WEAPONS OF OUR WARFARE

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. 2 Corinthians 10:4,5

For though we walk in the flesh [as mortal men], we are not carrying on our spiritual warfare according to the flesh and using the weapons of man. V3 amp.

We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.

Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit… Ephesians 6:14-18

It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honor of kings is to search out a matter. Prov.25:2

What are some of God’s mighty weapons? Let’s look at a few.

• The Name - Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor

and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Phil 2:9-11

For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13

• The Word/Rhema & Logos - For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Hebrews4:12

Heaven and earth will pass away but my word shall never pass away. Mark 13:31

• The Blood- And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. Rev 12:11

But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. Romans 5: 8-9

• Holy Spirit – And I will pray the Father and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever-the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. John 14:16-17

• Prophecy – This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wagea good warfare. 1 Timothy 1:18

• Forgiveness -For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Matthew 6:14-15

• Angels – Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation. Hebrews 1:14

• Love – Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:8

• Faith – But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. 1 Thessalonians5: 8

• Praise & Worship – I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. Psalm 34:1

• Communion- In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of Me. 1 Corinthians 11:25

• The tongue: – And my tongue shall speak of Your righteousness and of Your praise all the day long. Psalm 35:28

• Prayer (vehicle) – Praying with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. Ephesians 6:18

Strongholds: a faulty thinking pattern based on lies and deception. A mental fortress that can be built up in our minds, which can prevent us from experiencing God’s best for our lives. Strongholds can be arguments raised against the knowledge of God, lofty opinions or thoughts that would lead someone away from obeying Christ.

A stronghold is a fortress of lies the enemy builds in your mind and emotions. It is a place of arrest, captivity, confinement, detention, imprisonment, or incarceration in your thinking that prevents you from experiencing all God has planned for your life.

Satan, the enemy of our soul, is always seeking an opportunity to gain entrance into your life and erect a stronghold. Thankfully, we don’t have to be imprisoned by his lies. You can learn how to recognize strongholds and pull them down with the spiritual weapons God has given us.

The word strongholds is the Greek word ochuroma, and it describes a fortress, a castle or a citadel. It pictures a stronghold with walls fortified to keep outsiders on the outside.

In a spiritual sense, a stronghold is any lie you are believing that imprisons you. The enemy is very strategic and persistent in his efforts to construct a stronghold. Little by little, he stealthily presents you with a lie here and a deception there – again and again and again. Each lie you believe becomes another brick in the wall of the stronghold he is attempting to construct.

Essentially, a stronghold is formed when false information is believed to be true again and again and again. Every time a lie is received and believed; the invisible walls of a stronghold are strengthened.

One of the areas Satan attempts to build strongholds in our lives is how we see and think of ourselves. Personal story

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. The words “pulling down” in Greek is kathaireo which means to take down, or to disassemble, if needed, bit by bit or piece by piece. To demolish, to destroy, to dismantle or to throw down. It carries such force that it means to knock down, breakup, pull apart and take to pieces until nothing is left standing.

Weapons –(hopla): It describes armor or weapons.

Warfare- (strateuomai): a well-planned attack; which depicts strategic warfare; methods to be used in an attack and the route chosen to carry out a debilitating assault. God desires and is ready to provide a strategic plan of attack for you to defeat the enemy’s lies. Not only will He give you the methods, but also the best route to carry out a debilitatingassault. This is a Holy Spirit inspired strategy on how to assault the lies that are dominating your life.

Carnal- (sarkikos): fleshly; natural; whatever is derived de the fleshly, natural or material world.

Mighty – (dunata) de (dunamis) power; superhumanpower that comes with enormous energy and produces phenomenal extraordinary and unparalleled results.

Through God – (to Theo): through the instrumentality of God; through a partnership with God. It is the power of His Holy Spirit that enables us in the pulling down of strongholds.

Casting down – (kathaireo) same as pulling down. Realize if a certain lie has been working in your mind and emotions for a long time, it may not come down quickly. Nevertheless, if you will stay committed to the Lord and the process of “pulling down” the stronghold you will succeed.

