the supernatural security system of the believer? We are, if you have a Bible, you can open up to 2 Corinthians chapter 10. We have a lot of work to do today. Essentially cramming two messages into one and I brought my little art board. To give you a heads up, my art ability is horrific.

my penmanship is terrible so it's not because I want you to see those things but I need you to see what we're talking about today i don't want you just to hear it i need you to see it i need you to encounter it i need you to confront it and be confronted by it we're starting a new series this weekend titled a door is opening a door is opening this is not some rah-rah 2025 no no no no

I've been telling you, I have a sense. 25 is going to bring some challenges. The challenges are a divine setup. Listen to me. The shoreline of the Red Sea is a divine setup for a miracle the world still talks about today. challenges should excite the people of God having said that while there's a door opening

this next year that I believe God wants us to walk through. And on the other side are souls and more disciples. And he wants you to play a role in it. But if we don't do... what i sense the five things the lord's saying we're going to spend the rest of the year with the weekends where i'm preaching in this series outside of christmas five things i've already shared it with the staff now i'm sharing it with you the first two weeks

Really, honestly, all five weeks, you're going to want to punch me the entire time, okay? But this weekend and week number two of the series, it's going to be painful, all right?

surgery always is but while surgery does bring pain when the divine surgeon is involved it also brings healing and more strength so the the first weekend this weekend the title of the message is take back what the enemy has stolen and the burden i felt the lord give me was this in a phrase close every open door now we're not talking about

the godly open doors that god himself opens scripture is very clear no man can close the door god opens no man can shut a door can open a door god closes so we're not talking about godly doors we're actually talking about The doors Satan loves to enter in our lives. Specifically, the doors he loves to come and wreak havoc in our hearts, minds, and lives.

We're going to answer some questions this weekend and then we're going to do some heavy lifting spiritually. You're going to do the work. But I promise you it's going to be a lot more simple than you think because the enemy has been convincing many of us that freedom was a very complicated equation.

Freedom is not a complicated equation because Jesus already did the hard work to do everything to set us free. You're asleep this morning. It's okay. You'll wake up by the end, I promise. As we talk about

this close every open door we're going to answer three questions and question number one is what is an open door what even are open doors ephesians chapter 6 verse 12 you hear me refer to this a lot around here it says for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood the we as believers we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against powers principalities against powers against the rulers of the darkness of this age against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places

Here's what you need to understand. The Bible lays out the fact that there are actually two, but really three realms as it relates to us all right the first realm is the heavenly realm the second realm is the natural realm okay so you just heard that in Ephesians chapter 6 for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood okay the we who's the we mankind flesh and blood we do not wrestle against

flesh and blood the war god has enlisted us into is a spiritual war not an earthly war all right but if you see these two realms actually overlap And many believers actually believe that they don't. They only believe in the realm they can see. But if that were actually true, then what would faith be? Faith. Isn't about what I can see It's about the one I can't presently see Who he is and what he said

There is an overlap between the heavenly and the natural realm. And here's what it creates. Your life. Your realm. But you call it your life.

Now, there are multiple places in Scripture that I can draw your attention to that actually kind of describe this third realm, the overlap between the heavenly and the natural. One of the places that kind of shows us... a picture of this is second kings six now i'm not going to camp out here you can actually read this this week and study it out second kings chapter six elisha

On the run because the king has sent out an army of soldiers to seize him The reason he's being seized is because the man of God is on a heavenly hot streak He's literally calling the king shots before the king takes them. And the king is furious with this because Elisha is like, oh, this is where the king is going to go next and what the king will do next.

Finally, the king goes, we have a mole. Who is telling the other side all my moves? And all of his top leaders are like, we don't have a mole. God has a man. His name's Elisha. And Elisha's telling them everything you do before you do it. So the king sends out an army to take him out. And Elisha and his servant fall asleep one night. And his servant wakes up and looks at the hillside in 2 Kings 6 and sees an army of horses, chariots, and soldiers. And he freaks out. So he literally...

