Why Obey God? Does It Really Matter? — Shane Idleman

During COVID, I'd say now about the last year and a half, even up to recent, estimating 150 people have moved out of California that went here. Some people didn't come back after COVID and, you know, the church, but then instead of shrinking, it grew and grew and grew.

Hunger for God's Word and Truth

And so what we're finding though, is God is bringing hungry people, hungry for his word, hungry for the truth. And that's why it's encouraging for us. And we talked to Pastor Abraham, and this is one of the most faithful, easiest, in one regard, churches to lead because people are hungry for God.

But then it becomes very difficult because the enemy's also working. With that said, I will confirm the rumors that I was in jail last week. Steve, you're like shocked, aren't you? What has happened? Well, it's Facebook jail.

I was on Facebook jail. I don't know if we should clap about that. I don't know if it's a good thing. They said you are in non-compliance to our whatever they call it, fact checkers and just all this stuff.

And then YouTube removed a video and we're gonna have to suspend your channel if you don't knock it off. And so it's just the world we live in, difficulties. But the irony is we took that YouTube video and put it on Rumble, the one they removed.

Unity Amid Disagreement

And now there's 8 ,000 views within a few days. So God is getting that out there. And maybe I should clarify because I know it's important with the whole vaccine debate and our church dance has been obvious from the get-go is that we believe in allowing people their freedom to do what they want on either side.

And as you know, I have just with a health background, I have my concerns, I've vocalized them, but ultimately we can't let it divide us. They're trying to out there, but we believe in people are allowed their freedom and we have to just, whether we disagree or not.

And I'm thinking COVID is bringing out the best and worst of us because we're called to be at unity with one another. But how do you really develop that if you're never tested? I mean, it's real easy to be united if everyone believes like you believe.

How do you develop perseverance and long suffering if you're not challenged by those things? And so I just had a, just this morning, a text from a mentor of mine, best friend as a pastor, really has done a lot for our ministry and he differs with me on this.

He actually just recently got the vaccine so he could go minister at the hospital and different things but he really appreciated the article that is in today's paper. If you saw the article that went out online, I'll try to hand it out this week, trying to show how we can unite the church while still having strong beliefs.

I think this is a big issue and I think it's okay to have strong beliefs but when you start forcing and mandating and scorning and making people feel shameful, it's just really, and false numbers, false narratives, it really gets tiring.

The Bible's Authority and Confirmation

What I love about the Bible, and as we go through this, you'll be hearing me say this more and more, the Bible is not only confirmed, I believe once you have the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit bears witness of God's word and Christ, Abba, Father, and it bears witness that we have the Spirit of God.

But in addition to that, there are many scientific discoveries that confirm the Word of God, many prophetic things that confirm the Word of God, many historical things and archeological discoveries that confirm the Word of God.

For example, the Euphrates River is still there. Well, what about the other three rivers? Well, I believe as we get into that later when God brought the flood and it really says in the great deeps were broken up.

And I think that's a little bit more than a tidal wave here or there. I think all hell broke loose and you could see the continents were one body of land and they kind of broke away. You see the mountains breaking up, different types of mountains, whether it's a block mountain or a fractured mountain or volcanic and you see this huge thing taking place and it's gonna be very interesting as we go forward in the weeks ahead.

You take the Bible, you've got the Euphrates River, you've got the coins, you've got the city of David, you've got the discoveries of the walls of Jericho or Jerusalem and all of it's there. But you get, for example, to the Book of Mormon and nothing is there.

No cities, no tools, they didn't find anything, zero, absolutely nothing is there. Yet they put that above the Word of God. And so we can have a lot of confidence in the Word of God. And I know people do say, you know, Shane, why do you pick on Mormonism or Jehovah Witness or Roman Catholicism?

And my thought is I don't pick at all, pick on them like judgmental. I'm showing you the difference. This is what they believe. And if you believe something that differs from the Bible that should cause alarm to go off and say, okay, well listen, for example, Joseph Smith is right or Jesus Christ is right?

You can't have both. Either the decrees and the papacy, the decrees of Rome and the papacy and the Pope are correct or the Bible's correct. You can't have, is purgatory in the Bible? No. Is praying to Mary in the Bible?

No. Is going to a priest and confessing your sin? No. And I can just go on, Immaculate Conception, it's the Immaculate Deception, not conception. She wasn't immaculately conceived. There's not the perpetual virginity of Mary.

She was always a virgin. So you have all these things that are just against the word of God. So I'm a coward if I don't say anything, actually. Would it be easier to say nothing? Oh, if I was Joel Osteen and I didn't upset anybody, except true spirit-filled Christians are left thirsting for more.

Speaking Boldly Against Cultural and Religious Error

But you don't upset the world, you don't upset the media, Oprah will have you on. The view, you think the view would have me on? Man, it was actually funny. If you go and you put in on YouTube, Shane Eidelman, Fox News.

I used to go on there a lot. I went to New York with me and Morgan went to New York, but they would have me go to Santa Monica every three months and I got a private email that said, hey, we're going to get rid of my program and you're a little too much for what they're wanting to do.

