Making a Strong Hold Weak — Shane Idleman

Making a Stronghold Weak

The title is, Making a Stronghold Weak. Making a Stronghold Weak. Do you know what a stronghold is? Oh, you know what it is because you've been trying to get rid of it. How do you make a stronghold weak?

Demonology and Spiritual Strongholds

In this area of theology now that I'm in, we're going through the character of God, the nature of God, I've got systematic theology books, I'm looking at the chapter headings. The next one that's coming up is demonology.

You know what that is? Just the name doesn't sound good, does it? Demonology, it's not the name of a rock group. It is the study of demons, the study of angels, the study of miracles, that whole spiritual realm, the demonic realm.

And I've told you before John MacArthur or Wayne Grudem or Norman Geisler, if you want a view in the middle and different things, because they all look at things differently from election to predestination to the church being, you know, Israel replacing the church to baptism to different things.

So I look at different areas here and it gave me a headache because there is a lot of information on this area of demonology, primarily looking to the Bible alone. And this message started to turn from even as early as 5 this morning, turning from what it was to now taking out a page or two and adding different things in there, coming out of this area on strongholds.

Because to be forewarned, you've heard me say this before, is to be forearmed. If you know somebody is coming to hit you, what are you going to do? You're ready, right? Or if a car is going to hit you, okay, I'm not going that direction.

So same thing with the demonic realm, demonology. And this might take a message or two or three, I'm not sure. I'm just kind of, again, whatever is burning in my heart, whatever God kind of puts together as I'm reading the word, I just kind of bring it to you.

That's why I probably wouldn't be graded very well on sermon preparation or sermon, actually they call it homiletics on, you know, sermons and how they're prepared and you need your thesis, your introduction, your three points, you need a closing argument, you need to have a practical application, make sure they need to stick with the title.

You don't want to go over three points. You have to make sure your opening paragraph or opening sentence is strong, about 14, 15 words, make sure it brings the reader in. I'm like, wow, that's how you do a sermon?

I mean, that's good stuff, but sometimes I'm just all over the place. So I'm trying to get back to that, but I'm also being freed by what God wants to speak to you because every service is different. What I say to you is often a lot different than when I say the second service.

The notes are the same, but they go on many different rabbit trails. That's why some people like to stay at both services because they think they get two different messages. So making a stronghold weak, theology on fire part four.

An aspect of theologies I just said is demonology. There's, I think, over 100, I should have looked, 118 mentions or so in the New Testament primarily. The Old Testament doesn't have as many mentions of demons, if you can believe that.

The New Testament has, I think, 75 of the mentions. And I find that ironic that now people think that doesn't matter to us today. Somehow, Jesus cast them out. Somehow, Jesus dealt with the demons. Somehow, Paul dealt with the demons.

And now today, thank God, we don't have to do that anymore. I don't know about that. But there are different views on what I'm going to open with. Have you heard of Pastor Robert Morris, a big church, Gateway Church?

Maybe you've heard of Gateway Worship. Carrie Jobe, anybody? Ring, ring bell. I think she started there. Anybody heard of Derrick Prince, who passed away many, many years ago? Anybody heard of John MacArthur?

Guess what? Lot of different views. Lot of different views. Derrick Prince would teach that a believer can actually have a demon and not possessed, I'm careful here, not possessed, but have a demon where they need deliverance to be freed.

Robert Morris would be along the same lines. John MacArthur, not even close. Let me read what he wrote. Can they, mean demons, walk through an open door and become a squatter? Proponents of today's spiritual warfare movement say yes, but they base their answer on subjective experience, not on God's word.

The Bible makes it clear that such a claim has no justifiable basis. There's no clear example in the Bible where a demon ever inhabited or invaded a true believer. Never in the New Testament epistles are believers warned about the possibility of being inhabited by demons.

