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  FROM DESOLATION TO RESTORATION
  by Shane Idleman
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Summary: This sermon emphasizes the shift from devastation to
restoration through surrendering to God and embracing the power of the
Holy Spirit. It highlights the importance of looking to Jesus for
salvation, safety, security, and satisfaction. The message calls for
repentance, full surrender, and boldness in faith, reminding believers
of the authority and promise of God. It encourages believers to make
disciples, be baptized, and trust in God's sovereignty despite doubts
and challenges.

Duration: 1:11:05 Topics: "Restoration through Surrender", "Embracing the Holy Spirit"
Scripture References: Isaiah 45:22, Matthew 11:28, Matthew 28:19, Romans 8:38, Acts 1:8, Mark 16:16, Psalm 51:17

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DESCRIPTION
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This sermon emphasizes the shift from devastation to restoration through
surrendering to God and embracing the power of the Holy Spirit. It
highlights the importance of looking to Jesus for salvation, safety,
security, and satisfaction. The message calls for repentance, full
surrender, and boldness in faith, reminding believers of the authority
and promise of God. It encourages believers to make disciples, be
baptized, and trust in God's sovereignty despite doubts and challenges.

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CONTENT
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As I was reading this week, I realized that we're getting a lot more
closer to how Rome was when Jesus lived. And when Paul wrote his Pauline
epistles and in jail, what I mean by that is it was either Caesar is
Lord or Jesus was Lord. But America, of course, became a melting pot and
I'm all for melting pots.

People, you know, we welcome all kinds of people, of course. But we're
getting to that point now where that line is being drawn in the sand a
little more clearer than it used to be. God's Word, which is true, or
what man says, which is false.

And now the things that were true and good, now they're actually calling
them evil. And the things we know to be evil, they're actually calling
good. And so there's never been a time, I believe, that it's been so
important to go from devastation to restoration.

Now, this might not happen in our nation, but it can happen in your
personal life. It can happen in your family life. What I love about God
is He is not dictated by our politics or our economy or the world
system.

Thank God He doesn't sit underneath the World Economic Forum. He sits
above all governing authorities. Actually, Jesus, they said, the
government will rest upon His shoulders.

That means all authority, everything has been given to the Son. And it
gets difficult because we want always the good guy to win. We want the
what's going on, Lord, and how's evil prevailing? But be encouraged, the
prophets used to ask that as well.

Habakkuk and Hezekiah, or no, he wasn't a prophet, but he's one of the
kings, and Jeremiah, and they would ask, why are the wicked prospering?
Lord, do something. And so that's why we have to trust in His
sovereignty. And so I did want to encourage you this morning, a lot of
new faces, that we are getting to a point where you've got to make a
decision.

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

It's a good reminder that from the sixth hour until the ninth hour, when
Jesus was on the cross, there was darkness over all of the land. Think
about that. Jesus is dying on the cross.

We talked about that on Friday. And about the ninth hour, He cried out
with a loud voice, and He gave up, the Bible says He gave up His ghost,
depending on the translation, or He gave up His spirit. Basically, He
yielded.

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

And so what Jesus did, He rectified that. He fixed that. He died on the
cross, became that substitutionary atonement, bore our sin, bore our
penalty on the cross.

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

If He didn't, we probably shouldn't be here. It's a big waste of time.
We've been following a lie.

And if any of you have questions, we'd love to talk to you at some point
because there is so much historical proof. And again, I had to just get
right to the point. There's so much I want to share with you.

But if you are skeptical, think about that. This, even secular
historians say that Jesus was an historical figure. He lived.

He's not a fairy tale. He lived. So if He lived, why did so many people
die for this belief system? If they hid the body.

If He really didn't rise from the dead. These guys were tortured. Deny
Him, deny Him.

