Shane Idleman addresses the concept of being a 'troubler' in America, drawing parallels from the story of Elisha in the book of Kings, where he was labeled a troubler for speaking God's truth. He emphasizes that waiting on God is not wasted time, as it prepares hearts for His intervention, and challenges the audience to consider their own wavering faith. Idleman warns against the societal tendency to silence Christians who speak out against sin, asserting that true prophets call for repentance and godly leadership. He encourages believers to prepare their hearts as altars for God's fire to fall, highlighting the necessity of sacrifice and the transformative power of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Ultimately, he calls for a decisive commitment to follow God wholeheartedly, rather than straddling the line between faith and worldly influences.

The title of the message, if you have thoughts, talk to me afterwards, I'd love to get your thoughts on it. The title of the message is, Oh Troubler of America. Does that sound familiar? In the book of Kings? Where does that come from? Well, in the book of Kings, there was a troubler called Elisha. And why was he a troubler? Because he spoke God's word. And the king said, Oh, you troubler of Israel. And he said, No, you're troubling Israel. You're the troubler, you're causing the problems. And we picked up from Wednesday, two weeks ago, first Kings 18, then three years later. So what happened a couple of Wednesdays ago, there was a drought. God proclaimed a drought. And the brook dried up and Elisha had to move on. But now God's saying, three years later, God said, Go and present yourself to King Ahab and I will send rain on the earth. And it was something that stood out this week as I was preparing for this, is what I talked about a few months ago, that waiting time is not wasted time. So if some of you are in a waiting time right now, it's not wasted time. Don't get discouraged. Don't think I've just wasted weeks or months. This isn't working. I'm wasting all this time. Waiting time is not wasted time when God's in the equation. He'll often use the waiting time to get our attention. What happened is one year's worth of drought didn't get the people's attention or the king's attention. Two years of drought didn't get the king's attention. But after three years, now, this waiting time, now the people are starting to worry. I don't know if you've ever seen a real drought. We probably haven't. But that can devastate everything. Your crops, your animals, and the people are desperate. So he said, okay, it's been three years. Now this waiting time, what I think happened, this is the idleman paraphrase, the king's heart is being softened a little bit. The people now are wanting to see a move of God. We're in a drought. We're going to die. Our families are going to die. So God used this waiting time as a time of preparation, and it was crucial. And then verse 17, then it happened. When Ahab saw Elisha, that Ahab said to him, is that you, O troubler of Israel? He's blaming Elisha on the drought. He thinks that the prophet of God is the problem. Is that so true in society? They think the Christians are the troublers. Why? Because they're convicting. They're convicting the people. They're convicting the leaders. They're convicting the nation. And Elisha said, I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and have followed the Baals. Or Baals, however you want to pronounce that. So one who causes trouble. Let's find out who the troubler is. Here's what the word trouble means. Someone who bothers, or worries, or gives someone anxiety, or distress, or concern, or irritation, or annoyance, or agitation, or harassment. They're a troubler. So what happens is when people like Elisha, people like myself, or preachers, or teachers, when they begin to proclaim the whole counsel of God's word, it bothers people. It worries them. Because you say you're not in right relationship with God, most of America. There's a judgment coming. Now they're anxious. Now they're in distress. Now there's concern. And I don't know if you've been watching the news closely. I sure have. Because it affects me at some point. Is that they're trying to push now, up in Sacramento again, where you cannot talk about alternate lifestyle being wrong. Homosexuality, LGBT agenda, you can't. They're actually trying to push legislation. Why? Because they're stressed out, they're agitated. This is harassment. It's hate speech. You're a troubler. So you have to find out what side of the trouble argument are you on. Because we are a troubler to the wrong agenda. We will agitate and distress. That's what people say. Here's what the deep conversations that we don't hear a lot that go on. If we could just get rid of those Christians. If we could just silence those troublers. If we could just shut them up, then all of our problems would be over. Oh boy. They have no clue. So that's what this issue of a troubler is. So it could be applied today, oh you troubler of America. It's interesting, most of the kings in the Old Testament, if you do a survey of the kings, often they had a prophet lining up with them. I don't know how many of you are aware of that. King of Judah, King of Israel, and you'd see