When All Hope is Lost Call on Me | Pastor Shane Idleman

Pastor Shane Idleman: So what happens we come, we hear a message for myself about oh yeah that sounds good. I heard it so I must be good. Maybe God wants some of your hard hearts to get on this altar. There's no such thing as a tough guy mentality in the church. Men should actually lead the way. That's why we promoted our church as well. Men must lead the way in worship, the spiritual covering from their homes. Get to the I don't care embarrassing it is listen I'll be the first one to the altar and say God created me a clean heart, renew a right spirit within me. My marriage needs you. My children need you. I will humble myself before you. Oh God, we need you.
Guest (Male): Thank you for joining us here at Westside Christian Fellowship located in Leona Valley, California, 1 hour north of Los Angeles. Today on Regaining Lost Ground, we hear the third and final part of a profound message from Pastor Shane titled When All Hope Is Lost, Call on Me. Pastor and theologian R. C. Sproul once said, Hope is called the anchor of the soul because it gives stability to the Christian life. But hope is not simply a wish, rather it is that which latches on to the certainty of the promises of the future that God has made. When we cast all our cares, all our anxieties on Jesus, he is faithful to lead us through life's storms. And that is the topic for today's message as Pastor Shane reinforces this through the truth of God's living word in Psalm 91. 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 Men Unplugged weekly podcast. And now from Westside Christian Fellowship in Leona Valley, California, here's Pastor Shane Idle Man.
Pastor Shane Idleman: So a couple points that will help desperate and just give me this when it's times up. Desperate for brokenness and humility. Desperate for brokenness and humility. Do you know when the church humbles herself, God will listen? You see many in America are angry and rightly so. Rightly so. Angry, but we're also arrogant. Oh, we're mad and we'll tell people off but we're not broken. Because I believe you can be just as bold but also broken. And as a matter of fact, you'll accomplish a a lot more when your boldness is underscored by love. Because boldness boldness is a direct fruit of the Holy Spirit. You know we think the Holy Spirit and you know this and no boldness. Boldness to share the gospel, boldness to confront this this culture that is spinning out of control. Brokenness and humility, humble yourself before God that he may exalt you. What does that look like? You go to your spouse and you say I I've been wrong. I've been an angry man. I've been an arrogant woman. God help me. I need to see God again like never before I want. I I know I need to work on things but God please I want to be used by you. I don't Do you always have to be right? Critical Cathies. Listen, I always had to be right. I came back to the Lord and and I was reading systematic theology and I could quote Calvin, Hodge and and and of course Geisler and and and Spursions lectures to my students and I had all this knowledge. And I was going to go tell people off. I was a sin sniffer. I'm going to walk around and find you today. And then 2005 my mom gave me a wake up call. She said, Shane, nobody wants to be around you. Cuz I was too arrogant. So you can be straight as a gun barrel theologically but just as empty. But you get a man who's on fire for God with a theological underpinning. That is how God changes the church and changes our nation. You have to have both. You have to have the the the spirit of love and humility but also the boldness and the preaching D. Martin Lloyd Jones said that preaching is theology coming through a man who's on fire. You need you need both of those things and and I I I just released a video on YouTube the other day and I don't know the exact title but a plea to conservative voices. I'm not going to name names. We know who these conservative voices are but I want to say guys, where is the humility? Where is the humility? This side says this, you come back with this. You do this mean meme, they do this mean This is attack attack attack. Arrogant, where's the call to repentance? Where's the call to humility? Where's the call to prayer meetings? Yes, be just as bold and say what is happening on our watch is is a perversion at the highest level and we will not allow it. But I need to get on my face before almighty God before I post something or before I make a video that is full of arrogance. Brokenness and humility are the only key or one of the keys. The next key is desperate for holiness. Desperate Doesn't that word When I talk about holiness, some people think of a gown and a hat you know just oh he's so holy. Holiness just means come out from among them and be separate. You you you're going to be a little bit different. You you you you you there's a difference about you. Lord, I want to I want to be filled with your Holy Spirit. I can't watch all these this garbage. I can't fill my mind with garbage on a daily basis. I can't be critical and angry and gossiping and expect the spirit of the living God to move powerfully through me. I need to be holy and set apart for you. I'm not perfect but God there's a pursuit of you. I I must find you or I will die. Must God continue to break me and humble me. But why is holiness so hard? Because your old man knocks at the door often, doesn't he? Do you know the old nature? Some of you you know that battle? Or is it just me? Am I being too transparent? Right, the the devil wants the old Shane to come back and play. He'll plant those seeds, won't he? I mean I was shocked. I land in Dallas Fort Worth Airport and I start thinking I'm in Amarillo by morning up from San Antone. I'll be looking for eight when they pull that gate. George Straits is come Where did that come from? Where did that come from? All back in the day grab a 12 pack, put on George Strait, throw the shotgun in the backseat. Let's have some fun out in the desert. See the only sheep Remember those day Oh wait, but devil you didn't show me the vomit. And and and the DUI You don't show me those things. You entice with the temporary pleasure. And so the church must come out from among them, be separate. You will look different. Stop trying to please the world and