From Desolation to Restoration — Shane Idleman

From Political Allegiance to Personal Restoration

As I was reading this week, I realized that we're getting a lot more closer to how Rome was, when Jesus lived, and when Paul wrote his Pauline epistles, and in jail. What I mean by that is it was either Caesar is Lord, or Jesus was Lord.

But America, of course, became a melting pot, and I'm all for melting pots, and people, you know, we welcome all kinds of people, of course. But we're getting to that point now where that line is being drawn in the sand a little more clearer than it used to be.

God's Word, which is true, or what man says, which is false. And now the things that were true and good, now they're actually calling them evil. And the things we know to be evil, they're actually calling good.

And so there's never been a time, I believe, that has been so important to go from devastation to restoration. Now, this might not happen in our nation, but it can happen in your personal life. It can happen in your family life.

What I love about God is He is not dictated by our politics, or our economy, or the world system. Thank God He doesn't sit underneath the World Economic Forum. He sits above all governing authorities.

Actually, Jesus, they said, the government will rest upon His shoulders. That means all authority, everything has been given to the Son. And it gets difficult because we want always the good guy to win.

We want the, what's going on, Lord, and how is evil prevailing? But be encouraged, the prophets used to ask that as well. Habakkuk and Hezekiah, or no, he wasn't a prophet, but he's one of the kings, and Jeremiah, and they would ask, why are the wicked prospering?

Lord, do something. And so that's why we have to trust in His sovereignty. And so I did want to encourage you this morning, a lot of new faces, that we are getting to a point where you've got to make a decision.

That on the fence, or what Elijah would say, how long will you waver between two opinions, is kind of coming to an end pretty quickly. And so there comes a point where all of us have to make that decision.

The Cross, Sin, and the Resurrection

And I want to just pick up from where I left off Friday night. It's a good reminder that from the sixth hour until the ninth hour, when Jesus was on the cross, there was darkness over all of the land.

Think about that. Jesus is dying on the cross. We talked about that on Friday. And about the ninth hour, He cried out with a loud voice, and He gave up. The Bible says He gave up His ghost, depending on the translation, or He gave up His spirit.

Basically, He yielded. He said, it is finished. And a brief lesson in one minute is because all of us, all of humanity, have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We do have the condemnation of God upon our lives as unbelievers.

And so what Jesus did, He rectified that. He fixed that. He died on the cross, became that substitutionary atonement, bore our sin, bore our penalty on the cross. That's why He said, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

At that point in history, many agree that there was a separation, and He absorbed that, and that's what the cross is all about. That's why it is so important, the power of the cross. And then once that happened, when Jesus died on the cross, everything in human history is looking to this point, because either He rose from the dead, or He didn't.

If He didn't, we probably shouldn't be here. It's a big waste of time. We've been following a lie. And if any of you have questions, we'd love to talk to you at some point, because there is so much historical proof.

And again, I had to just get right to the point, there's so much I want to share with you. But if you are skeptical, think about this. Even secular historians say that Jesus was an historical figure. He lived.

He's not a fairy tale. He lived. So if He lived, why did so many people die for this belief system? If they hid the body, if He really didn't rise from the dead? These guys were tortured. Deny Him, deny Him.

Okay, okay, He's behind the shed. And how do you steal a body from a legion of Roman soldiers trained to kill, who are probably right around the tomb? You can't roll a tomb away, or a stone while they're sleeping.

And you just look at this accuracy of the text, and you realize, yeah, like C .S. Lewis said, He's either a liar, He's a lunatic, or He's the Lord Jesus Christ. I kind of cringe when people say, well, He was a good teacher.

He was a good teacher, you know, we should do what He says. Well, actually, if He didn't rise from the dead, don't do what He says. Because He said a lot of things that were way out there if He is not the Son of God.

He would not be just a good teacher. He said, I will rise again. I am the Father, are one. Whoever believes in Me, as the scriptures say, out of His belly is going to flow rivers of living water. And He had the audacity to say this, if He's only a good teacher.

I am, I'm going to put the word only in there for you. I am the only way. I am the only truth. That's pretty arrogant for a teacher. I'm the only way, the only truth, the only life. Nobody, nobody, nobody comes to the Father except through Me.

