Bill Johnson - How to Break Through Strongholds and Impact Your City
There’s this stronghold in people’s thinking that becomes a stronghold in behavior. A wise man can scale that wall, and what does he do? He brings down the stronghold in which they trust. This gives us a key: what is a stronghold? It’s any area that people trust in other than God. That’s how strongholds are created. Hello once again, welcome to chapter 21 of Proverbs in our quest for wisdom, really the quest for the mind of Christ practically implemented into every part of life. So we’re going to start right here with verse three: «To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.»
That’s very significant because, let’s take this in a practical sense. Sometimes, it’s easier to give a financial gift towards a problem than it is to become involved in the problem to make sure justice is served. Justice is served whenever you and I care for people who have no voice. The abortion issue is very fresh. It’s important that we speak on behalf of those with no voice, and certainly, the unborn qualify. Sometimes certain races in our culture have less of a voice than others. It’s important that we speak on their behalf; that’s what justice is. All the other stuff that we do that is so sacrificial is important, but it’s not more important than the actual act of justice: serving those who are in a world of hurt and really need someone to stand up for them.
One of my favorite verses in Proverbs talks about poverty: «There is wealth in the soil of the poor, but injustice keeps it from them.» Think about that. There’s wealth; in other words, every person stands on their own potential breakthrough, but some of them are on this plate of glass, and it’s injustice that keeps them from getting the breakthrough that God has positioned them for. What justice does is ensure that those who are free help people to get free, and it deals with the injustice of life. Poverty is one of those things that we get to really fight for. You may say, «Well, this person is poor because of their own choices.» Certainly, that’s true, but if all of us were left to the fruit of our bad choices, none of us would be alive. So it’s the mercy of God that positions us to be administers of justice.
All right, so let’s move on quickly. I want to jump right into verse 13. In verse 13, we revisit an old subject again. Solomon, in his writing of Proverbs, brings these things up over and over again. Here it is: «Whoever shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be heard.» That’s interesting. He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be heard. It’s interesting. If I refuse to be moved by the needs of the people around me, understand we none of us have the resources to fix every problem, but we all have enough resources in our hearts to lend an ear or a moment of prayer and sometimes a financial gift or whatever to help someone who’s in need. We’re to be moved by what they’re moved by.
The Bible teaches us to weep with those who weep and mourn with those who mourn. It’s important that we don’t excuse ourselves from the cries of the people around us because we don’t have the resources to fix their problem. Well, sometimes what they need is someone who cares. I wish I had the money to fix this problem. Sometimes what they need is someone who would just listen. I’ve watched people sit down with the homeless and others in crisis. They just sit there and listen, and sometimes that’s really the greatest gift you can give to a person. Then I pray that the Lord would enable all of us to do more and more financially to help people in this situation. The scary part of this is that if you’re not moved by their cries, you’re going to be in the same position, but this time the Lord will make sure nobody hears you, and that’s a very stern warning.
All right, it is verse 15. It says, «It is a joy for the just to do justice.» I love that statement. It’s a joy for the just to do justice. In other words, there’s a personal satisfaction; I’m a just person. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne, and we rule and reign with Christ. So righteousness, that value of all that is right, and justice, the implementation of rightness into situations, that’s the foundation of the throne of God. It must be the foundation that I live from. Because I’m in Christ, I am a just person, and part of where I find my joy is in administering justice—not in punishing this person or hurting that person.
It’s not that; it’s making sure that this child… We love to do this here on Father’s Day, for example. We do a number of things throughout the year, but on Father’s Day, I try to pray for all the fathers in the room. Then I have the single moms stand up, the ones who have a challenging time being able to care for and provide for their kids. I have them stand up, and I tell the church, «We’re not going to just pray for these; I want you to give them money.» So we challenge everybody to just take cash out of their pockets if they have it and go bless them because there’s a certain delight in providing that act of justice for someone whose husband may have died or maybe ran off with their secretary or some horrible situation. There’s a certain measure of delight that we have in administering justice in that situation. This is what the just do.
All right, let’s move on quickly. A very important verse for me is verse 22, and again, if you’ve followed me at all in this particular series, one of the things that I try to look for is anything that gives me understanding on capturing cities or bringing cities to Jesus. I’ve been on this quest for many years, trying to find this, and I personally think Proverbs holds the secrets for capturing cities and bringing cities to Jesus. So here it is in verse 22: «A wise man scales the city of the mighty and brings down the trusted stronghold.» Okay, think with me on this: a wise man—wisdom enables a person to scale the wall of the city of the mighty. What is that? That’s what keeps them from your influence. A wise man can scale that wall, and what does he do? In scaling that wall, he brings down the trusted stronghold. Now, we know from scripture there are strongholds in people’s thinking.
For example, there may be certain parts of the country where the entire culture is steeped in alcoholism, and drunkenness is just passed down from generation to generation. It’s a stronghold. Others are steeped in religious pride and arrogance and are untouched by anything to do with God. There’s this stronghold in people’s thinking that becomes a stronghold in behavior. This says a wise man can scale that wall, and what does he do? He brings down the stronghold in which they trust. Now this gives us a key. I hope that you remember this.
What is a stronghold? It’s any area that people trust in other than God. That’s how strongholds are created. Some people, as soon as they’re done with work, don’t want to go home because they have an angry wife or an angry husband at home; they stop by the bar. What happens? They’ve developed a trusting relationship in that environment that becomes a stronghold that poisons every part of their life. The story can be repeated over and over again: the businessman who stays late after work just because he doesn’t want to deal with the issues at home. It’s a stronghold. He trusts in the money and his position in the community, and those areas of misplaced trust over time—not overnight—create strongholds. Strongholds are places where the demonic hides; it hides in strongholds of misplaced trust. I like this verse because it helps me understand what governs the mentality and value system of a community.
All right, I think that’s probably it. Oh, no, one more verse. Verse 31: «The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but deliverance is from the Lord.» I love that verse. The horse is prepared for the day of battle. Why do I like that? Because the horse prepared for the day of battle is our part. It’s important that we live with the realization that if we win a battle, it’s all because of Him. I bless you with that. I pray that this week would be a week of great victories. Amen.