Good morning, everyone. Good
to see you here. Today I want to talk with you about strongholds
and imaginations, as I've so titled this morning's message.
And while later I will direct your attention to a more familiar
New Testament passage that deals with this subject, we're going
to begin by considering an Old Testament text, as you can see,
the one I've designated for this message, the first Nine verses
of the book of Nahum. Now, a stronghold is a biblical
term that's not commonly used in our day, but know this, it
simply refers to that which is assessed to be strong, strong
enough to hold, strong enough to trust in for our safety. It refers to a place of refuge
and protection. A stronghold, as it was often
used in the Old Testament, referred to a mighty fortress. And these
fortresses, they were places that were designed to provide
for the safety, the peace, provision, protection of the citizenry from
any and all warring enemies. But as history has shown, not
all so-called strongholds proved to be strong enough to hold.
In fact, ultimately, they all giveaway. They were presumed
to be trustworthy because that's what they were intended for.
They were intended to withstand any and all assaults. But these
fortresses, though intended to be strong enough to hold, they
didn't live up to their name. It was imagined that they were
indeed strongholds, but the reality proved otherwise. Well, just
as there were physical fortresses or strongholds, the term stronghold
was also used in the Bible to refer to a spiritual fortress,
a refuge or place of safety intended to provide eternal security,
safety, peace, provision. A refuge from the just wrath
of God against our sins. And so with that, my objective
today is that we all might evaluate using, of course, God's word
as our standard of truth, evaluate whether or not my or your own
spiritual stronghold is real or is it only imagined to be
real. And as you can see, that's a
matter of eternal consequence. So it makes this topic certainly
worthy of our serious attention and consideration. Let me begin
with a brief background on the book of Nahum. The Bible really
doesn't tell us much about the prophet Nahum, but as you're
going to see from today's text, the prophet Nahum does tell us
much about God, about who he is, about what God is like. The subject of his prophecy is
recorded in this book. It's established for us in the
first verse. It is called the burden of Nineveh. the Book of the Vision of Nahum.
It was a vision which concerned Nineveh, Nineveh being the chief
city or the royal seat of Assyria at that time. And the entire
book deals with the burden that Nineveh would most certainly
bear. their very destruction as declared
and described by the prophet Nahum. Now, when you think of
Nineveh like me, you may recall how years earlier God had sent
the reluctant-to-go prophet Jonah to Nineveh. And at that time,
Jonah declared to them that their wicked city would be overthrown
within forty days. But, as we learn from the book
of Jonah, Nineveh repented. And God spared them the fulfillment
of Jonah's decree at that time. But here we are now in Nahum
some 100 years later. And Nineveh had clearly repented
of their repentance, that repentance that was prompted by Jonah's
visit. And they, in short order, had turned back to their idols.
