Regaining Lost Ground

Pastor Shane Idleman: No matter how small, sin, like cancer, grows and destroys the whole body. I know in our minds we think of the big sins, but it’s actually more often the little ones that cause a lot of damage. Many of you go to people and say, "This was gossip. This was slander." You talk to them months later and hear they’re back at it again. This is not healthy. We can’t have this attitude here. We’re praying for you. Is there any way we can help? You need some accountability here. Just maybe just zip it here.

Guest (Male): Thank you for joining us here at Westside Christian Fellowship, located in Leona Valley, California, one hour north of Los Angeles. Today on Regaining Lost Ground, we hear part one of this sobering message titled, "God is Still Serious About Sin." Romans 6:23 tells us, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Do you feel weighed down by sin? Does it feel like no matter what you try, you can’t find solid spiritual footing? Today, Pastor Shane brings us to the cold, hard truth that many will not choose the right path and instead choose eternity without God. Join us for this message of hope and learn how you can be assured of your faith in Jesus right now.

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 Idleman Unplugged weekly podcast. And now from Westside Christian Fellowship in Leona Valley, California, here's Pastor Shane Idleman.

Pastor Shane Idleman: The title this morning is God is Still Serious About Sin. You can hear a pin drop on that title. God is still serious about sin. I’m going to go in a direction not a lot of churches go in. Many do, of course, and anytime I say that, I want people to know there are a lot of great churches out there throughout the United States. But most of the churches avoid this topic because it doesn’t draw a crowd. They think if they have a first-time guest, they might not return. They might not return anyway. You’d better tell them what God wants to tell them through His Word.

Remember that sin doesn’t play games; it takes prisoners. God is still serious about sin. We’re picking up in Acts 5. I’ll give you a quick recap from two weeks ago. Ananias fell down dead after he lied. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things. The young men arose and wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him.

What happened? Well, they sold their property for a certain amount of money, let’s say $100,000 to keep it simple. They said, "We sold it for $50,000. Here’s $50,000. Look how spiritual we are." They wanted some claps for how spiritual they were. But really they sold it for $100,000 and they lied. Because of that, he breathed his last breath.

The Bible says great fear came upon those who heard these things. I’ll bet it did. Hold on, it’s going to get better. Great fear fell upon those who heard these things. I just want to remind all of us that the fear of God is actually a really good thing. The fear of God is what our nation needs. We need it in the White House, we need it in Sacramento, and we need it on conservative and liberal podcast platforms. We need the fear of God in this place, respecting God, because then you live differently.

One of the founding fathers said men either have to be controlled by the Bible or by the bayonet, either by the Word of God or the strong arm of man. That’s why I believe, and I’ve written and talked about this, that with the increase in school shootings, God is going to have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah if He doesn’t judge what’s going on. We know God’s grace and the remnant is keeping the church alive, but things have really changed if you research how things were in the 50s and 60s.

Some things are improving, like racism and things like that, but overall there’s no fear of God in this place. You remember Columbine. That was like the first of many. It begs the question, what is going on? I truly believe that when you drift from the fear of God, there is a covering that is removed. Every man does what is right in his own eyes.

How has the fear of God been removed? Did you know that they used to teach kids the Bible in the public schools? God was acknowledged openly. Even if people weren’t Christians, they feared Him. There was a reverence and a respect. The deeper you go into depravity and the farther you go away from God, the more horrendous things are going to happen.

Even in the Old Testament, if a king or the leadership drew the people back and they feared God, even though all the people didn’t fear God, there was a covering there. In the same way, if a believing spouse stays with her unbelieving husband, the Bible says even the kids are sanctified. There’s something about that relationship. It doesn’t mean the husband is saved or the kids are automatically saved, but there’s somebody in the house contending for what is right. I truly believe that God hears the cry of that mom or that father who is praying and contending for their family.

The same thing happens to a nation. We see things in the news constantly now with sex trafficking. How is that even possible? I just can’t wrap my hands around the depravity of sin. But that’s why there’s no fear of God in this place. When Supreme Court Justices fear God, they’ll rule differently. They won’t say, "Gay marriage is popular now. Let’s look at Europe’s laws. The Constitution is changing." No, it’s not. What does God’s Word say?