these kings, and then you'd see these prophets. You'd see an Isaiah with this king, a Jeremiah with this king, even Daniel, even though they were in captivity, spoke to the king. And then you'd have Elisha, you'd have kings, Micaiah, that isn't mentioned in a book of the Bible other than when he prophesied to one of the kings. And you would have, running alongside the kings, you'd have the prophet. What was the prophet doing? Calling the king to repentance, calling the king to godly leadership, calling the king to a good spot in directing the people. That's why I have a big concern, and I think leadership does matter. Leadership, where we're taking our children, where we're taking our people. It's not the main priority of preaching, but it's important. Leadership matters. For us to think that where we lead the people, what laws we pass, what legislation we pass, what we elevate from abortion to gay marriage to all these things, to think that doesn't matter, I don't know where you get that from. Because it's definitely not taught in the Old Testament. The New Testament says that the government should be a terror to those who do evil. The government is supposed to do good and to protect and all those different things. So that's what's happening here. Every king had a prophet, just about. There are exceptions. And I think that it still rings true to us today. I think that God wants those in leadership positions in our nation to have a godly voice speaking into that person. That's why it's a very difficult atmosphere right now in Sacramento. There's none of that. They're not allowing any of that. They're trying to silence this because it's a troubler. And then verse 19, now therefore send and gather all of Israel to me on Mount Carmel. So Elisha came into this position of prominence. He's going to tell Ahab it's going to rain again and he's calling the shots. So he said call all the people to Mount Carmel. The 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Ashtar who eat at Jezebel's table. So it's Elisha, one prophet versus, what is that? 400, 450, 850 false prophets. So he's going to go up against 850 false prophets. And then first Kings 18.20. So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. And Elisha came to all the people. And this is such an interesting setting. I honestly feel like this a lot of times. Not this church, but just when I speak and the message that God has given me. And Elisha's standing among these people, the children of Israel. Think about this. God called the children of Israel out of bondage. He led them through the wilderness. He was their provider. He shepherded them. He cared for them. And now Elisha has this great group of people and he tells them, he yells out or proclaims, how long will you waver between two opinions? Another translation says, how long will you falter? It's this kind of, how long will you waver between two opinions? And doesn't that still resonate with many today in the church? You want to shake them. How long will you waver between two opinions? Most people, who they are on Sunday is not who they are on Monday. You'll hear all kinds of cuss words, all kinds of ungodly things on Monday. What happened from Sunday to Monday? How long will you waver? How long will you falter between two opinions? And Elisha's call is so true even for us today. He said, if God is God, then follow him. But if Bel is the God who you're sometimes serving, go and follow him. You need to choose this day whom you will serve. Borrowing now from Joshua going back many years ago when the children of Israel were delivered from their bondage. So it's that same call, it's that same passion. How long? How long will you waver between two opinions? Wouldn't that be great to get on TBN at peak hours and have millions and millions? I would pay for that advertising. You've got 15 million people and you say, America, how long will you waver between two opinions? If God is God, follow him. But if the God of this world is God, follow him. Stop wavering. Stop being lukewarm. Stop trying to serve God on Sunday but reject him on Monday. God says, put away the sound of your instruments. Get rid of all this and let justice run down like a river and righteousness like a mighty stream. I don't desire your sacrifices, God actually told the people. I want a broken and contrite heart. I want a heart that's been broken before me. I desire mercy and not sacrifice. I desire that you follow me with all of your heart. You become that altar. You become that sacrifice that falls on the altar. And what so many people were doing back in the Old Testament is they were bringing their offering. Okay, here's my offering. Here's my due diligence for the week. Here's my obligation for the week but they were not really serving God. So he called them on that. If Bell is God, follow him. And you would think he had a big revival but the people repented. Wouldn't that be great? And the people repented and called out to God but the people answered him not a word. So you can speculate. Either they were not concerned, they were maybe upset or were they convicted? There was a silence there. I'm not sure. Personally, because if you keep reading, it looks like they were probably convicted. But a couple things we can learn from