How is that a good teacher? You have to remove that option. A complete lunatic, which was absolutely false, because His words were so full of wisdom, that He would, have you ever seen anybody really good with their words?

Well, you haven't seen them this good. They would say, nobody ever spoke like this man. So much boldness, so much truth. And so lunatic is out the door. Liar, not even a hint of a lie, because everything came to pass.

So you have to deal with that. When you hear messages like this, is He truly the Lord Jesus Christ? Do some investigation. Look into it. And that's a big misconception with Christianity. It's why I'm so glad there's a lot of theologians out there, but we don't just check our brains at the door.

Golly, gee whiz, let me just believe whatever. Pixie dust and unicorns fly. Let's throw Jesus in there as well. No, no, no. Faith has a concrete foundation. But when He died, this is so incredible. When He died on the cross, it says, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to the bottom.

Access to God Through the Torn Veil

Now, most people I've talked to, you know, that really don't know the Bible, don't understand a lot of Christianity, don't realize the relevance. But it's in the Bible for a reason. It's so important.

And just picture a four-inch thick curtain. And it's about the height of our ceiling. And what it did, it actually, that you have the inner court, the outer court out there where people were at, the sacrifice, the sacrificial system, they would bring the blood in.

But here's the veil that was always up from Moses back in the desert. You could not go into that area because that was the holy of holies, reserved just for the priest who would intercede once a year, and he better do it right or he wasn't coming out.

And so he would bring that blood. I think he would shake a little bit. He would go in that veil, and he would sacrifice for the sins of the people and then come out. Basically, what God is saying is crystal clear.

That veil is now ripped from the top to the bottom, four-inch thick, and it's saying, now you have full access to the Father. Come boldly to the throne of grace. That price has been paid. You don't need intercession anymore.

You don't need the blood of the bulls and the goats that were temporary. You go directly to God. And I don't want to bash religions this morning, but you just have to talk about things when they come up in the text.

This is why we do not go to a man to go to God. You don't have to go sit in a booth and confess. That's unbiblical. It's borderline heretical. Because He is our intercession. He is our interceder. He intercedes for us.

We have a high priest who has went before us, who has been tempted in all points, yet was without sin. He intercedes on behalf of us. He is the only one we look to. We don't look to man. We don't look to a religious system.

We don't look to rules, but we look to that relationship and that alone. It is so important. And so this temple, the veil is ripped. The earth shook. There is darkness over the land. And later, after Jesus' resurrection, they record that even the dead got up out of the grave and walked into the holy city.

Shane, do you believe that? Absolutely. Because He's the first fruit of the resurrection. God who hung Saturn and Neptune, He might be able to have the body resurrect. I don't know. I just, I don't know.

I know it's a hard thing to imagine, but that is what there is a resurrection of life. Did you know you actually die twice if you don't know God? The first is physical death. The next is spiritual death.

It is appointed once to man to die. And then after that, the judgment. This Scripture is crystal clear and is not written by man's perspective with flaws and errors. That's why we look to and call it the inerrancy of Scripture.

The inerrancy of Scripture. And how many of you are confused about what's going on in the church of America today? They call it woke. Have you heard that term? Politically correct. Do you ever see some churches and pastors and they like, why don't they speak the truth?

Why don't they talk about these issues? Why don't they, I don't understand. Have you been there or is it just me? I mean, it's like unbelievable. Well, here, if you get to the main core of what's going on, this is probably 99 of it.

And I'm not going to get into details or different things. I think we're going to set up later, but I had a debate with a Christian, which we saw differently on some big things from the UK. And we did a podcast.

He didn't show up. So we did something else. We'll release it next this month. But he's saying things like I totally disagree with, like, how does he come up with that conclusion? Lord, what Bible are we reading?

So my first question is going to be, do you believe in the inerrancy and absolute authority of God's word? I can guarantee the answer will be, well, it depends how you define that. There's good things.

There's good truths. Paul was writing to his generation. And now though, in our generation, we've learned a lot. We've grown, we've evolved. And so now we can better understand. Paul was writing to that culture, but now we have a better under and see how they try to twist it.