The servant sees the natural realm and freaks out. A vast army coming to seize Elisha. Preston's paraphrase of how it goes down. Elisha says, relax, bro. You're too fixated on this realm. But this war is being waged in this realm which is actually taking place in this realm. You just can't see it. Then Elisha prays, God, open his eyes. Not his natural eyes, his spiritual eyes. God, would you give him eyes to see?

This right here. And what happens? His eyes are open. And what does he see? Chariots of fire everywhere. And Elisha's like, I tried to tell you. There are more for us than against us. You just can't see them. Now, there's actually another and possibly even more powerful chapter of Scripture. which records a moment in Daniel's life. Daniel chapter 10. Daniel goes on a 21-day fast, right? On the 21st day, the angel Gabriel comes to him and goes, hey, I got good news.

On day one, God sent the answer to your prayer, but it wasn't able to arrive until today. Preston's paraphrase, Daniel's like, what? Heaven takes three weeks to deliver its mail? Gabriel's like, no, no, let me explain the situation to you. Go study this out this week in Daniel 10. Gabriel says, Here's why it took me three weeks to get to you when the answer was given on day one. The spirit prince of Persia blocked me in the heavenly realm.

from being able to get to you with God's answer. And so the archangel Michael came and helped me. And actually, Gabriel lets him know that's the heavenly authority that was... dispatched to protect Daniel. He said, Michael came and helped me and I'm gonna be here with you for a moment but then I've gotta go back to Michael.

and fight this fight against the spirit prince of persia because once we're done with him the spirit prince of greece is coming to pick a fight okay here's what gabriel is saying daniel preston people of god Don't get sucked into what you can see. There is something happening which your natural eyes cannot see, but I assure you, it's on like Donkey Kong. I really do think that's what Gabriel would say. And here's where the war is truly taking place. Right here.

What a compliment. What a responsibility. What is an open door? Simply put, it's an access point. between two realms. An open door is an access point between two realms. The number one thing which makes the Christian life so difficult is not Satan. It is actually any door in a Christian's life which is open to Satan. Open doors in your heart turn your heart into the devil's favorite workshop.

First Peter chapter 5 verse 8 says be sober be vigilant Because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion get the picture here Your enemy the devil is wandering around both realms doing what seeking whom he may devour Now it doesn't say devouring whomever he wants as it relates to believers. He doesn't have that authority. Go read Job. So then whom is the devil seeking to devour?

Here's the answer. Anyone with an open door. The easiest believer to pick off is the believer with no supernatural security system what is the supernatural security system of the believer closed doors and we're going to talk about that in week three consecration is what keeps the doors closed but remember as believers the enemy constantly comes around the believers realm seeking invasion but can only come through a door by

invitation the door has to open up and we are the ones that open the door and i'm going to show you how we do it in point number three all right now there's a phrase i kind of One sentence that's a guiding line for this whole sermon. Open doors can lead to strongholds. And strongholds can lead to bondages. Okay? So question number one, what's an open door? Okay, very simply, it's just an access point that we open up between two realms.

All right, between the heavenly realm and our realm, which is the overlap of the natural and the heavenly. Here's question number two. What is a stronghold? If you're in 2 Corinthians 10, let's read it together starting in verse three.

For though we walk in the flesh, okay, which realm is that? It's not a trick question Okay Though we walk the flesh in the natural we do not war according to the flesh that that there is helping us understand there is a realm where the war is happening but we're not given Let me say it like this. If it were an earthly war, we would have been given earthly weapons to wage it. But it's not an earthly war. That's why Paul, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, says, hey.

Breslin, do not try and wage this war in your flesh. It's not how you win it. It's a spiritual battle, which must be won spiritually. For the weapons of our warfare, verse four says, are not carnal, but... Mighty in God. For what? For pulling down strongholds. For casting down arguments. And every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. Every high thing.

The powers and principalities, the tower of the power. The language is consistent all throughout scripture. Bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Let me just say this, just as a little freebie one-liner related to this last line, which I love in 2 Corinthians 10.5, about taking every thought captive. Any thought you don't take captive to the obedience of Christ.

will make you a captive to Christ's enemy. This is serious stuff we're talking about. These aren't just random little thoughts. The enemy attacks the mind.

