How Long Will You Waiver? — Shane Idleman

You know, I want to begin, I've actually got to speak tonight as well, and the subject's been on my heart for a while, a man's spiritual life. When you talk about a man's spiritual life, and then what Mike did is he put in the heart issue there.

The Heart as the Center of Spiritual Life

A man's heart, where should it lead? The hard part is I can't separate heart, mind, spiritual life. The heart is who we are. Jeremiah says the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. Who can know it?

The heart, for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The heart affects everything. Proverbs says that you must guard your heart, because why? It affects everything you do. Everything? Yes, everything.

So I can't really separate it and talk just specifically about the heart, because who we are spiritually as men, our spiritual side, do you realize that that is the most important part of your life? The spiritual man inside of you, who you are as a spiritual leader, there's nothing more important.

It affects everything you do, everything. It affects here, now, and it affects eternity. Many people, if their heart's not right with the Lord, they're going to hear many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, we did all these things in your name.

He'll say, depart from me, I don't know you, because your heart, you did not have relationship with me. And as I was kind of preparing this message, a story came to mind of, and I've heard on the radio a few years ago, and I couldn't locate where I heard it, but it's a story of a little girl, well, she's probably 13, 14 now, and her dad just left.

Her dad left the mom and the two little girls for another woman, traded her in for a younger model, the same story. And the mom was devastated, the two young girls were broken beyond repair, and the younger girl wrote her dad a letter.

She said, Daddy, I had this dream last night, and we were driving down the freeway, or actually down one of the main roads, and a car hit us going 60 miles an hour, and it killed mom. And it's just me and the sister's name, we're in critical care in the hospital.

And she said, but Dad, the most alarming part of that dream was, right before the accident, I looked up, and you were driving the other car. And that story, in and of itself, made that man come back home.

Spiritual Warfare and the Responsibility of Men

You see, I have maybe a different outlook than most people, but I believe, as John talked about earlier, that we are in a battle. We're in the battle for the very souls of our nation, we're in a battle for the souls of our family.

Make no mistake about it, life is a battleground, not a playground. The problem with the heart of men, let me be honest with you, is what Elisha said, how long will you waver between two opinions? How long will you falter between two opinions?

If God is God, follow Him. Elisha said that, if God is God, if God be God, follow Him. And I want to read something that I read on Mother's Day at our congregation, to our church, a few weeks ago, and I think it hits the point directly for men.

While dad is jockeying for position, trying to make a name, building a career, out with friends and enjoying hobbies, it's usually mom who is praying, petitioning and nurturing and caring and leading.

Men, give your wife the best present of all this Mother's Day, be a man. Start leading your family in the fear of the Lord. You're not called to be a passive, weak, indecisive partner, you're called to protect, to lead, to guard your family.

You are to initiate prayer, defend your wife, shepherd your children, and make your home a holy sanctuary, not a breeding ground for Satan. You're called to fight the enemy, not flee from him. I'm tired of weak, passive men who never contend, stand, or fight for anything worth dying for.

Think about that. Our nation is in desperate need of character. Our wives are in desperate need of leadership, and our kids are in desperate need of leaders, of fathers. You might say, well Shane, that's no big deal, I'm single, it doesn't affect me.

Absolutely it affects you, because the condition we're seeing now in our family is because men did not enter that marriage with character, with holiness, with genuine surrender to the Lord. The deterioration of the family rests squarely upon our shoulders.

So as a single man, you don't say, I do, and then become a man of character. You don't say, put on that ring, and then now you have holiness and purity. No, it starts now, before that. And I must warn you, I did not come to tickle the ears, I came to challenge the heart.

I didn't come to teach, I came to preach. And to be honest with you, I didn't come to build up, I came to tear down. Because while we jump up and down, yes Lord, yes Lord, and we want prosperity, we want abundance, where's the surrender?

Where's the turning from sin? Where's the holiness? Where's the purity? Where are those things? Do you know that God's word said, if you hide iniquity in your heart, I won't even hear you? Is not my ear heavy that I cannot hear, or my hand short that I cannot save?

