Shane Idleman emphasizes the urgent need for revival in the church and individual lives, urging believers to seek God fervently and to identify what must end in their lives for true revival to begin. He highlights the importance of prayer, worship, and obedience, warning against the dangers of secret sin and spiritual complacency. Idleman calls for a return to the 'old paths' of faith, emphasizing that genuine revival requires a deep, personal relationship with God and a commitment to living out one's faith authentically. He stresses that the church must remain vigilant in the face of spiritual warfare and societal challenges, reminding congregants that the presence of Christ is essential for overcoming life's difficulties.

So the title this morning is Timely Takeaways from Ren the Heavens 4. So guess what, if you weren't here, I gotcha. You're here now. Or if you missed some days, you're gonna hear some of them. Or if you were here, there's a recap is important. Because it's really gonna pull out some strong points. And of course, many of you know the whole theme of the week was, oh, that you would ren the heavens from Isaiah 64. Ren the heavens and come down and visit your people. God, break open the heavens, rip them open. And I don't know what's coming next week with the elections, but I'm sure there's gonna be some shenanigans with what's going on with Russia and China and Taiwan. I mean, we are in some very interesting times. So we're gonna have to be digging into God's word like never before. And if I were you, I'd be at 6 a.m. prayer and worship. And we go right into the services. That's where we get fueled up, we get fed with worshiping. I see people up here sometimes with their journal or their prayer requests, putting their prayer requests for their children up here. Just an incredible time. And guys, we've gotta press in more than ever before. God, that was actually a prayer. Oh, God, would you ren the heavens? It's not a theological discourse. He's asking God, please, God, ren the heavens. And so Sunday, if you were here last Sunday morning, Pastor Ronnie Floyd did an exceptional job. The title I got jealous about. I told him, I said, I wish I came up with that title. So, what must come to an end before revival begins? And I would encourage you to take the next few weeks and listen to all these messages. We're gonna be releasing them over the week. I mean, the testimonies from all over the United States, on YouTube, on Instagram, Facebook. It's a little overwhelming of all the people, because I didn't really feel it a lot. I'm not even gonna share with you the drama, the obstacles, the situations. As of now, our website, live stream is down. The radio station is down. I gotta get with Spectrum and all kinds of things. You don't even wanna know. And I'm like, Lord, I didn't feel much. It was so difficult. Yeah, but the people did. The fruit. So, gauging it on faithfulness. So, anytime you say, man, I had a hard week, I can relate. But the key is to keep pressing in. To keep seeking God with all of our heart, with all of our strength. And just challenges after challenges. So many people out sick, too, as well. And had to close children's ministry. Oh, well, let's add to the list, right? And so, we do need help in all these areas. So, if God has put that in your heart, would love to have you step up. But it's important. What must come to an end for revival to begin? All of us must ask that important question. Even myself, if I truly want God to rend the heavens and revive my family, revive my children, if I wanna press in, I have to sometimes ask, what needs to come to an end? What's preventing me? And don't let the word revival freak you out. It's actually a very biblical word. It means to awaken something that is asleep or dead. Oh, would Thou not revive us again so that we can rejoice in You. Ezra would say, give us a measure of revival in our bondage. Basically, Lord, wake us up. Get some fire under the pew, so you'll stand up and be excited for the things of God. And many times we talk about the fire of God, but we're sitting on a cube of ice because we haven't experienced. And so some things must end, taking inventory. I look at my life often. Lord, what is creeping in? What is going on? Is there disobedience? Because we do know that obedience and nearness to the Father always walk side by side. Obedience. And I wanna stop here for a minute because many people get confused. I'm not talking about a totalitarian, God is angry, God's gonna hit you with a lightning bolt and you better just obey like an abusive father. It's an obedience that flows out of love because of the relationship. Correct? You don't wanna cheat on your spouse because you love them, most of you. Right? So like, I can't believe I can't cheat on you. Can you imagine that? I cannot believe it. I'm stuck with this obedience from here on out. That's ridiculous. Same thing, because it's actually spiritual adultery when we begin to follow things other than God. And obedience is beautiful, let me tell you. It is beautiful. I am so free. I am so free when I obey God. Something happens, Lord, it's your radio station, it's your website, it's you. I'm just gonna follow you. I don't care if everything goes down. I'm just following you. E.M. Bounds, if you don't have his book on prayer, get it and saturate your mind in it. The absence of an obedient life makes prayer an empty performance. Who can relate to that one? And I would probably submit to you that the reason we don't pray well is because we don't live well. They're married, they go together. You show me somebody who's not fake, right, but somebody on fire for God, their prayer life, they're pushing in, they're pressing in. And that's a man or a woman who has that close relationship with God. They take a short account of sin. They're obeying Him. When they fall, they repent, they get back on track. That person has made prayer a life, that person has a powerful prayer life because they live in a powerful way close to God. Holy consecration brings down holy fire. If you want fire in your home, the good kind, don't you ever, I mean, it's difficult. Sometimes emotions are going, right? I've got four daughters at home. Don't tell me about emotions. Man, hurting feelings every day. And I'm married and I've got a son, so I know it's challenging, but I want a holy, I'll even pray over their rooms. I'll even put on worship. I'm going to do whatever I can to saturate the presence of God into that home. I'll tell you, it makes a big difference. Big difference. Doesn't atmosphere matter? I've talked about that before. One of my friends