And we have to know how to oppose his assaults. The word for stronghold in 2 Corinthians 10 is the word, the Greek word, akiroma. Here's Preston's poor man's... definition how many of you have heard of the word stronghold before okay it's okay if you haven't i'm going to give you preston's poor man's definition of the word stronghold biblically a stronghold is a satanically Fortified. Open door. Okay, so notice there was no open door here. Daniel hadn't opened a door for the enemy.

Over here, the same stronghold, the same block is built where an open door exists. All right? So one is something Satan does. Without any help. The other is when we come into partnership with God's enemy to make life incredibly more difficult as a Christ follower. A stronghold.

is where Satan takes authority when you grant him access. An open door is how Satan gains access, but a stronghold is what Satan builds when you keep... giving him access in other words when you don't do anything to close the door and here's what he does the more time i give him with an open door The more he builds strongholds, not just protecting the door, but actually filling out all the space behind the door. The more time I give God's enemy.

the more he will build whatever he wants in my life let me show you ephesians chapter 4 verse 26 be angry and do not sin do not let the sun go down on your wrath watch verse 27 nor Give place to the devil. This word place in the Greek is the word topos, topography. It literally means place, opportunity or foothold. The Bible clearly says, and you know I like to personalize it, Preston, do not give place an open door which creates open space for God's enemy. Do not make space.

For the devil. Now, you might ask, how do I know I have a stronghold? Here's how I would answer that question. A stronghold is a place in your life. Where it is easier to do what Satan wants than it is to do what God wants. Anybody ever been there before? I've been there. Where it just seems... Really hard to do what God wants in this area of my life. And for some reason, really easy to do what Satan wants. This is evidence of a stronghold. One such moment in Scripture is Acts chapter 5.

Remember, at this point in scripture, the ecclesia, the people of God, is growing rapidly in number, right? And part of what marked the people of God in those days Several things, but one really stands out. They sold their possessions and property for the good of those in the ecclesia who were in need, right? Acts chapter five.

we come along a man named ananias woman named sapphira and they get into this whole sell the property thing oh this is fun yeah this seems right we got a property let's sell it Verse one, they do. But things get, they take a really dark turn starting in verse two. The Bible says, after they sold the property, they brought part.

of the proceeds. Now, before I give you the rest of verse two, let me help you understand. We don't see in scripture God specifically say to Ananias and Sapphira, sell this property and give it all to me. And God does do that. We don't see him say that or do that in this instance. So they're not actually, if they bring a part, they're actually not in trouble. Until they say, this is all of it. They lie. They bring a part of it and claim it's all of it. Now, if you know this story,

And I'm going to skip verse three for a sec because I'm going to read it to you in a moment. Peter gets really strong with them. And he says, what are you doing? You didn't lie to us. You lied to the Holy Spirit. and what's wild you didn't even have to lie god didn't tell you you had to do this so you could have brought part why did you lie to the holy spirit and say that this was all of it and let me show you

Peter actually, I believe, tells us why they did what they did when they didn't have to do it. Verse three, then Peter said, Ananias, why have you Let Satan fill your heart. Ananias, why did you do this? Why did you open the door for him? And why have you allowed him to build this stronghold, to take over this place, topos? Why did you let him do this to you? And ended it up. costing Ananias and Sapphira their lives. Peter points not just at their sin. He's teaching every disciple.

Their sin started with a stronghold. Strongholds, the biggest way to really understand what one is. It's where things get set up in your heart, mind, and life in such a way where it almost starts to feel sinfully involuntary. It just gets easier and easier and easier to sin, to do the opposite of what God wants. There's a word for that, habitual.

is one of the biggest steps towards habitual sin. And the biggest evidence of a stronghold is actually a bondage. That brings us to the third question. How are bondages... built it's the same way strongholds are established and i want you to see your role in this so that you will take more seriously never becoming complicit

with the desires of God's enemy. Do not look at spiritual warfare and go, we're just outnumbered. You sound like Elisha's servant. No, we're not. There are more for us than against us. And Jesus said, I am giving you authority over the enemy. Okay, so make sure you don't have this incorrect theological perspective. that, well, Satan just kind of does whatever he wants. No, he's a created being. Go read Job. He had to ask for permission. So don't give him that much power. He's not weak.

