Regaining Lost Ground

Pastor Shane Idleman: And I’m glad we do it because a lot of churches don't. Sunday only makes sense in light of Friday. So many churches only talk about the pleasantries. But you truly can't understand the goodness of God and the grace of God without understanding the bad news. The goodness isn't as powerful until you hear the bad news. That's when it all really comes to life.

But I want to go back and answer a question that was asked of Jesus. The question for us, the question for the world today, is: Is He the Christ?

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 the second and final part of this sobering Good Friday message titled, "This Is Your Hour When Darkness Reigns".

Luke 6:45 tells us, "The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." Be encouraged and equipped in this Good Friday message of victory as Pastor Shane delivers the truth about how we all can be more than conquerors through Christ.

Listen 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 is Pastor Shane Idleman.

Pastor Shane Idleman: And they put a scepter in his right hand like a king would carry, and they bowed the knee before him and they mocked him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" On their knees, mocking him, spitting on him, hitting him with the reed that was in his hand. And when they had mocked him even more, they took the robe off of him and they put his own clothes on him, and they led him away to be crucified.

Sometime we should do a study on how many people in the Bible mocked God and where they're at today. Last time I checked, He is still on the throne. He is still in control. But we read a few weeks ago in the book of Acts how King Herod's pride destroyed him. Sennacherib cursed God, and God wiped him out. The Assyrians mocked God. Pharaoh challenged Him. The Philistines blasphemed Him. The Babylonians boasted against Him. All of them have been annihilated.

Yesterday, I looked up famous atheists from the 1500s. I didn't recognize any names. 1600s, 1700s, 1800s—maybe one, Nietzsche. Look at all these: Voltaire. Where are they today? God still reigns. You have to remember that because there is a time—this is your hour when darkness reigns. But when this hour is up, Christ is still on the throne. That's why it says every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Christ is Lord. That's the truth of scripture.

And so, as they were leading him away, they found this man of Cyrene, Simon, and they told him to carry Jesus's cross. Normally, they would carry their cross over the shoulder. Historians are not too sure if it was fully made already or just the beam. Regardless, it's heavy. They're carrying their place of death, what they're going to be crucified on. And it's up that road called Golgotha, which is the place of the skull, that mountain that would look like a skull. And they're carrying the instrument of their death.

But Jesus was so beaten and marred and weak that they had to have a man come and carry his cross. To me, none of this is accident. I'm sure they thought about when Jesus said, "Whoever denies himself, follows me, carries his cross. You cannot follow me unless you carry your cross." You know, that's a doctrine in the church today that is avoided. We have this idea of this carefree, easy, "God bless me" Christianity.

But Jesus said, "Die to self. Carry your cross." There's a load. There's a heaviness. There's a burden to bear. "If you don't hate mother and father and kids and put me first, you cannot be a disciple." Now, just so many of you know, the word actually means to "prefer less than". So if you don't prefer me more than everyone else, you cannot be my disciple. Discipleship has a cost. There's a cost.

And we don't tell people that. Try Jesus, everything will be good. Well, sometimes not everything is good. Sometimes that cross is heavy, and you don't know what the future holds. But as we often say, we know who holds the future. Praise God for that. And so this man is carrying Jesus's cross. I've often wondered if he ever became a Christian.

And when they had come to that place called Golgotha, it's a place of a skull. It looks like a skull. And they gave him sour wine mingled with gall to drink, but he tasted it and he would not drink. Then they crucified him and divided his garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: "They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots."

Sitting down, they kept watch over him there. And they put up over his head: "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews." Then the two robbers on each side were crucified with him. And those who came by, they blasphemed him and wagged their heads. You know, you can imagine, "Oh yeah, look at you! Come down! You're this great teacher! Look at you, it got you nowhere! Call on God now!"

And I still picture those words: "This is your hour." This is your hour when darkness reigns. Enjoy it, because when this hour is over, there's hell to pay. The creation mocking their creator. "You destroy the temple, you said, and you'll rebuild it in three days? Then save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!" And it was so ironic that he actually did exactly that. They put him in the tomb, and God resurrected him.

All these mockers, where are they at now? Listen, God always wins. God always wins. He always has the final say, even when darkness looks the bleakest, the most damning and dark and confusing and fearful. As a believer, God always wins. I mean, as an unbeliever, God always wins, but you won't like the outcome. It's a much different outcome.

And then also the chief priests, they were mocking with the scribes and the elders. You can picture them looking up on that hill, or how close they were, and they're mocking him. "This is your hour. Enjoy it while it lasts. He trusted in God, let Him deliver him now if He will have him. He said he is the Son of God, let him come down then!" But they didn't realize that without the shedding of blood, there's no remission of sin. He couldn't come down, or we wouldn't be here, saved and redeemed and worshiping our Creator.

And even the robbers who were crucified with him mocked him. And of course, we know eventually one of the robbers eventually came around. And then now, from the sixth hour until the ninth hour, this is amazing. I don't know if people's opinions were starting to change now, because it's not the time to be dark, and there was darkness over all the land. Can you imagine the scene? Men hanging on a cross dying and the darkness that is there.

The darkness of sin. He's absorbing the wrath of God. God did not take that cup from him. He's absorbing the wrath of the Father. And as that darkness is there, he's hanging for a while on that cross in torment. And then finally, at that ninth hour, that's when the famous words, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani," he cries out. "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

You can read a lot of commentaries on it, and all we have is scripture. But it appears at that moment in time is when there had to be some type of separation where he had to absorb the sin of man. In the righteous, holy God, there was some forsaking, or maybe he felt a distance. But that's when he absorbed that penalty when he gave up that breath, right before that, and said, "It is finished." It's done. It's been completed.

