Regaining Lost Ground

Pastor Shane Idleman: See, that's what we don't understand. His mercy and He wants revival more than we do. He want his mercy and his grace reach down and he wants to blanket us and shower us with his mercy and his grace on behalf of a people who are living for him. And so he says here, give us a measure of revival in our bondage. And for those unaware, when he says a little while, there's grace. Grace is unmerited favor, unmerited favor. Do you know I don't deserve to be up here? Do you deserve everything that God has given you?

That's called self-righteousness.

Guest (Male): Thank you for joining us here at Westside Christian Fellowship, located in Leona Valley, California, 1 hour north of Los Angeles. Today's message on regaining lost ground, Pastor Shane leads us in a special message called a measure of revival in our bondage and is a convicting sermon from the revival series titled Rend the Heavens Week. Late Scottish evangelist Duncan Campbell passionately remarked, there is a growing conviction everywhere and especially among thoughtful people that unless revival comes, other forces will take the field that will sink us still deeper into the mire of humanism and materialism. Are you struggling with the weight of this world and the chaos and the storm you find yourself into today?

Prepare to be transformed and uplifted for Jesus's calling and holds us in the palm of his hands, for he is faithful and near to all who call on him. Please join us today for this deep discerning message of hope and wisdom as Pastor Shane encourages the body of Christ to look to God's word, trust and obey our beautiful savior King Jesus. Regaining lost ground is sponsored by the generous supporters of the ministries of Westside Christian Fellowship. For more information, visit us online at westsidechristianfellowship.org. We also encourage you to hear more truth from Pastor Shane with the Idleman Unplugged weekly podcast.

And please be sure to follow us on most social media platforms. And now from Westside Christian Fellowship in Leona Valley, California, here's Pastor Shane Idleman.

Pastor Shane Idleman: God breaks open the flood gates and reminds us that it's his sovereignty. He can draw. It's his will. It's his word. It's his power. A lot of us feel that we are in bondage. There's challenges at work, challenges with mandates and where we see things going. And it can be a little alarming. And sometimes we can get upset and not focused on the right things. And many people are in bondage right now. I don't know if you've been following a lot of the news, but the addiction recovery centers and the opioid increase of of of actually over doing dosing on opioids and alcoholism and every everything that there's a bondage is taking place and really really grabbing hold of God's people.

So I'm going to just read briefly out of Ezra. I believe we have Ezra chapter 9 up there on the screen. It's interesting because Ezra was called of God to rebuild the city of Jerusalem in turbulous times. He was called to rebuild that city that really the temple. And then Nehemiah came to rebuild the wall around the temple, to rebuild a place that was in rubbish, to rebuild in the midst of of a bondage and being they're really slaves. They were taken away captive. And God called Cyrus by name early on before he's even born and said, you will begin to rebuild these ruins.

And this is the cry of Ezra that we that we find the the sermon title is a measure of revival in our bondage. Ezra 9 5 to 6 at the evening sacrifice. This is interesting. It's almost reminded me of tonight. At the evening sacrifice, their sacrifice was their time of worship. It would be where their sins would be atoned for. And it was a it was a time of of meeting God. And he said, I arose from my fasting. So there was some mourning taking place and and having torn my garment and my robe, I fell on my knees and I spread out my hands to the Lord God.

What a beautiful picture of what God is already doing. And I said, oh my God, I am too ashamed and I am humiliated to lift up my face to you. I think he read our mail tonight. Our iniquities have risen higher than our heads and our guilt has grown up to the heavens. This is a man in deep turmoil. This is a man desperate that God desperate to have God honored again and desperate to see God's temple because you see to them, the temple represented God's presence, God's power. It was their it was it was their image, Israel's image.

God was there, the God of of of all kings, the God who governs Jehovah, Jaira, Jehovah Nissi, all the the names of God. That temple represented that and then they were taken over by their enemies. They were they were destroyed and wiped out. And so he's in that that that place of turmoil. And we can grab from this a few things. The seriousness of sin. He was he was he was ashamed. He was guilt-ridden. And there's a big movement out there along for 20 30 years now that it's it's not good to be guilty, they say.

And I know what they're saying, but they're way off because it's okay to fill the condemnation that the sin is putting on us. To fill that, so we give it to the the the the person who takes away the shame and the guilt and filling the consequences of this and the seriousness of sin. There was no fear of the Lord in that place. I'm actually going to talk about that in Genesis 20. I believe it was Abraham. He comes in and Abraham and he comes in and and and he realizes there's no fear of God in this place.