who goes here now, spent eight years in prison. I think he'll be at the second service. Incredible godly man in the men's ministry. I went to visit him three times. And that atmosphere is a lot different. The waves all tatted up. People all around. There's a demonic influence. You feel it. You feel weighed down. And it was very difficult, very challenging. So atmosphere matters. Try walking around the streets of North Korea versus our streets. You see, there's something to that, that bringing God into your life. And then Monday, I talked about what hinders the presence of Christ? What hinders the presence of Christ? And I quoted a book, Fire Upon the Altar. Fire Upon the Altar. The author said this, the spiritual battle in which the Christian is engaged is fierce. It is no game. I think we need to start remembering that because sometimes we watch these people on TV or YouTube and say, hey, Christianity's cool, man. I got my skinny jeans. I've got my cappuccino. Man, let's just talk about positive things and let's go out and let's just all, and they don't take it seriously and they often fall. You know, I want to be careful, but a year before Carl Lentz fell, I shared to people he was going to fall because of the lifestyle. And we all have to remain vigilant. I pray for him. I've reached out to him and other pastors that have fallen, other Christians that have fallen. I'm reaching out every single week, every single week for the last 12 years, every week without fail, a Christian who has fallen in battle, back into alcohol, back into prescription meds. We had a volunteer back on drugs now. Left messages. It really hits home. It's a constant battle. So when I say these things, folks, I'm not just trying to work up the crowd. I live this. I've seen it. Satan is intent upon destroying the presence of Christ from our lives. There are no vacations from spiritual warfare. Actually, vacations sometimes are more difficult because you let your guard down and you're in vacation mode. You know how people have fallen back into sin on vacation mode? That is why the fire must be kept burning. Some of you will realize that he's quoting Scripture. Some of you may not, but there are so many times in the Bible, You ever say that? Of course, the parting of the Red Sea. But this time when they got the altar ready, God said, prepare the altar. And you see the parallels in Paul's writing. Prepare the altar of your heart. Present your body as a living sacrifice on the altar, Romans 12. And you see these connections. And then God says, get the altar ready. Don't worry about the fire. I get chills even thinking about that. Let me light it. God says, let me light, because when He lights it, folks, when He lights it, that's not false fire. That's genuine fire. When the fire of God falls upon the life of an individual of the church, that's the fire of God. And then our responsibility, all it is, is to keep the fire burning. Oh God, help Westside Christian Fellowship. Keep that fire burning. God, you have lit it. You have put fuel on it. But God, help us keep that fire burning by obedience and trusting and loving and brokenness and humility and finding ourself. Oh, when I find myself in your presence, God, light me up, because I'm dying, some of you need to say. And so the fire of God fell upon that altar. Could you imagine? And He just told the priests, hey, Levitical priesthood, just keep it burning. I've lit it. It was a sad day in Israel's history when that fire went out. Every time the church is revived, I would even say every time you are revived, man, I've got so much to tell you. All of this just hits so deep because there's a flip side. Everyone that is falling away, I mean, weekly, right? I just talked about it. There's a whole other group being revived. I'm like, I'm going to go crazy here, Lord. I mean, come on. This person, I'm not coming again. I feel back in sin. I don't like the church. And this person, oh, I love the church. I've never been more filled. Two different voices, right? But this is it. Every time the church or you are revived, it's when you go back to the old paths. Go back to the old paths. There's nothing new. You've heard it said many times. If it's new, it's not true. And if it's true, it's not new. Folks, we've got to go back to the old paths. That's why we put so much emphasis on holiness and obedience and worship and prayer and fasting. That's what keeps the fire on the altar. Hey, I love potlucks, but they're not going to keep the fire on the altar. Hey, I love these little get-togethers and ministry outlets and we need them. Thank God, but that's not going to get the fire upon the altar. Whatever ministry, that's not going to keep the fire upon the altar because you can be a ministry and still fail. Just heard this week of a man who found out a long time ago that his wife was cheating on him on the mission field. And I even brought this up to a church 20 years ago over the hill. We'll keep it at that. Like, your missionaries on the mission field, they're posting, I don't know if posting, it might have been just emailing or something, like five-star hotels and all their wine tasting, and then they're on the mission field? What are the other folks? Enjoy yourself. I got it. But see, there's a drifting. Because I'm busy. I'm busy, I must be on fire for God. Not necessarily if you're too busy. Here's the biggest threat to a Christian. Busyness that pulls you away from the presence of God. I've lived it so I can preach it, amen? Busyness that pulls you away from the presence of God. Martha, anyone get that one? Oh, I like a clean stage. I can walk around a lot. Ronnie, you remember, I would pace up and down. I've kind of got a little bit more conservative now. I'd go down the steps and stuff. But anyway, this area of obedience and worship and prayer and fasting, Jeremiah said this, this is what the Lord says. Now anytime the Bible says this is what the Lord says, take note, because we know that the Bible is all of God's Word. But when it calls us out, and you out, and me out, and says listen, this is what the Lord says. When you stand at the crossroads, when there is a decision to be made, when you don't know what way to go, when there's a choice that is to be made, it says ask for the ancient paths. Another one, look for that road that is well traveled to God. Look at where the path has been worn out and you can clearly see this is the narrow path to God because Jesus says broad is the road of destruction and there are many who find it. Narrow is the path that leads to eternal life. Look for that good way and then walk in it and you will find rest