Imaginations – (logismos): we get the word logic, as in logical thinking; used to denote thoughts or reasoning in the mind.

High Thing –(hupsoma): barrier; bulwark; presumption. Anything that is blocking you from stepping forward in faith to do what you know God has asked you to do, He wants you to cast down

Exalted itself –(epairo): to lift up; depicts a haughty, arrogant, prideful rising; to wrongly assert.

Against the knowledge of God –(kata tes gnoseos touTheou) depicts knowledge that finds its origin in God or absolutely clear knowledge that comes from God; hence, this phrase depicts a war against all knowledge that comes from God. The Bible says by Jesus’ stripes we are healed. 1 Peter 2:24. That is knowledge that comes from God. There are people who have a stronghold in their mind that says, “Well I know the Bible says we’re healed by Jesus’ stripes, but the reality is, I’m not healed. And I’ve been trying to be healed for a long time. I’ll probably never be healed. Did you catch that? The lie in the minds of these people exalts itself against the knowledge of God.

Or how about this: God says in His Word that you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Cor 5:21) That is clear knowledge that comes from God. However, you may have a stronghold that fights against this truth. Thoughts and feelings of unworthiness in your mind lie to you, bringing condemnation, guilt, and a sense of unrighteousness. This what the Bible calls a “high thing” a barrier or presumption that arrogantly exalts itself and wars against the knowledge of God. It is a stronghold fighting against what God says about you.

Friend, if there’s anything that is squashing the truth of God’s Word- anything contrary to what Scripture says that is trying to take you down, control you or dominate you- it is a stronghold and does not belong in your thinking. You need to grab hold of the mighty weapons God has given you and aggressively pull it down, dismantle it, disassemble it, or take it apart bit by bit until no trace of it remains operating in you.

There are people today living their lives with impregnable walls or fortresses in their souls. They are trapped as prisoners by their own vain imaginations. Thankfully, anyone that is incarcerated by the enemy’s lies can break free. God has given you mighty spiritual weapons to pull down any stronghold holding you hostage.

First you must put on your spiritual armor:

God didn’t give us just a few pieces of weaponry; He gave us everything that we need to deal with and defeat the enemy.

Belt of truth is God’s Word. All the other pieces of armor are connected with the Word. The Breastplateof Righteousness- Holding onto your righteousness protects your vital organs, including the emotions of your heart. Shoes of peace – I will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Me. Shield of Faith-able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. The saturated shield would catch fire when the enemy troops shot fiery darts at them. Similarly,your shield of faith will not burn up when you enter into battle if you regularly soak in the water of the Word. Helmet of salvation-symbolic of knowing all that is yours through salvation in Christ. Having your thoughts protected by knowing what belongs to you in Christ. Sword of the Spirit- the use of specific scriptures that act as a double-edge dagger with which you can lethally stab the enemy. The lance of prayer- prayer enables you to do battle with enemy and land him a damaging blow from a distance.

Let’s talk for a moment about Imaginations.

In order to pull down strongholds in your life, you must cast down imaginations and every thought in your mind that arrogantly rises up in defiance of the Word of God,

Imagination means the process or power of forming a mental image of something not real or present. Many people confuse imagination with vision. But vision is a mental image produced by the imagination. You cannot have vision without an imagination.

Imagination is the ability to see with the mind what you cannot see with the eyes. Imagination helps you to see what can’t be seen. It creates pictures in your mind that help you remember, read and plan. But imagination can only work with the information you give it good or bad, right or wrong. If you fill your imagination with the garbage of this world, that’s what it will produce. But if you renew your mind to the truth of the Word, your imagination will help you receive from God. Romans 12:2

And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Rom 12:2

Developing a godly, positive imagination is a huge part of mind renewal. There is no quick fix for your imagination. A godly imagination can’t be given by the laying on of hands. You have to choose to change. But changing the way you think and see is a process. It takes time and consistency.

Everyone uses their imagination. But sadly, by default, most people use it for negative things instead of positive ones. For example, if you suffer with depression, you are simply not controlling your imagination. Your thoughts are producing images of failure that say, I’ll never measure up. Things will never change. It’s useless to try.” And though you may know those things aren’t true, your emotions are firmly engaged into the driver’s seat of your life and they feel true.