And so that stopped that right away because when you're being vocal and bold, as long as it's not arrogant, and in your face, but it's that John the Baptist voice crying in the wilderness, not everyone likes that.

What we've seen before is any type of church on fire for God, you will upset carnal people and Pharisees. Both those groups do not like being challenged with the word of God. Obedience and the filling of the Holy Spirit go hand in hand.

There's not a quenching, there's not a grieving, there's an on fire for God. And I know we get caught in sin. I'm not talking about that, but besetting sin and not obeying God when he says do something and we don't do something, there are ramifications.

Solomon's Disobedience and Conditional Blessing

Have you heard of Solomon, King Solomon? It's interesting, the Bible said, and God said that Solomon, you will not fail to have someone sit on the throne from here on out. Your throne will keep going if, if you do this, if you obey my commandments, if you follow hard after me and keep my statutes.

See, conditional. What happened? He married 700 women. Why haven't brought up the 300 concubines? Boy, oh boy. And so they drew his heart away from the Lord. And he wrote at the end of his life, all his vanity, and he walked away from God.

Obedience as the Evidence of Faith

Jesus said, if you hear my sayings and do them, you're like a man who built his house upon the rock. If my people who are called by my name sometimes obey me, it's conditional. The thou shalt nots and the thou shalt still apply when it comes to moral application.

And that's where we're going. And I know there's a great struggle within from disobedience and obedience. J .C. Ryle in his great book on holiness, if you want to be convicted, buy it. He said the true marks, the two true marks that someone is a Christian is great inner peace, but a great inner struggle.

Because you have both those things at war within you. And the thou shalt nots keep us on the right path. One of the, I guess it's a condition of this type of church. And it's just something you have to deal with is we see so many people will come in.

Oh, I love Westside Christian Fellowship, and I'm so convicted and they're at the altar and they're growing and they're just, oh, I just, I can't get enough of God. And then you don't see them for a while and you see them or talk to them and now they're upset.

They're mad at the church. And it's usually the same things. Well, you guys are just too extreme, too judgmental. But what's happened is they've drifted from obedience to disobedience. And who wants to go somewhere where you're being convicted?

That's why the world doesn't come to church. That's why many Christians don't come to church is because there's a conviction. And so we see that a lot. And you have to find that balance, encouragement, conviction, love them, but be bold.

God's Commands as Moral Guardrails

And finding that balance is very difficult and challenging. And these, the thou shalt nots always play a role. God's commandments are guardrails through the canyons of life. God's commandments are guardrails through those canyons.

It's interesting here. He said, do not eat of it. End of story, you'll die. I'm not gonna explain it. And remember this with God. You're not always gonna understand the whys. Can anyone relate? Why is this happening?

Well, you can ask that now about what's going on in our nation. Why is this happening? What's going on? Why did I get this? Why am I being treated like, why, why, why? Lord, you want me to do that, but why?

If we're not careful, we can become bitter. And so I found that just obedience, the sweet smelling aroma of obedience, the resting in God's sovereignty. I don't know why, but I'm supposed to love difficult people.

I don't know why, but I'm not supposed to get the last word in, be quick to listen, slow to speak. I don't know why, some of you might say, but I need to love my significant other, even when they're not loving me.

See, I had to change that from personal narrative to corporately. And we have to trust and obey. What's that old hymn? Trust and obey, trust and obey. And stop asking the whys. Sometimes we need to tell our kids that.

Do you ever, do you have kids that ask why all the time? Just because I said, I know, I'm not going to sit and explain things, but we do that with God sometimes. In the Old Testament, they look forward.

The Cross, the Law, and Faith

So they would have faith looking forward and trusting in God, not trusting in the law, trusting in God. We look back at the cross, they look forward to it. And that's where Abraham's bosom comes into play, that there was a resting place for those waiting for Jesus Christ to come.

And that's why I believe he set the captives free. When he conquered hell, death, and the grave, and the resurrection, that's when the Old Testament saints were also set free. They died believing and waiting.

Now we look back and we believe in faith and put our faith in Jesus Christ. So we all looked at the same cross, the same Savior. But in the Old Testament, you were under the law. The New Testament says, if you obey the law, but break it in one point, you've broken it all.

Who can follow this? In other words, who can measure up to God's standard? Nobody, we all fall short. And the word of the law here, it imprisons you before it releases you. It confines you before it unlocks.

And so when people say, I'm not under the law, meaning they're not under the obligation to follow the law, but it doesn't mean that when God says, thou shall not, that they're not obligated anymore to obey.

It's two completely different things. But we do have to be careful because in Galatians 3, it warns us not to add anything to this. So if you talk to people and they say, yeah, Jesus, but, because Paul talks about in Galatians, he says, oh, foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you?

Who has tricked you? Are you now gonna finish your journey in the flesh? What began in the spirit? In other words, you became a Christian, you exercised faith, you believed in Jesus, but now you're going to the law.

Here's my final Passover, God says. God says, you will no longer need the blood of bulls and goats and rams, and once a year, a high priest goes in and intercedes once in finality. That's why Jesus said to Telestai, it is finished on the cross.