Neither do we see anyone rebuking, binding, or casting out demons of a true believer. Confused? I was a little bit until you just look to God's word, but there will be gray area. Now the reason I think personally, because there's a gray area and a division between the men I just mentioned, is there's always a divide often between conservatives and charismatics, right?

Conservative and Charismatic Approaches to Spiritual Warfare

Conservatives, the word of God alone, I like that. You're conservative, word of God alone. Don't get too emotional. Don't sing half the songs we just sang. Don't you dare raise your hands. You know, it's conservative.

We don't worship, we just, we're conservative. We're not gonna get emotional. We're not gonna get crazy about demons, that they don't really manifest themselves. And it's just, just this conservative type atmosphere.

It does, it is void of emotion, often. It's void of, of many things. But there are many positive things. I mean, when you, are you conservative or you're liberal? It's good to be conservative when it comes to biblical doctrine, the fundamentals of the faith.

And then charismatics, right, seem to be open to more, to things. But you have to be careful because when you're open, you can be open to too much. Right? If it, I mean, I have people blaming demons on everything.

Are you gotta be kidding me? There's a demon of coffee? There's a demon of bad moods? There's a demon on cavities? I mean, guys, come on. You know, and so they're, but they're more expressive in their worship.

They're more, yeah, demonology and casting out demons. So that's why you always have a battle between often opposing views, because one are very conservative in their, in their theology. Some are very open and more expressive, more the Holy Spirit.

You know the language, right? I, I could read something. I could read something. And again, I'm not endorsing anybody, really. I'm just telling you what people believe. I can read something very profound and deep on the Holy Spirit.

And say, by John MacArthur, people say, oh my Lord, that is wonderful. I read the same exact statement and say that was by Jack Hayford. Uh-uh, mm-mm, no, there's, mm-mm, I don't know if I quite agree with that.

You see how that works? The prejudice we have? Often, and, and I'll get into if we get into the Holy Spirit, I've talked about before, but our experience, and how we view the Holy Spirit, I should say, how we view the work of the Holy Spirit, how we view this area, is what we've experienced, right?

You're gonna have a hard time telling somebody that the gifts of the Holy Spirit don't exist today if they've experienced them. You, it's gonna be impossible. You might as well tell them the sun doesn't come up.

Oh, that's from the devil. Well, Paul talked about it. Well, you can't speak in tongues. Well, Paul did. I mean, see, it's of the devil. No, because they've never experienced it. Now, we never judge our experience, we never judge the scripture in light of our experience, right?

Well, I have experienced this. Cuz all the new, I could have a new age person probably come in and sing that song, Holy Spirit, you're welcome here. And their idea, their definition of love is different than mine, right?

New age philosophy, love, God is love, he's everywhere. I've experienced that. Now, does your experience line up with scripture? So when your experience lines up with scripture, it's very safe ground, very safe ground.

And I think it was D. Martin Lloyd-Jones who said, never interpret the Bible based on your experience. Always interpret your experience based on the Bible. And he was actually a proponent, D. Martin Lloyd-Jones, last chapter, I believe, of his books.

He's got teaching on the baptism of the Holy Spirit, a term I don't really use that much. He was taught on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit being still active today. As a result, his conservative publisher removed him from publication.

And this is a book that Preachers and Preaching is one of the top books that conservative pastors recommend. But when they get on this topic, now, actually, D. Martin Lloyd-Jones caught heat. John Piper wrote a wonderful article about it, because even though he promoted the gifts, they were never there.

Isn't that interesting? He believed in them, but he never saw them. And it is a topic I'm hoping to get into in the future, but that was a very long rabbit trail to just explain why these guys are divided.

Because when you understand why they're divided, you can better understand. I can understand what John MacArthur's saying. I truly believe you don't need to cast a demon out of a believer. I truly believe that there's not this demon in a believer that's making, I just can't stop.

I'm a believer, I love the Lord, but I just can't, this demon is like controlling me. I'm a robot. I see what he's saying. But on the other hand, there is a demonic realm that works against us. Well, how does it work?