And those who were there, they said, "He's calling for Elijah." And they said, "Well, leave him alone, see if Elijah will come and save him." And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and he yielded up his spirit. And this is when I wish the Bible gave more information. I want to see the face of the Pharisees then. Behold, the veil—just so most of you know, it was high. Maybe they speculate to where the speakers are at.

High, this big veil, four inches thick, hung very securely. And it was always closed. And the high priest once a year would go through, pass the veil, enter into the Holies of Holies and make atonement for the sins of the people. And he was very cautious because if he went in there the wrong way or with the wrong heart, God would kill him.

As far as I can tell, there's nothing to really prove it, but tradition tells that they would put a rope around his ankle in case they didn't hear the bells, the little jingling of his garment, after an hour. Then they would pull him out if he didn't go in there holy. We don't have that in the Bible, but how else are they going to get him?

So he's behind this big veil, covering. The people are out there. He's interceding for the people once a year, every year. The blood of bulls and goats covering, making atonement for the sins of the people. It's so profound; it says when he died that God actually ripped that veil, ripped that from top to bottom. Can you imagine? How are you going to fix that?

But what's He saying? Now we can go boldly into the throne room of grace. No more do we need the blood of bulls and goats and animals to temporarily cover the sins of the people. No more! It was almost like God was saying, "Blasphemy! I will make a way. Here's the way. Come straight to the Son. Come straight to Christ and Him alone." You don't need to go to a man who intercedes for you for God. You go directly to God. That's biblical historical Christianity. The veil has been ripped. The blood of bulls and goats is no longer necessary because the perfect blood of Jesus Christ has been shed, and for that, we are forever thankful.

Well, if that's not enough, there was an earthquake. I mean, can you picture the scene? It's already dark out. The veil's ripped, the earth is quaking, and of course, rocks are splitting, and graves were opened. Many of the bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised from the dead. Coming out of the graves after his resurrection—He was the first fruit of the resurrection—they came out after his resurrection and they went into the holy city and they appeared to many.

I think there might have been some conversions that day. I mean, what does a high priest say to that? The veil's shot, the rocks have split open, the ground shook. And so when the centurion, who was a man of war—he executed people—when he saw these things, he feared greatly. He said, "Truly, this was the Son of God." Truly, this was the Son of God.

So just a few things I want to cover with you so you know: What is the point of the cross? Why we need the cross. Number one: to bear our sin and to heal us. These are all scriptures. He himself bore our sin in his body on that tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds, you have been healed. By his wounds, you have been healed.

Some people use this for physical healing, and there are overlapping principles there, but ultimately the context is about a spiritual healing—that we were dead in our trespasses and we've been healed spiritually. And also, what did it do? It reconciled us to God. It fixed that relationship. For in him, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. In other words, all of the Godhead dwelled in Jesus Christ in bodily form—the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit.

We witnessed that, fully God yet fully man. And through him to reconcile to himself all things. And then I like the next one in Colossians: to pay the debt for sin. God canceled the record of the debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. Born into this world when I was in sin, there's a debt. That's why the Bible says the wages, the price of sin, is death. Who paid my balance? Who paid your balance? That's why the cross—to pay the debt.

And ultimately to show God's love. But God showed his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. I know I've shared this before, but it fits good on Good Friday. When I eventually came back to the Lord, I shed a lot of tears. Many of you know prodigals—have you ever come home? The tears wouldn't stop. And I remember opening the Bible and just falling in love with it and highlighting. Then I asked my mom, "Can I highlight in the Bible? Is it okay to write in the Bible?" She said, "Oh, absolutely."

And I got to this verse. I got to this verse and I remember: God showed his love for me while I was still in sin, blaspheming him, mocking my mom's prayers, putting my fist up at God, listening to music that was worshiping Satan. You know I've talked about all the Motley Crue and Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath, and loving it. "This is my God." Even mocking Him in that, He died for me. And it just wrecked me. The love, the perfect love of God.

And then ultimately to redeem us from the curse. There is a curse. There's a curse on mankind because of the fall of man. But Christ redeemed us from that curse by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hanged on a tree." And then the final verse: to pay the penalty for iniquity. He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought our peace, and by his wounds, we are healed.

And that's what we do on Good Friday. We celebrate the cross. And I’m glad we do it because a lot of churches don't. But Sunday only makes sense in light of Friday. So many churches only talk about the pleasantries. But you truly can't understand the goodness of God and the grace of God without understanding the bad news. The goodness doesn't—isn't as powerful until you hear the bad news. That's when it all really comes to life.

But I want to go back and answer a question that was asked of Jesus. The question for us, the question for the world today, is: Is He the Christ? Is He the Christ?

Guest (Male): I adjure you, Yeshua of Nazareth. Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.

I am. And you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven.

Blasphemy! You have heard the blasphemy! What is your verdict?

He is worthy of death! Death! Death to him! Crucify him!

Pastor Shane Idleman: We have to answer that same question today. Is He the Christ? Is He the Christ? How could one man pay that penalty? Because He is the Christ. You take all of humanity, and we will not equal who and what He was. And we thank Him for the cross.

Sometimes I picture—did you ever picture if you were there and you could go to that? Would you grab the foot of that cross? You could just grab it and you see He's there dying for you. That blood that was shed for your sins and for mine. That's how we can spend eternity with God. This isn't pie in the sky; it makes sense theologically, practically. And the witness of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, crying, "Abba, Father!"

How do you adequately describe what took place? The theological positions and practical applications blow your mind. All I know, and what many of you know, is I was blind, but now I see. I was lost, but now I’m found. It was grace that's brought me here thus far, and grace will lead me home.

Guest (Male): You’ve been listening to Regaining Lost Ground with Pastor Shane Idleman. 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. 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.