So everything hinges on the validity. Now, of course, there's going to be different views on the non-essentials that for some reason we love to argue about, right? Myself included. I don't know. It's called pride, by the way, in case you didn't know.

But this is why there's so much division. If God's word is true, the inerrancy of scripture, then certain behaviors and lifestyles are wrong. White House, we look to God's house, not the White House for direction.

And so that's why. How can they, how can they quote scripture? How can, did you know our governor put on a billboard supporting abortion, Jesus's words? What in God's name? I mean, I can get real fired up right now, but I'm not going to, I promise myself.

But what, how is that even possible? Because it's not the inerrant, inspired, thus saith the Lord. It's conjecture, it's theory, it's good practices, do unto others as you like to have them. And so they can take it and now twist it to what they want to believe.

Judge not, all you judges out there. It says judge not. No, actually it does say to judge. Keep reading. It's just judge with the right heart. So this is so important. I know many of you understand that, but many of you don't.

You're seeing a big divide in the church and the nation. And who do I believe? What do I believe? Look to God's word, the final authority. Well, it's been the test of time for 2000 years. Actually, it's been the test of time since humanity.

When God first began the written word, and even in the Old Testament, the principles of morality have not changed. The principles of morality have not changed. When God said this is wrong, in regard to relationships, sexual relationship, all these other things, morality has not changed.

Dietary laws, ceremonial laws, things like that have. But the morality of God's word has not changed. And so after all these things happen, the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus on the cross, when they saw all these things, they feared greatly.

And they said, truly, this was the Son of God. Truly, this was the Son of God. Now, it's interesting. They saw these things, right? The earth shook. It was dark. They could see. I'm sure they heard Pontius Pilate when he was talking to Jesus.

Do you not answer them? What are they accusing you of? And Pontius Pilate even, it appears, defended Jesus. What evil has he done? This is a just man. I'm washing my hands of this man. He's guiltless.

And so they heard all of these things, the Roman soldiers. But finally, they came to that point. Truly, this was the Son of God. They saw. But I want to show, I think we have it, John 20, 29. I want you to look at this.

Jesus said to him, and this is to Thomas. We're fast forwarding a little bit. I don't know if we have the next slide, Sarah, on John 20, 29. If not, you can listen. Thomas is the doubter, right? We know Thomas is the doubter.

So Jesus said to him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. But blessed are those who have not seen, and yet they believe. I love that verse. Why? Because you think, oh, they saw Jesus.

That would have been cool. It really would have. But blessed are those who actually do not see, and they believe in this message of hope. Why are they more blessed? Because, folks, that is the definition of faith.

If I could get to the root of faith, faith is the evidence of things not seen. It's the substance of things hoped for. And so I hear the gospel call. I hear the conviction of the Spirit. I need a Savior.

I believe in Christ, and faith rises. And Jesus says, blessed are you, because I did not have to come down and show you my hands and show you the side. I did not have to shake you and say, look, look, feel, taste, and see that God is good.

And it's exhibiting faith and faith alone. So, yes, you have to step out in faith. Absolutely. Not blind faith. Why do I not use the word blind faith? Because it's not blind. It's faith, stepping out and believing God.

I mean, let's be honest. Clearly, there's a God. And so now we get to why we're here, Matthew 28 .14. Now, after the Sabbath, after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary of Magdalene and the other Mary came to see Jesus at the tomb.

The Resurrection, the Sabbath, and Rest in Christ

Now, this is important because questions do come in. I know that people are curious about this topic. After the Sabbath, on the first day of the week, so it appears, obviously, right, that's why we celebrate Sunday as Resurrection Day, Resurrection Sunday.

And there's a big misconception out there. There's even a billboard on the 395 that tries to get you to download a book because the Mark of the Beast is worshiping God on Sunday. Oh, it was started by the Roman Catholic Church in the third century.

No, it was started by the early church, early church to recognize this is the day that Jesus rose from the dead. Friends of Israel said this, the ancient Jewish leaders, okay, this is for all of you who like to keep the Sabbath.