this. Troublers are often outnumbered but not outpowered. You have to remember that in the days we live. You will feel outnumbered. Anyone work in the public schools here? Couple people. Business, fire departments, police departments, school districts, wherever you're at. Do you ever feel outnumbered? When I was in the workplace, I sure did. When I look at what's going on in America, I sure feel that way sometimes. But Elisha teaches us a wonderful lesson. One man contending for God is stronger than 850 false prophets and a false king and his wife Jezebel. One man plus God is stronger than an entire army against him. So it's important that we remember this. We are often outnumbered but not outpowered. And I'm learning the more we're outnumbered, the more you feel like we're not making a difference, the harder this is, the more you rely on God. How much would we rely on God if all the news stories say Christianity is on an upswing? 14 senators today repented. People are coming to themselves and realizing that we need to change all these laws. For some of you, you look at the news and Trump poll, 95% he's going to win again. Nobody can keep, oh, they think that's gonna solve our problems, everybody's happy and oh, look at this. And it's often in the pressing moments that we press in more to God. I mean, we're seeing this legislation trying to be pushed. We're seeing all kinds of things happening. But you also notice here that troublers challenge the people. The same problem today. A Christian, it's hard for us to be liked by everyone. That's our goal, to be peacemakers, to bridge the gap, to come alongside of people who struggle. But when the day is over and we see what we stand for, often we challenge people because we challenge their lifestyle, not in a judgmental spirit, but just, do you know just you living without saying anything irritates people? You don't have to say a word. I remember guys hated me in construction. I never preached to them. I just didn't wanna look at the porn on their phone. I didn't wanna go drinking after that and I didn't wanna cuss. They just, oh, Mr. Goody Two-Shoes, stay away from that guy. Oh, I hate that guy. I'm not saying anything. You're just living a certain way. You're the light. But so many people wanna try to, well, I wish, we just gotta reach the world and we just want, they just need to love us and hopefully we can find a way to connect and there's churches now. They're asking, what is the unbeliever looking for in church? I've seen those surveys. Grow your church, find out what unbelievers want in a church service. That's not biblical. It's believers coming to worship God and you can come in and watch if you'd like. You can come in and be transformed by the power of God if you'd like but we're here to worship God and even worship services will irritate someone who's not in a good frame of mind. I don't know if you guys were here a few Sundays ago but one lady, she just walked out of here. She's cussing my wife in the parking lot. I hate that guy. He's so mean. What was I saying? The word of God. And also people are often not responsive just like they didn't answer him a word. There's the same problem today and so I hope that's an encouragement for some of you. That when I'm out in the community or even with friends and family, the response is often not what I want. We don't see people repenting all the time. We don't see people positively responding to our messages all the time. Some people don't say anything. Family members, friends. But don't give up. We're not called to get a response. We're called to be that light and be that truth. And then verse 22, then Elijah said to the people, I alone am left as a prophet of the Lord but Baal's prophets are 450 men. Therefore, let them give us two bulls and let them choose one bull for themselves. Cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood but put no fire under it. And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood but put no fire under it as well. So it's interesting. Same sacrifice. How they would sacrifice in the Old Testament was they would lay a bull on the altar and they would burn that bull and that sweet-smelling aroma, they'd take the blood to cover the sins of the people, that sweet-smelling aroma of life for life without the shedding of blood, there's no remission of sin. It would temporarily cover the sins of the people as they're waiting for their fulfillment in Christ, that once and final sacrifice. So you have two bulls. They're gonna do the same thing. Elijah's bull, the prophets of Baal's bull on the altars. Nothing's different. What's the difference? Who they're calling on is the difference. So they took the bull which was given to them and they prepared it and they called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon saying, oh, Baal, hear us. Can you picture this? Oh, Baal, hear us, hear us, for hours, hear us. And we see that a lot today in false religions. I mean, I know people who they actually have in their house. I ran into the lady today. She's a friend of our family. She's got a Hindu altar in her home. They're from India. Incense and bowing, bowing. And what about in front of Buddha? They were meditating wherever they do. I don't know what that means, actually. Maybe