Regaining Lost Ground

Shane Idleman: That’s why 1 Corinthians was written, 2 Corinthians was written. Church, here is how you conduct yourself. We need regulation. I do, you do. Some of us are more conservative, so we need to open up a little. Others are too emotional. You need the guidelines of God’s word. You need to read where Paul said all things must be done decently and in order. Self-control is a fruit of the spirit. I don't know what to do; the spirit is leading me. No, you have self-control.

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 clarifying message titled, “Prophets, Problems, and Promises.”

Puritan preacher and author Thomas Watson once said, “To know that nothing hurts the godly is a matter of comfort, but to be assured that all things which fall out shall cooperate for their good, that their crosses shall be turned into blessings, that showers of affliction water the withering root of their grace and make it flourish more; this may fill their hearts with joy till they run over.”

Today, Pastor Shane brings the truth of God’s living word from Acts chapter 15, placing a spotlight on the struggles for most Christians and the promises for deliverance to the faithful. Strengthen your soul and overflow with God’s spirit in this powerful encouragement to awaken the church and let the fire of God burn deep. Here on Regaining Lost Ground. 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 is Pastor Shane Idleman.

Shane Idleman: “Prophets, Problems, and Promises,” from Acts 15, message 62 in the book of Acts. I’m going through the book of Acts verse by verse for the last year and a half. So, it’s an interesting topic and I want to unpack it. But then I want to encourage you, I know I keep saying this, but get next Sunday on your calendar too.

I wanted to preach that this Sunday, but it didn't really fit. It’s going to be about being led of the spirit. How do you know if it’s God’s voice or the Holy Spirit leading? Next week, it talks about the spirit led them, the spirit forbade them, the spirit closed the door. How do you discern what’s of God and what’s not? So, that’s next Sunday. Get that on your calendars as well.

This one is focused on prophets, problems, and promises. I do want you to listen to last Wednesday's message I gave: how to wait on the Lord. The feedback has been really encouraging. How to wait on the Lord is going to go with Sunday's message on being led of the spirit. For some people, they’ve been asking me because they can't do a fast with us in October for Rend the Heavens, but you can start one now.

One great way to be led of the spirit, to hear the voice of God, is to silence that strong voice of the flesh for a season and consider fasting the month of July. What that looks like is between you and the Lord. It is a spiritual discipline. The early church did it on Wednesdays and Fridays. The Didache talks about it. Early church fathers, Justin Martyr, Polycarp, Irenaeus, Ignatius—you read in their writings, and it was a practice. Wesley, Whitefield, it’s been something that we’ve lost.

I think it’s hard because there's fast food on every corner. It’s so available, and we think it's legalistic. There's something powerful about telling your body, “Be quiet today. Be quiet, King Stomach; I’m dethroning you.” You can always jump into a fast because when you get in a routine of just constantly eating, constantly consuming, it’s good not only spiritually, but physically as well.

God designed us to refrain from food. You guys have been hearing that probably all the last couple of years on autophagy and how our cells consume themselves. The body cleans itself when you're not eating. So, not only does it have spiritual benefits, it has physical benefits as well.

We are in Acts 15, verse 30. “So when they were sent off, they came to Antioch; and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the letter. When they had read it, they rejoiced over its encouragement.” I’m sure many of you are wondering what letter and what this is all about.

A couple of weeks ago, I talked about a certain faction in the church who said, “Okay, you believe in Jesus, but you also have to do this and this, and get circumcised. You have to follow the laws of Moses, or I know you believe in Jesus, but you have to add something to that.” I really brought the point home that it’s not Jesus plus anything.

When He said, “It is finished,” the word *tetelestai* in Greek means it’s complete, it’s done, it’s over. They started to put all these rules on the early church. So, the early church went and had a big meeting, and now they’re coming back with the results. The results are basically that you don't have to do that.

But here is what we do advise: abstain from sexual immorality, of course. And they talked about food being strangled or eaten with the blood. All that had to do with pagan worship practices. Pull away from those pagan worship practices and avoid those things. You don't want to eat meat that was sacrificed to an idol. “Hey, we just gave this cow to Baal, and do you want to eat with us?” “Well, not really.” They had to avoid that because the more they would intermingle, the more they would be influenced.

We see that throughout the Old Testament. So many prophetic voices would say, “You mingled with the Gentiles, you learned of their ways, you went back and practiced with them, you were drawn away by them.” Remember Balaam, the doctrine of Balaam, where he actually said to go send the Moabite women into the camp and they’ll draw the children of Israel away on their own. That's constantly the devil’s attack, to draw you away from God via influence.

What begins to entertain you, who you begin to follow and like, you become like that. Many people aren't strong enough to pull that person up; they’re being pulled down to them. Influence is very important, especially for younger adults and those maybe not strong in their faith. Obviously, the church rejoiced. We don't have to get circumcised. We don't have to do all these things.

I just want to point out to you that we are in desperate need of encouragement today as well. Liberty brings hope. They were not bound under this law that you're going to have to follow Moses's laws and do all this. One of the disciples rebuked them and said, “We can't even follow it. Now we’re going to have the Gentiles follow it?”