But your sins, your sins have blocked my face from you that I won't even hear you. But see, in our culture today, this is the danger in the church in America. We don't want to talk about sin, we don't want to talk about judgment, we don't want to talk about righteousness, we sure don't want to talk about holiness, we don't want to offend anybody.

So the problem is, there's no consecration, there's no true surrender. People are playing games. They're playing games with God, there's no holiness, there's no purity. And we can talk about blessings all day long, and prosperity, and abundance, and God will do these mighty things, but he won't do anything if we're not men surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, period, period.

And I'm just tired of all these games that we play, we're lukewarm. Jesus said if you're hot or cold, be hot or cold, but if you're lukewarm, I'll spew you out of my mouth. How long will you waver between two opinions?

The Bible says seek the Lord with all your heart, not some of your heart, not all of your heart. And that's one of my big concerns for men. We go to conferences, but we're never challenged, we're never encouraged to turn from sin.

The Bible speaks volumes of that. You want to be blessed, you must turn from sin. You want abundance, you must focus on a life of holiness, and purity, and righteousness. For without holiness, you will not see the Lord.

The Bible says it, not me. And as I get into this, let me just talk for a minute about, if we think about it, where are the men? Where are they today, the true spiritual leaders leading our families? If you advertise something like this, the church would not be full at all, because we want to tickle the ears, tell me, tell me, tell me more and more.

I don't want to be confronted. That's the problem, we're not being confronted. We talk about a man's spiritual heart, the spiritual side. If you're not broken, and you're not humbled before the Lord, it's going to be a hard, hard road ahead of you, to have victory in these areas.

We want to overcome victory over this, we want this, we want this. But without that full surrender, and being filled with the Holy Spirit, without brokenness, it will not, it cannot happen. We will not be mighty men of God without full surrender.

I don't care if you don't like it, that's the truth. That's the truth. So when we talk about this subject, if you have your Bibles, or I can just read it, 1 Peter, 1 Peter 1, verse 13, therefore, many of you know this, therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober.

Girding Up the Mind and Pursuing Holiness

Look at that, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that has been brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, as disobedient children, no, as obedient children.

There's another word we don't want to talk about, obedience, I don't want to talk about that word. Unfortunately, without obedience, you will not see the Lord as well. Not conforming yourself to the former lusts, as in ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, be holy, for I am holy.

Think about that, be holy, for I am holy. You want to know one of the major problems is, there's no fear of the Lord in our culture today, in the church today. Think about that. Do you guys truly fear the Lord?

Do you fear the Lord, do you have reverence or respect, or do you think he's a butler in heaven that's going to come down and give you everything you want? He's not, he's the Lord Jesus Christ, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Christ is Lord.

The angels cry, holy, holy, holy, you will cry, holy, holy, holy. So we need to remove this whole thing we have in the church, that Christ is a butler, give me what I want, anything, I'm just going to dance and sing, I'm not going to turn from porn, I'm not going to turn from judgmentalism, I'm going to continue to yell at my wife, I'm going to continue to treat people like junk, it doesn't matter because the Lord is going to bless me.

No sir, you are deceived. Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Think about that, when you hear the word, oh I know the word Shane, I just don't do it, you're deceiving yourself.

You're coming playing church. John says those who say they know him but do not do his commandments are a liar and the truth is not in you. You're a liar, I'm a liar and the truth is not in me if we don't do his commandments.

If this irritates you, do you know that's good? That's really good because God is calling you back to a life of full surrender and to repentance and to turn from that lifestyle. Think about that, Peter says therefore gird up the loins of your mind.

Now if I haven't offended you yet, I might in just a minute. Point number one, gird up the loins of your mind. Do you know what that means? It's like back in Jesus' time, they would have to pull up their robes and tie it off so they could run, so they could move.

He's saying gird up the loins of your mind, why Peter? For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. You guys from Courts Hill Forestry know I've pounded this topic before when I've spoke, but it's important.

What you're putting into your mind is vitally important. The Bible says be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. For you theologians out there, that word transformed is a present passive imperative.

