Regaining Lost Ground

Pastor Shane Idleman: Strongholds and addictions, we can pray for you. We believe that marriages can be restored. Takes two people humbling themselves, focusing God. The prodigal son can come home. There's a lot to rejoice and I know where many of you live spiritually speaking. You know there's a God. I mean you're a Christian, but you're you're you're not experiencing the abundant life that Christ spoke of. He said if you believe on me, out of your belly is going to flow rivers of living water. There's joy unspeakable come to me all we can heavy laden and I will give you rest.

You you can have that deep and intimate relationship with Jesus, but it does involve full surrender.

Guest (Male): Thank you for joining us here at West Side Christian Fellowship located in Leona Valley, California, 1 hour north of Los Angeles. Today on Regaining Lost Ground, we hear the second and final part of this special Good Friday message from Pastor Shane titled The Power of the Ninth Hour. In Luke 14:28, Jesus said, For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Listen now as Pastor Shane gives a soul-jarring sermon on the cost paid on Calvary and what it takes to be called a true follower of Jesus.

Give your life to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords today and be eternally transformed by the spirit of the living God. You can hear the whole message at Pastor Shane's YouTube and Rumble channels. Make sure to subscribe today. For more information, visit us online at westsidechristianfellowship.org. We also encourage you to hear more truth from Pastor Shane with the Idle Man Unplugged weekly podcast. And now from West Side Christian Fellowship in Leona Valley, California, here's Pastor Shane Idle Man.

Pastor Shane Idleman: When people ask me, well, what do you believe? Why do you believe it? It's realizing that I am I am dead in my sin and trespasses. I am lost without without Jesus saving me, there is no hope. I repented and I believed in God's sacrifice for me. Now this weight of sin has has been lifted. I've been set free. Now I am no longer a slave to sin. I'm a slave to God. So that might mean not looking politically correct to the world. That might mean challenging some of the world system. That might mean not putting the same priorities the world puts on my life.

That might just and and you know they're going to be persecution. You know you there's going to be the trials. You know you're you're called to pick up your cross and follow him. And that's how you get through life because you don't expect roses, you expect the thorns. And when you expect that, the roses are nice. And so Simon was carrying his cross. And they came to that place, even that word Golgotha. Golgotha it is the place of the skull. And it's up on the as you're leaving Jerusalem, you can see the the mountain area that used to I don't know if it does as much now, but used to resemble a skull.

And they would walk outside the death the death of the execution had to happen outside of Jerusalem. And so they would make that walk. They called it Golgotha or the place of the skull, the walk of death basically. And that's what they were were heading toward. And then they gave him the sour wine mingled with with a gall to drink, but when he had tasted it, he would not drink it. Many say because he didn't want to take anything to deaden the pain. I'm not sure you could deaden that pain anyway. But then it goes on to say, you know I I was having a hard time choosing which gospel too because John goes into a lot of detail that that's really important too.

But Matthew just kind of gets right to the point and they crucified him. And when they crucified him, they divided his garments and they cast lots. Do you know the Bible wrote about that? 700 years or so before Jesus was even born. It might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet. They divided my garments and for my clothing they cast lots. And as I as I as I'm reading Elijah, I put down my Bible and I'm like, Lord, I don't want to miss things. Please help me cuz how do they miss like the Pharisees and they knew the Psalms.

They had to start studying at a young age. They most of them memorized a lot of them. They they would know exactly what this said. Wouldn't you see this and go oh oh? Wait a minute here. Nazareth, Bethlehem, out of Egypt I called my son. Bethlehem, there shall be oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. Wow, and they start to connect and that's why I think people like Nicodemus, you know, came at night, uh the others, you know, they then they would say some of the religious leaders would believe. I think they started to to really connect the dots and put things together.

And that's a decision all of you have to make tonight if you don't know him. You have to make that decision. Who is Jesus? And this is what they put over his head. This is Jesus, King of the Jews. And I I I just I don't think it's here, but I love this part when they when they ran to Pontius Pilate like little cry babies, the religious leaders. Oh, no, no, rewrite that, rewrite that. Put he said he was the King of the Jews. And Pilate, I love Pilate. He just got it right back to it.