please Christ. Now notice notice I didn't say get weird. Just there's a difference. Anybody heard of Lena Raven Hill? He said there's no such thing as a painless Pentecost. If you want God to change your heart, change your community, change your home, it will cost you. It will cost you. Friends, reputation, the desires of the flesh. And some people might be oh my goodness, this guy's extreme. But see I've tasted of the living water and I can never go back. Come and drink of this water and you will never thirst again, Christ said. There's a there's an unction of the spirit. There's a baptism of the spirit and you're full of God's love and grace and the truth comes alive. Yes, it's difficult. Yes, it's challenging but I want to hold on to that anchor for the rest of my life. The passion of Christ working in your life. And thank God this point applies at this church. I know for certain we need to be desperate for the truth. Oh my goodness, it's embarrassing to watch sermons out there. Especially a lot of the you know the the the and I am not going to put down our friends that are mega church pastors of course. But a lot of times man they're telling people Of course you got thousands of people sodas a a cult. You you you're telling them what they want to hear and not what they need to hear. What do we need to hear right now? Peace, peace. Peace, peace. Don't worry. Everything's good. Do you know that was a sign of a false prophet? Hey hey hey hey hey God's not upset. Peace, peace. No no no Don't listen to Jeremiah. Oh that guy. Definitely don't listen to Isaiah. These guys are extreme. Everything's good man. Just love. Just love just love man. Don't preach the gospel. We'll just see it. Let them Let them see the gospel by your love. But God said I have not sent these prophets yet they ran. I have not spoken to them yet they spoke. But had they truly stood in my council, they would have turned this nation back to me. Is not my word like a fire that devours? Is not my word like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? But you have perverted the words of the living God by not warning. Cuz true love warns, does it not? When you truly do not warn and you you you you are hiding behind the banner of love, that's cowardliness. Trust me I I I want to hide behind that banner too. I just love man. Don't get upset me. Don't I I I just want to be everybody's And that's actually was a struggle of mine when I came back to Lord. I'm what they would call a people pleaser. I would do health seminars when I I came back to the Lord and I was a district manager of 24 Hour Fitness and a fitness background and my goal was to make everyone in the audience want to come back. And they would have check sheets like did you like his presentation? Will you be back? How would you rate the speaker on a scale of 1 to 10? Was he motivational? I had to throw all of that out of the window when I preached because it'll mess you up. Like oh they're going to think this, they're going to think that. They belong to that political party. They think that they're big givers. They Oh well let me just stick with Let me not Let me not wait in those deep waters. Let me not offend. But the word of God offends. It calls it out. We must have a love for truth and fear God because God says my shepherds have become dull hearted. Dull hearted they they are missing the fire of the spirit. And you will always preach repentance of course. You want to be preach love and encouragement and grace and mercy but it must come through a heart of flame for the passion of God. That's how you truly change hearts and change a nation. Desperate, desperate for truth. And then finally the last two desperate for prayer. Oh desperate for prayer. You need to get to a point where everything else can wait. Everything else can wait. Breakthroughs can't be rushed. That's why the old saints used to call it travail. I'm not You 're not going to prevail until you travail. And there's a time where we wait upon God. Those who wait upon me shall renew their strength, their their muscle. No. Spiritual strength. And there there's a call to pray, a call to fast and we can't have form. We must have fire. The church is great in form. Oh God, just go through the form but we're losing the fire. We lose the fire of the spirit. The groanings Oh God, would you help our school districts? Would you help our children, our grandchildren? God, we are we are lost. The Titanic has been struck and we are going down. We need you. And we might say you know what I'm going to find myself every morning at 6:00 a.m. on my floor at home until God answers because I'm so desperate to hear from God. And God says is that the cry of my child? Is that the cry of my child crying out to me every morning? You don't think God will hear that cry? That's biblical. If you seek me, you will find me. And then I'm going to use a word right now. It's not popular. You ready for this? You God's okay? Got your seat belt on? Buckle up. But actually I know you're familiar with it here. So I'm just saying that maybe the people listening later. We have to be desperate for repentance. Desperate for repentance. I love encouraging emails but I get a lot of emails that say something like this. People don't want to hear what you're saying. You need to tone it down. You talk about repentance too much. I think Spurgeon said it. I'd like to say it too. I I'll stop talking about repentance when you repent. But that it's actually a beautiful word. It means I'm off course going this direction. Lord, I am off course and I am what? Changing my mind only changing my actions. I'm turning. You can look it up in the Hebrew, the Greek. It's a turning back to God. I'm I'm repenting and I'm turning back to God and the posture might even change from stiff neck to what? Oh God, oh God, we're so desperate for you. God, we need to hear from you. See it's a turning. It's repenting. That's our only hope, folks. Cuz we can come in, we can go to church, we can sing songs but if business as usual isn't going to cut anymore, things have to change. That's what repentance is. So I know there's three types of people usually listening. Number one, many of you there saying amen. Amen. This is this is this is this is fueling my spiritual fire. And then there's another group where I camped out for a lot of