It means there's something happening to you. Why is it happening to you? Because you're renewing your mind with the word of God. I'll be honest with you, we talk to men, we fill our minds with junk. Think about that.

The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, the pride of our life. We have no time to spend in time in God's Word, we have no time for worship, we have no time for church, we wonder why there's no holiness, why there's no consecration, why there's no joy in my life, why does God seem distant?

Because we're filling our mind with things that directly oppose him. Look at all the big popular things now, glorifying witchcraft, the occult, vampires, sexual perversion, and it entertains the church.

I have a problem with that. Things that God calls an abomination, we enjoy. Things that God calls an abomination, we love to watch. Things that God calls an abomination, we say I'm going to allow into my homes, I'm going to lead my family astray, I'm going to allow Satan to influence us.

Oh Shane, that sounds a little strong. Well, if you take the Bible for what it says, that's exactly what is happening. For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

What you put in is what you get out. The eye be good, the whole body be full of light. I can go down, on and on and on and on. It's because men have willfully rejected their God-given role as spiritual leaders of their home, they're allowing all this garbage in, they're not taking up and girding up the loins of their mind.

They're saying, I'll go to church and raise holy hands on Sunday, but I'm going to live like hell on Monday. The man's spiritual life has got to be challenged, it's got to be a life of consecration, a life of surrender, a life of holiness.

Well, I don't like that. Well, then you don't like what the Bible says is a genuine follower of Jesus Christ. I mean, some of the most alarming scriptures, when I came back to the Lord, that jumped out at me are found in Matthew.

When Jesus said, many will come to me in that day and say, Lord, Lord, we did all these things in your name. We prophesy, we cast out demons, we went to church. He'll say, depart from me, I don't even know you.

That's a modern day wake up call. What about in Luke, when they said, Jesus, are there few who are saved? And he goes, you strive to enter by the narrow gate, for many will come and say, they know me and they do not know me.

You strive, you strive to enter that narrow gate. But Jesus, you taught in our churches and our synagogues, we ate with you. He'll say, depart from me, I never know you. Those should be wake up calls.

Do we truly know him? I mean, we talk about our spiritual life, but are we playing games? I mean, a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. Think about that. A double-minded man wavering back and forth.

What we're putting into our mind either builds you up spiritually or it tears you down. Did you know there's no middle ground? There's no middle ground. There's no gray area. Let me walk here, let me walk there.

Either we're filling our mind with the things of God or we're filling our mind with the things of the world. Who's influencing us, Hollywood or the Holy Spirit? Listen, I could speak on this for an hour.

This is the truth. I see people, there's no, this is what's wrong. This is why the pulpits of America are not flamed with righteousness. This is why you're not turning on the TV and hearing these kind of things.

This is why nobody's filled with the power and the presence and the holiness of God, because they're filling their mind with things that directly oppose him, period. There's no nice, cute way to say it.

Again, I didn't come here to tickle the ears, I came to challenge. It's what God's calling us to do, he's calling us back. The next point, Peter says, be sober. That word in the Greek there is nepho. It's being sober and it can mean alcohol, of course, but it basically means to be, free yourself of the influence of intoxicating things.

Watchfulness and Spiritual Leadership

Whatever intoxicates you, whatever influences you, be sober, be vigilant, be prepared. The Old Testament talks a great deal about watchmen, being a watchman, being ready, being filled with the Holy Spirit of God, watching your family, watching your walk.

Ezekiel said, I sought for a man from among them who would, what, build a wall, stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, that I might not destroy it. But I found no one. You were called to be the watchman of your home.

I'm called to be that. Even a single, you're called to develop that now, it doesn't come later. That's why he says there, be sober, be watchful, because what happens, whatever you embrace, embraces you.

Whatever you embrace, embraces you. Those things that the world loves and the things that God hates, when you embrace those things, they embrace you. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. Number three, as obedient children, as obedient children, and he didn't throw the word children in there for no reason, because children have that simple faith, that simple, yes, dad, I understand that, I will obey, hopefully.

Doesn't always happen that way. But he's saying as obedient children. And we ask ourselves, where is obedience to God's word? Where is that? Look at Saul, whose whole kingdom was torn from him. Why, Saul?