I'm glad you asked. That's what we're talking about. Here, in my opinion, here is what I think. People cannot be possessed, but they can be oppressed. Oppressed means subject to hard treatment. In other words, the demonic realm, you can't come in here.

I'm living for the Lord. I'm doing what you can, but can God, through his sovereignty or permission or other areas or maybe God's wanting to discipline, can the demonic realm come in and harass my health?

Heart palpitations, illness, you know, that is a very good possibility. What happened to Job? So, the good thing for the believer is to know he can't come in and make me do what I don't want to do. And we've gotten, on this side, the charismatic has scared a lot of people.

Shane, I don't know if I have a demon. I can't, what's going on? I'm so worried. Don't, if you're a believer, don't worry. Greater is he that's in you than he that's in the world. So, any believer can stand against that demonic oppression.

That's why, though, they, Paul talks about a stronghold. Don't give the enemy a place, right? Don't give the enemy a foothold. Don't open the door for the enemy. Because when you open the door, he comes in.

So, it really isn't about possession. It's how often you want to keep the door shut and oppressing you. So, I see, and I like Derek Prince's teachings. I've read his, but some of the things I'm like, that is, that is, I mean, you can't, you can't disprove, I mean, he's got a lot of proof of things happening in his meetings.

So do other people's, other people I've talked to. Robert Morris, in one of his sermons, he talks about somebody coming to him, saying, man, you've got a lot of demons in you that still need to be removed.

I'm like, I'm trying to, you know, these guys are sincere and they've, and they were set free, so I'm, okay, what's going on here? Is it the demons that have to be removed or the stronghold that has to be removed?

And the demons are working through that. So, lots to think about as we're getting into this. A demon can't make a believer do anything unless you can show me one scripture. Because all the scriptures I see say resist, flee, make no provision for, fight the good fight, put on the armor, don't let this mind, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.

And you have this aspect of fighting and warfare, not being captive and led to do things we don't want to do. But what about Paul, oh, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of sin and death, right?

We talked about that last week. Who's going to deliver me from the things I want to do, I don't want to do. And the things I want to do, I don't, or vice versa. I don't know what he said there. But, so is that a demon making him do that?

Or is that, that to me sounds like the normal Christian struggle, right? You ever go through that? I want to, okay, what I talked about earlier. Lord, I want to take care, better care of my body. Why do I keep falling in this area?

I want to have clean, pure thoughts. See, I can get real with the 9 AM, right? Okay, 11, I'm going to have to walk on eggshells a little bit. But why do I have these? What are they, oh, wretched man that I am.

So it's not about demonic, necessarily, a demon taking over, but about the stronghold that we've allowed or that may be a point of entry, maybe that God has allowed. We're going to talk about that in a minute.

If a person begins to entertain thoughts of fear, jealousy, anger, or bitterness, and they stop reading God's word. If they open a door again to any type of addictive substance, they will get bound again.

So there's a stronghold there. So how do you make a stronghold weak? Here's how, I'm going to show you. I'm going to work through this. Hopefully, I had to take out a couple pages, because I don't want to keep you here two hours and ten minutes.

We can only do that Wednesday nights. This use, this use, let me see there, that sentence structure didn't work. I knew this morning's time would be a little rushed. Okay, let's do this. Is there a stronghold always on me?

Or how can I get free? Is it always going to be there, or how can I get free? Often, in our younger years, is where we open the door, correct? If there's something you've been battling, it's usually been opened earlier on in your life.

There's a stronghold that the enemy goes after. And what's a struggle for you isn't a struggle for me, right? And vice versa, vice versa. I mean, you can put a lot of things on my kitchen countertop, and I'm not going to touch them.

For marijuana to vike it into whatever, it's just trash. But you put an ice cold six pack of beer in the refrigerator for a month, or two, or three, and I have to see that every day, and go back to the enemies using the same thing he did years ago.

