Regaining Lost Ground

Pastor Shane Idleman: Revival that was taking place in the colonies. He would read the revival accounts to his congregation, and the passion of God began to increase. See, when you feed people God's food, that's why Jesus said, "Oh, I will give you water of which you will never thirst again." There's a consuming of hunger and thirsting for more of God. You can increase that passion for more of God depending on what you feed on.

And then in July 1742, George Whitefield visited this church, preached three times on the day of his revival.

Guest (Male): Thank you for joining us here at Westside Christian Fellowship, located in Leona Valley, California, one hour north of Los Angeles. Today's message on regaining lost ground is titled "To Be Heard on High: Igniting Revival." In this powerful message, Pastor Shane pleads the church to wake up from their slumber and allow the Holy Spirit to bring dead bones to life.

A call for God's people right now, today, to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness fervently, so that you may be revived and filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. 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: Who can stop God Almighty? Who can stop God Almighty? And when we sing that song, do you know what we're talking about? Who can stop God Almighty when I'm living in carnality? No. Who can stop God Almighty when I'm a modern-day Pharisee? No. Who can stop God Almighty when He fills the heart and the life of a spirit-filled believer? That's why it's called spirit-filled believer, because you're filled with God's spirit.

If this upsets you, I plead to you to open the eyes of your heart. I plead with you. That's how God speaks to us: through confrontation, through conviction. I love what D.L. Moody said about the teachers in his day. "Oh, they are good teachers. They're great teachers. But why can't they see that the power of the Holy Spirit is the one thing they themselves need?"

See, you can be a good teacher. You can look at Biblical text and you can exegete it. You can open your Greek up and your Hebrew up. Here's what they meant, and here's the verb tense of that, here's the flow, here's the historical context, here's grammar, here's the everything. You've got it. But you're dry inside. You've left that first love, or you've never had it.

Now, I'm not a person who teaches that in a couple of years from now, you have to wait for this baptism of the Spirit. I believe the baptism of the Spirit is the baptism into the body of Christ. But Paul is clear: there are subsequent fillings of the Holy Spirit. There are subsequent, meaning when Paul said, "Be being filled," that verb tense is actually—for you Bible scholars—it's a "be being filled." You're being filled with the Spirit. So I can go into sin, quench and grieve the Spirit of God and quench that power of God. Or I can be filled with the Spirit of God.

But the person says—and I get this all the time when they get mad at messages like this—"Yeah, but you know what? I have the truth. I'm standing up for the truth. I'm a defender of the truth. I'm pointing out false truth. I got the truth." Guess what? So did the Pharisees. That's just the truth. Jesus said, "Do what they say to do, but don't be like them."

So it's time for the Pharisees to repent. It's time for the carnal to repent. It's time for the unbeliever to repent. And I know there's people listening who do not know God. You don't know the fire of God. You have no clue what I'm talking about. You're either really hungry and desperate for it or you're wanting to tune this out. But let me tell you something: repentance is the key to all of this. Arrogant hearts must repent. Carnal hearts must repent. And if you do not know God, there is a day of reckoning coming. There is a day of judgment coming.

This is God's wake-up call. What do they call that loud horn that they use, or that bullhorn, whatever it's called? And they shout. This is God's wake-up call. Turn to Me while you still can. When you hear His voice, harden not your heart. Today is the day of salvation. Turn to Almighty God, repent of your sin, believe on Calvary, believe on the cross, believe on Christ, the One who will set you free, and turn from the wrath that is to come. Turn from the wrath that is to come today.

The Bible is clear: who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? God says, "Who may ascend into My house? Who may come into heaven? Those who have clean hands and a pure heart, and who's not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor has he sworn deceitfully." Yes, that's a wonderful scripture for Christians to get our hearts right. But when the Bible says, "He who has clean hands," how can you come to God with clean hands? First, you have to dip them in the mighty blood of Jesus Christ, and God says, "I see the shed blood of My Lamb and because of that, you can enter into the power and presence of God. You may ascend into the hill of the Lord."

So, once we look at the fuel for revival, being hungry for revival, and we talk about repentance, there is a third point here. But I don't want to lose this moment here, because what's going to happen many times is when you turn this off, you're going to turn on things that you shouldn't be watching. You're going to turn on things that are not productive. You're going to turn on things that draw you away from God. So you have to keep that revival fire going. Get into the Word.