years. Don't camp out here. It's what they call the prodigal son state. The wayward daughter, the Laodicean church, lukewarm. I would I would go to church on Sunday when it fit my schedule but I wouldn't know God on Monday. But I was I was miserable. You Hello. You're miserable when you're running from God. So why do we do it Shane? Well it's a word called pride. Pride, arrogance. My mom would drag me to church sometimes when I was in my 20s a lot bigger, heavier, steroids, bodybuilding. I'm in there look judging all you folks. What is this? What's people at the altar for? What a bunch of sissies. But I'm dying inside. I was spiritually dead. I was dying inside and I was mocking the very thing I need. And so that could be a good call this morning. Some of you need to return. God's word is crystal clear if you return to me, I will return to you. And there's also obviously a third group who maybe you've been playing church. You haven't truly repented and believed. It's not head knowledge, folks. Head knowledge doesn't get us anywhere. It's heart engagement. The heart repents and embraces Christ. And the heart of stone becomes a heart of flesh and the spirit cries out Abba Father. Oh God, thank you. Not get away from me, Father. We say Abba Father. The prodigal son I said get away from me, Father. I'm not ready. I love eating with the pigs. But it says Psalm 91:16 With long life I will satisfy him and I will show him my salvation. Call to me. Call to me. I wish I I could just love to camp out there because that is such a powerful thing. Call to me and you will be saved. Call to me and you will be delivered. Call to me and you will be healed. I believe in the God that still does all those things. I don't believe in the in the New Testament God and he's different today. There's a God who heals and sets free and breaks demonic strongholds of bondage. Some of you need to get like Gerius and his daughter. I need to find Christ. Oh Jesus, come and and and and fall on my knees and please come and save my daughter. Please I'm so desperate. The Syrophoenician woman Jesus, she is fixed with the devil. Would you come? We're desperate. You are our only hope. There's a desperation that must come. Even the demoniac filled with the legion of devils even he came. He fell he he he pulled away all if I just And he With the Bible says clearly he he worshipped him. I have the stronghold. I have this addiction. God, I need you to set me free. And sometimes the stronghold doesn't come down right at once. Sometimes it's one brick at a time, one we hit it at a time, week after week and you're coming after my family. I'm coming after you, devil. And you just keep hitting hitting hitting that brick. But praise God sometimes the outpouring of the spirit will just break it loose. There are so many times I was a young boy I learned how to operate heavy equipment everything at 17 18. I'm out here at the with the sledgehammer and my dad goes and gets a big John Deere with a with a with a jackhammer on the back. He just saved me 5 weeks worth of work. It just got that And that's what sometimes breakthrough is. It's pressing in, it's persevering, it's fasting and I don't see any result. Actually all hell is breaking loose. That's actually can be a good sign. Just keep pushing, keep persevering. Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. Perseverance is so important. So when all hope is gone, call on Christ. There's an urgency building up inside of me and in many of you. And what I've found over the years is that many Christians live in deception. Let me explain why and I'll be done. Be doers of the word and not hearers only or you live in deception. So what happens we come, we hear a message for myself about oh yeah that sounds good. I heard it so I must be good. Maybe God wants some of your hard hearts to get on this altar. There's no such thing as a tough guy mentality in the church. Men should actually lead the way. That's why we promoted our church as well. Men must lead the way in worship, the spiritual covering from their homes. Get to the I don't care embarrassing it is listen I'll be the first one to the altar and say God created me a clean heart, renew a right spirit within me. My marriage needs you. My children need you. I will humble myself before you. Oh God, we need you. And if you don't know the Lord, you need to change that today. Times are getting difficult. Times are getting difficult. How do people get through life without Christ as the foundation? I would lose my mind. And I just heard it last week. Hey pastor pastor hey I'll get to it someday. You know how many times I've heard have I'm sure you've Hey I'm not ready right now. What they're saying is let me have my fun. And once you bury enough people from crystal meth addiction, fentanyl, alcoholism, broken homes, you begin to realize folks there is no tomorrow. You're not guaranteed your next breath. Procrastination is the greatest tool the enemy has ever used even for believers. He's He's calling you. I'm I'm I'm convinced he's calling many of you to a deeper life through everything I just said brokenness and humility and surrender. Shane, God can't do much to me. That's what I thought. Was a dumb kid. My My dad was from the farms of Oklahoma, just country boy. Couldn't talk well, couldn't speak well. But you'd be amazed at what God does through brokenness and humility. He uses the foolish things to confound the wise. I love when people say Shane, you're pastoring. I thought you'd be dead by now. You were the high school just partier and and drunk and stupid and cheated your way. What happened? The fire of the spirit fell. And I will never be the same. So we're going to close from worship in in worship right now. This is uh just a special time because there has to be application to the word of God. I'm reading a book right now about the Kenswick conferences and and and they would talk about a lot about the the the call to action cuz most Christians hear it and they think they're good but you have to respond to that call of action. Life is too short. If you've got kids, grandkids, if you need the fresh fire you just prayed it this morning fresh fire. Fresh fire of the spirit then make that decision. 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. 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.