The seriousness of this issue. And we see that he tore his clothes. Now tearing was costly. You can't just go to TJ Max and you can't just walk into Target and and they they they ripped off their clothes to show utter disgust and and just um it was like with the Pharisees would do. They would they would rip their garments. And that's why Jesus said, do not rip your garments. I I want to see your heart rip, not your not your clothing, not this outward expression. And so he he tore his robe. He tore his garments and just said, God, we cry out to you.

And I realize there is a cost to experiencing God. There is a cost to experiencing God. When we come to church, when we persevere, when we press in, when we remove things, there is the cost. But that cost far outweighs the pain of regret that we experience later. And there's an interesting word here. He was ashamed. And then my mind instantly went to Jeremiah when he said, they are not ashamed of their detestable conduct. They have no shame at all. They do not even know how to blush. That's a true sign of a society that is depraved and declining.

They've lost they've lost that ability to blush, to have shame over sin. And we just keep getting more perverted, more perverted. And there's a school district now. I don't know if you saw on the news where they had like lap dances at a pep rally on with the principal and teachers. And it's just it's people can't believe it. I can't. It's called a depraved society on the road road to to judgment and moral depravity. And that's why we have to be more vocal than ever ever before with a with a voice of love and and understanding with the that that that boldness to warn people like second Timothy 3, but know this that in the last days, perilous times will come.

Look at this list. Men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud. Have we never seen more of that? The boasting, the pomp, the proud, the blasphemies. They're disobedient to parents. I often tell kids and even our kids, boy, if I tried that with my dad, he would he would have me go out to the tree and pick the twig. A switch. Disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanders without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Now here's the key, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.

So even the people that are depraved have a form of godliness. They shape God into what they want God to be. God and that's you'll see it. God just loves me for who I am. I was born this way. Who are you to judge? I hold God dear in my heart. God is everything to me. And really what they're saying is there is no one true and living God. They are conforming God to their image and their likeness and what they want God to be. And this really hit me this morning. The wearing of sackcloth and ashes.

You'll hear that. Have you ever have you ever back when there was almond orchards in Quartzsite? Anybody remember that? My job was to have this big piece of wood with a big thing a big rubber head on it. And you would just hit that tree. So it was a big look like a a I I don't know like a huge hammer. And you just hit those branches and you just knock down all the almonds and and you would put them in bags like sackcloth. And if you and if you rubbed your arm wrong, it was oh, what is that?

It's the most uncomfortable feeling you've ever had. And they would actually put this on. They would put and they would throw the the sackcloth and ashes. They would take ashes and dirt and throw it just the just the the the utter remorse and just they there's no way to dig deeper than throw the dust on your head and and wear the sackcloth and show God that they are in a season of mourning. Now, of course, we don't do that and I don't necessarily would encourage that. There's no biblical mandate other than fasting and and being desperate for more of God and and and sorrow over our sin.

But what's interesting is often the actions match the desperation. How you act shows us how desperate you are. And that's why I've been saying since COVID really is America is mad, but she's not broken. She's angry, but she's not humble. See, if if there was a if there was a true desperation for more of God, we could not sit enough people on a Monday or Friday. We we we just couldn't. The amount of people who call this their home church, if everyone came, we would have to put speakers out in the front area. Why? Because there's a desperation.

That's why we love leading this church because there's a desperation for more of God. And people are calling me up I've talked to a friend in Tennessee. I just did an interview with Christian Broadcasting News and you know, they're hearing about like what what is going on in California. And you're in LA County. What what is what is this? We can't get churches to do where what it's it's God. People are desperate and that's the the the the good thing about California is it will drive you to your knees if you don't move. It will drive you to your knees.

And we have to remember that that can be a blessing because in the most broken desperate spot, that's where God is at. That's where he's not up in the northern Well, I better not say it, but I have friends up there. I was going to say north northern Idaho by Canadian, you know, Coeur d'Alene, yeah. And Montana and all it means great. Good. Go for it. But they're really God's going to say, I am going to take a desperate broken people. So we get upset. Look what's happening. And yes, it's something get upset about, but also in that bondage, in that desperation, God will give us a measure of revival because desperate people do desperate things.