Nahum chapter 3 describes how Nineveh had become a cruel or
a bloody city full of lies and robbery. In short, it was as
wicked and evil as ever. And so God sends them the prophet
Nahum who, unlike Jonah, he was not sent just to warn them, but
instead to declare to them the certain, the irreversible sentence
of God's wrath upon them. Nahum's prophecy here describing
Nineveh's complete and total destruction. So total and great
was their destruction that many who I read, they said that there
was no sign of Nineveh's even existence until perhaps in the
mid-1800s. So it indeed was destroyed. Now the Ninevites had what they
considered to be a real stronghold. They had a fortress that could
not be penetrated. They were confident, see, they
could withstand any assault, and it's believed that that confidence
came in large part from their being strategically located on
the banks of the Tigris River, that river providing a natural
protective boundary. And yet, when Almighty God's
appointed time of wrath came, He did use another pagan army
to invade and destroy them, but as the historians tell us, the
army's success in destroying Nineveh's fortress, or stronghold,
was not owing to its strength, but rather came about from the
very river that Nineveh so relied upon for protection. God brought
about an overwhelming flood which their fortress was not strong
enough to hold or withstand." And in that there's an important
lesson. Nothing of our own construction can withstand the certain execution
of the just wrath of Almighty God. Let's begin by reading these
nine verses of Nahum chapter 1, and I'll make a few comments
as we go through the passage. as we read there beginning in
verse one, the burden of Nineveh, the book of the vision of Nahum
the Elkoshite. God is jealous and the Lord revengeth. The Lord revengeth and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance
on his adversaries and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. Now, right
off, Nahum, he begins to declare some vital knowledge concerning
who God is, what God is like. And here, even in verse 2, we
see two unmistakable truths that I want us to keep in mind concerning
the true and living God of the Bible. The first being God is
jealous. That is, God will not share his
glory. God's jealousy is not a negative
trait, as we often would view jealousy. To us, jealousy is
very akin to the sin of envy. We're jealous, typically, of
others. But rather, jealousy, God's jealousy,
describes his determination to not share his glory. God's chief
design in everything that He does is that He might receive
all glory. That is, that He might be revealed
as He is. That's what God's glory is. It's
the revelation of His character, of what He is like. And He, His
chief design, and it will be realized ultimately is that he'll
be revealed as he is and not as fallen sinners like you and
I would naturally assume him to be. He's jealous. He's jealous
for the honor of his glory and God will not share that glory. And secondly, we see from verse
2, God's a God of wrath. He will be vindicated in executing
vengeance. against all sin and against those
who stand opposed to His own glory of which He is so jealous. Continuing in verse 3, we read,
the Lord is slow to anger and great in power and will not at
all acquit the wicked. The Lord hath His way in the
whirlwind and in the storm and the clouds are the dust of His
feet He rebuketh the sea and maketh it dry, just as he did
with the Red Sea and parting it, and dryeth up all the rivers. Bashan languisheth, and Carmel,
and the flower of Lebanon languisheth. These were places that God in
His almighty power could dry up, but these places named here
were noted for being very fertile. The mountains quake at him, and
the hills melt. And that certainly brings to
mind earthquakes, volcanoes. And the earth is burned at His
presence. Yea, the world and all that dwell
therein. Who can stand before His indignation? And who can abide in the fierceness
of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire,
and the rocks are thrown down by Him. Now I want you to note
these attributes of God as set forth here in these verses. First,
it says the Lord is slow to anger. Now while God's jealousy for
His own glory is manifested in His fury, yet we see here He's
also a patient, forgiving, and long-suffering God toward sinners. We know that God's judgment,
His wrath, is often delayed as it was with the city of Nineveh
here. But in particular, and specifically as it pertains to
those God saves, we read in 2 Peter 3.9, that verse actually directed
toward the beloved of God, as it's set forth in the first part
of that chapter. He says toward the beloved, the
Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count
slackness, but is long-suffering to us. We're not willing that
any, any of these beloved of God, to whom this is written,
that any should perish, but that all, all of them, should come
to repentance." So we see that the God of the Bible, He's a
jealous God, whose wrath shall be executed, but He's also patient,
merciful, and gracious, long-suffering God. Secondly, note there from