for your soul. And if you need rest this morning, you need peace, you need joy, oh, ask for that old path. Ask for the old way. And I wish the rest of the Scripture was not in the Bible, but you said we will not walk in it. And of course, we know Jeremiah and we have Isaiah and Jeremiah, they're writing to the nation of Israel. You've got the northern kingdom of Israel, the southern kingdom of Judah. They've been divided now in kingdoms and Israel fell and then Judah fell I think 150 years later and there's always that call to this nation of returning back to God. Look, you're at the crossroads, America. You're at the crossroads. Choose life that you may live. Choose the right path. Get back on the right path with God. But many said we will not. So it does beg the question this morning, what will you say? I talked about on Monday things that drive away the presence of Christ in our life and of course, number one at the list is secret sin. Secret sin. I've mentioned before, you've heard if you've been coming for any length of time that I'm not talking about perfection. You know, I'm the pastor up here because I've never sinned this month. And I've decided to tell you how to do it. And I don't know why you keep falling. It is so easy. It's interesting because the Bible says, you know, if you sin, there's an advocate. He who says he has no sin is a liar. But it's those who keep short account with it and say this is wrong. I've been wrong. I own it. I repent. I change my mind about this and turn back to you. You keep short account of sin. You deal with it. Here's the deal. If you don't deal with sin, it deals with you. The Bible talks about New Testament primarily too is when sin is conceived, it grows and it grows. And if you don't abort it, this is the kind of abortion we believe in here, by the way. Abort sin. Now you should get a t-shirt. I believe in pro-choice. Abort that sin. Abort that sin. It has no life here. And so, but if you don't, it grows. And when it grows, it brings forth death. Fully consumed. And that secret sin, it's not really secret. Think about it. Is secret sin really secret? God doesn't know about it? No, we just choose not to deal with it. And again, that book, I would recommend. It's a little booklet. It might be out of print. So you have to find it. I usually go to rarechristianbooks.com. You know, you gotta look for these jewels that can be reprinted. Fire upon the altar. Fire upon the altar. When there's no communion with God, there's no communion with God, our lives are spent in darkness. We see nothing. We hear nothing. We have no answers. Spiritual death has set in. And that's what secret sin does, folks. It robs you of the communion with God. It robs you of your relationship with God. And it begins to pull you away from God and you're dead to the things of God. I don't wanna pray anymore. There's no answer to my prayers. My house is going crazy. My spiritual life is non-existent. I don't wanna go to church. And if I do, it's just to sit there and be bored and to cross it off my checklist, probably because there's secret sin. E.M. Bounds. Order it today. His book on prayer. Which one? I don't care. Any book, he's written on prayer. Or you can do what I did and get the thick volume that has all of them. No man can pray well who does not obey well. That should be tweeted out. What do they call Instagram? Instagrammed out. Posted out. And Twitter won't ban it now. No man can pray well who does not obey well. Isn't that true? As I obey God, as I receive the fire of God, the prayer closet is now kindled. The fire of God upon the altar is now restored in my heart. I can't wait to get to prayer. I wake up singing amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me and usually out of the difficulties of life will come an incredible prayer life. Or another thing that gets rid of the presence of Christ is when we are too full. Did you know that the practice of moderation strengthens discipline? The practice of, did you know it's okay to practice moderation? Tell King's stomach no. Tell your flesh no. Don't let it control you. You begin to control it. That's a biblical principle. Nowhere in all of Scripture will you read, let your flesh take over. It actually says make no provision for the flesh that you fulfill its lust. It actually says pull out your eye, Jesus said, if it's causing you to sin. It's causing, it's starting to control you. Brethren, present your body as a living sacrifice. Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. All that's in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, the pride of life is not of the Father. Someone else, let me think who it was. I discipline my body. Huh, who was that? I don't know, wrote most of the New Testament? And it's not a bad word. Discipline, perseverance. The Christian walk is a walk of warfare, of discipline, but it strengthens you for the battle. Can I tell you, so far, what time is it? I don't know what time it is, the clock changed back. Okay, what has my flesh told me since 12 o'clock? Well, first thing, it's too early to get up. Hit the snooze. It's dark out, it's cold, go back to sleep. Okay, if you do get up, if you do, I know a donut shop, and I wish I never saw the sign, if they're open at four in the morning on Avenue L. Why did I see that sign months ago? Or Starbucks, 4.30, and you can have a chocolate pop with a big hot coffee with cream in it. Doesn't that sound, no, I have to seek God. I don't want to get all jacked up on caffeine and sugar. Yeah, but doesn't it sound good? Listen, shh, the flesh is calling. Get to church, aren't you a little moody, Shane? Aren't you a little irritable? If I would tell you about this week, you wouldn't believe half of it. As of now, the radio station's still down. I've got to get Spectrum out, and we've got Verizon as the backup, and they charge a lot of money, and that's down, the live stream's down on our website, and then all these issues going on, and I won't even get into more things, and don't you, they're such and such, don't you want to just get of an attitude to them? And yeah, I really do, flesh, thank you for reminding me. But no, no, no, the fullness of the Spirit, the fullness of the Spirit must come in. You must discipline the flesh. You must go out of your way and say hello, and give them hugs, and understand that they go through struggles, too. If you knew what the person had been through, you might be a little bit nicer to them, and what people struggle with, and then I didn't want to preach the second service. I'm a little tired. I'm getting worn, the first service was great, but the second