I shouldn't do it because somebody's thinking. Somebody will take a YouTube clip of that, right, and say, but bowing and bowing and calling on their gods, calling on their gods, and nothing happens. But there was no voice, the Bible said. No one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made. So now they're climbing on top of the altar and they're trying to whip up this frenzy. They're trying to get Baal to answer. And it's a good reminder for us that false gods never answer. False gods never answer. The wrong path is always the wrong path. And that's my concern in our nation today is we keep calling out to the wrong god. What is the god today? Self. Most people, you see this too. If you mention the word God, you're okay. But if you start to define, you mention the word Bible, the Bible, come on, Shane, that's so outdated. Passe, old-fashioned. And then you talk about Jesus. It's the only way, the only truth. That's the only way. Now you're just offended. Why is that? Because America's calling on the wrong god. Most people around the world are calling on the wrong god. It's the god they fashion. It's so interesting as I was thinking about this. The Old Testament we read where they would make idols. We can't even fathom this. They would cut down trees. Here's a giant piece of lumber in their yard. They would carve it into an idol that they would put in their house and worship. And then they'd burn the rest to cook their food. You say, well, how foolish. But so many people have that same idolatry in their mind. They'll do little things. I've ran into people who said, well, my backyard's sacred. What do you mean? That's my altar. That tree and that rosebush I planted when my cat died right there. They look to these things that have nothing. If you think about it, it's kind of silly. Or the New Age movement really is not new. It's still around and they start to say that God is within us all. We're all connected with the plants and the trees and the rocks. You know the governor, I think, in New York, now it's illegal, I think, to declaw cats. But you can kill children. Is anybody tracking with this? That's a nation that has lost its moral compass. Their conscience has been seared. They're following the wrong God, the false gods out there. And so it was at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, cry aloud. Cry aloud, he's your God. Maybe he's meditating. Maybe he's sleeping. Maybe he's going to the bathroom. Call on your God. I would have loved to see this event. So they cried even more and they cut themselves. That was actually common, still common in some countries where they'll actually take a knife or a sharp rock and they'll cut themselves as a sign of some type of sacrifice and they'll bleed there and they'll let the blood run down and some kind of, it's like taking it to a whole new level. Now we're serious. We've cut ourselves and made a blood covenant. They cut themselves with knives and with lances. So you can see he had this picture of taking sharp instruments and cutting the backs of the people and drawing blood. And now we're serious. Now our God, Bell, is going to answer. And the blood, it says, gushed out of them. And when midday had passed, they prophesied until the time of the offering in the evening. This is a long event. Elijah was loving it. Because he knows nobody's going to answer. There's no God but be God. But there was no voice. No one answered. No one paid attention. And what was happening here is pride was preventing repentance in the people. Then Elijah said to all the people, come near to me. So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. Here's what he's getting ready to do. He's preparing the altar the way God prescribed it. He's going to ask for holy fire. He's going to ask God for answer. And this was in my heart this week. If you want fire to fall, you must prepare your own personal altar. Oh, Shane, that sounds good. But do you have any scripture to back it? Yeah, tonight read Romans 12. Finally, brethren, by the mercies of God, present your bodies as living sacrifices on the altar. That holy, that holy sacrifice, which is your reasonable service to God. So I don't know where you're at this evening. I don't know how far you've drifted. I don't know if you're doing great. But I do know this, the fire of God falls on an altar that's prepared, on a heart that's prepared. And so many people in church, they'll sing those songs, fill me up, fill me up, but I'm not going to do what's required to be filled up. Because being filled up requires me emptying myself. You hear me talk about that often. What that really means is brokenness. You're emptying yourself and saying, God, I'm so dependent upon you. I can't keep this marriage together. I can't lead these kids. I can't succeed at work. I can't be a good Christian. God, I empty myself. Would you fill me with your spirit? Would you let the fire of God fall in my heart, fall in my life? And the deeper the brokenness, the stronger the anointing. The more you empty yourself of self and everything from having to get the last word and being angry and bitter and condescending and judgmental and hanging on to besetting sin and walking around with a prideful heart. And it prevents that. There's actually