verse 3, it says, He is also great in power. You know, our
all-powerful, omnipotent God can, is able, and as we'll see
further in a moment, will do all that he has determined to
do according to his own good pleasure. Thirdly, it's declared
that God will not at all acquit the wicked. This is another way
here in which the translators elsewhere express it as God will
by no means clear the guilty. In other words, God is just and
His justice shall be satisfied. That includes the just penalty
of death that is due unto sin. It shall, without fail, be executed. Fourthly, notice in these verses
that it's declared and then further elaborated on how this all-powerful
God will have His way. He's not only all-powerful, He
can have His way. It says here He will have His
way. God is totally sovereign and
in control of everything that takes place. He has His way as
the psalmist put it in Psalm 135, 6. Whatsoever the Lord please,
that did He in heaven and in earth, in the seas and all deep
places. God is sovereign and He will
have His way. Now continuing in verse 7, we
read, the Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and he
knoweth them that trust in him. Here we see the Lord's not only
jealous, a God of wrath, patient, all-powerful, just, by no means
clearing the guilty, a sovereign God who will have his way, but
Nahum here declares the truth that God is good. You know, as
Christ said in Matthew 19, there they had approached Christ and
called Him good master, but they thought it blasphemy for Him
to consider Himself as God and man. And He, when they called
Him good, He says, well, in verse 17, there's none good but one,
and that is God. And this singular goodness, the
only one that is good, you see, is reflected in the truth that
the Lord is the only trustworthy stronghold and refuge from the
just wrath of Almighty God. And to whom is the Lord a stronghold? To those he knows. And this is
speaking of an intimate knowledge. These are those he knows as the
objects of his redemptive love. those who will without fail. By virtue of the blood-bought
gift of faith, they will place their trust in Him as their one
and only stronghold." As a hymn writer put it, a mighty fortress
is our God. We're continuing now in verse
8, we read, excuse me, but with an overrunning flood He will
make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue
his enemies." And then Nahum poses this question, what do
ye imagine against the Lord? He will make an utter end. Affliction
shall not rise up the second time. Here Nahum prophesies how
an overrunning flood, as we come to know to be of the Tigris River,
how it would make an utter end of Nineveh. And so he poses the
question, what do you imagine against the Lord? You see there
we see he's asking a question and at the same time he's exposing
the folly of any answer that they might provide. For you see
in the wording of that question, he exposes that whatever they
might hope for, for deliverance, from the certain wrath of an
almighty God, it shall not stand because it's an imagined hope,
an imagined strong hope. What do you imagine? So whatever
they might trust in is a product of their own imagination, an
imaginary refuge. It shall not stand. The word
that's translated imagine there can be defined as what is your
conception or what do you conceive? And it also has the connotation
of that which is invented or fabricated. In other words, like
a fabricated lie, not real but imagined. The reality is that
where one places their trust for safety, protection, provision,
and refuge, it's either the one true stronghold that shall prevail
or else It is an imagined one, a figment of one's imagination
that shall tragically prove to be false. Well, likewise any
who, all of us perhaps, who consider ourselves among the saved, who
shall inhabit heaven's glory, we likewise see have some basis
for making that judgment. and the ground or basis of our
salvation is essentially our fortress, our refuge, that which
we believe will find us safe and secure from God's wrath against
our sins, His certain wrath. You see, it is our stronghold. But here's a question we need
to ask. Is my stronghold, is your stronghold
real or is it imagined? And that's not a question we
should casually cast aside because according to God's Word, the
very first natural place of spiritual refuge for all sinners is one
that by God's grace needs to be pulled down, cast aside at
some point. For we all see begin by placing
our initial trust in a stronghold of our imagination. and that
which will prove to be untrustworthy and false and shall not stand
up against the wrath of God." So with that, I want to look
at that familiar New Testament passage that I alluded to that
addresses strongholds and imaginations. And akin to the physical warfare
that Nineveh faced, there's a spiritual warfare spoken of there in 2
Corinthians chapter 10. So look with me as we pick up
on Paul's writing in verse 3. For though we walk in the flesh,
we do not war after the flesh." Paul's referring, saying here,
now I'm talking about a spiritual warfare, not a physical one.