You see how it works? Now, I was around at an event last night everywhere. But it was, you know, go home and no big deal. So it's not, you know, it's a constant thing. But if I put it in front of me, and use that same thing the enemy used, and want to play petty cat with the devil, and you know what that is.

That's why it's good to have filters on a computer, or monitor a computer, or relationships. See, we all have areas, right, that we know if I go back to that area, if I go back to that, the devil's going to have a heyday.

He's going to, just like, oh, Shane's going back to the bait, or you're going back to the bait. So that's how strongholds work. Often, the enemy watches how we were in our younger years, and he'll go back to those things.

Fear, anybody have that stronghold? Fear just comes on me, anxiety, jealousy, bitterness, where's this coming? Shane, I've tried, I've done all that I can do. What is this stronghold? But I do get emails sometimes when I teach on this, and people take the other view, that a Christian can have a demon.

And they'll say, but Shane, as a Christian, I was delivered on a certain day from this, whatever it is. Usually, it's pornography, some type of an addiction, alcohol, pain meds, nicotine, all kinds of things.

People are just, I've been for 20 years, and I'm finally set free. But my question is, was it because of possession, or due to the fact that the person repented and cried out to God? But then the person would say, but I have done that many times before.

Correct, but sometimes it's a fight. Remember, strongholds often don't just come crumbling down. I wish that a person would repent, believe, and all their troubles are over. But often it's a fight, it's a struggle until the day we are buried, and you have a funeral service, or a memorial service.

Memorial service is without the casket, just in case you want to know that. So there's this fight that happens. Personally, I can't say that a person has a demon, and that's why they are ensnared. Often, the person blames the demon for their sin, but the Bible does not teach that.

Have you ever seen that? And I talk to people, but man, Shane, the devil's really on me this week. He's on my marriage, he's having a heyday in my life. No, you're just being really mean to your spouse and your kids.

Did you really say that to her? Yeah, the devil made me do it. No, he didn't. No, he didn't. The devil doesn't make you do anything as a believer. Show me one scripture where you are a robot to the demonic influence.

Now, I'm not minimizing the struggle, right? Amen? There's a stronghold, there's a struggle. The demonic realm, I don't know if there's an open door that the person gives him. I don't know if it's a besetting sin.

Because the more you give into a sin, the stronger that sin becomes. And the harder it is to get out of that sin. So could it be that God in his mercy lifts the oppression instead of a demon leaving? Could it be that God, okay, lifts the time of oppression instead of a demon really leaving?

The demonic influence, the oppression leaves, versus a demon having residence in the body of the believer. Could it be that the person finally, fully surrenders their life instead of secretly wanting to continue in the sin?

As you can see, there's a lot of unanswered questions, right? Now, this might not be true for you guys, but for most people struggling, not all, but most, the flesh kind of likes the sin. You realize that, right?

Why do I keep, because the flesh likes it. Why do I keep, the flesh is satisfied, that's why. If it had no effect, the flesh didn't like it, we would never touch it. I've never seen anybody OD on broccoli, right?

Shane, I had too many heads of lettuce today. What's going on with me? Right, no enticement, no hook, nothing, no allurement, nothing. So we have to remember that sometimes, is it because we still have a silent love for that sin?

John Owen, a Puritan author, wrote a great book on holiness. I don't know the title of him. But he talks about, either John Owen or J .C. Ryle. J .C. Ryle wrote another good book on holiness as well. But they talk about, he said, you have to crucify your sin.

You can't cuddle it and hold on to it. You have to crucify and get rid of it. So that's maybe what might be happening in these people's lives who experience deliverance. Now, again, I'm learning like you are.

I might get to heaven and say, you know what, Shane, you kind of missed it on this one. A demon can do that. But then you have God's word that says he can't. So I lean towards that type. Because Paul, we'll talk about in a minute, Paul experienced some things, believers experienced things.

But I don't want a person to be left with the impression they have a demon, they are hopeless. And unless that demon is cast out, they're gonna be bound to their addiction until the day they die. Unless I can get this demon, and people believe that.

