THe Mafia, the Free Masons, Street Gangs, Political Parties, even Religious Orders all have one thing in common: they want to experience real brotherhood. In Christ we can experience what it is like to belong to a band of brothers without being ruled by fear but instead by love. Peter and Paul constantly commands us to love and honour the brotherhood. But not everyone who says 'Lord, lord!' is a true brother. You will know them by their fruit!Band of Brothers
Harvester’s Men’s Meeting, 27th of May 2004
Steven Spielberg’s TV series of a group of soldiers who fought as a band of brothers was a gripping story of loyalty and bravery. In a sense true Christianity is just that: a band of brothers fighting for a cause. The main difference being the type of weapons being used: the weapons of our warfare are not carnal weapons they are mighty to the pulling down of strongholds!

2 Corinthians 10:3-6
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
The New King James Version

When our obedience is complete we will be ready to punish all disobedience, in other words, once we learn to operate as an army we will be able to instruct other churches to become like armies – yet never forgetting the governing principle of faith: the bond of love.

Colossians 3:14
14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.
The New King James Version

When our obedience is complete our spiritual weapons will have more power: there will be more conviction in our hearts and in our words; we will overcome more personal battles in our souls and minds; we ill be able to cast down other people’s arguments and even come against ths spiritual forces that captivate the minds of the people we are trying to witness to. Once we have learned the discipline of taking our own thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ and His Word, then we will have the know-how to take the thoughts of other people captive for the sake of Christ.

We arrest people for Christ! But until we have surrendered totally to His will we will have no authority to do anything.

A stronghold in a person’s mind is a ruling mind-set. The governing principle in a life is a stronghold. You cannot change people nor force them to change, but if you make up your mind to become obedient to Christ you will find out how God begins to use you to pull down strongholds in other people’s lives. Those strongholds are enemy blockhouses that keep the truth away from people.

There could be strongholds of tradition, of ambition, of selfishness and of sin, to mention just a few. Some people have strongholds of lust and greed governing their lives. They cannot live without giving in or at least planning how to fulfil their lusts. Their greed drives them to make more and more and never to be satisfied with what they have.

There could be strongholds of inferiority resulting in rejection and self-pity and prevents talented people of never reaching their full potential.

There could be strongholds of pride that causes people to fall. The snakes and ladders game of the spirit world is centred on promotion and pride. The more you promote a proud person the more you prepare his fall. He does not have the capacity to handle fame and fortune. The blessings of God makes rich and adds no sorrow to it.

Proverbs 10:22
22 The blessing of the Lord makes one rich,
And He adds no sorrow with it.
The New King James Version

There could be familiar strongholds or spirits that rule in families for generations. The family is so used to operating in a certain ungodly way that they have come to accept their way as the only way of living. Instead of desiring change they defend their position with pride: ‘We Laubschers are like that – leave us alone!’ Fill in any surname in the place of the one I chose and it will sound the same. That voice is the voice of a family spirit that ruled for generations.

If Sin can be passed on from generation to generation, so can faith. The faith that was in Timothy’s grandmother Lois and in his mother Eunice is the same faith that was passed on or imparted to Timothy. Paul discerned this wonderful occurrence and commended that family for their consistent faith that crossed the generation gap:

2 Timothy 1:5, 6
5 when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.6 Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
The New King James Version

Eunice is made up of two words: Eus is and adverb describing how well something was done and nike speaks about the means to success and victory. Her sincere or unfeigned faith was without dissimulation (Greek: anupokritos, against being a hypocrite) she had no pretences about what she believed and did not try to put on a show to cover her unbelief.

Paul is persuaded (Gr. Peitho) because of an inward certainty and having proof of what he believes by an inner authority that he can rely on what he believes.

This sincere or honest faith is the landing strip for the supernatural gifts of the spirit that can be received by apostolic impartation. Paul does not lay hands on any man suddenly – he first wants to be sure about the kind of faith that person has. He wants to know the fruit of that life. He wants to know if that person is teachable. He looks for good ground to sow in. He does not want to waste the precious gifts God has imparted into his own life. God’s gifts might be free but they are certainly not cheap!

Just as there are negative strongholds we can build positive strongholds of faith in our lives by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Our spiritual weapons can be used to break negative strongholds in our lives and in the lives of other people, but swords can be turned into pruning shears and into reaping instruments! (See my notes on Weapons of War in the Bible)

Isaiah 2:1-5

The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days
1 That the mountain of the Lord’s house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And all nations shall flow to it.
3 Many people shall come and say,
“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 He shall judge between the nations,
And rebuke many people;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore.
5 O house of Jacob, come and let us walk
In the light of the Lord.

The New King James Version

We can use the same spiritual instruments for building! We can build up ourselves on our most holy faith by praying in the Holy Ghost. We can build each other up through prophecy. We can become