Okay, I'm gonna get down in a minute because I think we should keep as far as a principle, a day off, a day of rest, unplug, seek God. But persecuted Christians in China do it Friday morning. Those in the Middle East might have to do it Monday early at 4am.

So see, we can't put a day on it. You can only worship God on a certain day, we should be worshiping God every single day of the week. So what they did in Jesus's time, they added 39 extra categories of work, along with all of their additional Sabbath laws and traditions, they didn't get much rest.

Instead, you'll be weighed down with a legalistic burden that exhaust people with minutiae and the fear of God's wrath that Jesus condemned, laying such burdens on people's shoulders. So here's the thing with the Sabbath.

Yes, we recognize it's a very important principle. We should rest, we should take that day off. But we also have to look at Scripture. Jesus is the very source of our rest now. Matthew 11, in him I rest from my labors.

He is my Sabbath rest. The Sabbath was weighed for man so that they would take that day off and they would rest. And it's a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ, Colossians 2. And I know we can get really dogmatic about this topic, but just think about it.

If you're turning on your car, if you're doing a little yard work, that's work. You couldn't kindle a fire, that's what an engine does, unless you have a Tesla. But where do you draw that line? You see how legalistic and rigid rules make you become?

And so it does beg the question, are you resting in him? Are you resting in him? Because I do think we need a Sabbath. I think we need a day off to unwind and to unplug into just a day. That's what it's for.

It's actually a day of rest. Anybody need a rest from Twitter and Facebook and Instagram and texting and all these different things? It's very good, very important. I know it's very difficult though. But think about this question then, are you resting in him?

Are you resting in him? Many who have to follow rules or go through the motions and keep certain days don't have that genuine relationship with God. If a Christian has to kind of go through the motions, I have to obey these things, I have to do these things, I have to follow these rules, you're not resting in him.

He's not your Sabbath rest in this deep relationship. Now because I have that relationship, I'm going to live a little differently, amen. I'm not going to look like the world, but it's not because I'm following rules, it's because of this my relationship with him.

And you can tell a lot of the rules, I can tell a rule follower from a genuine spirit-filled believer who's resting in Jesus, huge, huge mark, a huge characteristic that marks them. You guys ready for this?

It's a good takeaway. You sure? Get your pen out, get your phone out. One has joy, the other is very critical, angry, critical, look like they drank prune juice or a and they're going to force those rules on you.

Isn't that true? Anger, rigid, critical, but they're good rule followers. Man, they're good little boys and girls on the chore chart, but there's no joy of the Lord. There's no joy and grace and forgiveness.

They're walking around writing down, they didn't do this, they didn't do this, they didn't do this. They're mean spirited, they're angry, they're arrogant, they're critical. Same rules. Why don't go to the movies and watch those things?

Well, neither do I, but I do it because I don't want to draw me away from my relation with the Lord. I love joy, Jesus, and there's joy. You see the difference? And so we get the best of both worlds in the church.

We get the joy-filled and then the legalistic Pharisees. And you know, because they're just pointing their finger at you, and they're trying to discourage you. I mean, just think about it. Think about the religious leaders.

What do you think of when you think of them? Watch Passion of the Christ and you'll get a pretty good view of what they look like. And there was no joy in their hearts. It was just following the rules.

That's why Jesus said, you strain at a gnat, you'll block your mouth and don't let this little... You ever get those little bugs? You strain at a gnat, and when they did, they had to get it out. But you swallow a camel.

It's hypocrisy. That's why he called them out. You whitewashed tombs. You look so great on the outside, but you're dead inside. You vipers. We forget that Jesus got a little bold. If you call the religious leaders of his day vipers, you better run for the hills because you're getting stoned.

Vipers. Call them out boldly. He threw over the money changers table. Amen? I shared with you guys Friday, but I had to explain to my daughter a little bit of that when I went to Planet Fitness and had a talk with the manager about allowing men to go into the women's bathrooms.

And it's okay to say this or it's too late now, I guess. You know, she's a little shell-shocked, and rightly so, and I don't blame her, but you got to explain. It's not just all love. Because true love defends.