Because God says, rebellion is as a sin of witchcraft. If you are in open obedience to the will of God and the ways of God, it's comparable to witchcraft. John Rice, a famous Baptist pastor, said, and this is crucial, you guys want to know why God's not answering prayer, or maybe why prayer seems boring, there's no time for God?

He said that there is no successful prayer life for a rebellious child of God. You cannot be in rebellion. I'm not talking about perfection. I'm not perfect whatsoever. I'm talking about a heart, though, that truly surrenders to the Lordship of Christ and is not playing games, is not raising holy hands on Sunday and living like hell on Monday.

There's no obedience to the word of God. And the word of God is crystal clear, not perfection, but those whose hearts are obedient to his word. And David Ravenhill, I don't know if any of you have read Leonard Ravenhill's books.

He died maybe 20 years ago now. But his son David writes in the introduction, he says, everybody on my father's deathbed, he was a well-known pastor, more of a well-known preacher, more of a prophetic-type calling, like the modern-day prophet.

But they said that everybody, he would receive letters every day, every day, letters, letters, and they would say, Leonard Ravenhill, we want to pass on your blessing. We want the mantle, you know, like Elisha passing on to Elijah, everybody's writing letters.

Can I have your mantle? Can I have the blessing? Can I have this? Can I have this? Can I have this? Can I have this? He says, I want to be blessed with your ministry as you're dying. And he looked at his son, and he said, you know what?

He said, it's so sad because everybody wants the mantle, but nobody wants the sackcloth in the ashes. See, I'm just going to be honest with you. Everybody wants, it's easy to say, oh, Lord, jump up and down, abundance, bless me, prosperity.

But you do not want to do what it takes to get that. And I cannot come up here and be a derelict in duty and say that God's word has conditions, holiness, purity, righteousness, brokenness. Everybody wants the mantle, but nobody wants the sackcloth in the ashes.

Nobody wants that holiness and purity and spending time with God. Nobody wants consecration. Why? Because we enjoy the world. We enjoy the things of the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, the pride of life.

Pull us to these things. But I still need to go to church so I look okay, and I'm a nice guy, and I'll go to my men's conference to impress my wife, right? But I still want all these other things, a life of surrender, surrender to the lordship of Jesus Christ.

Have you truly surrendered your heart? See, it's pointless to talk about a man's spiritual life and his heart without dealing with this issue, full consecration. Again, not perfection. I need to clarify that because everybody thinks of this perfect and you can become perfect and never sin.

I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the heart that's fully surrendered to him. The next point he says here that's vitally important, number four, be holy for I am holy. Think about that. Be holy for I am holy.

Holiness, Repentance, and Separation from the World

Holiness is not some weird word. I mean, some of the younger guys are probably thinking holiness, yeah, some guy with a robe and a little cap on. No, holiness is being set apart for God. Come out from among them and be separate.

When you give your heart to Christ, you become a new creation. You are now separated unto God. The things of the world should not entertain you. The things of the world, you should not want to embrace them because in a genuine faith, a genuine faith is reflected in a transformed life, a love for God and his word, sincere humility, selfless love, and a disconnect from the world.

You see, he who loves the world does not have the love of the Father in him. There's no holiness. There's no consecration. There's no being set apart for him. And we love to sing that song, you know, prepare ye the way of the Lord, which is great.

But do you know what that preparation is? What was John the Baptist's purpose when he prepared the way of the Lord? Preaching repentance. Christ told his followers to what? Preach repentance. Repentance is the only hope for our nation.

Repentance is the only hope for you. Repentance is the only hope for our church. Repentance is the only hope for our families. We have to repent and be in right relationship with the Lord. And that's just where my heart's at because a lot of times we can come and we can sing and we get up, but nobody ever confronts and nobody ever challenges, so nothing ever changes.

Go to one conference to the next conference, a year goes by and year and year and nothing changes. It's nothing changes because we're not broken, we're not humbled. And that's what he's talking about here, be holy, for I am holy.

It's not about following rules, it's not about following rules, it's about being fully surrendered to God. See, the church has to focus on purity again. The church has to focus on purity. The problem is we want to grow big churches, but we don't want to address sin.