I’ve noticed over the years I’ve seen so many people, like a guy I ran into at the mall a couple of weeks ago, and they’re just so legalistic, so rigid. There's no liberty. That's what I call a modern-day Pharisee. You’ve got to do all these things. You’ve got to make sure you're doing this and doing that.

I know you probably saw it there too, but it’s the King James only guy. Unless you’re in the King James, I’m leading you astray this morning by using the New King James. They put all these rules on you. You have to celebrate the festivals. Why are you meeting on Sunday? That’s of the devil, that’s the mark of the beast; you have to meet on Saturday only. And women, you can’t wear pants; you have to wear a dress down to your big toe.

Now, there are good ideas in there. Dress modestly, please. Be appropriate, please. Celebrate the Christian and Jewish heritage. But when you start to put all these like a chain and you have to, it takes the joy away from Christianity. It absolutely does. I used to force stuff on me. Fasting can become a form of bondage if you're not careful. There's a lot of things that we have to be careful of.

But principles do bring joy. Following God’s principles does bring joy. God’s principles are guardrails. So, I’m not saying just do whatever you want. There’s tons of hope. You have liberty. Christian liberty is always restrained by God’s principles.

Great example: take that little mountain—well, I’ll call it a hill. People call it, “I can't drive that big mountain.” That's not a big mountain. Drive to Yosemite, and you'll see some big mountains. As we drive over that little hill, you have the liberty to go wherever you want, but the guardrails are the principles. Same with God’s word. We have liberty, but we want to stay within the guardrails to protect ourselves. It’s such an important aspect of obedience.

I love this part: they delivered the letter. This is really where we start to see the Bible unfolding. How they would have church is they would read letters from the Apostle Paul and letters from James. You're going to hear this a lot, maybe as you get older, or from people that challenge you: that the Bible was written by a bunch of political men around 300 AD at some council trying to control people and it can't be trusted. Actually, that's not true at all.

The early church began to read just the letters of those who knew Jesus, the Apostles. That's it. The letters were passed all around for hundreds of years. Only these letters. And then a council met in around 335 AD or so. All they did was say, “Yeah, these are the letters. This is the canon of scripture.” We have the Old Testament, we have the New Testament letters, this is the Bible. That's how they came up with it. It wasn't manipulating and trying to throw everything together. It was recognizing what the early church had been doing for 300 years.

We do have the authority of God’s word. God has given us His word. Thank God. Can you imagine if we didn't have anything? Who’s right, you or me? How should we conduct church? What do you think? How should we treat others? How should we act? The gifts of the spirit and allowing what and not what? How do we function without the word of God?

In the New Testament, it was challenging because they were experiencing a powerful move of the spirit, and then Paul would write letters. The Corinthian church was a mess. Drunkenness, debauchery, and speaking in tongues out of order, and all these things going on. They’re actually going to the Lord’s Supper and communion and taking all this food; they’re not letting poor people eat. The church was a mess.

I love what D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, a very powerful preacher back in the 60s, 70s, 80s. He said, “Living children need rules. Dead children don't.” He was actually commenting on the dead condition of the reformed church of his day because they were against the moving of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the spirit. He reminded them that living children need rules.

I would much rather lead a living church than a dead church. “Pastor, that lady was speaking in tongues at the prayer meeting.” “Okay, let me talk to her.” I’d rather have that than the dead cemetery, legalistic, arrogant Pharisee who has nothing but critical things to say. Give me a living, vibrant church, and we can put the restraints of God’s guidelines on that because those people are teachable and they're humble. We need the living, not the dead.

He caught a lot of flak. That’s why 1 Corinthians was written, 2 Corinthians was written. Church, here is how you conduct yourself. We need regulation. I do, you do. Some of us are more conservative, so we need to open up a little. Others are too emotional. You need the guidelines of God’s word. You need to read where Paul said all things must be done decently and in order. Self-control is a fruit of the spirit. I don't know what to do; the spirit is leading me. No, you have self-control.

Now, there are times when God’s power hits a place, but weirdness doesn't happen, brokenness happens. You hear the weeping, you hear the altars full, and you hear people crying out and confessing. That’s a genuine, powerful move of the spirit.

That's really where we got the letters from the Bible from. This is so important because many today, I got into this when I first started the church, I would meet with pastors. It got exhausting. They—I don't even know if it’s around—it was called the emergent church movement. We don't need pulpits anymore; we need a couch. We don't need to preach; we need to have a conversation. It was weak and it was woke. It was woke back then; they didn't have a name for it.

What that is now, it was back then. They said, “We can't speak with the authority of God’s word; we need to have a flexible approach to all beliefs.” But truth is not flexible when it comes to absolutes. It’s solid, it’s unyielding, it’s an anchor for the soul, it’s the foundation for our life. You have to be reminded of that.

This would fix so many problems. I don't mean to go off on different religions on purpose. I don't plan it; it’s not in my notes. But things come to me. For example, with Roman Catholicism, one thing when I came out of that was papal authority. It is over scripture. You guys know that? Papacy authority is over scripture. They get to determine and add things. Co-redeemer Mary, perpetual virginity, immaculate conception, praying to the saints—all over scripture, not healthy.