Sometimes I love him, sometimes I don't. Don't get me wrong. But he said, no, what I have written, I have written. What I have written, I have written. This is Jesus, King of the Jews because it's not going to say he said it. He's saying this is Jesus, King of the Jews. And there's another example. This is your sacrifice, oh Israel. This is the Messiah who's who's giving up his sins for the world. And And Jesus even from the beginning of his ministry would talk about that faithful day. He He never said he would come back and conquer Rome.

He said, for this purpose I have come. For this purpose I shall die. It was very clear throughout scripture. And those who passed by, they blaspheme him and and they they they were they were moving their heads and saying, oh, look at you. You said you could destroy the temple and build in 3 days. Well, why don't you save yourself? And there's always a moment of of people mocking God. Don't we see that today? All over the place. If you're the son of God, then come down from the cross. Man, I'm so glad I wasn't there cuz I just he just give it a few hour.

He's it's going to happen, you cocky guys. Man, oh, if you're son of God, come down from the cross. And the the the incredible thing is he couldn't come down for the cross because he had not for finished yet fulfilled the purpose of the cross. We always want God to hurry up and finish too soon. Bring me my mate. Oh, you're not ready yet. Lord, I'm ready for this ministry. Not yet. I 'm ready for this. Not yet. God knows the timing. And then it goes on to say, likewise the chief priests also they were mocking with the scribes and the elders.

He saved others. Himself he cannot save. If he is the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross and then we will believe him. Wow. Remember these are the guys who saw Lazarus come forth out of the grave. They saw Jairus's daughter. They saw all the miracles that were trans- transpiring. And they started to blame it on the devil. So they were mocking him and then of course this is when Jesus finally died. Verse 45. Now when the 6th hour until the 9th hour so this is interesting in the in 3:00 in the afternoon or so to 6:00, there was darkness over all the land.

Is that interesting? I mean clearly something's going on here. God's even giving signs back then. And then about the 9th hour as many of us know, that's when he he finally cried out with that loud voice and and said, God, why why are you forsaking me? Why why are you leaving me? My God, my God, why are you forsaking me? It was it was Many believe it was at that one point in history where God the Father had to separate from the son because the son had now to take on that wrath of God, the the darkness of sin.

And And he felt that that disconnect from God. Where are you, God? You You have forsaken me. And then Jesus cried out again with a loud voice. And I love the word he used. He He yielded up his spirit. He yielded to the will of the Father. Then you've heard me talk about this many times. Then what happened? Fifth verse 51. Then behold, it's dark out, right? And And And And now the veil in the temple was torn all the way from the top to the bottom. Now I'm probably not too many people saw it unless they were in the temple, but this huge veil that is probably as high as as our top up there.

It began to rip from the top to the bottom. Okay, what's a big deal with that? Well, remember the only way they could deal with their sin was to go into the Holies of Holies. Remember? So the veil is the veil is blocking the Holies of Holies. Here's Here's God. Here's God and the priests only the priests can go in and intercede on behalf of the people. And he goes in, the blood of of of the sacrifice and gets out. And that's how they dealt with the sin. The veil would block that and now the veil was completely ripped and open.

Now the Holies of Holies is open. Man, what what a picture. That's why the scripture says, now you can go boldly into the throne room of grace. And now when the world comes against you, you can say, yeah, you're Goliath, but I'm David because I can go boldly into the throne room of grace. It doesn't what what can come against me? It's greater is is God in me than the the enemy that's out there. Boldly into the throne room of grace. They would have never thought that possible to go boldly to God, boldly to God.

Ask Muslims what they believe about that. No. No because it's still that Old Testament type of of God. And again we don't believe in Old Testament, New Testament. God it's God of the Bible. But something dynamic, significant happened on that cross and that veil, that big that big covering that basically blocked God was now removed. And then what else happened? The earth began to quake and the rocks were split open. I don't I'm just speculating, but I wonder if God's trying to get a wake up call here. You know it's not a nice summer day.