But you have more authority than he does because Jesus has given you access to his authority. So here's how I want to make sure you see. So just imagine this is kind of your open door, right? Your access point. between the heavenly realm and your realm, your life. I need you to see how big a stronghold is compared to the open door, okay? So if I were to draw it right next to horrid artwork.

My five-year-old is much better than me. But I need you to see the strongholds tower over open doors, okay? the open door if you've ever opened a door to the enemy it feels like this daunting overwhelming huge thing however big that door feels pales by comparison to the stronghold satan builds when we allow him to and i want to show you how it works okay so if this is let's say your open door this

is how a stronghold gets built. It starts with a lie from the enemy. Step one, to a door being open to God's enemy, it always starts with a lie. John chapter eight, Jesus teaches us, Satan lies. And Jesus says when he lies, it's consistent with his character because he's a liar. But Jesus doesn't leave it there. Jesus says he's the father of all lies. That's a lot of lies.

I need you to imagine there's a door right here, okay? And on this side, it's my life, my realm, the overlap of heaven and earth, okay? Not mine as in I own it, mine as in I've been given charge to be responsible for it. tracking on that side of the door is the heavenly realm the unseen realm where the enemy is here's how you must understand a lie a lie is the way Satan knocks on the door of your heart seeking to gain access to it. The Bible says there's no truth in him at all. He lies.

Now, part of what I want to do with all six of these steps is show you how this manifested in my life many years ago to make it a little bit easier, hopefully, to see how strongholds and bond... have manifested in your life and might even be manifesting today in your life. I've told you before that when I was younger, I was a liar. And not just any liar. I was a grade A, gold medal winning.

Probably, however many Michael Phelps, gold medals Michael Phelps won, I won twice that many, I'm sure, in lying and clearly in pride as well. Some of you are slow. You're slow this morning. I need you to be on the up enough today. I'm just telling you, I'm not exaggerating, and I would never brag about something like this. It was really, really bad. I'm taking you into one of the worst seasons of my life.

at its darkest and it involved lying but here's where it started for me a knock at the door of my heart somewhere around eighth or ninth grade And I heard a voice on the other side of the door say these words, which now I know were a lie, but at the time seemed like a bold truth. Here were the words. You're not enough. and you know you never will be. He's literally knocking on the door of my heart, going, I've been watching you, and I can see it in your eyes. Every time you compare to her,

And she's so awesome. I see what you do. You go, but I'm not. And then you compare to him and you go, I'm not. I'm less than him. I'm less than her. I'm less than her. I'm less than him. The lie started with, you are not enough. The first step to strongholds and bondages is always a lie.

from the father of lies here's the second step it goes from a lie from the enemy to this a little more activity on your part you Dwell on the lie. You dwell on the lie. It's so funny. In every service, I've written a B instead of a D on dwell. It's wild. As pastors, we think we're really good at things, and then we try and do two things at one time, and we realize we're not good at anything other than just preaching the word of God.

Sorry. Step one starts with the lie from the enemy, but step two involves me on this side of the door going, am I enough? I mean, look. She's amazing. I'm not he's amazing. I'm not they're amazing. We're not am I enough I Started dwelling on the lie. I was being told here's what I learned any lie you do not immediately reject is like a key satan will eventually use to open a part of your heart we must not dwell

On any lie, the liar tells us. But he studies us. He takes copious notes. And he saw there was some orphan in me. Why do you think I'm so passionate? about the sons and daughters of God not comparing with one another. Because it's the way he almost took me out when I felt like I was an orphan. It's actually how I fight back now. But back then, He studied me. As a young boy, he saw it in my eyes and in my life. I think I might agree with you. I don't think I am enough.

Something else I learned. As it relates to dwelling on or processing a lie, the enemy tells you. There are only two ways to process a lie from the enemy. I thought... These were the two ways. You either process it with God or you process it by yourself. It's actually not the second way. The two ways, and there are only two.