someone I know, it's sad. I know it. And he's opened up before and said that he lacks love. He's not very loving. He's mean, snaps, this arrogant. But he wants to be filled with the spirit. One or the other, folks. One or the other. God can't fill a prideful man because the man's already full. To truly be filled with God's spirit is complete emptying of self. Self-fulfillment, self, you fill in the blanks. Self-achievement, self-fulfillment. It's about self. That has to go and then the spirit of God fills up a person. So if you want fire to fall, you must prepare the altar. And so Elijah built the altar in the name of the Lord and he made a trench around the altar. So what he did, he put wood in the, I'm gonna just kind of paraphrase. He cut the bowl in pieces, he laid it on the altar, he put wood around it, but then he took water. Water. And he put water all over the sacrifice, water around the trench. Another group around of water around the trench. Basically this sacrifice was soaked in water. There's no way you can offer that sacrifice. They would actually find very dry wood underneath kindling and bush and dry their desert landscape and they would allow that fire to burn the sacrifice. So this is not gonna work when he's just drenching it with water. And I've realized that if I can do something, God's probably not in it. God gets us to a point where throwing water on the sacrifice so he can move. And what would that look like today if God's calling you to do something, calling you to pray for someone, calling you to minister to someone and you say, this is impossible, this isn't going to work, Lord. I know you want me to do it, but financially it doesn't work necessarily. But be careful, you wanna use wisdom. I'm a big proponent of using wisdom, of course. But if you want God to do something and you're gonna see him move in your life, often involves things that look impossible to us in our own strength. So he prayed, Lord, hear me that this people may know that you are the Lord God and that you have turned their hearts back to you again. So see, they wanted, Elisha wanted the fire to fall on this altar and the sacrifice. It was impossible to burn. What was the reason? To turn the hearts back to the people of God. That's one good thing about a person filled with the fire of God. Their boldness, their passion, their excitement turns the heart of people back to God. And I'm concerned that I think a lot of people are leery of Christianity because many Christians seem bored to death with church, the things of God. Doesn't excite them, they don't see miracles happening, they don't have no prayer life. It's just something on a checklist, I'm a Christian. And they don't see the power of God many times. So here we see the same sacrifice but different results. Same thing, do you, most religions, I don't know of one yet that doesn't pray. All religions pray. Many religions fast. All religions worship. All these groups doing the same thing that we do. Same sacrifice, what's the difference? It's to the true and living God that will always answer. And then this is very interesting. So Elisha prepared it. I'm sure he backed up a little bit. And he said, God, show these people that you are the true and living God. And I love verse 38. Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stone and the dust and it licked up all the water that was in the trench. And I think this is a picture of what happened on the day of Pentecost. See, the fire of God isn't always literally flames. What does fire do? It consumes, it transforms, it ignites, it removes. Doesn't fire ignite? It ignites something, it transforms something, it removes something out of our hearts, out of our minds. So that's what happens when God's fire falls upon a group of people or upon you individually. When the sacrifice has been made, things have been removed, things have been prepared, the heart is prepared. Okay, God, your word says this and you take them to your promise. And when the fire of God falls, it eradicates a lot of dead and decaying things in our lives. It gives us a new passion for prayer, a new desire to go to church and worship God. You wake up hungry for God because fire changes things. It changes your home, it changes your marriage, it changes the whole atmosphere of your home. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces, I bet they did, and they said, the Lord, he is God. The Lord, he is God. And you can imagine this group saying, the Lord, he is God. He showed himself strong because one man dared to challenge the king, because one man dared to put his self aside and become a prophet of God and speak boldly for God and allow himself to be used of God. So the practical application tonight is very simple. Are there areas that are hindering the fire of God from falling in your life? And I covered those already. Attitudes, actions, arrogance, is God convicting you on any of those things? Because a lot of people can have the attitude, what I mean by the attitude or arrogance, they want to do so many things for God. I've met a lot of people, oh, I want to do this for God and this for God, but they're arrogant. They've got agendas. They've got the wrong attitude. Or on the flip side, there's complacency. Do you think fire