Actually, let me tell you the truth. It's actually easier to be a coward. Is it not? I mean, I'm sitting at home for a week. My wife already went in there a week ago. I'm like, just counsel online. Just, I don't want to deal with this stuff.

Easy. I'm not going to upset anybody. Just love them. Go team. But love also defends. Love also speaks the truth. Think about Jesus. Jesus Christ took the, I'm not telling you to do this, but he took the money changer tables.

It was okay for the money changers to actually be in the temple. They had to convert the denarii with a different currency. But what they're doing is ripping the people off. Would you have loved to see this mild, meek, little Jesus, the pictures carrying a little lamb?

He, I mean, he doesn't tell them to clean up their table either. He just rips, he just throws it up. And then he starts to make a whip. Why is that not enough? Probably because they're trying to get stuff and upset.

He says, I'm getting you out of here. My father's house shall be called the house of prayer, not a den of thieves. Zeal for his house has consumed me. Zeal for his house has consumed me. And that's why when you know it's righteous indignation, you say zeal for the truth and purity and holiness has consumed me.

How dare you, will you, you perverted monsters begin to push this agenda? That is true love because I care for the little ones more than this, this woke culture. I'm just tired of cowards telling us how we should live.

It's actually the cowards that brought Hitler to fame. Matthew 28 continues, and behold, there was that great earthquake again, another earthquake for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven and he came and rolled back the stone from the door.

The Angel, the Empty Tomb, and the Fear of God

Now this is interesting. He didn't do that to let Jesus out. He's gone. He's out. Now I know a lot of you are thinking, where did he go? Where did Jesus go? Well, this would take a whole other sermon.

And there was a lot of confusion because the Bible in Ephesians, I think it's Ephesians 4, I didn't write down any of this, and talks about how Jesus led captivity. There's different views. Jesus went to hell.

No, there's a place called, it's a holding place of the body. Sheol, Gehenna is a different term. And you have these terms in the Old Testament, the New Testament. And you see in the New Testament, there was a gulf, Abraham, bosom, and this Lazarus was on this side, and this evil man was on this side.

Bottom line, he went, they believe, to this place, the holding place, waiting for that resurrection. And so it's an important time for him to wait for this final moment. And so the stone was rolled back, and the angel, I love this part, he sat on it.

I mean, how it's probably, I don't know, a couple, I mean, you have to get the sticks, and you've got big, and you probably roll it like this, and the guys get behind you, and they start, you know, as you roll it, you put a little rock underneath it.

Guys, you know what I'm talking about? And you begin to roll the stone away. How are the soldiers sleeping? Right here. Did you know that's still what they say in Jerusalem today? They stole his body while they slept.

That's impossible because also those guards would lose their life. They would be killed. And so he's pushing this stone away, and he just sat on it, and he looked like lightning. His face was like lightning representing power, and his clothing was white as snow representing purity, and the guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men.

Here's what really happened to the soldiers. Here's what really happened to the soldiers. They feared God. And I thought of this all week. Do you fear God? Do you fear God? And I've had people ask me, are you one of those hell, fire, and brimstone, the fear of God guys?

Like, well, what does the Bible say? God is love. Yes, let's preach God's love, but it also says Jesus told me to fear him. Psalms, Proverbs, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. You want to know, you want to get direction for our nation, even economically or for your families, or you want wisdom?

Have the fear of God because then it changes how you live. That's why what I mentioned earlier, that they came out on Friday, and the White House said, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, I do hereby proclaim this day as Transgender Day of Visibility.

That's blasphemy. That is wrong. But why? Because they don't fear God. Or I should say, they don't fear the right God. Because a lot of them will say, oh, I believe in God. I like Jesus's teaching. But to them, I can picture it now.

God is this, you'll hear me say it sometimes, this cosmic ball of love. Man, he's just everywhere. He loves me. And there's people passing out pamphlets, if you see them at the gas stations, that God was a she.

Mother God, on their pamphlet. Do you fear God? No, he's spirit. Those who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth. But Jesus, the physical God, chose to come in the form of a male body. All these blasphemous things.

