Regaining Lost Ground

Pastor Shane Idleman: Let your joy over sin be turned into morning. This is genuine humility. Understand that it is a struggle, but it's not impossible. It's difficult, but it's not impossible. It's going to be challenging, but it's not impossible. And what I like, the more you say no on a certain area, the stronger you become. The more you say no, the more you resist the enemy, he starts to lose that power and and he he withdraws. So there's a battle. It's difficult, but you put on the full armor of God, which if we had time we could go through that.

All the things that God talks about is where did you put those things on and resist the devil, he will flee.

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 a convicting message by Pastor Shane titled The Devil Made Me Do It. Ephesians 4:2-3 tells us, be completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace. Please join us for this sobering message of hope as Pastor Shane urges us to fall on our face before the Lord, renouncing all pride, all excuses, and a call out to the only name that can save, whom that is exclusively found in Jesus Christ.

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: There's always an opportunity to do what is right by turning from it. Many times with temptation, you got to know the plan before the temptation comes. And I've shared this before. Often my wife knows cuz she can check my email whenever, but if I go to empty spam and it says, hi, my name is and I'm 24, delete. Blue hair, blonde, delete. It's it's all you you just see I don't need this. I don't care who you are. I don't need to see pictures that you sent me. Who is this person? Delete, delete, delete. It just has to be that quick.

But if you say, well, maybe this is a person from church that name looks kind of familiar. Well, it's in spam now. I mean, I mean, we we start to play these games. So temptation, you got to know what's your trigger. For one person, it's this. For another person, it's that. And what's what's the trigger? For example, we went my brother came in from Idaho. I helped him all day yesterday for it was a long day of moving, picking up 40 yd worth of trash. And they invited us to pizza and they ordered pitchers of beer and you know, I just the decision is no.

It's not even an option. I I can't do that. So that see the decisions made before it you know, before it even starts. But if you get there and you say, well, I don't know, one pitcher won't hurt, right? Yeah, right. I mean, you start you see your mind, that's what it it'll play with you. It'll start to and and and you you you have to decide what God's word says before it happens. That's part of overcoming temptation. If you wait till you're in the thick of battle, like what am I going to do now?

I don't know. You know, and that that's where really cuz when he gets you into it, he starts to plant thoughts. Like you deserve this or you've been working hard all week or they don't treat you right or when was the last time you did this or you need to tell and he'll start building on that temptation with those thoughts, those fiery darts of the enemy. So that's how the enemy works. And people say, man, Shane, the devil made me do this. No, they didn't he didn't make you do anything. You did. The devil made me get drunk.

No, you made me Did I say that wrong? The devil I said it right, okay. That's how it's like. But but no that but they but then they head to Las Vegas for the weekend or the devil made me spend all this money. No, you didn't budget and you didn't do anything. Oh, the devil is coming against my marriage. No, you are the meanest son of a gun I have ever met and you're back bite and you down talk your wife. That's the problem. The devil didn't make you do it. Especially in charismatic circles, it's real big.

The devil there's a spirit for everything. The devil this and the spirit of this, the spirit of lying, the spirit of lust, the spirit of this, the spirit of of of of you know, all kinds of things because if we can blame the devil, then I don't have to take responsibility. Well, the devil made me do it. He never he can't make you do it. All he can do is just plant thoughts basically in your mind or bring people, you know, situations he can't make us do anything. Now to me, that's pretty pretty safe. You know, you don't have to worry about that he's going to make you like a puppet go in actually do something.

And I've I've used to read I've I've read stories of guys that are in jail for the rest of their life and they heard all these voices to go kill somebody and and actually the voices and things started small when they were little and would build. Uh, Bundy, that guy Bundy, I think he was executed. Uh, he got started on just hardcore pornography, like catalogs from Sears and JCPenney's in the set. And then it turned into this and then turned into this and turned and it got worse and worse and worse. So that's what the enemy does.

He'll keep he'll keep bringing those things cuz cuz the ultimate goal is for the enemy is to kill, steal, and to destroy. That that's what he he's not concerned with a little this, a little slip up or a little that. He wants to kill and steal and to destroy and submit and resist. Oh, I can I want to keep reading. Temptation is also an opportunity to do what is right by turning from it. See, temptation isn't wrong. People sometimes be, Shane, where are these thoughts coming from? I've never had that thought before. Why Right, there's a season of testing sometimes that the enemy will bring in thoughts, but being tempted is not sin because Jesus was tempted.