Even if it involves other people, there are only two ways to process a lie from the enemy. You either process it with God or you process it alone with the one who told you the lie. See, I thought, I can't talk about this. Listen, my battle with lying went up to my first couple of years on staff at Gateway. So this was literally a 10-year run of my life. The first 22... Plus years. Vicious. I thought, well, I can't tell them that I don't feel like I'm enough because then they'll know.

I can't show them that card. So I'm not gonna process it with the Lord through any of them. I'm just gonna process it by myself. I was actually processing the lie with the liar, just like. eve did in the garden she could have just said honey come here she did not she processed that lie

with the liar. Second step to strongholds being established and bondages being built as you dwell in the lie. Here's the third one, and this is how we open the door. We go from dwelling on the lie to you agree with the lie. Step three is where we open the door. Step one, step two, we're too close to the door. Step three, I agree with you. Come on in. Preston, why would you ever agree with a liar?

If it were that black and white, none of us would. He takes advantage of us in the most wounded parts of our heart. Oh. Why do you think I've dedicated the rest of my life as a grown man to waging this war? Because with hindsight, I see how vicious he was with that little boy. And I see what he's doing to you. and you might say Preston you get a little bit too riled up yeah because I'm not living with my eyes open I am warring with my eyes wide open and many of you are being picked on

See, one of the lies the enemy is telling some of you is something's wrong with you. It's a lie. Something is wrong, but he's adding the words with you. You know what was wrong with me? Him! Stupid idiot! I just... I feel like I'm just battling this dark cloud. You didn't create the cloud, but you might have allowed it too much. He is the dark cloud. And I started agreeing with the lie.

And here's how it manifested in my life as it related to lying. It started seemingly oh so innocuous. Just small. Not that big of a deal. I would only lie when they would ask me questions. I remember one time, I was in a group, a small group with some... people who felt called to vocational ministry. Freshman year at GCU, all of us were in the biblical and theological studies program and we're sitting around and like kind of no shot at 19 year olds, but.

When you're 39, you'll realize how dumb you were at 19. That's all of us, by the way. And the 19 year old's going, I'm the only one that's not dumb. That's what I said. And one of the 19 year olds was like, hey. what's the biggest crowd you've ever preached to exactly such a such a foolish and unnecessary conversation but at 19 with a couple of spiritual orphans

It sounded like the most appropriate conversation. So they go around, and there was a 40, there was a 70, maybe 110, and it's my turn. And the truth was 250.

In the ninth grade, my dad was a worship pastor at some very anointed and blessed churches back in the day. And we... the one i grew up in in youth ministry had about 250 students which back in the day was a big church back in the 80s in the nine early 90s and so in the ninth grade my first sermon was in front of about 250 people that was the truth But when you've given access to the enemy, the truth is never enough. So here's what your boy did. I pulled out the calculator of the flesh. Preston.

What's the biggest group you've ever spoken to? 2,500. Some of you are like, why do I go to church here again? I don't know. That's between you and the Lord. Listen to me. I'm trying to show you how stupid it is when I am in sin buying the bait of the enemy. that the truth is not enough everybody else went around and 250 was the biggest not that it mattered but i'm just trying to give you context but that didn't matter even if i was trying to win i felt i wasn't enough so i had 10x the truth

this is what the enemy got me to do. On the other side of the door, he's like, you're not enough. I agree. I'm not enough. The enemy comes in and he's like, listen, I can help you with this. This is exactly what he did with Eve, by the way, in the garden. Remember? He sold her a lie, a partial truth. Did God really say? He's twisting what God said.

He's like, let me tell you, I can help you with this. The reason God is not granting you access to that tree over there, he doesn't want competition. You feel like you're less than. Eat that fruit. You'll be equal to. He was showing her, I know how to help you with what you're feeling. That's what he did with me. Here's what he said. Preston, every time you feel less than. Here's what you do. Bring more to the truth. Doesn't that sound sneaky? He was saying, just lie. If the fish...

was 8.25 pounds. Stretch the tape a little bit, champ. You're a great fisherman. Tell him it was an 18-pounder. It's just one number you added. This literally, I agree with the lie.