And he continues saying, 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 exalteth
itself against the knowledge of God. bringing into captivity
every thought to the obedience of Christ. Now I want us to think
and ponder these verses. I think here we can see the keys
to understanding whether or not the Lord is truly our stronghold
or whether our stronghold is a false refuge, not real, but
merely imagined to be worthy of our trust. So first let's
review some irrefutable truths of Scripture that I think will
assist in our understanding of this passage. And in the interest
of time I won't have you turn there. I'll share the Scripture
references and if you'd like certainly jot them down and look
them up later on your own time. But first I want us to acknowledge
the truth as God declares in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 1 that
all of us are born dead. in trespasses and sin. And being
spiritually dead means we do not have the faculties of spiritual
life. We're physically born, we can
physically hear and see and understand, but being spiritually dead, we
cannot spiritually see, hear, and understand the things of
God. Secondly, as Christ told Nicodemus
in John 3, 7, he said, we must be born again. speaking of a
spiritual birth, born of the Spirit of God in order that we
might discern the things of God. And until we're born of the Spirit,
in our initial state of spiritual death, we do not know God as
He is. No matter how much we're taught
The natural man cannot know the things. We see that declared
by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 2.14. He said, the natural man,
that is what we are by nature, are physically born alive, and
yet before being given spiritual life, that natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness
unto him, neither can he know them. because they are spiritually
discerned. It's not a matter of intellect.
They're dead. It takes spiritual life. And as Paul told, lastly, the
Greek philosophers on Mars Hill, and as it recorded for us in
Acts 1731, he said, God now calls on all men everywhere to repent. Similarly, Christ told his hearers
in Luke 13 3, he said, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise
perish. Now, I remind you of these truths
from the broader context of all of scripture to help us in our
understanding of this passage in 2 Corinthians 10 on strongholds
and imaginations. And I ask you to think with me
today. If by your own assessment you've
never held imaginations or a stronghold that you perceive needed to be
cast aside, then there would be no need for the initial repentance
that God's Word says always accompanies God-given faith. All those who
are saved at some point are brought to repent of having before trusted
in an imagined stronghold, an imagined way of salvation, that
if we persisted in would tragically lead to our eternal demise. It would be us continuing on
what Christ called that broad road that leads to destruction.
As we often quote here, Proverbs 16, 25, there is a way that seemeth
right to a man, but the end thereof is the ways of death. And listen, no one holds on to
a stronghold. They know to be false. And when
I speak of repentance here, I'm not speaking of just sorrow over
our sins. I'm speaking of the initial repentance
that always takes place, whereby in faith we're turning towards
something. By definition, we're turning away from something else.
And even those who are brought up under the sound of the gospel,
experience this repentance because their first notions, when they
get serious, they may have heard the true gospel of God's grace
all their life, but their first notion is, okay, I'm serious
a little bit now. Think, what do I have to do to
be included among those? You see, that notion in itself
is the stronghold that must be torn down and is torn down by
all those whom God is gracious to. If you're truly among those
who already have been given spiritual life, then here's undeniable
evidence. By God-given faith and repentance,
you too will have cast aside that which you once mistakenly
imagined would find you in God's favor and or remove God's wrath. You will have been given the
gift of faith that always results in and is accompanied by repentance.
not just a sorrow over sin, but from ever having trusted in anything
other than the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work as your
stronghold, and that alone. Some will insist, as I certainly
would have, as a young religious man, wait a minute, this can't
apply to me. The Lord is my stronghold. I
was brought up in a Christian church. I've always looked to
Christ as my Savior. But listen to this. Consider
if your religious world, not your immoral world or your indifference
toward religion, but if your religious world has yet to be
turned upside down, know that is evidence that you have not
experienced true God-given faith and repentance, not according
to God's Word. If you can't identify that which
you sinfully and mistakenly once trusted in for your salvation
is something that has now been cast aside, then I implore you
to dig deeper and pray God will be merciful to you. One may presume
to be trusting in the Lord, at least as they sincerely imagine
him to be. But unless and until God opens
our eyes to repent of that which we all naturally, but mistakenly,
initially assume to be a false refuge, then you best be seeking
to see if perhaps your way is a flawed way. Seek the Lord while
he may be found. The Lord of this Bible, as we've
read about him this morning, And 2 Corinthians 10 is very
instructive toward this consideration. Paul writes that the weapons
of spiritual warfare are mighty through God. He can. He's the same almighty God who
we read about in Nahum chapter 1. He can pull down strongholds. And when God's gospel is made
effectual to us by God the Holy Spirit, the result is the pulling
down of the stronghold in which we previously trusted. The Spirit
exposes to us through this gospel that what we had presumed to
be a good hope, a safe refuge, was actually an imagined one,
a refuge of lies. That's God's description of it
through the prophet Isaiah and we'll look at that in just a
moment. Now the sense of 2 Corinthians 10 verses 4 and 5 is that the
pulling down of strongholds involves, as we read in verse 5, the casting
down of imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself
against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every
thought to the obedience of Christ. And this is very revealing language
here. That which we imagine, our concept
of God of the Lord Jesus Christ and his work, what was accomplished
there at Calvary. That which we imagine by nature
we see must be cast down. So how might it be exposed to
us that we've been trusting in an imagined stronghold rather
than a real one? We wouldn't continue to trust
in that which we knew to be a lie or to be false. Well, here's
a probing question. Is that which we currently trust
in something that could be said to exalt itself against, in opposition
to the knowledge of God as He is revealed in the scripture?