service, I struggled the first 10 minutes. But once the flesh understood he's not sitting down, he's not calling the worship back up, he's not getting lazy, it has to submit, and the fire of God comes upon me, and you have to bring the flesh into submission, or it will submit you. It's a wrestling match, is it not? And who wins in a wrestling match? Whoever submits. And it's a flesh, the flesh just wants to win. Who can just put away that second plate, is it easy? I guess I have to confess again. Anytime my daughter makes chocolate chip cookies, ask her what I tell her. Can you please hide those? Because somehow I get up at midnight, and it knows. I don't know, I forget all about it. But it says, remember the cookies, the warm chocolate. Remember, get up and drink a lot of milk, and now I've got all this sugar, and now I've got my metabolic rate going again, and my digestive takes place, and now I don't get good sleep, and the flesh says, that's okay, you can miss church tomorrow. Just do it. And see, if you don't bring the flesh under submission, it will destroy you. The flesh is not your friend. The carnal mind is enmity with God. It is at war with God. The flesh says this, feed me so I can destroy you. The enemy within. Now notice how I'm not against food and things God has given. It's a good thing. But if the good thing begins to control you, what you used to control now controls you. You're in a very difficult spot. That's why we talk about fasting often. Because fasting is a season of telling your flesh to shut your mouth. I'm listening to God. But when we're too full, again, Andrew Murray, only in a life of moderation and self-denial will there be sufficient heart and strength to pray much. And it is good to clarify, because there was a movement that came out of primarily Roman Catholicism and Martin Luther fell prey to it. And it's that penance and the whips and they would whip themselves and he would remember it when he would go to Rome and crawl up the steps on his knees and if I'm just suffering for God. And then he opened the Bible and Romans came alive and it said the just shall live by faith and faith alone. And that's where the creeds come from. That Christ alone, through faith alone, through grace alone, to the glory of God alone, the five solas of scriptures cry out to us today. And it says deny the flesh, but also be filled with the Spirit because you're trusting in Christ alone and not in your works. So don't get caught up in all of the works. Works, works, earn favor to God. No, it doesn't earn more favor to God. He doesn't love me more, but I sure love him more when I obey. Only in a life of moderation and self-denial will there be sufficient heart and strength to pray much. I'm not gonna try it, but I'd love to give you proof of this. In this month of November coming up, November 24th, guys, you know what? I'm gonna call a church prayer meeting right around six o'clock. How would that go over? Like a keg of beer at an AA meeting. Just about no one would be here. And if you're here, you're gonna be too lethargic to pray, correct? In case you don't know what I'm talking about. Try just praying after Thanksgiving dinner. Try having a prayer meeting. That never happens. Why? The fullness of the flesh is gonna push away the fullness of the Spirit. Now, I'm not saying that that's bad. I think it's good. I think Thanksgiving is good. There's seasons of feasts and there's seasons of famine in the Bible. The wedding feast. But when you become people, we become people of feasting. And there's no famine. There's no fasting. And that moderation now, when I was supposed to moderate the flesh, it now is controlling me. It will push out the presence of Christ from your life. Why do I try to fast when I preach? Fast when I worship? Fast when I come to prayer meetings? Because as the flesh is being starved, the fullness of the Spirit comes out. I didn't talk to Ronnie about this, but ask him how he feels leading worship after In-N-Out. Double-double, French fries and a chocolate shake. Can you come lead now? Probably not good, right? Yeah, not good. I even text Jay Camelot and I say, you want me to pick you something to eat? He goes, I don't eat. I just drink water. Why? Because the right thing at the wrong time will hurt you. The right thing at the wrong time will hurt you. And I'm just telling you as a witness of this, the more I feed the appetites of the flesh, the less I feel the fullness of the Spirit. See if we can help me remember who said this. They're not fasting now because the bridegroom is here. But when the bridegroom is taken away, they will fast in those days. Paul said, I was in much fastings often. John Wesley wouldn't even ordain people unless they fasted on Wednesdays and Fridays. The didache or didacte, however you pronounce it, says before baptism, three-day fast. The early church from Augustine to Ignatius to Polycarp to Justin Martyr to Irenaeus. Some of them had some wonky thoughts there. I got it, but there was fasting. John Bunyan writing the Pilgrim's Progress in his journals talks about fasting. Wesley talks about Whitefield fasting. Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Famous sermon that sparked revival in our nation. Jonathan Edwards was on a three-day total fast. Complete fast, meaning no water. And if you turn it into a work, or look how spiritual I am, you miss it. You might as well not even fast. But if you say, God, I am so desperate. God, I am so desperate for my children. God, they have to turn back to You. There is no guarantee of tomorrow. Our nation is out of control. And if you think a red wave on Tuesday is gonna outdo the crimson blood of Jesus Christ, you've got another thing coming. Because only the crimson blood of Jesus Christ can help our nation at this point. All hell is breaking loose. All evil is being exposed. And only the remnant standing on the truth of God, proclaiming the truth of God in the midst of uncertainty is gonna cause a wayward nation to get stability again. That is our only hope. Now, I'm hopeful on Tuesday. I think it matters. I think we are clearly seeing that the right people in office matter. So all of you jokers who thought politics doesn't matter, I hope you're changing your mind because it matters from war and famine and decadence and what we're leaving for our children and our grandchildren. Don't drink the Kool-Aid. The pulpit used to be able to talk about the things that they say don't talk about anymore. Twitter says, Shane, don't talk about that anymore. Until recently. Facebook sends me warnings. YouTube, what am I saying that's so wrong? The truth. The