And I immediately open the door to start doing what I'm describing. You act. On the agreement. I remember the first time I felt the enemy say, you're a liar. Isn't it funny how he gets you to do the wrong thing? and then starts labeling you by it? Again, another reason why I'll be vicious against God's enemies till the day God calls me to his side. It is vicious what he does. He took advantage of that little boy so badly.

and i'm not giving excuses to the boy but he played me like a fool like a fool and what i realize now i wasn't a fool i was ignorant but i wasn't actually a fool I wasn't being willful. I just was unaware of how it worked and why he was picking on me. So as I start to act on the agreement, this... starts to snowball out of control. Little by little, each day, started to involve more what? Lies. That leads to... The next and dangerous step, your acts become your lifestyle.

This is where you're not just sinning responsibly to stresses, challenges. Now you're sinning in advance. of anything happening around you. Now you're waking up with your drug of choice. Have you ever struggled with a habitual sin for so long? that it started to seem as though your habitual sin consistently brought you helpful comfort.

When the lie I buy turns into acts I commit, if given time, consistently performing those acts, those acts become my lifestyle i remember how this manifested for me one of the ways one of the times i remember those first couple of years at gateway probably the worst lie i have ever told pastor robert the church especially in those early days god's hand was just on it and doing something that that just was beyond man and and i was the youngest guy on the staff and

The way I describe myself is I'm just the white boy at the end of the bench passing out Gatorade cups. That's how I describe myself in the early days. And that's also kind of how you could describe my high school slash fake college basketball career. I'm just sticking to the end of the bench, handing out water, shooting threes, playing no defense, awesome at handing you Gatorade. I was very insecure about it. Because remember, at the time, I was buying the lie, I'm not enough.

And so now I'm into like year nine and 10 of this. This is my lifestyle now. And I remember one day at lunch, Pastor Robert was talking about. you know this staff person just what god was doing through them and he was celebrating it was a very pure moment and he's saying and look at what god's doing with this person pressing and he was highlighting god was on the move and i felt

God wasn't on the move through me because he wasn't. I was living in habitual sin, lying in pride, off the charts. So I remember as he is saying, man it's awesome what god's doing this person i just said you know and i threw out a senior pastor's name who was at the time pastoring the largest church in the metroplex I said, you know, so-and-so tried to hire me. It was almost like it had gotten to a point, like I felt I had no control.

Never ever, and we're gonna talk about this in a sec. Never say the devil made me do it. It's not true. You're giving him too much power. The devil didn't make you do it. I willfully chose to come into partnership to perform that sin. i think if we would all talk like that a little bit more every time we sin and go you know what i just did i just willingly came into partnership with the devil himself to do the very thing god least wanted me to do yeah

I think we would sin a lot less. We're just like, oh, I sin. No, no, I came into partnership with God's number one enemy. Yeah, you know, pastor of the biggest church in the Metroplex. Tried to harm me. You know what's awesome about God who is so long-suffering until he's not? He's gracious until his grace becomes a weapon. He will back you into a corner. to stop you. Arrest Preston and go, enough! The boy is convinced that life is gonna be like this for the rest of his days. Enough!

I'm going to call you on the carpet. So I'm convinced to this day, God himself arranged a lunch between Robert Morris and this senior pastor several months later. Robert said, hey, I heard you try to hire Preston. One of our elders is sitting in the front row going, what have I gotten myself into? I don't live there anymore, but I promise you, I own real estate in all 50 states. Senior pastor looked at Robert and said,

We would never hire Preston. He actually knew me. My brother dated his daughter like he knew me. He's like, we wouldn't hire Preston. Pastor Robert came back to me and he's like, I had lunch with so-and-so. My heart just sank. Because that's what your flesh does when you know it's been caught. But on the inside, there was a part of me that was going, Finally, someone stop this freight train because it's taking over my life. Here's...