We read in Nahum, God is jealous, a God of wrath, patient, all-powerful,
just, by no means clearing the guilty. sovereign God who will
have his way, and a good God, merciful and gracious, a true
stronghold to those he knows in his redemptive love who, in
time, are irresistibly drawn to trust in Christ and him alone
for all of their salvation. So does the ground or basis,
as you see it, as I see it, of our own salvation, does it stand
in opposition to that God? to God's chief design now to
reveal Himself as He truly is according to the Scripture. You
see, this thing about knowing God as He is, it's a big deal. For His very glory, what He is
like, that's His chief design in all that He does and that
includes in the salvation of sinners. You know, we're prone
to think that God's way of salvation or the consideration of that,
His gospel, is about us. It's what God does for us. And
listen, those God saves are certainly blessed in Christ. But His chief
design, even in that, is that He might be worshipped, that
He might be uniquely revealed in what Christ accomplished in
the way of salvation. as Christ prayed in John 17 3,
and this is life eternal that they might know thee, the only
true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. God is jealous
of the honor of His glory, of the revelation of who He is.
and His greatest glory, His redemptive glory, see, is revealed to all
those He saves, His glory in the person and redemptive work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We read of that in 2 Corinthians
4, 6, where it says, For God, who commanded the light to shine
out of darkness, the Almighty Creator, who spoke this world
into existence, who said, Let there be light, and there was
light. That God who can, Almighty God,
He shines definitely without fail in our hearts. He's speaking
here to believers to give the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God where? In the face. That means in the
person and finished work of Jesus Christ. Well, the last part of
verse 5 in 2 Corinthians 10 should help us discern if our thoughts
are among the numerous false notions that would stand against
or oppose to the knowledge of God as He is. As we just read,
as He's revealed in the face of Jesus Christ in His person
and word. That last phrase, and bringing
into captivity every fault to the obedience of Christ. Now
that's quite telling. The sense here is that any imagined
way of salvation that opposes knowing God would be manifested
by thoughts, thoughts that salvation. And it's talking, this is not
every thought, waking thought we have, but it's in the context
here. It's talking about the stronghold of our salvation,
the issue of our salvation doctrine. The thought that salvation is
at least in some way or to some degree based upon something other
than or something in addition to. Anything other than the singular
obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ would be one that would be opposed
to the knowledge of God as He is. Notice it reads there, every
fault. Speaking of Christ here and His
obedience, as a substitute for all those he came to save, as
the scripture puts it, and obedience even unto the death of the cross.