You can even look at the journals of the Supreme Court Justices. John Jay was the first Supreme Court Justice, and he wrote in his diary about the foundation of his life on Jesus Christ. You can see that when they went to rule on something, they actually asked what the Bible says. Now they say, "What do other courts in other areas say? What has the European court voted? We want to be like them." They don’t look at what’s called precedent, meaning how the courts used to rule for 150 years or so, which was based on God’s Word.

I’ve shared this with you before. How would we define our legal system or define laws? For decades and decades, it was something called William Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England. All the laws had scripture references because they feared God. Of course, not all the founders were Christians, but the overall tempo was different. I’d rather be part of a community that at least fears God versus one that doesn't fear anything and thinks I can do whatever feels good to me. The Nike slogan may be great for marketing, but it’s not good for living. "If it feels good, just do it." That’s not going to get you in a good spot later.

Look at Job 28. "Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom." That’s how you get wisdom. If you want to get wise and start making good decisions, then get wisdom and fear the Lord. Proverbs says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. So if you’re praying for wisdom and discernment, there’s not going to be wisdom outside of knowing and fearing God because that’s the gauge, the thermometer, and the thermostat that keeps everything on track.

When I don’t have that, then I just want to do whatever I think is right or whatever I feel is right. You have to have that fear of the Lord. That’s how we truly gauge what is wise and what is good. Fear Him and live. The Bible talks about that often. I love Isaiah 66:2. When God says something, I sometimes put down my Bible and just reflect on it. God says, "This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite." We talk about that often. God says, "I will hear this person. I will esteem this person if they’re humble and contrite."

Sometimes we stop there, but there’s another little sentence after that: "and he who trembles at my word." I need to clarify for the younger audience that this isn't the kind of trembling you feel when you’re going before the principal or an angry parent. It's not like you’re walking around on eggshells. This is actually walking in freedom because you trust in the living God and you trust in His sovereignty. I’m going to obey You and respect You, Lord. There’s so much joy and freedom in that when you understand what that really means.

Most of you want to stay on the right side of the road with the yellow line. We should fear driving on the other side of the road. No one is going to say, "Oh, that stinks. That’s no fun." No, that kind of fear is good. If you’re out in the desert and you hear a little rattle, fear that. Back up a little or look around. There’s a good kind of fear that’s very healthy.

Many times people make better financial decisions because they fear what will happen later in life. They fear messing up in their marriage because they want to keep a strong marriage and influence their kids in the right direction. The right kind of fear is a wonderful thing.

Acts continues now. Three hours later, here comes the wife. She doesn’t know what has happened yet. Peter said, "Tell me whether you sold the land for so much." She said, "Yes, we sold it for $50,000." I find it interesting because it’s almost like Peter gave her a chance. He asked her, and she could’ve said, "I’ve been convicted all day." Supposedly they’re Christians. She could have saved her life.

It’s a good reminder for us that God often gives us a second chance, doesn’t He? If you’re like me, you’re long past a second. God’s mercy and grace mean we shouldn't abuse His mercy. Paul asked, "Because of God’s grace, should we sin even more? Absolutely not." But it’s a very true fact that God consistently calls out to those who will listen.

Then Peter said, "How is it that you have both agreed to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well." The pulpit commentary said to tempt the Spirit is to daringly put the Holy Ghost on trial, whether or not He is able to discern the thoughts of your evil hearts, to act as if the Spirit of the Lord could not detect the crime.

Why would you test the Holy Spirit? Before we chuckle, don’t we sometimes do that? We think God won’t see that one or hopefully He was sleeping during that time. God doesn’t play games. Immediately she fell down and died. The young men came again, found her dead, and carried her out, burying her by her husband.

So great fear fell upon the entire church and everybody who heard it. When her husband died, it was unbelievable, but you might think it could be a coincidence. But after she dies, talk about setting things in motion for holiness and purity. I’m pretty sure the church was pretty pure and holy for a while after that one. No little fibs, no little lies. Can you imagine? There were people around in the church who saw and heard Peter say, "No, you lied," and boom.

It’s also a good reminder that God is still serious about sin. Hypocrisy is really what it was. It’s good for us to know because you’ll hear people often say, "I don’t go to church because it’s all hypocrites." You should actually correct them and say, "No, there’s not a lot of hypocrites. There are a lot of people who struggle."