Jesus was tempted in all points like we are, but was without sin. So the temptation, the thought to do something isn't the sin. It's when you go out and do it. That's when it crosses the line. 1 Corinthians 10:13, no temptation has overtaken you. This is going to burst the bubble to some people cuz they think they've they've nobody on planet Earth has ever went through what I am going through. Nobody's had to resist what I am resisting. Well, Paul said, no temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man. But God is faithful who will not you will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able.

But with the temptation, he makes a way of escape that you may be able to bear it. So there's a there's a whole bunch of exit doors here. There's exit doors everywhere. But you have to bear it. You have to there's a there's a there's a price that has to be paid. There's a resistance that has to be won. The door of temptation swings both ways. You can enter or exit. Submit and resist, what I talked about earlier. Like in dieting, when bad food is removed, a healthy choice has to be added. Same thing in in spiritual areas.

When something is removed from your life, when you start to step back and pursue God and you remove things from your life, you have to add it with other things. For example, I've known people who have who have tried to get back on track with their life and they go, you know, I'm just going to go sit at home and watch TV. I'm not going back out into that, you know, party lifestyle or the world. Well, sitting at home with this can eventually lead back to that because the your your feeding your mind, you're not adding things.

So what I would suggest is get plugged into a Wednesday night study and a Sunday at church and a Bible study and men's group, women's group and you get plugged in. You're adding more things as you're taking things out. If you just go and and remove things but don't add things, the enemy can come back in. Because idle hands are the enemy's workshop. Idle hands are the enemy's tools. Idle hands all those sayings are true cuz when we sit idle, we're bored. And when we're bored, that's when temptation often occurs. The flesh is in rebellion against God.

Okay, your flesh is in rebellion against God. So feelings cannot be trusted. Okay, you don't trust your feelings. Puritan author John Owen said, secret lusts lie lurking in our own heart which will never give up until they are either destroyed or satisfied. That's what those lusts that are in our heart that they're lurking, they're ready and they're they're not going to give up until they're either satisfied or they're crucified. That's how we have to handle things like this. And C.H. Spurgeon said, beware of no man more than yourself. We carry our worst enemies within. So as we're talking about defeating the devil, submit and draw near to God regardless of how you fill because I can tell you as a living witness that you will not fill like reading the word and fasting and going to church and all these things sometimes cuz we often say, well, I don't fill like it so I'm not going to do it.

I fill like going to the movies. I fill like watching the news. I fill like going you know, where do where do you feel like going? Some of those things are are fine. But if you always just go where your feelings are going to go, you're rarely going to go into God's word. You're rarely going to go to church. You're rarely going to do the things that God wants us to do if we just allow our feelings. And that's why I think he the enemy goes after feelings Sunday morning. And spouses go like this. Right, we take two cars now so it's it's been a long time.

But I remember when we used to get ready for church, getting the kids ready. Oh my. The devil just loves that. What every all day is or all week is fine. No problems at all. But come Sunday morning Where's the clothes? Where's this? We're running late. Forget it. Let's just not go. And you go storming back in your room and slam the door. Nobody else does that? That That was a long time ago though, 2005. I don't think I slam the door but but we we usually made it but sometimes it was a Christians can be so fake.

You you're Well, because you're you're mad and this and and then you get there, praise you, brother. How's it going? He smiles and everybody's everybody's treating everybody nice. Oh, I love you and and wait a minute. You're just fighting 5 minutes ago. See, it tells me you can't control the way you act. It tells me you can control the way you act if you want it bad enough. So that that's the the the rebellion, the flesh is a rebellion. So we can't trust our feelings. The devil doesn't make us do anything. As I said, he simply presents the bait.

Blame shifting is very common. The devil is coming after my finances. People say, yet they fail to budget and give and spend wisely. The devil's destroying my marriage. Yet spouses fail to truly love and serve each other. See, I remember that earlier. Be aware of opportune times. Here's where the rubber's going to meet the road. There's not probably not too much temptation going on right now. Usually it's when the opportune times present themselves. Opportune times, Luke 4:13, and when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. So the devil was tempting Jesus when he was hungry, he was he was all these things.