Christ perfectly satisfied God's holy justice by accomplishing,
rendering as a substitute for his people a perfect righteousness. whereby God manifests, reveals
who He is, the knowledge of Him, how He can be both a just God
who shall by no means clear the guilty and still be a good God,
a merciful and gracious Savior. The righteousness of God that
He, Christ, accomplished is that very satisfaction that He, God
the Son, rendered to the holy and strict and inflexible justice
of God the Father. Christ satisfied the Father's
justice as a representative and substitute on behalf of all those
he knows, those objects of his redemptive love, those for whom
he lived and died, those who shall accordingly in every generation
put their trust solely in him and his finished substitutionary
Christ's perfect, sinless obedience and satisfaction to God's justice
was rendered not for Himself, but it was rendered on the behalf
of guilty sinners. And so the penalty had to be
extracted if God was to be just. He had to die in their place. Christ, God the Son, experienced
in their place the just wrath of God the Father against their
sin. Christ's paying see in full the
just penalty of death for their sins. Sins that He had no part
in producing but they were imputed or accounted unto Him. All the
sins of all those that were given to Him by His Father. All those
for whom Christ lived and died. So here's a question. Has your
every thought as it concerns your acceptance before God in
this context where It's pertaining to the stronghold of your salvation.
Has every thought concerning that been brought into subjection
or captivity to the obedience of Christ alone? If you presume
to be saved or presume others could be saved, if there's salvation
in your way of thinking based upon anything other than Christ's
righteousness having been imputed or accounted unto you. That is,
the merit of his obedience, his obedience unto death. On your
behalf, then know that would represent an imaginary stronghold,
as the last part of verse five there would teach us. In other
words, an imagined, not a real way of salvation that shall not
stand. Just as Nineveh experienced an
overrunning flood God's wrath and their physical destruction.
God, through the prophet Isaiah, he speaks of the flood of his
sure and certain to occur wrath against sin. A flood from which
none can hide. Hear these words from Isaiah
28 beginning in verse 14. He writes, wherefore hear the
word of the Lord, Jehovah God who saved ye scornful men. that rule this people, which
is in Jerusalem. Because ye have said, we've made
a covenant with death, and with hell are we in agreement. In
other words, they're saying, we've made our peace. And our
stronghold, we have a stronghold that will keep us out of hell.
And they've said, when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it
shall not come unto us. In other words, don't worry about
me, I'm okay. For we, and notice it says, have
made lies our refuge. Now we have to understand here,
no one makes a lie they are aware is a lie their refuge. Rather, they would say, we have
a refuge. But Isaiah's commentary on their
refuge is that it's a refuge of lies. And they would say,
and under falsehood have we hid ourselves. Likewise, they would
say, we have a hiding place that'll take care of us. In Isaiah's
commentary on it, it's under falsehood. Therefore thus saith
the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion. Now that's the true church
of God for a foundation, a stone. a tried stone, a precious cornerstone,
a sure foundation. Speaking of Christ, we sang of
that in the song in our bulletin this morning. He that believeth
shall not make haste. Christ is worthy of our trust.
He's not a fault or a vain refuge. Judgment also will I lay to the
line and righteousness to the plummet. He's saying, just like
that carpenter's plumb line or plumb bob, that here's how he's
going to measure. You better have a perfect righteousness,
that which Christ alone rendered in his obedience unto death. Anything else, anything out of
plumb with that shall not stand. And the hell shall sweep away
the refuge of lies. And the water shall overflow
the hiding place, just like water can find every crack and crevice.
There's nowhere to hide. And your covenant with death
shall be disannoyed, and your agreement with hell shall not
stand. When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall
be trodden down by it. Well, as we learn from Nahum,
God is jealous. He's a God of wrath. He's patient
and long-suffering. He's all-powerful. He's just. He'll by no means clear the guilty.
He's a sovereign God who will have His way. And we should all
ask ourselves if our way of salvation, our gospel, is it consistent
with knowing God as He is so described? There are many variations
of salvation doctrine that fall in the category of imaginations
that need to be pulled down, that need to be and are cast
down when God is pleased to save a sinner in the day of His power.