We want massive audiences, but we don't want to talk about those issues. So what happens is people come, they're living with their girlfriend, jumping up and down, fornicating. People come, they're addicted to porn, jumping, God's going to bless me.

And they leave thinking they're misled because they're not being challenged and convicted by the word of God. There's no repentance. And that's just the truth. That's how if you want to build your spiritual life, you've got to gird up the loins of your mind, you've got to be sober, watchful as obedient children, and be holy because God says I am holy.

If you say, oh man, Shane, I don't know, this sounds boring. It's the most fulfilled life you've ever known. Waking up hungover the next morning, worried about wondering who you slept with is the most depressing life I've ever known.

Not having a relationship with God and wondering is the most depressing life I've ever known. Walking through life like a lukewarm Christian, no power, no presence, the Holy Spirit's never radically changed your life, that sounds a lot worse than falling wholeheartedly after Christ.

I might be wrong there. I might be mistaken. See we get confused. The devil tricks us. As men, we think that Christ and following him is for weak people, weak, passive who need religion. But let me remind every man in this room that John said he saw heaven open and behold a white horse and he who was set up was called faithful and true and in righteousness he judges and makes war.

His eyes are like flames of fire and on his head were many crowns and nobody knew his name except him and his name was the word of God and the armies of heaven followed after him. The out of his mouth goes a sword that he will rule the nations with the rod of iron.

Get this, Jesus Christ and he himself will tread the wine press and fierceness and wrath of almighty God. This message will not win me a popularity contest but when I get home I can stand before God and say I did what you called me to do.

I'm not trying to tickle the ears. I'm not trying to win popularity contests. I'm not going in for a position where I get everybody's vote. I'm tired of the condition, the lukewarm condition of the church in America.

We're a mile wide but we're an inch deep and somebody's got to start sounding the alarm. There's no call for repentance, no call for holiness, no call for righteousness. We don't talk about judgment. We don't want to talk about sin.

We don't want to offend anybody. Guess what? You just offended God. Period. Well, Shane, you feel pretty passionate. I absolutely do. Why shouldn't I? Why shouldn't I? The church is mocked. It's ridiculed.

There's no changed lives. We don't see the power of the Holy Spirit like the book of Acts. I open up Acts and it says, what in the world is this today? It's not here. The concern that should, like Nehemiah, why should I not be sad when the place of my father's tombs lies in waste?

Why should we not be sad when the church is not operating in the power of the Holy Spirit? We especially as speakers should not come up here and wonder, well, what are people going to think? Should I tickle the eyes?

Should I tell some good stories? Lord, what do you want to say to convict the heart? That's our job. Period. My job is to glorify Christ and get out of the way. As John Baptist said, he must increase, but I must decrease.

I'll leave. Go sit in that room. I don't care what anybody thinks because we need to hear the message. This is the type of message that turns the prodigal son home, to be honest with you. This is the type of message that brought me back to the Lord.

This is the type of message he's put on my heart. And I make no apologies because we need to hear it. Go back. Go back if you think this is hard. Just take a few months. Start in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Zechariah, Haggai, Malachi.

They're saying the same exact thing. Return to me, O backsliding Israel, and I will return to you. The Lord is far from you. That's just the truth. Go back and read them. I read them. I think I'm a baby preacher.

They would call it out. You're sin. You're this. You're that. Why? So the people would turn their hearts. Is not my word like a fire, like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? He told Jeremiah, don't even listen to those false prophets, for they prophesy a vision of their own heart.

Don't even listen to them. They don't speak in my name. But had these prophets truly stood in my counsel, they would have turned the people from the error of their way. We don't stand in the counsel of God.

We don't turn anybody from the error of their way. We tickle the ear. We have them leaving feeling good, but on their way to hell. And I'm tired of it. And we should be. I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran.

I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesy. But had they stood in my counsel, they would have turned the entire nation back to God. None of that is in my notes, so I hope it's for somebody. Think about that.