Listen, people don't like when I say this, but to grasp hold of God, you have to make radical choices. You can't just buy a five-minute devotional, put it on the counter, and hope that's going to do it. There's a separation that occurs. Paul said, "Come out from among them, be separated." Jesus said, "When you follow Me, you will deny yourself, your fleshly lust, your desires. You will pick up your cross and you will follow Me."

Discipleship is narrow. There is a cost to pay, and we have to make that decision. I believe we have to get back to that point where we say, "Jesus, no matter what it costs me—the churches might not open, it might get difficult—no matter what happens, Jesus, I'm holding on to You." More people are worried about Bill Gates and vaccines than Almighty God. We should have a problem with that. Where's the fear of the Lord in this place?

I see Facebook posts about everything from conspiracy theories and New World Orders and all these things. Yes, they are concerning. They are alarming. We are praying against them. We are to be wise. But at the end of the day, you should fear God and Almighty God. Don't fear him who can kill your body. Fear Him who can cast both body and soul in hell. Jesus spoke about the fear of God. The fear of God is throughout the entire Bible. Just about every book of the Bible talks about fearing God with a reverence and respect. As a matter of fact, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge and understanding.

Oh, Washington and Sacramento, you want to know what to do in this pandemic? Then fear Almighty God, bow your knee to Jesus Christ, and cry out for wisdom and discernment. And then number three, we're missing this. We've got to bring back prayer and worship. And you might say, "Oh, I know that." No, I don't think you do. Here's what I mean by prayer: when God filled me with the Spirit, prayer is my life. My schedule is evolved around my prayer. My meetings I make are scheduled around prayer. Time with my family, prayer is the priority. Prayer is the focus, that communion, that relationship with God.

Prayer is everything. I will actually look at my day and say, "How's this going to affect my prayer life tomorrow?" People have been making fun of me for years: "Oh, you go to bed so early." Oh, if you experienced my mornings, you would never mock me again. Heart-wrenching, soul-searching prayer. And then when you tie it in with worship, adoration—there's prayer and it's adoration.

And here's why I said that: because even the Pharisees prayed. Even unbelievers pray. You have to have prayer and worship, worship of the true and living God. And when you combine those things—when you combine prayer and worship—that's why I love that song, "I'm a lover of Your presence." Oh God, I'm a lover of Your presence. There is a passion, there is a stirring deep inside. Oh God, I want Your presence again. No matter what it costs me, I want to find myself searching for You in the morning, praying, calling out to You at night, bringing the church back to prayer.

When you start to see prayer meetings increasing, when you start to see people hungry for prayer, oh, look up, your redemption draws nigh as far as revival falling and hitting a place. Every mighty move of God begins in a prayer closet, not with some top-name preacher with 100,000 views. It begins in a prayer room. Read about the Duncan Campbell revivals in New Hebrides. One lady was blind, another was hunched over in their 80s, I believe. And they prayed, "Oh God, visit our island." If we could just get back to people saying, "Oh God, we need to hear from You, or we don't want to exist." Aren't you tired of normal Christianity, what the world calls normal?

Prayer is so important. God says, "Ask." Think about this: the God of the universe calls us. He says, "Ask, ask, ask. Ask with the right heart and I will deliver. I will set free. I will bring the prodigal son home. I will comfort your children. I will heal. I will deliver. Ask and you shall receive. Ask and this mountain will be removed. Ask and you shall have what you want as long as your heart's right. Ask and watch the angels of heaven come down and fight against the demonic influences." We have to ask and be specific. Ask the mountains be moved.

I might just go right into the prayer points I wanted for the end, because this is so important. We have to ask, and America has to be specific. God, with this COVID-19 pandemic, Lord, we ask that You would reveal what is really going on. We ask that You would show us the unfruitful works of darkness. We ask for wisdom, we ask for discernment. We ask for a humble heart that obeys our authorities. But when there is a need for boldness, we ask You rise up and we lead the people down the path that is narrow.

Oh God, give us direction. And Lord, we pray for our President. Oh God, give our administration wisdom. Humble them. Let them cry out to You, God. We pray for protection. So we ask for comfort. We ask for peace. We ask for the fake news and the false stories to be killed and expose them. Expose the unfruitful works of darkness, Lord. We ask that the satanic bondage would be lifted. We pray that these pedophile rings would continue to be demolished. We pray that abortion—God, the murdering of our innocent children—the way we can slaughter them at nine months. God, would You convict the people?