There is a direct relationship between how you use your imagination and what you can receive from God.

Proverbs 23:7 says that “as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” You may not realize it, but you filter everything -who you are, what you can do, your circumstances, even the way you’ve been treated through your imagination. And that imagination, if not properly directed, limits what God can do in your life.

Your imagination is powerful. It’s like your spiritual womb. Just as a woman cannot give birth without first conceiving in her womb, you cannot give birth to the plans and promises of God without first conceiving them in your imagination.

1 Peter 1:23 says that we are born again by the incorruptible seed of the Word of God. God’s Word is seed. But for that seed to work, it must be planted. You can see why many believers pray for healing or prosperity yet never receive it. They may believe the Word is true, but they have not become intimate with the Word. Their spiritual wombs are barren.

You cannot pray for healing while planning your funeral. You have to use your imagination to see the Word at work in your life. You must see yourself healed before the manifestation of it. Don’t wait for a physical manifestation to verify that God’s promises are true. Instead see yourself walking without pain. See yourself sleeping through the night, living instead of dying, eating what you haven’t been able to eat.

The Hebrew word “yester” was translated imagination or imaginations in the OT. Yester means a form or conception.

Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee. Isaiah 26:3

The imagination, which is part of the mind, is the spiritual womb where we conceive. Proverbs 29:18 says, “where there is no vision, the people perish.” Remember vision is the mental image formed in theimagination. What you imagine – what you see yourself doing, who you see yourself being- is what you will live out. Remember what the Lord said when He saw the people building the tower of Babel?

Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.” Gen 11:6

Imagination comes before manifestation. If you can’t imagine yourself doing what God called you to do or experiencing His promises, you will not see those things come to pass with your physical eyes. You have to see them on the inside before you can see them on the outside.

An unrenewed mind -an undirected imaginationgravitates toward evil, toward the negative. Psalm 140:2 says that those who don’t know God imagine mischiefs in their hearts.

Your imagination is a creative force. It is a gift from God. Anything you can imagine can be done. That’swhy the enemy fights to control what we think about.

David & Goliath

Spiritual warfare is a battle for your faith, and it is waged right between your ears.

New Testament Scripture about spiritual warfare focuses its attention on the mind and imagination. Natural human tendency is forgetfulness. If we don’t purposefully keep our imagination stayed on the goodness of God, we will forget what He has done in our lives and our faith will suffer.

When we take God’s blessings for granted or aren’t thankful, Romans says we become vain in our imaginations. That doesn’t mean our imaginations cease to work. It means they just start working against us. We forget what God has done in our lives and our imaginations begin gravitating toward the negative.

Vain (mataioo) – become futile; given over to worthlessness.

Scripture teaches that emotions follow thoughts. Emotions are a by product of what the mind focuses on. Emotions are involved in every thought we build, ever have built and ever will build. If we aren’t valuing what we have – if we’re bemoaning all we don’t have and are focusing on the negative, if we are fearful of what might happen – we are directing our imaginations to think on depressing things. And it will produce depression in our lives.

Peace is a by- product of what we think on. If you keep your mind focused on God on what is true, honest, just, pure, lovely and of good report you will have peace.

Conclusion:

Our warfare is pulling down strongholds and casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. Rejecting the enemy’s lies and believing the truth of God’s Word. What ever God says about you in His Word is the truth. And Jesus said if you continue in His Word, you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. So, when wrong thoughts come against your mind, take the sword of the Spirit (God’s Word) and thrust it against the enemy and say to the thoughts and the spirit behind the thoughts -You are not going to dictate what I think and believe. You are now bound by the authority of Jesus Christ, and I take you captive by the eternal truth of His word.

The weapons of our warfare are not physicalweapons of flesh and blood. Our weapons are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses (real, imagined and spiritual). Casting down sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the true knowledge of God. We are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ.

We are made for war.

Remember, the devil has no share, no legal right or historical claim to your life. Only God has that distinction!