They might actually come to church every night. Can you believe that? Desperate people do desperate things. And I can hear it and I know it's difficult and I know it's challenging and I've mentioned that we might keep doing this next week. I don't know yet. We're we're praying. We're just kind of seeing what God wants to do. But and and I knew it was coming and I don't blame people. But I can tell in some people like are we really doing that? And I say, hey, listen, you don't have to be here. Stay home. Yeah, I mean and I mean I'm not being but just enjoy your evening.

Go have dinner. I don't please don't feel compelled. But for some of us, we have got to grab the hem of his garment and not let go. For some of us, we are so hungry that we need to meet God in account. I tell you what, I've never felt this good in the course of entire week than I have this week as God is my witness. I have never felt this good. Now, sometimes the mornings are difficult. The afternoon's diff I mean it's there's difficult days, but when you get into the presence of God and you begin to worship him and and you see desperate people do desperate things and so our our actions always match a desperation.

So that's what Ezra did. He just didn't say, oh well, this kind of stinks, but let's go eat. He said that he he he ripped he ripped oh off it. He just tore it off and cried out in desperation. He said, oh God, I'm so ashamed. Look look at what they're feeding our children in the schools and the perversion on Facebook and Instagram and there should be a blushing and a shame good saying, God, help us that we are desperate to hear from you. So thank God for where we are in California right now because it presses us down and we get on our knees and says, that's a humble people.

I can use out of California, out of Los Angeles County. I'm going to bring a sense of revival. Just think about that for a minute. Of all the places, there's no church right now that I know of that is meeting every single night in the whole of United States. I'm sure there are, of course. But that you you just don't see that desperation and that's encouraging. And to have dozens and dozens come to the altar. I don't even know what that was. I don't even have a definition for that. I I don't know how that happened.

I'm still perplexed. But God is is is showing up. And we see here the beauty of brokenness. The beauty of brokenness and humility crushes pride. And I struggled this morning. I really did saying, God, we talk about this a lot. What's going on here? And I was just reminded that why does an accountant talk about money? Why is a fireman talk about fire? That's what this is what the church does. We remind ourselves of the importance of humility and brokenness and and that being emptied for more of God. And the reason God isn't using many people is they're too full of themselves.

So there has to be a period of there has to be a a brokenness that takes place because the bottom line, unless we get our heart right, we will not experience God. How can he pour into you if you're already full? And then verse 7, we see that he he's saying here, since the days of our fathers, remember he he there's a plea. He said, oh my God, I am too ashamed. I am humiliated. Our sins have risen higher than our heads and our guilt has grown to the heavens. And do you ever feel that way?

You look at that actually people supporting murdering a child right before birth or right after birth or in the womb it's like and then the sex trafficking and the perversion and the mockery and the it's it's like the the stench of sin must be reaching up to the nostrils of God. And there is a just a just a something that overcomes you and you say, oh God, help us. And so then he goes into that. Since the days of our fathers to this day, we have been very guilty and for our iniquities. In other words, for our kings, meaning for our leaders, for our priests, like our pastors.

And we have delivered you have delivered us into the hands of our enemy to the sword, to captivity, to plunder and to humiliation as it is this day. Humiliation is interesting because when God humiliates a nation, it looks like it's almost looking now with with our work the view of America in the world. We were feared. We were respected. We were reverenced because God was doing amazing things 100 years ago or even 50 years ago and and now the humiliation. And I guarantee uh Russia and China are not real worried about our current administration. They're strategically doing things.

I'm sure. I don't know, but but but that's my concern is with judgment. There's always humiliation. And he said the sword, there's danger, there's warfare, captivity, there's bondage and then plundering that that the God is allows plundering to go on and on and on. Death, bondage, loss and humiliation is a sign of judgment. And at this point, people say, well, this is heavy. Why did I even come tonight? Well, guess what? Here's why we came. We see here the power of intercession and confession. The power of intercession and confession. That turns the tide of God will often say, is that is is that the cries of my people they talked about a few nights ago.

Is that is it it I I I I I wanted to do this. And Jeremiah believe he says, I relented from doing this because I heard your cries. And Ezra now is talking about, oh God, would you stay your hand of judgment? And so the power of intercession and confession, can you imagine if the church tonight even here would come forward and just intercede on behalf of our nation, on behalf of our state and saying, God, we intercede. And you might say, well, that doesn't make a lot of sense. Trust me, Hollywood is not going to repent.