We have the blood of innocent children on our hands, and we cry out to God Almighty: intercede, Lord, on behalf of Your people. We pray for our children. God, would You guide our children, guard our children, help our children, secure our children, God, please. Lord, I pray for the families. Lord, the child abuse that is taking place even right now. Right now, people listening have been reacting in anger. Lord, show them Your love. God, I pray for the little boys, little girls so scared because their parents are scared. Show them when they turn to You that You give them the peace that surpasses all understanding. They need to cry out and call out to the Prince of Peace.

And God, You know my heart for this next prayer request. Lord, it's a revival of truth. I'm sick and tired of courthouses and schools and atheist groups removing Your Word. I pray this is a revival of Your truth. We bring back absolute truth, that we are not scared of truth. You're actually bringing prayers back into the schools right now, in our homes. And Lord, because You will not mock, whatever a man sows, he shall reap. The more California drifts from You, the more the United States drifts from You, we will reap, God. We will reap the whirlwind. And we are mocking You, God. Please have mercy on Your people.

Bring back Your truth. Elevate that absolute truth of God's Word like a lighthouse standing on the shore, guarding that edge line so the ships do not bash against those rocks. We are bashing against sin. We are fueling the works of the enemy, and we pray for a revival of truth. God, would You awaken Your pastors? God, awaken those who are preaching a sloppy, cold, callous gospel that makes Jesus a butler and this health and wealth and faith and all positive. God, bring us to the conviction that we need to repent of our sin.

That's why the Bible, I believe, says, "The letter kills, but it's the Spirit that gives life." Now, the Bible is not putting down the Bible. It's not saying the Word of God will kill you. What it's saying is the Word of God by itself, when a heart is not receptive or coming through someone who is not on fire for God—just the Word of God alone will kill you. It has to be infused by the Spirit of God.

So you take the Word of God with the Spirit of God, you marry them, and that is powerful preaching. It's powerful ministry. That's when the Bible comes alive. Because there are many people who pound their fists on the pulpit. They own Bibles. There's many people, when this stay-home order is over, that come to your house and they knock on your door and they try to convert you to their religion and they have the Bible. Or you can try to follow the Bible without the Spirit, and then it becomes legalism.

That's why Paul told the church in Galatia—he said, "Are you going to finish in the flesh what began in the Spirit?" He said, "Oh, foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? Who has tricked you? You can't finish what began in the Spirit with the works of the flesh." The letter kills, but it's the Spirit that gives life. The Spirit of God brings dead bones alive again. The Spirit of God brings a dead church alive again. The Spirit of God brings a dead pastor to life again. The Spirit of God is what changes everything.

So we have to say, "God, ignite revival in our nation, in our communities, in our homes." And to this group that doesn't have the power of the Spirit: they're offended by that, and actually to them, revival is offensive. Why? Because they think they are already revived. And so what happens is when you talk about this, spiritual pride comes up and they begin to mock you because you're talking about something they don't have. And they're not open, they're not receptive.

And you might say, "Shane, why in the world would you bring this up?" Because often the only way to convict someone who is spiritually prideful or someone who is carnal is you have to shoot them straight. You have to tell them the truth about their hard heart, and then the Spirit of God comes and convicts them, hopefully. And they also say there's too much talk of the Holy Spirit. There's too much talk of the Holy Spirit because they are not filled.

That's just like a sinner who wants you to stop talking about sin. Stop talking about that. So when you talk about the power of the Spirit, the fire of the Spirit, the baptism of the Spirit, the unction of the Spirit, like we sang, "Holy Spirit, You are welcome here, indwell this place, the power of God come here," the person who doesn't have that gets convicted and they don't want you to talk about that.

Believe it or not, about six years ago, someone came to me at the church and said, "You're talking way too much about the Holy Spirit." Now, granted, I was in a series on the Holy Spirit, and I was talking about the forgotten God. Francis Chan wrote that book a while back, and I was on a series about it. But I could tell it was a type of person who was Bible-taught but not spirit-led. And they don't want you to talk—that's why many people don't want to sing about the Holy Spirit. "Holy Spirit, You're welcome here." Well, no, He's not. "Holy Spirit, come and dwell me." Well, no, I already have all the Spirit.