There's Jesus. He Well, he didn't make it. I guess that was a a lost cause. Let's go have some some Passover. Let's go have some lamb and some goat's milk. For you are hungry. But no, it's dark. The rocks split, the earthquakes. What a It's like a cataclysmic event. And then later after Jesus is resurrected because he has to be the first fruits of the resurrection, many of the bodies of the saints who were dead in the graveyard, they begin to come up out of the graves and they went into the Holy City and they appeared to many.

So now you understand verse 54. So when the centurion and those with him who are guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they fear God greatly saying truly truly this was the son of God. So the soldiers that are mocking him, spitting on him, stuck him in the I mean just destroyed his physical body. Some of them at that point, I believe it reads as if it's saying that truly this was the son of God. They had a moment of repentance. And guys, this is one of the hardest things with pastoring and preaching is you see a wonderful, beautiful thing when the heart breaks and accepts God.

People think that's weak. No, it's actually meek. Big difference. But then you see also on the other side the heart getting even harder, more like stone, rock hard. And a lot of these people still did not believe. And so again, the power of the 9th hour we're going to get into more on Sunday uh that that goes into this, but around this time tonight is when this happened. All three Gospels say that Christ died at the 9th hour. And according to Jewish tradition, the evening sacrifice also took place at the 9th hour. Huh? So for wow, how many years?

When did they start the sacrificial system? Moses all through the prophets, all I mean you're talking I don't want to say anything, but 1,500 years maybe or so. Don't quote me on that, but you try to throw all these numbers together. So their sacrifice at the 9th hour through centuries, the bulls and goats, the priests. And here now is Jesus on the cross at the 9th hour. Hello, you need some more wake up calls? And what they would do is they would blow the shofar. How many of you know what that is that that that that horn that they would use, they would blow that shofar and the lamb would be sacrificed and the Jewish people would be reminded of their sin and their need for atonement.

I wonder what that sounded like, right? They just blow that loud shofar. And And people it would they would remind them, oh, the the an animal is is being killed for me. And also when Jesus said, it is finished, he said, it is finished. So when God's shofar blows, it echoes across the whole land. When that land shook and and everything in that happened and also is the 9th hour is when the fire fell when Elijah called down the fire on Mount Carmel at the 9th hour. At the 9th hour Ezra brought the evening sacrifices.

The people confessed their sins to God. And the first miracle of the Apostles took place at the 9th hour when they healed the lame beggar. Listen, I'm not into numbers and this and God's formulas, but there's there's power in the 9th hour. There is power when we seek God with all of our heart. What about Cornelius? His vision came to him at the 9th hour. It says I was praying and fasting at the 9th hour. God began to speak to me and that 's how his family was saved. Do you need a 9th hour miracle tonight?

Think about that. Many times in the American church we we we be be we become so used to God not doing anything. Haven't we? We just come and sing a few songs and we go and but there's there's there's there's the miraculous that still happens. God healing, God breaking, God restoring. And I I just I I I don't know if you want to call it naive, but I'm I'm naive enough to believe scripture that that God I believe still wants to do incredible things. And I'm not just saying cuz it sounds good. I'm not saying, well, that's what I'm supposed to do, but I truly believe that.

I truly believe the power of God to work in our lives. But of course what we have to remember tonight is 1 Peter 2:24. He himself bore our sin in his body on the tree. That's why we are here that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. Now of course many use this for physical healing, uh but obviously the the the the the main application is spiritual healing. Obviously we've been healed from this this body of sin and death. And so it Peter is reminding us he bore our sins.

In Romans 5:6 through 10 God showed his love for us. This is the scripture that broke me when I came back to the Lord. All I still remember the place I was at. I still remember opening this and I I know I've read it many times before, but my heart was hard. You know it's hard to receive from God when your heart's hard. Am I getting much from God? Well, it's not his problem or I should say it's not his fault often. And I remember reading this. God showed his love for us and I began to even apply to myself.