The last, the sixth step. And then we're going to do some work. Once it becomes my lifestyle, there's only one more step. And it's the scariest of all six. You're in bondage. Once the sin becomes habitual, and I just keep making more and more space every time I sin for the enemy to start setting up shop in my realm, my life. We enter the realm of bondage.

Bondage is when a believer consistently does what Satan desires in what feels like a completely involuntary manner. Now, some of you might be thinking, well, Preston, I don't believe believers can be in bondage. That's a dangerous line of thinking. And let me show you just, and I'm not trying to be like, I promise. I just wanna use God's word to hopefully help you see something if you believe a believer can't be in bondage.

Galatians chapter five, verse one. So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure you stay free. If a believer can't be in bondage, why would God say, listen, Christ has set you free. Now make sure you stay free. If bondage wasn't possible, this verse... Wouldn't be in the Bible. The context is the law. I'll read the rest of the verse. I know. And don't get tied up again in slavery to the law. There's an and there. Now make sure you stay free. And.

Don't get tied up again in slavery to the law. Remember, the Jewish believers in Jesus, probably one of their biggest possibility, potential possibilities for a stronghold was with the law. Legalism. with the very thing Jesus came to fulfill. Not do away with, but fulfill. But it's not just saying, hey, don't get in bondage to the law. I believe it's also teaching every disciple.

Bondage is a possibility for every believer. Most certainly, Christ has set you free if you are a child of God, but you and I must work hard. I don't mean do the work. Jesus did the work to set us free, but we have to enforce that freedom. And the way we enforce that freedom is never make partnership with the devil.

Bondage is when a believer gives up their authority over the enemy to come into partnership with the enemy in a way where it feels like you are the puppet puppet and Satan is the puppet master. anybody ever felt like that before okay here's here's a line we hear when people are in bondage i just can't stop okay i would challenge you to change the way you communicate that

That's actually a word curse. I can't stop. Say it like this. It feels like. Oppressing that semantics. No, it's not. It's doctrinal. It feels like I can't stop. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. So it's not impossible. It just feels like it's impossible. Don't give the enemy more power. than he has yet we do it all of the time bondage is a demonically habitual habit where god hasn't been allowed to bring his healing and heaven's help

And now we do the work. If there were a fourth question, the question would be this. How do I tear down strongholds and how do I break bondages? So here's what we're going to do. With every eye open, with every head up, if you presently feel in any area of your life, There is a stronghold, which is the first five steps. Or, if you presently feel you are in bondage in an area of your life.

I'm gonna ask you to do something. Here in a second, I'm gonna ask you to stand and do some heavy spiritual lifting to enforce what Jesus has done. But the reason I'm going to have you stand, and I know that that can seem embarrassing, but that's part of the lie the enemy is trying to get you to buy. Because the picture is, someone who's in bondage is all tied up.

And one of the greatest messages I believe a believer in bondage can send to their enemy is actually to do what someone who is physically tied up couldn't do. Stand up. If in any area of your life, presently, you have a stronghold or stuck in bondage, I want you to stand to your feet right now.

I'm gonna give you a couple seconds because I've been around the block enough to know that some are wrestling right now. And the enemy's like, you can't stand up even though more than half of the room is. You can't stand up, so and so will know. Don't make agreements with the liar. He wants to keep you in bondage. I should have gotten out in a day. I let it go on for over a decade.

Don't do what I did. I didn't bring anybody in. I didn't stand in a moment like this. I hid in the corner as one bound. by the one who hates me and God most. If you need to stand, I don't care when you stand, just stand.

I'm going to give you a couple more seconds. Then I'm going to have everybody close their eyes and bow their heads. And if you want to wait until then, that's fine. But I'm just telling you, if you really want to do this thing, shove it in your enemy's face. You don't care who's watching. This is war. When the bullets are flying in battle, nobody cares what they look like. They just care about winning. Don't worry about what you look like right now. If you were getting your tail...

kicked by God's enemy. Fight back. And isn't it awesome that God would say, you want to fight back? Just stand up. Just stand. In my house, in my presence, just stand. Anybody else before we do this heavy lifting, which is going to be a lot lighter than you think? All right. I want to ask everybody to close their eyes. Bow your heads.