truth offends. You're seeing the lines of demarcation being drawn in the sand right now. And my concern is, yes, let's say a certain political party takes House and Senate and how all that works, I don't know, but it's not gonna be two years of utopia. There's gonna be tremendous civil unrest probably like we've never seen. I'm not trying to scare you, I'm trying to prepare you. And the whole point is look at the red states and the Republicans. Now that's why the next two years are gonna be terrible. And then here comes the presidential election. Terrible timing. I wish it was right. I wish it was right now. I wish that was Tuesday as well. And our nation is in turmoil and we need to talk about these things. People are hungry for information, but you have to point them to the cross. Point them to godly leadership. You guys got me off track again, so let's get back on track. A lack of desperation will remove the presence of Christ from your life. A lack of desperation. The average Christian gets by with just enough to keep them lukewarm but not on fire. Isn't that true? I see it all the time. I'm gonna go speak again at the end of this month, I think, and I'm gonna travel to New Jersey, I'm gonna speak, and it's the same problem. Shane, there's no fire. The church is lukewarm, right? Because they're content with being lukewarm. That's why Jesus said, choose sides, hot or cold, choose your sides. But if you're lukewarm, I will spew you out of my mouth. The literal Greek translation is, are you ready? Vomit. Jesus is gonna vomit you out of his mouth if you're lukewarm. People say, I don't understand. I do. I died for you. I died for you, and you're gonna live half-heartedly? You're gonna be a super Christian on Sunday but a carnal Christian on Monday and deny the very faith that I bought with the price of precious blood of Jesus Christ? I can see why he spews that out of his mouth. Absolutely. Preaching, I'm trying to. What do you think I've been doing all week? A lack of desperation. Why weren't all of you here this week? Oh, I've got to work. You'll take it off for the Dodger game. Don't give me that story. I came to ruffle some feathers. Your favorite movie's out. You don't feel good, a little cough. You'll call in sick. You won't go to work. But when we want to pursue God, there seems to be a lack of desperation. There's a lack of fervency. That will also push out the presence of Christ. A lack of fervency. William Gurnell, another great book, Christian in Complete Armor. Very thick book from Puritan. Make sure you get the abridged version where they use modern language if you do order it because these guys are deep with their thou and their they and their go fetch a compass, which doesn't mean go fetch a compass. But he said, coal praying is no more prayer than a painting of fire is fire. Oh God. God, forgiveness of the sin of prayerlessness. Did you catch that? Coal praying is no more prayer than a painting of fire is fire. Have you ever seen a painting of fire? Does it warm you? Are you gonna put that in your living room? It's like kids go sit by the painting of fire. Why? There's no fervency. There's no passion. There's no desire. And how can prayers that do not even warm your own heart move God's heart? They can't. And I know it's difficult. I know it's challenging. I often text our prayer warriors in the prayer meetings. I'm like, guys, how can we get the fire of God burning in this place? My goodness. There's a lack of fervency. Shane, you're spanking us this morning. Yep, yep, I am. The discipline of God is a good thing. He disciplines those He loves. He spanks me, so I'm gonna spank you. That's how it works here. That's how it works, I'm telling you. Ouch, God, ooh, ah, ooh, ooh. You have no clue. I'll start putting terms together. I'm like, Lord, you've gotta be kidding me. And I'll just remove it. And then the next day, Lord, I can't say this. I don't even know if it's you. I'm removing it. A couple days later, I can't remove it. Because you have to get to the point where I could, and I hope this comes across right. I don't know how else to say it, though. I could care less what you think about me and my message and what I said this morning, as long as I point you to the truth. And I mean that. I see the attitudes. I see the looks. I see the people who never come to the altar, never come to the prayer room. But I'm here to tell you, I could care less because I care more. I love you enough to tell you the truth. And that's the only thing that's gonna take this nation back. We may never come back. We might be at the, the Titanic's been hit. Well, I'm gonna get as many lifeboats full as possible. There's, that's where we're going with this. The decadence and the perversion. Failure, failure to slow down. Failure to slow down. I don't know, it's a funny point too. Often I'll have people come up and they'll go, we could have kept going another hour. And then you get other people, that was too long. See, what's the difference? The fire of God's not in their heart. They're ready to go home and watch the sports event. What's on Amazon? What's on this? I'm ready to go and leave. There's no desire for God. And then also, failure to slow down. Failure to slow down, still stuck on Monday, removes the presence of Christ from your life. He acts for the one who rushes away from Him. They'll wake you up. He acts for the one who waits for Him. Are you too busy to wait, too occupied to pursue, and too wrapped up to worship? That needs to change. And then Tuesday, Pastor Abram talked about the power of asking Christ to teach us to pray. Teach us to pray. And I thought what really stood out to me was they asked, Lord, teach us to pray. They were teachable. Why is that so hard for Americans? We know it all. We know it all. When you're teachable, you become tender, and that's what we need today. I want to just encourage you on the messages I didn't get to check those out, because I don't have a lot of time to put all the notes together. But go through these. We're going to send out an email with all these messages. Make sure you listen to them. Send them to friends and family. Re-listen to them sometimes if you need to. And then Wednesday, I talked about when heaven comes to my rescue. When heaven comes to my rescue, Psalm 34, I sought the Lord. Praise God for that, I sought the Lord. And that word is like I took a retreat. I spent some time and I sought the Lord. I retreated to Him. I fled to Him. I was led to Him. I jumped to Him. I just ran to Him, and He heard me, and He delivered me from all my fears. It didn't say I would get to God at some point. There was