Shane, God showed his love for you even while you were in your sin. Even while you're in your sin, Christ died for you. Of course it was in the past, but the the the the the application is even in my sin, even in my rebellion, even my rejection to God, even in all of that I had a sacrifice waiting for me to just repent and believe and be and and just it it's just God even even even doing this, even blaspheming you, even mocking you, even mocking my mom praying for me. There's that that sacrifice is still waiting for me.

While we are still sinners, Christ died for us. So I want to leave you with this thought from Isaiah 64. Many of you know that verse from Rend the Heavens that we are going to start in October. We'll We'll bring uh more information about that in the months to come where we're going to meet every night uh for a week at least nine nine nights it looks like. But that verse is Isaiah 64. Oh God, would you rend the heavens? Would you rip open the heavens? Come down and visit your people. So those who feel far from God I spelled that wrong.

Did they catch it? Well, good. Okay. Those who feel Sorry, Lane. I know it's like I I I got to do better on spelling, spell check. Those who feel far from God should cry out to him to come down in power and to make his name known. So no matter where you are, no matter what you've went through, no matter your relationship with God, maybe you're a believer and you've drifted. Maybe you're a believer and you're you're you've drifted into being lukewarm or you've quenching and grieving the spirit or maybe you're an unbeliever. Maybe you're hearing this and you you know you have to get your relationship right with God.

Guess what? You don't have to do anything. You don't have to go over this way. I've got I've got a list of 10 things you need to do. All you need to do is cry out to God like the Isaiah would say, cry out to God. God, come down, rip open my situation, rip open my family, break my heart heart, rip open my heart heart. Lord, come down and visit me. I need to hear you. I need to feel your power and your presence. I need to be saved by your grace. And that is a prayer that God will answer.

I've never found where God does not answer a genuine prayer crying out to him. You might not like the answer, but if we seek him, we will find him. If it's not airplanes, it's cryptocurrency. If it's not cryptocurrency, it's all kinds of of everything is just falling apart. There's only This is the time to get your life right with God. And I just somebody somebody said this a while back will you guys just try scaring people? Well, a couple things. We're We're We're preaching the truth. So if that if that scares, that's that's what the truth you you have a issue with God's word, not necessarily me.

But also Jesus said, fear him. Fear him who can cast both body and soul in hell. He said, don't fear man, but fear him who can deal with this issue by rejecting the person because they reject him. So we're going to go into a time of worship. Um if you need to repent and believe, do that tonight. Say, God, I repent. I believe in you. I need you. I need you to save me. I need you to set me free. I'm lost. I'm fearful. And he will do that. Or if you need to get baptized as well, let us know.

Maybe it's your first time getting baptized. Maybe you got baptized as a child. Maybe you you got baptized it didn't mean anything or maybe you feel that that that that conviction. I've got to make this right with God. Just keep in mind baptism doesn't save you. Some Some people get that confused sometimes. It's an outward outward expression. You want to show people, look at what Jesus has done for me. I want to be saved. I want to be baptized. So if you do, let us know my myself or Pastor Abraham. We're going to be right next door in the prayer room.

Just let us know I want to get baptized tonight. Also if you need prayer for anything, if you feel any demonic type of oppression, we we believe in that. We're a church that believes uh that the demonic realm is real because Jesus talked about it. And we believe that people can be set free. We believe that strongholds and addictions, we can pray for you. We believe that marriages can be restored. Did you know that? Marriages can be restored. Takes two people humbling themselves, focusing God. It's a beautiful process. The prodigal son can come home. And listen guys, there's there's a lot to rejoice and I know where many of you live spiritually speaking.

I lived there for over a decade in my 20s. You you you You know there's a God. I mean you're a Christian, but you're you're you're not experiencing the abundant life that Christ spoke of. He said if you believe on me, out of your belly is going to flow rivers of living water. There's joy unspeakable come to me all we can heavy laden and I will give you rest. You you can have that deep and intimate relationship with Jesus, but it does involve full surrender.

Guest (Male): You've been listening to Regaining Lost Ground with Pastor Shane Idle Man. You can find more information at westsidechristianfellowship.org. That's westsidechristianfellowship.org. And for all the latest on what God is doing with his ministry here, please be sure to follow us on most social media platforms. West Side 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.