The devil kept testing him and and and tempting him. And eventually he left. But the Bible says he was going to come back for an opportune time. And in the in battle, the enemy attacks at opportune times. You might say, Shane, what is an opportune time? Well, if you look it up in the Greek language, what it really means is it's it's talking about a favorable wind blowing a ship towards its destination. So there's a ship out to sea and the wind starts up and it 's actually blowing the ship back to where it wants to go.

That 's an opportune time. That's an opportunity there. So if we if we look the devil is lurking for that time when you're in a certain place or in a certain setting where that can happen. For example, probably not going to want a pitcher of beer right here. But last night it's everywhere, right? See, you see the opportune times. There was an opportune time right now. He will that will never work. But you throw me in that place 100 times and and trying to deal with that all the time depending on this and that. I mean, obviously you know as a pastor you got to have a policy of abstinence.

People can enjoy beers now and then. It's I'm not against that at all. But I have to be even more careful. So that would be an opportune time or an opportune time of where nobody's at or it's a vacation or you know, you you you know those times where he's going to what nobody's nobody's considering looking at pornography right now, are they? No, nobody in this whole room. You get home tonight, you go on Facebook or you read garbage books that are out there, the 50 Shades of Garbage and all this stuff and and we'll see that's an opportune time.

Opportune time. You can feel the anger in your home and you're about ready to explode. Oh, that's an opportune time. That's you say, I'm just going to go in a walk and pray. You remove So he's looking for the op and everybody's different. Everybody's different. Your opportune time might not be my opportune time and vice versa. So he goes around looking for those times. And it's interesting, there's something called um they usually use it in addiction ministries, but it's called the halt principle. And they don't know it, but it's spiritual. They said your most apt to relapse when you're hungry, angry, lonely, or tired.

And I said, that's for us too. That's exactly opportune times. Hungry, angry, lonely, and tired. Cuz you're tired, you snap. You're lonely, you do things you normally wouldn't do. You're angry, you 're upset, your emotions are going hey why you all I'll show them. And he's looking for these opportune times. So that's what the enemy did. He's going around looking for those times. And that's one reason as as a parent as you're raising children, you should minimize those opportune times in your house or the way your family's constructed as often as possible. You don't want to give the enemy a foothold.

You don't want to present and give them opportune times with careful with what your kids watch in your home. It's okay to have parameters and rules because you're there to guard them and shepherd them and avoid the enemy coming in. So whatever maybe you struggle with an addiction. These are also it's going to you're hungry, you're angry, you're lonely, you're tired. Those will be times when he will go after you. And the final point, the source of our strength comes from the food that we choose. A daily diet of violence, lust, anger, and depression will fuel those very things in our lives.

See, this is the the the big reason. I'm like most of you. I know I know most of you here that we're careful on entertainment because you see this big thing now with young adults on vampires and the occult and witchcraft and and I talk about that often and that's why because these kids feed on all of this stuff. You see MTV now it's just garbage. I mean, I was in an airport a year ago and saw I haven't seen it since then, but just the garbage. It's it's it's unbelievable what we're filling the mind of young adults, what they're filling their mind with.

Stuff that now amuses us amazed us years ago, we would never allow. And so as they're filling on this, that is an opportune time because as a man thinks, so is he. The the more we feed on certain things that will either fuel temptation or help to quench it. So if you're watching certain things and I I remember I I hope I'm not being too repetitive cuz some of these things I've talked about back in Lancaster. But I remember at a men's conference um where there was this man, he came up forward. He was crying and his wife was leaving that weekend uh because of his his problem with uh pornography.

It's a it's a huge issue. And I was talking to him and and he said, you know, trying to isolate, you know, he goes, yeah, every time I love watching sports on ESPN and then it starts with the cheerleaders and the commercials and that's where I keep I said, okay, this is a no brainer. Go home, tell her you're unplugging the television and you're going to make the necessary changes that you need to do and remove those triggers that keep happening. And I was I was I didn't know what to say to his response. He looked at me and said, I can't do that.