Like so many, I too once imagined that I was trusting in the Lord,
in Christ. I thought He was my Savior. And
yet, in believing even the doctrine that is so popular in our day
that he lived and died for all men without exception. You see,
it was exposed to me that the real difference in my presumed
salvation was not Christ the Savior, but rather my Savior
was my faith, my believing. And in hindsight, I know that
my thoughts, my doctrine, gave evidence. See, I was just like
every other spiritually dead sinner by nature at that time.
In this way, our initial stronghold is always an imagined one. The
God at that time, for example, to show you how it exalted itself
against the knowledge of God, He certainly could not be called
just. I imagine Christ died for the
sins of all, even those who Listen, those who never even their entire
lifetime showed any interest whatsoever in religion. And so
I believed the Bible's testimony that most would perish in hell. So I figured God would send these
folks to hell for whom Christ had already died. God had poured
His wrath out on His only begotten Son for their sins. And he'd
say, yeah, I know you paid for them, Christ, but they're going
to go on to hell anyway. Think of the unjust monster that
existed in the evil imagination of my natural but spiritually
dead heart. There's no greater evil that
is so diametrically opposed to God's glory than the evil found
in our false religious notions. Certainly, every thought of mine
at that time had not been brought into captivity to the obedience
of Christ. But thank God, under the preaching
of this very gospel of God's sovereign grace, that gospel
Paul said is the power of God unto salvation, for therein is
the righteousness of God revealed, this obedience unto death. God gave me life and by His Spirit
He pulled down the former stronghold whereby I assume salvation was
ultimately, in some way, conditioned on something that proceeded from
me. Not solely based on the finished obedience of Christ unto death
on the cross that was completed, fully accomplished some two thousand
years ago. Thankfully, those imaginations
were cast down. And I pray that's the case or
will be the case for everyone who hears this message. In Nahum
chapter 3, the prophet declares unto Nineveh in verse 12, all
thy strongholds shall be like fig trees with the first ripe
figs. If they be shaken, they shall
even fall into the mouth of the eater." The picture there, you
ever picked a first ripe fig and you shake them, you see how
easy they fall off the trees? The picture there is the guys
underneath just waiting to devour them. They'll fall right off,
you see, they shall not stand. Two verses later in verse 14,
Nahum speaks with a bit of sarcasm, I think, or irony, when he says,
it's as if he's saying, go ahead. Draw thee waters for the siege.
Fortify thy strongholds. Go into clay and tread the mortar.
Make strong the brick kiln. There shall the fire devour. The sword shall cut thee off.
It shall cut thee up or eat thee up like the canker worm." And
he keeps on going there, describing their sure destruction. But you
know, as is often the case when the truth of God's gospel first
comes our way, And we're told of the necessity of bringing
every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ in
such a way that it makes us look to Him alone for all of our salvation. Our tendency is to cling to that
which we've been taught, or to not give up on controlling our
own destiny. We really don't like by nature
to be reduced to a mercy beggar. And so what do we do? We often
try to fortify our own strongholds. We'll say, you've challenged
me, but I'm going to put that out of my mind. But it does,
since I'm a little uneasy, I'm going to get a little bit more
serious about the stronghold I have now. I'm going to pray
more. I'm going to read my Bible more, go to church more. Whatever
it is that you imagine will keep you in God's favor or keep you
from experiencing the wrath of God against your sin. What will it be for you? You
know, to use Nahum's words, Will you imagine against the Lord? Imagine that anything other than
or in addition to that obedience of Christ, that perfect satisfaction
to justice that was rendered by Christ, that that will find
you safe from the just wrath of almighty, all-powerful God? Well, there's good news. Christ endured the full wrath
of God due unto the sins of everyone for whom he died. You see, God,
He's jealous of His glory. He's not going to save anyone
at the expense of His justice. He cannot and He will not deny
Himself as He is. Listen, as both a just God and
a Savior. Well, if you truly trust in Christ
for all your salvation, you know it is by God's grace in Christ.
It's by His blood-bought gift of faith. And thereby, you can
know that the Lord is truly your stronghold. And that's a real
stronghold and certainly worthy of our trust.