a seeking, there was a pursuing. The analogy I've given you guys before, it's like losing your kid, your child. What would you do? What if Morgan said, hey, they can't find Kylie next door. Let me get through this sermon, okay? She'll be fine, we'll look for her later. Let me get through this. We've got prayer time. Can I eat first? That's how many people pursue God. That's their pursuit. I'll get to it when it fits my schedule. I'll get to it at some point. But that type, no wonder we're dead. No wonder we're barren. No wonder marriages are being destroyed and the family disintegrating, and there's no passion for God. You've never prayed for the sick. You've never led anyone to the Lord. Could it be that you're not seeking God with all your heart because He goes on to say, oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Taste, take that full surrender, pour it in, and just see that God is good. And as I told you then, and I'll tell you now, He is the shepherd of the shattered. He is the fixer of the fractured. He is the counselor for the confused and the healer for the injured. He is the deliverer of the wounded. He is the governor of the guilty. He is the rebuilder of the broken, the defender of the damaged, the rock of the worried, and the rest for the weary. He is the Lord of the lost and the Savior for the sinner. Turn to Him this morning. And then Thursday, I love that message. You have to listen to it, Pastor Abram. When a fundamentalist receives the fire, when the fundamentalist receives the fire, and I wanna share three H's with you. The truth with the wrong heart, it hurts rather than helps. Hearts, hurts, helps. This always has helped me in the past. The truth, you've got the truth at this church or out there in America, some of you do, but with the wrong heart, it will hurt people and not help people. That's why a fundamentalist, that word, actually the word, here you go, came from 1904, 1905, R.A. Torrey, and I have it, I believe, still in my office. He wrote a series of books called The Fundamentals. The Fundamentals of the Faith, The Inheritance of Scripture, The Virgin Birth, Jesus is the Only Way, and they are the fundamentals. So the word is actually a good word. You know, The Fundamentals of the Faith. But just like you could throw a gay party 100 years ago, you can't really do that now, because words, you know, they've changed a little bit. I mean, I guess you could just clarify what you're doing, what gay meant then and what it means now, what fundamentalist meant then, what it means now. You know, it means like you're gonna blow up an abortion clinic, you fundamentalists. You see how they try to label you? But when a fundamentalist, what he talked about was, I've got the Word of God, I've got it, I've got it, I understand it, but it doesn't have me. It hasn't broken me. It hasn't humbled me. I can let you have it with the truth. I can quote, this is why I can, and I see this and I try to help parents so much. You know, their daughter or son, can you imagine being a teenager today? My goodness, I couldn't. It was hard enough when I was, without internet. We had Pac-Man, I think. And you had to go somewhere, a big computer. But, and then you can just click a button and be exposed to all kinds of perversion. All kinds of perversion you can be exposed to. And so, if we're not careful, we'll throw the Scriptures that are children instead of love them through it. And I've told people, stop quoting Scripture to them, especially when you're yelling, oh, dad, I hear the lesson you give me. It may be very wise and true, but I'd rather get my lesson by observing what you do. For I may misunderstand you in the high advice you give, but there's no misunderstanding, mom and dad, how you act and how you live. Now, I've not mastered this, but it's something we need to keep in mind. The kids need to see the Christ in you. That's how they change. And it doesn't come from pride, does it? It comes from humility. I'm sorry, I need to own that. That's not right. And you break them. You humble them. And it draws them. I love what I see in my dad or mom. I'm going to rebel maybe, but I'm drawn towards it. There's a drawing. Hey, look it, they're broken. They're humble. They're teachable. And a lot of fundamentalists, they beat up their kids with the Word of God. And sometimes you don't see it when they're young and in the home, but you see it as they get older. When they start getting 15, 16, taking on their own personality, you could control them with rules and regulations when they were young. But as they get older, what they're doing is they are running from the hypocrisy they see. I mean, there's been books, studies, people are like, what is going on? We don't know why kids are falling away. I can tell you two reasons. Actually, three reasons. Either you're a fundamentalist and you're fundamentally flawed because you're angry and mean-spirited and you just are arrogant and you hurt people. They're going to run from that. Or you're very carnal. Oh, talk about love. And then they see you on Monday, getting drunk, fighting, doing all the cussing. You don't even look like who you were on Sunday. That will push them away. There's two reasons. And third, obviously, is because many are not genuinely converted. And there's an idea of Christianity. And when that faith is tested and challenged, that's where kids walk away. I guess I could add in there too is when, and what I love about the children's ministry here and the youth ministry, and I think both Kim is here and Carrie and Phil, and you guys are doing an incredible job, is there's a, it's not childcare. There's a pursuing of God. They see genuine, that's what I'm looking, they see genuine fire. They might not like it, but they see genuine fire, correct? And they're drawn towards that. I don't know, Connor, can I put you on the spot again? You're okay? Front row, all right. I remember when I first came up here, I got this 12-year-old kid. He was running to me in the parking lot, gives me a big hug. Oh, I love it, I watch you on YouTube. Why, oh my goodness. And then a couple years later, he doesn't like me anymore. I think going to a different church for a while. Oh man, that dude, he's a wah. I don't, that's too convicting. I don't want to do that. Probably not in a good spot spiritually, just guessing, I've been there. But then when he starts to come back to the Lord, he couldn't wait to get back, get to the altar, be fellowshiping again, worshiping. I mean, I just come so much joy to my heart, seeing him at the altar, seeing him at the front row here early. What is that? What is that? Because