Why are we talking about this? Because there's a conviction. Like I said before, they love the Father, the Son, and the Holy Word. They miss the power of the Spirit. And here's why the doctrine of the Holy Spirit is so important: that's the fire of God. That's the power of God. That's the anointing of God. The Holy Spirit infuses His Word. The Holy Spirit convicts a heart. The Holy Spirit builds a church. The Holy Spirit builds a ministry. The Holy Spirit draws us closer to Christ. The Holy Spirit convicts. The Holy Spirit leads. The Holy Spirit will empower a person.

And there's also in this camp, there is a disdain for worship because worship is the heartbeat of those who have been revived. Those who've experienced revival love worship. They want to worship. But those who don't have that power, and spiritual pride comes in, they disdain your heart for worship. And many people dismiss the fire of God because they don't have the fire of God. There's a conviction there.

And you can look at all the great men and women who came before us, from Wesley to Whitefield, to Martin Luther, to Spurgeon. All of them talked about encountering the fire of God as this unction. I like what Spurgeon said. He said, "The fire in the preacher sent of God is not mere excitement. There is a mysterious influence resting on God's servants which is irresistible. The Holy Ghost sent down from heaven anoints all true preachers, and it is true power and fire."

But then, of course, the group that doesn't want the power—and I talked about that last week—it's the group that says, "I just want to buy three dollars of God, please. Not enough to ruin my lifestyle. Don't go after my lifestyle. Don't go after my alcohol. I love my marijuana. I like my porn. I like my sin. I like my whatever. Don't touch that part of me, God." And so they don't want the power of God because it's a call to a deeper life. It's a call to consecration.

That's why Jesus didn't say, "Hey, come on along, it'll be fun." He said, "Die to self. Carry your cross," which means you are dead to the things of the world. Paul says, "Because of the cross, I am dead in Christ." And He said, "Follow Me and carry that cross." So for dead bones to come alive, I'm talking to those who haven't shut me off yet. I'm talking to those who are serious about this powerful relationship with God. You must recognize that you are dead spiritually to be revived. You must recognize that you are dead spiritually to be revived.

Now, what I want to do is I've been looking forward to this. I want to spark your hunger. I want to fuel your thirst for more of God, and I'm going to read to you some brief excerpts of revivals that were genuine. This is what I read at night. This is the heartbeat of my soul, and there were so many it would take me hours to read to you the revivals that have hit our nation and have hit Scotland and Wales and Europe and so many different places.

I'm going to actually direct you to a site, a website. It's just romans1015.com—romans1015.com and you can click on the examples of all these revivals down throughout history. I believe it's called Beautiful Feet. One of my favorites—and I had to go through those and just really limit this to my favorite—but I like the Moravian revival. The Moravian revival, the Moravians were powerful. This is Whitefield was a part of them, Wesley was a part of them, and this is in 1727.

They said this: "We saw the hand of God, and we were all baptized with the fire of God. Baptized with the fire of God, the unction of God. From that time, scarcely a day passed but we beheld His mighty workings among us. A great hunger after the Word of God took possession of us, so that we have three services every day: 5:00 AM, 7:30 AM, and 9:00 PM all throughout the day."

And even though this congregation—it's called the Hernhut congregation—they've never exceeded 300 people, they started an around-the-clock prayer meeting, and it went on for 100 years. I have the book about that. It's amazing. And then the Cambuslang revival. The Cambuslang revival in 1742. It's in Scotland. And it records this: "The Church of Scotland had a passion for God. The pastor was in communication with Jonathan Edwards in America, and he received news about the revival that was taking place in the colonies."

He would read the revival accounts to his congregation, and the passion of God began to increase. See, when you feed people God's food, when you feed them, that's why Jesus said, "Oh, I will give you water of which you will never thirst again." There's a consuming of hunger and thirsting for more of God. You can increase that passion for more of God depending on what you feed on.

And then in July 1742, George Whitefield visited this church, preached three times on the day of his revival. His last sermon began at 9:00 in the evening and continued until 11:00. You think I go long. The hunger for the Word of God was so strong that the pastor preached after him until 1:00 in the morning. Even then, people could hardly be persuaded to depart. All night in the fields, the voice of prayer and praise was to be heard. You see, because when God visits a people, they don't care about the time clock. They care about what's on God's clock. They look to the heartbeat of God. And Whitefield even commented on this in his journal, I believe. It said this far outdid all that I ever saw in America.

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.