I don't believe that. I don't believe that a person is left destitute until that demonic, whatever it is, is completely removed. Because the Bible talks about putting on the armor of God, fighting the good fight.

We're gonna talk about that right now. Sometimes there is a release, but often there is a fight. I mean, think about it, if we were just released, there would never be a fight, would there? If there's not a fight, why does Paul say the weapons of your warfare?

You can't get any stronger in the language than that. The weapons of your warfare, putting on the whole armor of God. You show me what's stronger than this. He's giving this image of a believer with a sword that wasn't meant to cut the dandelions, right?

It was meant to kill, to pierce. A shield from demonic attack. Righteous, a breastplate of righteousness to hold everything up with the belt of truth, to put on our feet the preparation of the gospel, a piece to have on our head, the helmet of salvation.

I just saw, it was actually yesterday at this place where they had the knight's armor, right? And I'm like, how do people even wear that? Could you, you're walking around like a big tin man. You know, your sword and, but they had all that armor, why?

To protect them from dying, from being killed. Same thing with, Paul says, there is a fight. And somehow we think, if I could just get this demon out, there would no longer be a fight. Well, if that ever happened, please show me.

Write a book on it. Because I want to live that carefree life where there's no longer struggle. I'm walking in heaven on earth. But you can weaken that stronghold. You can weaken that grip. And I have seen many people set free.

Shane, God just set me free that morning during worship. I haven't had a cigarette, or I haven't had this, or I haven't had lustful thoughts. I'm set free, praise God. And that is a gift of God and his mercy.

Paul's Thorn and Strength in Weakness

And somehow something was released. But regardless of your view in this, there is hope and instruction in 2 Corinthians 12. We're gonna put that up. And you can turn to 2 Corinthians 12. So regardless of what you believe, this is what we need to do.

Because I'm not the type of person who's just gonna sit at home and pray that the demon leaves. Right? It reminds me of the man who prayed, Lord, help me overcome alcohol and gambling as he drove to Vegas.

How's that gonna work out for him? Is God just gonna supernaturally turn his car around and I'm heading back to Barstow? How did that happen? Regardless of the view, okay, regardless of your view, here is our hope, here is our instructions.

We're gonna put it up on the screen. 2 Corinthians 12. If you have your Bibles, you can turn to 2 Corinthians 12, seven through nine. There should be Bibles in front of you as well. And this is Paul writing.

Now think about this. Paul was shown the glories of heaven. Have you ever seen the glories of heaven? Has Jesus ever taken you to heaven and revealed himself? And there's words, can't even explain it.

Can you explain, what would you say? Oh, it was so bright, but it was not, it was brighter than the sun. What's brighter than the sun? Well, it was so pure and holy, and well, I can't explain it. Like white, like driven snow?

No, whiter, like, you know, you just can't do it justice when you experience God. So Paul was experiencing God. He was taken up to the third heaven, I believe it says, and this wonderful revelation was given to him by God.

So he said, and lest I should be exalted, which means because of this vision, and because God didn't want me to be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, look at this, a thorn in the flesh was given to me.

Oh, that's a wonderful gift. A messenger of Satan. So Paul says here that God allowed a messenger of Satan to come against him to keep him humble and broken because of the magnitude of what he saw. Because something, God knows what's best for us.

The more the flesh is exalted, the more prideful it will become. If Paul says, I haven't dealt with anything, I don't struggle with anything, I saw heaven, I've seen people set free, he'll think he's Jesus.

And he'll become prideful and arrogant. So God, in his love and his mercy, sends a messenger, something to buffet us against being exalted and pride coming in. So he says, this thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan, lest I be exalted above measure.

In other words, there's a certain degree of exaltation that God allows, that God lets us look at Paul and say, oh wow, look at what Paul accomplished to God the glory. There's a certain amount of that, but when you're exalted above measure of what should be allowed, God will do something about that.