It's been paid, the sin debt has been paid, so we don't have to keep something. Anytime we say Jesus plus, we're minimizing the complete finished work on the cross. Now, if people use that to continue in sin, that's something else.

Creation, Moral Order, and Cultural Pressure

We can say with authority that those things that were set in stone at creation do not change. They cannot change because these are moral parameters and morality on how you are to live cannot change. And when God creates man and woman, male and female, when a person is born a male or born a female, I mean, you can tell how far we have fallen and how depraved we are by how they're saying that they can change their biological makeup and that you actually get in trouble for calling them the wrong pronoun.

I mean, sometimes I think I'm in the twilight zone. It's like, it's so clear. It is so clear. And so we can have compassion because it's a real struggle and people struggle with it in this church. I've prayed for people, we've talked with people, we've discipled them, but a lot of it also is being fed by the media, being fed by artists.

You know, Lil Nas X, he's pregnant in YouTube and he dresses now like a female. You're sending the wrong message to the kids. And so we've created some of this environment, some of it, and you encourage people.

Okay, if you struggle with that, someone else struggles with same-sex attraction. Someone else can't put the bottle down. Someone else has to get off of Xanax. Someone else can't kick their caffeine, nicotine into porn habit.

So see, there's struggles with an all. So you encourage people in that area that the struggles are real, but they're different and they're unique, but it doesn't mean they're allowable. It doesn't mean that God's word has now changed.

Sin is sin. So what I tell people who struggle with that is find out first what they're feeding on, where they're getting their information, where did this start, their parents. Are you in God's word?

Do you see the value of you being created in the image of God? God created you like this. Just because it's a struggle doesn't mean it's right. Let's pray. Let's see if God's work can set you free in seeking Jesus with all your heart, with all your strength.

Persevering Through Addiction and Temptation

But see, here's where we make a mistake too in the church. We think that sometimes God just fixes all that. Did you know sometimes he lets a person struggle? I mean, how many people pray, God, take this addiction away, and they're crying, they're begging.

Guess what? They have to fight it again tomorrow. They have to fight it again 10 years later. If they open that door up again, for example, those who, let's say, they've struggled with alcohol, and they give it up for a few years, and they open that door again, what's wrong with me?

Or addiction for something else. And see, we don't realize that we're all struggling with something. And Jesus sometimes sets a person free. Have you ever, I don't ever wanna go back to, I've been set free, this is amazing.

I prayed for, actually baptized one of the girls who came out of a heavy addiction. We prayed with her mom a year, we didn't know if she was gonna make it. And now she looks like a new person. None of that even is a matter anymore.

None of that is even a struggle anymore. Yet we have other people. Shane, I can't seem to kick this. What is going on? Why doesn't he deliver me from this? And I think we hurt people when we tell them, well, Jesus should have delivered you from that.

I don't know. But 20 years ago, me and my wife just started, or 19 years ago, probably, just started attending Calvary Chapel Church. And one of the guys in leadership, we're at a men's study, and we're talking about something.

And I was in construction at this time. I mean, I'm a Christian, but man, ice cold beer sure looks good like it used to. Brother, you shouldn't have those desires anymore. Are you saved? I mean, you shouldn't have that.

I'm just, I don't know what to tell you. I go in yard house and they bring a yard to somebody that looks really good. The pole's there, my friend. I don't know what to tell you. But see, he said, well, you should never have that desire again.

God should have set you free. Because he set him free. You see the difference? And so on this whole transgender, LGBTQ, the Christian should have the most sympathy and compassion and love. Understand, that's their struggle.

It's not mine. I have something else I'm struggling with. And those who say, not me. You're struggling with pride. So, and need we say how deadly pride is? I see these prideful people putting down others.

Humility, Pride, and the Holy Spirit

And I weep for these people because man, they're in a bad spot. God says, I hate pride. And really a strong prideful attitude in a Christian is almost a sign that maybe they might not be a Christian. Because a reflection of the Holy Spirit in you is humility.

Doesn't mean you're not prideful. Anybody struggle with it? Hello? Everybody better raise their hand. Creation, morality does not change. How God creates us does not change. God creates them Adam and Eve, male and female, and the two shall become one.

That's my creative order. No law will change it. No Supreme Court will change it. No president or Senate will change it. They will not change God's mind. Now, where we're going is this part of my sermon could be illegal.

God's Law Over Human Legislation

Why is there so much outcry for sexual sin and validating it? Laws do not change God's mind. What is legal is not always lawful. Deal with it this morning and get back on track in the center of God's will and you'll feel like David.

Repentance, Restoration, and Finishing Strong

Oh, oh that the joy of my salvation will return. Blessed are the bones you have broken. Blessed is my heart that is on fire for you, God. I have drifted, that's why I love that song, prone to wander. Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.

Take my heart and seal it. Seal it in thy courts above. God, don't let me walk away. Praying the prodigal son home and as a believer, make that decision. I will follow God, come hell or high water. Not perfectly, but I will live the rest of my days and I will finish strong in this area of obedience.

Make that commitment this morning.