They do not fear God. And you'll see, that's why we have decayed so much, is we used to fear God at least. At least they fear God. That's a reverence and a respect. Many of you fear you're more afraid of an airplane than God.

But the angel answered and said to the women, do not be afraid. You need to hear that this morning. Many of you came here because you are concerned, you are afraid. And he said, do not be afraid. For I know that you seek Jesus who was, was crucified.

He is not here. He is risen. Now this, this, this underlying part gets me excited sometimes. So I'm going to try to contain it though. As he said, if you can just get your heart back to having faith on what God said, there's no need for fear.

There's no need for worry. There's no need for confusion. If we focus on God said it, God said it. And if he says something, what, what can change that? What can stop that? Again, some of the promises are conditional, right?

If you do this, I will do this. But Jesus, and you just reflect on these things. Whoever hears these sayings of mine, Jesus said this, whoever hears these sayings of mine, what we're preaching today, and he does them, he actually applies them.

I will liken him to a man who built his house on the rock. And when the winds came and the floods came, it did not fall. Whoever come to me all who are weak and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. What I said earlier, I am the way, the truth, the life.

Nobody can come to the Father except through me. I am the light of the world. He who believes in me will be set free. Come to me all who are weak and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Those are promises you can take to the bank.

I live off those. That is my oxygen. That is my spiritual breath. That is the depth of my relationship. If we have not the promises of God, and we follow some type of God who, like Elijah mocked, and he said, where's your God?

Is he on vacation? Is he using the restroom? But let the God who answers by fire, let him be God. And that God showed himself to be true. And come and see, come and see the place where the Lord laid. I love that about God.

Come and see. That's why we invite people to church. That's why we love to open the word of God and say, look, come and see, taste and see that God is good. Seek him and you will find him. Listen, he who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit of God is saying.

There's a call to come in and taste and see that God is good. And isn't it challenging because it's that constant call, come and see, come and see, come and see, and go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead.

And then Matthew 28 .8 goes on to say, so they went out quickly, I bet they did, from the tomb with fear and great joy. Oh, what a wonderful combination, isn't it? The fear of God and the joy of God. Boy, you want to live, you want to live a powerful life, you want to deal with all these issues going on, have the fear of God and the joy of God.

They go together. In the book of Acts, I think it is, it says the church began to do many miracles and power was upon the church. And it said they walked in the fear of the Lord with great joy and great boldness.

There is, guys, there's no other way to experience true joy and peace than to have that relationship. Do you know, I'm not saying anything that they didn't say 2000 years ago. They didn't have, they might have scrolls, maybe to open Paul's letters, but they would say the same exact things.

So our excitement should accompany faith, shouldn't it? Now, we don't always stay there. Amen. Difficult days. Feel great today, but come tomorrow, ask me again. But there should be an excitement. I have a right relationship with the God of the universe.

I can pray whenever I want. I can go in and shut myself in my prayer closet and God will answer. God will listen. God will direct me. God will fill me. You might get a little excited. There might be some excitement behind genuine faith.

So it does beg the question if somebody doesn't have excitement, do they truly have that relationship? Because what we're excited about reveals a great deal about our hearts, doesn't it? What we're excited about, all these people getting excited about all these different things, because what you're excited about is ultimately what you worship.

Now, of course, we're going to have different, you know, if the Dodgers win, I'm excited. You know, of course, there's different, you know, there's excitement levels you get. This year, if you get a tax return, excited, you know, you watch those gas prices come down.

There's, you know, it's okay to get, because those fall underneath, you know, general excitement. But there should be an excitement about, and that's what we love about what we try to do here at this church.

People come with the spirit of expectation. I don't know how many songs. I don't know how long I'm going to preach. I don't know what's going to happen in the prayer room, but we've been having salvations, baptism all the time.

People have been set free, and we come excited. I'm excited to worship God. I'm excited to get here. Now, with that excitement, though, will come seasons of difficulty where you get up and you don't feel like coming.

You don't feel like reading the Bible. Anybody relate, or is this a spiritual group at 830? Okay, so it's not always there. Thank God we don't live off excitement. It's a good reminder what I say often.