Are you crazy? I'm a sports fanatic. And he kind of walked I'm like, oh lord, what don't we get? That's why I like what A.W. Tozer said, don't come up here and cry about it. Go home and live it out. He's not going to make those changes because he's a sports fanatic and he's about ready to lose his marriage. I want to man. Right as he's walking away the back of his head. But you see that's that's what I was just talking about here. The source that's why he's not doing well spiritually. That because he they don't want to let that go and you don't want to let that go because the flesh loves it.

The flesh doesn't want to be submitted to God. The flesh doesn't want The flesh loves all that juicy gossip about JLo. And is she even around? And Jolene and Brad Pitt and Lady Gaga and Madonna, what they're saying about Trump and all I just got to watch all this stuff got to watch all this stuff and it's just the flesh likes it. But it's not healthy. It's not good. It's not good to sit and watch all of those things. So just be encouraged. No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to man. The devil won't make you do anything.

He's going to present the bait and what you're going through is no different than what all of human history has went through. But God is faithful, not you, not me. God is faithful. He'll give you the way of exit. He'll make it, but you're going to have to bear it. You there's going to be a load to somehow we have in this mindset that temptation's going to be easy. You want to you want to see how hard temptation is, try fasting for a day. And you'll see your flesh is is just is he's it's like a junkyard dog, pit bull.

You know, those junkyard they're out there. That's your flesh just comes alive and just snaps and and people get moody and irritable. When you start telling the flesh no, no, I'm not going to look at Facebook or the news. I'm going to read my Bible. And you'll just start getting irritable, like what is this going? Because the flesh hates those things. So God says you'll there'll be I'll make the way of escape. There it is, but you're going to have to bear it. It's almost like I'm carrying 100 lb weight. Okay, I'm going to make it, but I've got to carry something.

I got to bear something. And I can make it to that exit. So God's faithful. The devil doesn't make you do anything. He's not stronger than God. And people say, I just couldn't resist. Yes, you can. As a believer, I believe you can. I've seen I've talked to people in in in more bondage than most of us have ever known from heroin or drinking every day for years. And and there's it's a it's a harder struggle, but they can. They have the ability to tell the devil no. I mean, either that's true or the word of God's not true.

We can say no. We don't have to say it's it's my one little vice. I always cave in. We can take a stand on that. God will make a way of escape. Let me remind you, draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded. Double minded he's talking about we're being they're being double minded here. They're they're saying one thing but doing another. They're saying one thing but doing another. They're going to church but going home and looking at something else. They're saying one thing but but being abusive at home and they're they're double minded in all of their ways.

Lament and warn mourn and weep over your condition. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and he will lift you up. Cleansing is basically confession, repenting. Lamenting is a passionate expression of grief or sorrow for what we've done. Let your joy over sin be turned into morning. This is genuine humility. So that's how we it it it it understand that it is a struggle, but it 's not impossible. It's difficult, but it's not impossible. It's going to be challenging, but it's not impossible.

And what I like, the more you say no on a certain area, the stronger you become. The more you say no, the more you resist the enemy, he starts to lose that power and and he withdraws. So there's a battle. It's difficult, but you put on the full armor of God, which if we had time we could go through that. All the things that God talks about is where did you put those things on and resist the devil, he will flee. So let's leave with that. I'll have a blessing and Jason come up and we'll conclude in worship.

But I would just do some inventory tonight. Some people just need to be encouraged. Some people this might not apply to as heavily, but some people this might apply to real heavily that they're caught in sin. And this this was this sermon was hitting them head on. James just says, cleanse your hearts, repent, get renew that fellowship with God, begin resisting that temptation, but remove those triggers. You have to It's it's this is so elementary. The Bible says make no provision for the flesh that were provision. It's almost like porneia when they is is porneia porneia all these Greek words.

I get them confused a little bit. But this one make no provision for the flesh is actually forethought or planning. You're not going to plan ahead to lust. You're not going to plan ahead to sin. It reminds me of the person who always wants to lose weight but has a pantry full of junk food. You're not going to succeed. You're not going to see succeed. You got to remove that ice cream, remove that Twinkie, remove those donuts, remove that ice root beer float, remove You got to remove all these things out of sight, out of mind.

It's the same thing in our spiritual walk. We've got to remove those triggers. That's not that's not being weird. That's being biblical. Make no provision for the flesh. Don't plan ahead. Remove those things because if you plan ahead to fulfill something, it will happen. It will happen. Cuz as our mind thinks, our feet go.

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.