Washington's not going to repent. Sacramento's not going to repent because God says, if my people humble themselves and pray and seek my face, if we come and we intercede on behalf of the land, intercession is so important that God told Ezekiel, Ezekiel, I sought for a man from among my people who would stand in the gap and build a wall before me and my judgment. But I found no one to intercede before you. Intercession. Because it's people crying out for others. Moses interceded. David interceded. The greatest act of intercession ever bestowed upon mankind was the cross on Calvary.

The God interceded on behalf of our sin. And and he said, God, I he said, Father, I will take that wrath. I will take that judgment. I will intercede on behalf of the people. And so God gives us the ministry of reconciliation and intercession. You want your kids and grandkids to come to know the Lord, then you might want to find yourself on this altar and cry out and say, devil, you don't have my children. You don't have my marriage. You don't have these kids. Listen, I'm not just saying this to to pump us up.

This is not time for motivation. This is a time for humiliation. And find ourselves on that broken altar and say, God, we intercede on behalf of our children and our nation. We have the blood of innocent children on our hands. We have redefined marriage. We are a stench in the nostrils of a righteous holy God. But God, we intercede. We recognize our sin and we ask for repentance. Would you stay your hand of judgment on us? There's a there's a desperation. Verse 8. And now for a little while, oh now for a little while, grace has been showing us from the Lord.

This minister to me, let me just tell you how it impacted me. It's almost as if God saying, guys, there's a window here. There there's a window. For a little while, grace is being shown. Is are we not tremendously gift giving seeing God's grace right now? My goodness. I think it was Billy Graham who said, if God doesn't judge America, he's going to have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah. And that, you know, that is stuck with me ever since. And so God, thank you for your grace. Don't find me lazy. Don't find me complacent.

Don't find me like the like Luke talks about and and being drunk with the cares of this life and not being ready and and being distant from God and being that evil and wicked servant. God, find me on my knees right now. Find me on the altar. Find me broken. Find me humble. God, thank you for showing us a little bit of grace right now. And then he says, and and I left you a remnant. And I and and he leaves us a remnant to escape and to give us a peg in his holy place that our God may enlighten our eyes.

And here we go. Here we go. Give us a measure of revival in our bondage. I just did an interview today with Remnant News. It'll be released Monday, I believe. And he asked, what are you what are you sensing, Shane? And you know, I said and I said, well, with judgment or I said, I don't know. I'm not um I don't know God's wills, God's ways, the sovereignty other than what the word says. And but the America, I believe in the 1950s and 60s is obviously over. We're not going to have a utopia again. But I see as the evil presses in, the light of the gospel can penetrate and fight back to give us a measure of revival in our bondage.

So you you'll see this perversion, but wonderful purity, wonderful holiness church is coming on being on fire for God and fighting against the the darkness. So I think you'll see this massive upheaval of light and darkness fighting and you know, people say, well, Shane, it doesn't really matter. America is going down. Well, I don't know if that's true. We're called to fight and do business until he returns. We are called to not give up and and to to begin to contend for our nation. Thank God Ezra didn't give up. Thank God Nehemiah didn't give up.

Thank God Jeremiah didn't give up. Thank God Ezekiel didn't give up. Thank God Isaiah didn't give up. Daniel didn't give up. Amos didn't give up. Joel didn't give up. They called that nation back to the God Almighty because they understood, oh God, your mercy See, that's what we don't understand. His mercy and He wants revival more than we do. He want his mercy and his grace reach down and He wants to blanket us and shell and shower us with his mercy and his grace. Hello, Regaining Lost Ground listeners. This is Pastor Shane Idleman. Hey, I want to let you know that my new booklet titled a Calculated Assault against Cancer is now available.

You can download it for free right now at Shane idleman.com. Again, my new booklet a Calculated Assault against Cancer is now available at Shane idleman.com. And the reason I did this is because there's so much negativity and fear that encompasses that word and especially in the medical industry. There's not a lot of hope. And so I want to release this booklet to give people hope and perspective and let them know, hey, with God all things are possible and his sovereignty can be your sanity. So again, get this to anybody struggling with their health, especially and primarily cancer.

The title of the booklet is called a Calculated Assault Against Cancer and it's available right now at Shane idleman.com. Westside Christian Fellowship is located 60 miles north of Los Angeles in Leona Valley, California. Thank you again for listening to today's message of Regaining Lost Ground, where we are reminded daily. Times change, truth does not.