We're going to walk through four steps. And if you're standing, I'm asking you to take each of these four steps. Here's step number one. In order to tear down strongholds. and break any and every bondage. Step one, repent. Acts 3.19, now repent of your sins and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped away. Then, times of refreshment. will come from the presence of the Lord. Sin opens the door but repentance is the beginning of slamming it shut. Just begin to confess.

All of the sin that comes to your mind right now related to the open door or open doors you've been battling with. Maybe you open a door to a spirit of bitterness. And it's led to hateful acts against people you once loved. Begin to confess them and repent. Maybe open the door to a spirit of greed. And it caused this purchase, that purchase, this debt, that debt. Just repent of it. Holy Spirit, would you bring to each person's remembrance.

Each and every powerful moment their enemy has used against them. That started with a small seed that seemed like a small sin, but it's turned into a savagely huge stronghold, Holy Spirit. Bring to each of their minds what opened the door. Just repent of it. Second step.

Having repented, confessed our sin and repented of it and from it, step two, receive God's forgiveness. 1 John 1, 9, but if we confess our sins to him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all wickedness. God, through forgiveness, cleans up the mess our sins made. Just receive it. Enemy's gonna try and say, you lied for 10 years, you're a liar.

No, you're not. You're a child of God, who for a season of life battled lying, but it is not your identity. Your sonship is. Your daughtership is your identity. Satan loves to get you to do it, which you've repented of. Now do not let him define you by it. And the only way for that to be possible is you must receive the forgiveness for the sins you committed while the door was open.

Forgiveness is where God tears down what Satan tried to build up. Spirit of the living God, would you tear down every vicious stronghold? in the hearts minds and lives of every person right now receiving the forgiveness of god as though it were the first time all over again may the blood of jesus tear down every demonic stronghold

And may the forgiveness of God sweep through this place. Step three. Now you must rebuke the enemy. You must rebuke the enemy. The book of Jude, Michael the Archangel. says to the enemy the Lord rebuke you a powerful teaching because maybe you feel the word rebuke means literally means to push away violently We must rebuke the enemy. But if you're anything like me, when you let the enemy in, he tries to convince you you don't have the authority to kick him out. So let me just remind you.

of God's word and what it says about you. When you became a believer in Jesus, God bought your life and the price was the blood of Jesus. And it's as though your life is an apartment.

that God now owns that he in turn entrusts to you to manage on his behalf. And here's what rebuking the enemy does. We let in some really bad evil tenants throwing parties and doing crazy stuff and trying to tear the apartment to shreds and it feels like we don't have the authority as the manager to kick them out i have good news standing on god's word today We don't just go to the enemy and say, get out. We go to the owner, the owner of your life and say, God,

I made a mistake and I let them into this apartment. Now I'm asking you, would you send them to the foot of the cross where you will deal with them there? So I say, and you must as well, the Lord rebuke you. To every one of God's enemies who has tried to set up shop in your heart, mind, or life, the Lord rebuke you. And that leads to step number four.

You have to replace the lies with the truth. The devil told me I was a liar. One of my favorite moments with God was when I got a revelation. The boy got a revelation. The enemy was saying, you're a liar. You can't have this job. You're a liar. My father stood up and said, watch me take the boy who battled lying and turn him into one who proclaims the truth. Now, let your heavenly father wash over you.

with the antithesis of every lie, which is his truth. Let him just right now, as a daughter of God, as a son of God, tell you who you are. declare the truth over you. You are not one who will battle the generational iniquity that four generations before you have dealt with in your family. The spirit of the living God says it's broken today. Your children will not struggle with what your forefathers drowned in. In Jesus' name.

That's the truth. Spirit of the living God, would you fill our lives with the truth of heaven? So much so that it crowds out all of the lies the enemy has told us, especially the ones we have believed. Holy Spirit, this Christian life is impossible apart from you. Would you give us more of yourself to pull it all off? In Jesus' mighty name. Every free person in this room said, Amen, Amen, Amen.