Very rarely will the Mormons pull out the Bible first. What will they give you first? Book of Mormon. But Jehovah's Witnesses do that too. Here is what the Watchtower says. See, they can't—you get off when you don't have that, you get off course.

Some guy the other day was online. He said, “You’ve got to read this article.” I don't need to read the article; I read the Bible. My goodness, how many problems would that fix if we said this is our authority for all life and godliness? Because God said it, not me. God said it.

Here is what else you'll notice in debates with these groups. I sat down with a priest for hours. This lady set it up, and other people at my house. “Well, let’s bring out the Bible.” No, let’s use this to interpret. No, can we just read scripture? Can we just let it speak for itself?

For example, Purgatory came up. I said, “Show me in scripture.” “Well, the council and...” I don't care. Where does it say in the Bible that you’ve got to now go pay for your penalty of your sin after Jesus died and you believe? I’ll never forget, he looked at me and said, “But Shane, how do you deal with all your guilt and shame?” I realized I don't think a lot of these people are saved. I dealt with that 26 years ago when I repented and believed. It’s gone, brother. I don't need to go spend time in Purgatory to be purged.

But you guys get my point. You get away from the Bible. I love Mormons. I’ve got family members that are Mormons. But if you just go look, it does believe Joseph Smith taught, you can read it, it says that God was once like you, and you will become like God. The Bible says that’s blasphemy. You will not be married to a celestial wife and have spirit children. That's what it teaches. So, I’m a coward if I say nothing. I want to step on toes. I want to step on toes so much that people research it. And they look—my goodness, we have drifted away from the word of God. That’s the standard. None of that is in my notes. I don't like making enemies, but I don't want to be an enemy of God because I was silent and passive.

Everything I just said, is it not the truth? Many of those people are on the highway to hell, and we don't want to help them because we don't want to offend them? The goal is to offend them in love and have them get so upset, grab their purse, get out, and then go research it. Every time I get Catholics mad at me, I say, “Go research what the papacy taught. Go research the councils of 1200, 1300, and calling Mary co-redemptrix. It’s all there.” But they don't want to.

Now, can there be Christian Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Mormons? If they are right with the Lord, but I don't know how they would stay in the system that's like that. People ask, “Shane, how do you know you're right? That’s pretty arrogant.” I’m not right. This is not my opinion. This is the word of God. That's all we have. We just have the word of God. It wasn't Shane deciding to make some religion or form a church. It’s the word of God from 2,000 years ago, the early church, Paul’s writings. God confirmed it.

Now we’re going to get a little interesting. You ready? “So now Judas and Silas, themselves being prophets also...” Oh my goodness, prophets. We’ve got prophets today? Yeah, they like to have YouTube channels and name themselves Prophet Such and Such. We’ve got prophets everywhere and apostles everywhere. God help me.

So, apparently, Judas and Silas themselves were prophets, and they strengthened the brethren with many words. Two things: do not be afraid of biblical terms just because somebody’s weird on YouTube and does weird things in the name of a prophet or apostle or charismatic. These are biblical terms. Prophecy, prophet—is a biblical term. Apostle is a biblical term. Pastor, teacher, evangelist—biblical terms. Baptized in the spirit is a biblical term. Charismatic is a biblical term. It comes from the word *charisma* in 1 Corinthians, bestowing spiritual gifts. Anointed, a biblical term.

As long as they're used by the right people, correct? That's where we get into trouble and people lead people astray. They do all kinds of weird things and they say “the anointing” and this and that, and then it’s weird and confusing. Many false prophets rise up.

It’s interesting. I’m still processing all this because it says they will do works in His name. False prophets will do works in Jesus’ name. He’ll say, “Depart from me, I don't know you,” on the day of judgment. So, the only thing I can gather is sometimes sincere people go and they listen to a false prophet and they believe in their heart they're believing God, and God meets them there and because of their belief, heals them or sets them free. But it doesn't mean the prophet is right.

Because that’s where it gets tricky. There's people in LA right now, you know right? Apostle Such and Such, Prophet Such and Such, big names. I’m like, Lord, give me grace because I don't want to speak ill, but also we have to be very careful in this area.

Hello, this is Pastor Shane Idleman. Hey, I wanted to let our listeners know that due to budgeting issues, we will be removing Regaining Lost Ground from some of the radio stations that we currently air on. Therefore, to continue listening to the sermons, I want to encourage you to follow me and Westside Christian Fellowship on YouTube and Rumble today, as well as other social media platforms. Again, due to budgeting issues, we will be removing Regaining Lost Ground from some of the stations that we currently air our program on.

Therefore, to continue listening to the sermons, I want to encourage you to follow me as well as Westside Christian Fellowship on YouTube and Rumble, and also follow us on all other social media platforms as well. If you have questions, please reach out to us at westsidechristianfellowship.org. Again, that’s westsidechristianfellowship.org.

Guest (Male): 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.