What’s the difference? A hypocrite intentionally deceives. The word actually means an actor changing a mask. They’re intentionally going to be this on Sunday and intentionally going to be that on Monday. The struggler is this on Sunday and they don’t want to be that on Monday. But something might happen and they might fall, and now they’re repentant and asking God for help. The person looking from the outside will call that person a hypocrite, but that’s not true. So call those people on it. There are hardly any hypocrites at church, but there are a lot of people who struggle.

Steve Schell said hypocrisy corrupts the heart of many and it lifts the presence of God’s power out of a church. That’s one of our goals here, and it’s not an easy goal, but we want the power and presence of God here. It’s a very challenging balance to find because, on one hand, you have to be full of grace and full of mercy, striving for unity and loving. You have to, or the presence of God is going to lift. But on the other hand, we have to confront sin. We have to say things that are difficult. We have to lovingly challenge. We have to sometimes cause division in order for people to know who’s right and who’s not. Paul said there will be division among you.

This is the side where people get offended. We don’t like constructive criticism. That’s why it’s so hard. We want Your presence here, Lord, so we focus on grace and love and mercy. But if you allow sin to go on, let's say "Daring Dale" on the front row brings his girlfriend, but we know he’s still married. We can't just say, "Let’s just have grace and mercy, guys. I don’t want to stir the pot. Dale’s a big giver." That’s one reason we don’t really know giving records; it’s a good thing.

But look at how Jesus treated the woman caught in the act of adultery. We want God’s presence here. We don’t want to be judgmental and Pharisees. But I tell you, you just quench the Spirit because you have an obligation to say, "I’m going to talk to him after the service. I’m going to sick Tim or Abram on him." We love you enough to tell you the truth. You’re breaking your wife’s heart and your kids' hearts. We can’t allow this. If you ask if you can't come here, the answer is yes, until you repent.

That’s why it’s so hard, because the church can also be overly critical. You’ve got the dress code police out there in the lobby watching to see if a midsection shows or if shorts meet the requirement. They're just walking around trying to get people because this is a holy place. How do you know she’s not broken and hurting and has been abused?

Of course, if it’s over the top, that's a no-brainer. But usually, some of the wives are really good about finding that person, ministering to them, and lovingly encouraging them rather than just attacking them. It’s such a hard balance to do that, but we want God’s power and presence in a church. I think He honors it because He doesn’t honor perfection. He knows we’re not going to handle everything perfectly. There are some things we probably should have handled quicker, but you kind of get exhausted. If I have one more meeting with someone and they’re going to lie about me and leave the church, I’ve had enough for a while. That happens a lot. They go tell people complete lies. They have to pull down the pastor because they themselves do not want to change.

Some of you have a lot of grace and mercy, but you need to get some toughness back. Some of you maybe are too tough. Pray for some softness, grace, and mercy. It’s such a hard balance, but it's important. Jesus was a perfect balance of this. A lot of people use Jesus as a cop-out. "Turn the other cheek." The woman caught in the act of adultery, He actually told her to go and sin no more. He told the man He healed, "If you keep sinning, something worse is going to happen to you."

Basically, I think God is using a form of church discipline here. What does that mean? An unrepentant man attends church while continuing a porn addiction. A wife leaves her husband for a boyfriend. A gossip continues belittling and slandering. The list goes on and on. I’m going to throw it out there to the elders on maybe even next week. Is this a topic we need to discuss at this point? What is church discipline? How does it work? What’s the restoration process?

No matter how small, sin, like cancer, grows and destroys the whole body. In our minds, we think of the big sins, but it’s actually more often the little ones that cause a lot of damage. People go to others and say, "This was gossip, this was slander." You talk to them months later and hear they’re back at it again. This is not healthy. We can’t have this attitude here. Is there anyway we can help? You need some accountability here. Just maybe just zip it here.

Guest (Male): You’ve been listening to Regaining Lost Ground with Pastor Shane Idleman. You can find more information at 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. 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 doesn't.

Regaining Lost Ground is sponsored by the generous supporters of the ministries of Westside Christian Fellowship.