there's a genuine move of God that many churches don't have. So if you just go through the motions, let's do a song, let's do a quick sermon, let's do another song, let's beat the Methodist to the restaurant. What's, they're running to something else. And they're running, why are they running to Satanism and spirituality? Because here's the thing, you can be so spiritually hungry that you'll consume anything. And you have to point them to the real source of strength, our deep taste and see that God is good. Taste and see that God is good. They might run from cover, but they'll come again. And young adults, I think there was three or four baptized that night. And we had one Wednesday night where we opened it up to the young adults, the Ignite room. I think there was what, 25 getting baptized. And there's a hunger, there's a desire. So they might run from it for a while because I don't want the conviction of God. I like living in sin, but when the sin comes and pays a price and there's wretchedness and there's misery, they run back to the foot of the cross because they know that there's something genuine there. So for me, it's not a secret. And we actually don't see a lot of kids leave the faith here for a season, but they don't leave the faith. They want to fulfill the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, the pride of life. You can all relate. I don't think you all just woke up praising Jesus at three. Maybe some of you did. Maybe Leave It to Beaver, you can relate to that. Remember that old sitcom? And just everything was great. But for many of us, we've had to go through the struggle, the furnace of affliction, the fires of walking away from God and being drawn back to the real working of the Holy Spirit. And I run into people sometimes, they don't like me talking about this particular topic. But Shane, I'm vigilant. No, you're arrogant. Can't you be vigilant and kind? Can't you be a truth person and loving? Jesus was. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we behold the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Oh God, that's my pursuit. I want to be full of grace and truth. I want to love the sinner but rebuke the agenda that is taking over our nation. Rebuke the sin. So the question is, is God breaking you? Is God breaking you? It's time to submit. Tap out, you MMA people. Tap out. Tap out. Don't keep fighting God. And that leads me right into the point. Could it be that God is pushing you down deeper instead of elevating you up? And then Friday, that was the whole point. The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. What is heaviness? When I'm heavy, I'm broken, I'm bitter, I'm frustrated, I'm frightened, I'm fearful, I'm unfocused, I'm worried, and I'm weak. The heaviness of the world. How many of you said, I can't stand this anymore? Just me and my wife? Just me? Just me? A couple of honest people. I can only handle so much. How about that? What does that mean? The heaviness, the pressure is getting too great and I'm gonna crumble. That's what implosion is instead of explosion. Implosion is the pressure on the outside is greater than the strength on the inside. That submarine in the Indonesian Ocean, I believe, everyone died inside. And what really stood out when I read the article is it said pretty much this, the pressure on the outside was greater on the strength on the inside. And believer, that's how you're gonna get through these dire times is the pressure on the inside is going to be greater than the strength on the outside because the world's gonna pressure. For the spirit of heaviness, I put on the garment of praise. For the spirit of heaviness, I put on worship. When heaviness disconnects me, worship connects me. When heaviness distracts me, worship leads me back. When heaviness depresses me, worship releases me. Heaviness binds me, but worship frees me. And then you'll know like the writer of the Bible said, greater is he that is in me than he that's in the world because I put on the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. And we talked about how important prayer and worship are and that Leonard Ravenhill once lamented that the Cinderella of the church was the prayer meeting. Do you guys understand that? Cinderella went around unloved and unappreciated yet she kept the house in order. But we put our prayer meeting on an off night in a back room because it's not that big of a deal. But it's time for Cinderella to get dressed for our King. The dry, dead, lethargic condition of the church simply reflects a life void of prayer. And that also covered 2 Chronicles. I would have loved to have been there during this time. The trumpeters and the musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the Lord. There was trumpets and cymbals and other instruments. So the next time somebody tells you you shouldn't have instruments in the church, you need to point out a lot of Scripture to them. The guitar's not evil. It's what you do with it. Drums are not evil. It's what every, I wore drums. This is how I fight my battle. I pulled down strongholds of wickedness in high places through worship. And the singers raised their voices. Can you imagine this? There's a temple at 2 Chronicles 5, so it precedes 2 Chronicles 7, where Solomon was there dedicating the temple. If my people are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face. And there's this, the filling of the temple is incredible, and they're filling it with praises. And they're singing this. He is good, his love endures forever. We should have a song like that. He is good, his love endures forever. And we should sing it for a while. And that's not brainwashing, that's Christ elevating. He is good and his love endures forever. Then the temple was filled with the presence of God. The temple was filled with the presence of God. Holy consecration brings down holy fire. And I talked about so many people telling me, I never knew that worship could spark a fire in my heart. I've been cold, I've been dead, I've been lazy spiritually, but the worship began to spark a fire in my heart. So you must put on the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. And now I'm going to close with where I began. What must come to an end for revival to begin? Folks, if you're dying spiritually or you're dead spiritually, this is key. For some people listening or will listen later, what must come to an end? Sin must come to an end. And that night I talked about the famous verse that Jesus actually quotes. He opens up the scroll of Isaiah and he says, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me to preach the Gospel. He has