Concerning this thing, this thorn in the flesh, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. Sound familiar? Lord, please take this away. Just please, come on guys, you can relate, right?

Nobody's ever prayed this prayer, I'm in the wrong church. Lord, please take this away. Lord, take this away, take this away. And God said something interesting. He said, my grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.

Therefore, most gladly, I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. So in a nutshell, Paul was going to be exalted because God was using him in a powerful way. And he gave him, now personally, I believe this could be, what is a messenger of Satan?

Could it be demonic harassment? Because people say Paul's eyesight, Paul's maybe lustful thoughts, maybe demonic attack, nobody knows. So don't try to guess this morning, right? Don't try to guess, because nobody knows, because I believe it can fit your situation.

We don't know what it is. But Paul said, this came against me, that this thorn in my flesh that would, and buffet means to harass the flesh. You know, when Paul said, I buffet my body, I bring my body into subjection, did you know that?

You're supposed to discipline your body. It's not the other way around. We're called as believers to discipline our body, from spending to overeating to consuming to attitudes, everything, we're called, we won't be perfect on this side of heaven, but we're called to discipline our bodies and not allow our bodies to discipline or control us.

So it's that same word, when Paul said, I buffet myself, the same word is that Satan came to buffet him. So is a stronghold a messenger of Satan? I believe that it can. I believe that God, that Satan can use a stronghold to buffet us and to come against us.

Something was sent, it was, at least it appears to me that Paul didn't necessarily deal with this until this revelation of heaven, and he said, God, to keep me humble, right, that's why you should pray, God, don't do that to me, I'll stay humble, I'll stay humble, don't send a messenger to humble me, I'll stay humble, but he sent a messenger to buffet his flesh, to keep Paul humble.

It's interesting, weakness and humility go together, because what it looks like is when you have this, couple things, when you have this messenger Satan or you have this stronghold, you begin to realize how fragile you are, right?

You're one step away from going back into that lifestyle. You're one step away from failing again. Lord, I am so weak. Paul said, that's why Paul said, oh, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of sin?

I want to do the things, I don't do the things I want to do, and I do the things I don't want to do, sound familiar? So that's the struggle Paul is in, but that doesn't mean he had permission to cave into it, that just means he identified the struggle there.

So how this works is the more you realize your weakness and it humbles you, the more you rely on God and his strength is then seen through you, because you humble yourself and God's strength is made perfect in your weakness.

He exalts, he strengthens, he lifts you up, and that's how it works. When we walk around strong in our self-discipline, confident in our skill, and self-reliant in our ability, a fall is coming. I need to read that again.

Did you catch that? When you walk around strong in your self-discipline, you ever do that? I'm strong, I'm confident in my skill, I'm self-reliant, I'm doing so good, a fall is coming. That's why you need to be very careful when you say, I haven't touched whatever for a month.

I haven't stumbled in six months. Look at how good I'm doing. Back away, because that's fertile soil for the enemy to work. How do you know God just didn't lift it off in his grace and his mercy and honored your commitment, and now he says, okay, you want it, you got it.

I'm gonna let the messenger loose. And the thing you thought you had whipped is now whipping you. Take heed lest you fall. Paul said, take heed lest you fall, because pride comes in. So as you stay broken and humble, God will continue to work on that.

There's not too many people who fall back into certain patterns when they're broken and humble before the God. It's usually when we get out of that, we start taking pride in what we've accomplished. It's also a good reminder that God will not use an arrogant man.

God will not use an arrogant man. Now, you might say, like I thought, well, he'll use Pharaoh, right? He'll use wicked kings. No, I'm not talking about using things in his sovereignty. I'm talking about God will not use a proud man to do his will on earth to lead people to the cross.

If you want to know God's will, if you want to be used mightily of God, you cannot be a proud, arrogant man. Actually, God says, it was A .W. Tozer who said, before God can use you greatly, he will hurt you deeply.

