Ch. 3
How the Powers of Darkness Build Strongholds and Destroy Us
God avenges through His law every act and word we speak against our brother. "Either make the tree good and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit... can ye, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart (the Word of God hidden in his heart) bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment." (We are living in the day of God's righteous judgment now.) "For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned" (Matt. 12:33-37).
The mature man takes every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, "those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil" (Heb. 5:14). The Lord was our example. Our Lord Jesus "learned he obedience by the things which he suffered: and being made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him" (Heb. 5:8,9).
The powers of darkness work at destroying all relationships. They try to keep our minds full of suspicion, unforgiveness, distrust, anger, and so forth toward others. It is essential to stop these thoughts while they are still in our minds so that their evil suggestions will not get into our hearts and become our evil treasures. Their goal for getting their suggestions into our hearts is to carry us away from the walk of love by causing us to speak against our neighbor. This is sin, and we break the law by not loving our neighbor. "But every man is TEMPTED when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed (entrapped). Then when lust has conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death (because God's law is broken)" (James 1:14, 15).
Then the hedge comes down and the powers of darkness can attack us. We immediately lose our peace. If we do not repent, they continue to build other strongholds in our lives, which eventually bring death. Strong-holds move in when you are a transgressor of the law. "Do not err (stray from the truth), my beloved brethren. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath" (James 1:16, 19). Those who speak love from a pure heart do not break God's law. A pure heart is a heart that no longer loves the flesh. In fact, a pure heart hates every act of the flesh. This is the mature man of God.