falls on a complacent heart? The Christian who doesn't want to do much for God, they're kind of comfortable. So that's really the challenge for us this evening is to present our bodies as living sacrifices. So is there any area that God is convicting you in tonight that has to be laid on that altar? And it's not gonna be easy because the excuses start coming up here. Okay, you know what, Shane? I'm doing that tomorrow morning. Guess what happens tomorrow morning? Here comes the challenges. Here comes the disappointments, the distractions. But if you press in, if you press in and you begin to seek God with all your heart and you begin to empty yourself, my best times in the morning, like David said, the morning watch, I rise up early and my heart is set on you and you begin to worship him, there's a breakthrough that happens and the fire of God falls. That's why Paul said be filled with the Spirit. The fire and the Holy Spirit is often interchangeable in the Bible. Did you know that? Because what did John the Baptist say? I'm not the Messiah, but there's someone coming after me who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with ice water. Whew, refreshing. The Holy Spirit baptize you with fire. It's something Christians shouldn't be afraid of. And I've seen so many pastors, they talk about fire, but it's like they're sitting on an iceberg. People talk about the fire of God. They read about the fire of God, but they rarely experience it because it is a sacrifice. I think that's what many people don't understand. There is a sacrifice, there's a cost involved. There's always a cost. There's something that I'm gonna, maybe I'm gonna hand it out someday. It's pretty hardcore though. I don't think most people can handle it. The title is Others May, You Cannot. And it's an article a man wrote, I think 80 or so years ago, and actually Leonard Ravenhill gave it to Paul Washer, some of you know those names. And it talks about others may, you cannot. Others can jock you for position. Others can try to be prideful and arrogant. Others can try to earn a lot of money. Others can take the credit. Others can love the world, but you, if you wanna be filled with God's Spirit, you cannot. There are some things that you have to be separate from. The prophet in the Old Testament was always separate. He didn't look like the people, he was separate. Women of God in the Old Testament and the New Testament filled with God's Spirit and his presence were always different. There was a distinction about them, that they looked different. There was an aroma about them, a sweet-smelling aroma of being close to Christ. Others may, you cannot. And so many Christians are caught looking like the world, acting like the world, but yet they want the power of God. And there has to be a point where you say, Lord, I'm giving up all these things. I'm giving this up so I can seek you. And I'm not gonna give you a checklist here. You take it to God. And you ask him, Lord, what are those areas? What can I remove in order for fire to fall in my marriage and in my children? I'll just let you know, I've been praying a lot lately. God, let my children be filled with your Spirit in a mighty, powerful way. Let them experience the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Let them just wake up. And wouldn't you love your kids to just say, I just love Jesus so much, Dad. It's pouring out. One daughter I have like that. I love Jesus everywhere, and her heart's just in a wonderful spot. But I want all of them like that. And as they get older, I know they could drift. I know that could, but that fire to come back, that fire. Because once you experience God, it's hard to go follow another God. Once you've truly experienced God, you can't go follow another God. And so people ask me, well, Shane, where are you at on that debate? Can a person lose their salvation? Can they walk away? You know what, all I know is when you've met the risen Savior, you've been filled with the power of God. You might slip, but you wanna come home. You feel that desire. You feel the prodigal son calling back. I don't see how a person can have God and then leave him. I think most people think they have God, or a concept of God, or a mental image of God, or experience God, like it talks about in Hebrews, if you've tasted, if you've been enlightened, if you've partook in the things of God and you walk away, it's gonna be hard to, you can't be renewed again to repentance. And I think of Judas Iscariot. He partook of the things of God. He experienced ministry. He tasted some of the things. But a person, if your children are truly filled with the Spirit of God, oh, it's gonna be hard to undo that. And if you're truly filled with God's Spirit, I often ask God, I don't get answers usually on this question, but how do people get through life without you? Could you imagine going through this life without God? Well, I hope it just ends and we're buried in the dirt and dust to dust and ashes to ashes, and that was fun. And you know, people like to joke about that in their 20s, 30s, 40s, but when they get close to that, when they get close to death's door and it's knocking, anxiety sets in, fear sets in. There's no hope. There's no hope outside of Jesus Christ. It's a good question.