anointed me to set the captives free. He has anointed me to break the shackles of oppression, to let those who have been bound to go free. And then he says, it is the acceptable day of the Lord. So much to be rejoicing for. But you know what? Jesus didn't finish the scripture. Isn't that amazing? The part he didn't read was in that the day of the vengeance of our God. Why didn't he read that? Because he sat down, he said, the Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. The Spirit of God is upon me. He's anointed me to set the captives free. It's a great day of the Lord right now. This is your Messiah has come. But the day of the vengeance is not yet here. It's coming. So he couldn't say the Scripture is fulfilling or the whole place would have been judged. The judgment of God would have fallen upon the world already. But it's very interesting because the Scripture is pretty clear that they rejected Jesus. Is this Joseph's son? Does anything good come from Bethlehem? This is a carpenter's son. Well, how is he going to conquer Rome? Because they were reading some of Scripture correctly. The conquering king. The everlasting government will be upon his shoulders. For mighty counselor, prince of peace, he's everlasting Father. And they knew this great soon-coming king. This can't be Him. Look at this guy. Right? They wanted a lion, but they got a lamb. We don't want a lamb. What is a lamb going to do? My goodness. This can't be the Messiah, but they should have read the Scriptures and it would have opened up the eyes of their understanding that the lamb, the final sacrifice. That's why Jesus wept over Jerusalem. My God, My people. I'm here. The Messiah is here. The day of Your visitation is here. Oh, I want to gather You together. But You're rejecting Me. So they're waiting for the lion. They get the lamb. Today, we're waiting for a lamb and we're going to get a lion. Big, big difference. The day of shedding of the blood is over. Now you've got to put the blood on it because the day of the vengeance of the Lord is coming. John saw heaven open and he said, I saw that horse. Jesus was riding a white horse and His sword goes out of His mouth that He strikes the nation. He rules the nation with the rod of iron and He treads on the fierceness and the wrath of Almighty God. That's who's coming. And now everyone's prepared for this nice passive Jesus. Probably looks like some high hippie in their mind. But He's coming back as the lion of the tribe of Judah conquering King to judge. And you've got to make sure, make sure, do I know Him? Do I know Him? There's always urgency in the Gospel, is there not? When you hear His voice, harden not your heart. And although God came to judge the day of vengeance, means to avenge, to settle, to score, to judge, Jesus already settled the score. He already satisfied the wrath. He already received the sentence, the penalty of death upon Him. That was the point of the cross. That's why the Bible says today is the day of salvation. Today, harden not your heart. Today, turn to Him. Today, the urgency, the urgency, the urgency. I don't know if many of you saw on the news that YouTuber Aaron Carter recently passed away in Lancaster. He's famous. I think his brother was at the Backstreet Boys. And somebody put me in touch with him two and a half years ago. I dropped off my book on addiction and left my cell number and never heard back. But I was reminded when I saw that this morning. 34 today. And I pray he repented. I pray he knew the Lord. But nowhere will you ever be encouraged to cast off a relationship with God. So I don't know where you're at today, but you have to make that decision. Why is this so important? Because I've noticed, you know, if something happens, the more I rejected God, the harder I became. Hard, hard, hard, hard. And that voice that was so strong, like a loudspeaker, as you reject it and push it away, and push it away, and push it away, that voice, that conviction begins to wane away. And that's why God will sometimes bring difficult messages like these to wake you up to turn to Him. And maybe for some of you this morning, you need to surrender. You are believers, but you're as prideful as they come. You're doing things your way. And Isaiah 2 says this, the Lord Almighty has a day in store for all those who are proud and lofty. For all that is exalted, they will be humbled. James says He gives grace to the humble. He'll give you more grace, but God opposes the proud and shows favor to the humble. James, again, humble yourself before God and He will lift you up. Pride. And Proverbs says pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Guys, you've got to humble yourself this morning. How do I know if I'm prideful? Well, do you avoid constructive criticism? Are you not teachable? You think you know it all? You've got God in a box. You're not going to devote more time to Him. You're not going to surrender everything. You've got it mastered. You've made good money. Everything's going pretty good. Humble yourself. But I want to just play a short clip while he's getting ready of something Sister Sarah played last night. We need you so much. When I read this book, I saw the blood and tears of those who helped our brothers and sisters. This is what we need the most right now. This is what we need the most. They're getting Bibles for the first time. And yet, how many translations do you own? We take it for granted. Do you know what that is? That's pride straight up. That's pride. I don't need to look to that. I don't need that. I mean, if we truly believe it's the inerrant, inspired Word of God, let me tell you, if you live in that Word, you'll be so filled with truth and discernment and wisdom and the fruit of the Spirit. Guys, I honestly don't know how some of you get through life without Christ at the center. I mean, I've got to hand it to you. I mean, how do you do it? How do you keep it together? How do you avoid Him and get through these difficult times with chaos and confusion? You think this stuff with Russia and China is just going to come to an end nice and calmly? There's some evil things at work. You've got to be prepared for persecution. Of course, I'm being sarcastic. You don't keep everything together. You can't without Christ at the center. It's hard enough as it is. Surrender your life today completely. Obviously, if you don't know Him, you've been playing games. Say, God, I've confessed. I don't know You. I don't know You. I don't want to live my life with a question mark here. Every day is a gift, Lord. I don't know how many days I have left. I want to commit my life to You this morning.