I didn't like that quote when I first heard it, but it is so true. Isn't it, because to truly help people, you have to be very humble. To truly help people, you have to be humbled. We've got too many people walking in, they're Bible thumpers, they know Scripture, but the Scripture doesn't know them.

The heart hasn't been broken before God. So before God uses a person, a man or woman mightily, he breaks them greatly. If I had a list, I could show you all the missionaries that we've heard of, Adoniah Jetson, Hudson Taylor, that went on the mission field, and how many lost children.

Or they lost their spouse, or debilitating disease, and God saw them through. It was in that weakness, in that brokenness, that God began to use them. So when a person is proud and lifted up, God can't use them very mightily until he breaks that out of them.

Breaks that out of them. That's one of my concerns for young men leaving, graduating from seminary. They're 24, and they're not full of humility. What are they full of? Pride, pride, pride. I'm gonna show them off, right?

I'm gonna show them, and all this pride and arrogance. Oh, look at how well my sermon is prepared. I'm gonna give them the word of God, and they just, and God says, okay, for the next 10 years, I'm gonna break you, and then you'll be ready.

You can come back and minister at 34, not 24. Now, younger people have that, right? Don't get me wrong. I mean, there's people that are humble, and they're younger. I know some, but this area of pride, God won't use a proud person unless he can begin to break them.

It was funny. I don't know if I should. I didn't tell it at the first service, but I used to tell this story once a year in Lancaster, but it was this story I heard of a young seminary graduate. He was about 24, and he graduated seminary, and he was preparing his sermon the week prior, and it met all the rules of hermeneutics and homiletics.

It had its introduction. It's had its flow. It had its set and structure, and he came up there all proud and arrogant. He said, I'm gonna tell people the word of God. I'm gonna have 10 salvations. I am gonna have 10, you know, and he's just arrogant and preaching and full of himself, and God humbled him.

He forgot where he was in his Bible. His notes were actually off a little bit and off from where the printer messed up, and just an utter failure. He felt like an utter failure, and in total humility, in total humility and brokenness, he had to walk down the steps in humility and brokenness and sit down, and the old usher next to him said, young man, if you would've went up those steps the same way you went down those steps, you would've succeeded.

Isn't that true? If you would've went up there in brokenness and humility, God would've used you. Listen, guys, this is the secret to the victorious Christian life. Humble yourself, and God will exalt you.

You exalt yourself, and God will humble you, and if you expect me to stand up here and tell you how to be humble perfectly, you got the wrong guy, right, because it comes in to all of us. All of us struggle with pride, but the difference is, is it a struggle or is it a lifestyle?

Are we admitting, saying, Lord, I need you? I can see pride flaring up. I can, keep me humble, Lord, keep me broken before you, and truly mean it, because a lot of people will pray that, right? You got a big prayer meeting.

Oh, Lord, keep me humble. You don't mean a word of that. You just want to show people how humble you are. You don't mean, God's got your number, so it has to be genuine humility. So was this thorn given to Paul?

By God, was it a demonic attack? Was it a physical eyesight or something? We don't know, because it can pertain to all of us. Sickness, doubt, fear, depression, debilitating health, lustful thoughts, we don't know, but I'm gonna share one key with you that I hope is really helpful, that's been helpful for me.

Addressing Spiritual, Medical, and Physical Causes

When it comes to this area of making a stronghold weak, I would remove all probable causes as I pray and seek God. So I hit it from a demonic angle, I hit it from a medical angle, and I'll hit it from a health angle, because all of them can influence us in some degree.

It can be a demonic attack, it can be something that we can't quite explain that's happening medically in our body, can be happen from our DNA, can be happen because of poor health. You look at all areas and you seek God for wisdom.

Let me give you just an example of what I mean. I heard recently, a couple weeks ago, about a seven-year-old boy, I think he was, he was having suicidal thoughts, and he was drawing pictures of him killing people, and his mom was just beside herself, she said, what is going on?