He says, is not my word like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces, like a fire that devours? But he goes on to say, but tell the people that you have perverted the words of the living God. Why? By not warning, instructing, contending, and challenging the people.

We pervert the words of the living God when we come up here for the wrong reasons and the wrong motives, when our heart's not right. I'd rather clear the room and have 10 people ready to get on their knees and pray out to Almighty God that the judgment hand does not fall upon our nation for the condition of the family, than fill this church and tickle the ear.

Men need to be challenged. We are in a battleground, not a playground. You know what? Let's just go right into that DVD, if we could, and hit the lights. And this will kind of set the stage for how I want to end.

Dave Wilkerson on a Sleeping and Compromised Church

Many of you know Dave Wilkerson. This is one of his last messages. Now folks, listen to me please. I told you that being prepared is no joking matter. I'm going to ask, I'm not trying to be facetious, I'm asking you to hear this pastor like you've never heard any preacher in your life now, because many of your souls depend on it right now.

Folks, it's time to take the word of God seriously. God means what he says. But I honestly believe that God looks down on a church that's fast asleep. He's looking down right now at a church that is unconcerned about his soon coming.

The church no longer is intimate with Christ, no longer dependent wholly on God, dependent on the Holy Spirit, but running around with schemes and plans and dreams and networking and strategizing and committee meetings, trying in the flesh and sweat, trying to make it rather than depend on God, Almighty God.

The church doesn't need anything else, but God Almighty on his throne. And now, for the sake of unity, compromise, in comes the gospel of prosperity and the good life. I have to stay on my knees like I did this past week and lower God and just walk and cry and scream, Oh God, break my heart.

Don't let me get addicted to the easy life, the desire for things. That's why the Lord says, don't set your heart on the things of this world, but set your heart on me. Jesus said, I will be your life.

And there's a thought that says, Oh Lord, one of these days, this is all going to burn. This is not my life here, Lord. Thank you for this piece of furniture. Thank you for my car. Thank you for the finances you're supplying.

But Oh God, it's all going up in smoke very soon, Lord, you're my life. When you have time for friends, for family, for relatives, you have no time to dig into the word of God. You have no time to pray and seek the face of God.

And you tell me Christ is your life. But multitudes today are being saturated with your okay messages. How to make him everything in your life so that you don't need the applause of man. You don't need to produce something.

You don't have to write something. You don't have to do something, but you lead on him. And the greatest thing that you're getting from God is revelation of who Christ is. I don't care if anyone ever hears my name again.

I don't care if I ever speak to another conference. I've made up my mind with God. If the rest of my life was spent nursing Gwen, I would enjoy and rejoice in the Lord. If that were my calling, that's what I would do.

You see, God goes through the land. He searches every church in the nation. He searches every pastor study. It goes through every church looking for seekers. He's looking for those who are into the word of God, who have taken time.

If we are not seeking his face, we are in no position to receive his blessings. The United States, we're getting letters now from pastors' wives who said, I've been trying to find out why my husband has changed.

He doesn't love me anymore. He's empty in the pulpit. He has no anointing. What's happened to him? And they find out. They open the door and they see their husbands watching filthy pornography. I don't want my eyes polluted.

I don't want to be a part of this. I don't care who doesn't pray. I'm going to pray. I don't care who doesn't read the Bible. I'm going to read my Bible. I want nothing to do with it. And I cry, oh God, where are the voices?

Where are the people that cry out against it? Where are the praying people? And I say, God, whatever it takes, whatever it takes, keep me on my knees.

A Call for Men to Pray and Return to Christ

I'm going to end with that, men. Leaders pray. If that message didn't move you, something's wrong in your heart. I'll be honest with you. If that did not move you, something is wrong with your heart. You either do not know Christ, or your heart has become so hard that you need to repent and turn your life back to him.

The condition of our state, of our nation, of the church, if that's not enough to drive us to our knees, nothing will. I just pray if you guys want to come forward on the altar, just come up forward and pray.

We'll end with that. I'm just going to be up here and I'll pray with anybody, and we'll just pray. Lord, right now, I just pray that your spirit would fall upon this place, Lord, even if there's just 10 of us or 20, Lord.