Okay, okay, He's behind the shed. And how do you steal a body from a
legion of Roman soldiers trained to kill who are probably right around
the tomb? You can't roll a tomb away, or a stone while they're sleeping.
And you just look at this accuracy of the text and you realize, yeah,
like C.S. Lewis said, He's either a liar, He's a lunatic, or He's the
Lord Jesus Christ.

I kind of cringe when people say, well, He was a good teacher. He was a
good teacher. We should do what He says.

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

He said, I will rise again. I am the Father, are one. Whoever believes
in Me, as the Scriptures say, out of His belly is going to flow rivers
of living water.

And He had the audacity to say this if He's only a good teacher. I am,
I'm going to put the word only in there for you. I am the only way.

I am the only truth. That's pretty arrogant for a teacher. I am the only
way, the only truth, the only life.

Nobody, nobody, nobody comes to the Father except through Me. How is
that a good teacher? You have to remove that option. A complete lunatic,
which was absolutely false because his words were so full of wisdom that
he would, have you ever seen anybody really good with their words? Well,
you haven't seen them this good.

They would say, nobody ever spoke like this man. So much boldness, so
much truth. And so lunatic is out the door.

Liar, not even a hint of a lie because everything came to pass. So you
have to deal with that when you hear messages like this. Is He truly the
Lord Jesus Christ? Do some investigation.

Look into it. And that's a big misconception with Christianity. It's why
I'm so glad there's a lot of theologians out there, but we don't just
check our brains at the door.

Golly gee whiz, let me just believe whatever. Pixie dust and unicorns
fly. Let's throw Jesus in there as well.

No, no, no, faith has a concrete foundation. But when He died, this is
so incredible. When He died on the cross, it says the veil of the temple
was torn in two from top to the bottom.

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

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

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

I think he would shake a little bit. He would go in that veil and he
would sacrifice for the sins of the people and then come out. Basically,
what God is saying is crystal clear, that veil is now ripped from the
top to the bottom, four inch thick and it's saying now you have full
access to the Father.

Come boldly to the throne of grace. That price has been paid. You don't
need intercession anymore.

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

This is why we do not go to a man to go to God. You don't have to go sit
in a booth and confess. That's unbiblical.

It's borderline heretical. Because he is our intercession. He is our
interceder.

He intercedes for us. We have a high priest who has went before us, who
has been tempted in all points, yet was without sin. He intercedes on
behalf of, he is the only one we look to.

We don't look to man. We don't look to a religious system. We don't look
to rules, but we look to that relationship and that alone.

It is so important. And so this temple, the veil is ripped. The earth
shook.

There's darkness over the land. And later, after Jesus' resurrection,
they record that even the dead got up out of the grave and walked into
the holy city. Shane, do you believe that? Absolutely.

Because he's the first fruit of the resurrection. God who hung Saturn
and Neptune, He might be able to have the body resurrect. I don't know.

I don't know. I know it's a hard thing to imagine. But that is what
there is, a resurrection of life.

Did you know you actually die twice if you don't know God? The first is
physical death. The next is spiritual death. It is appointed once to man
to die, and then after that, the judgment.

This Scripture is crystal clear and is not written by man's perspective
with flaws and errors. That's why we look to and call it the inerrancy
of Scripture. The inerrancy of Scripture.

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

Have you been there or is it just me? I mean, it's like unbelievable.
Well, here, if you get to the main core of what's going on, this is
probably 99% of it. And I'm not gonna get into details or different
things.

I think we're gonna set up later. But I had a debate with a Christian,
which we saw differently on some big things, from the UK, and we did a
podcast. He didn't show up, so we did something else.

We'll release it this month. But he's saying things I totally disagree
with. Like, how does he come up with that conclusion? Lord, what Bible
are we reading? So my first question is going to be, do you believe in
the inerrancy and absolute authority of God's Word? I can guarantee the
answer will be, well, it depends how you define that.

There's good things, there's good truths. Paul was writing to his
generation, and now though, in our generation, we've learned a lot,
we've grown, we've evolved. And so now we can better understand.

Paul was writing to that culture, but now we have a better
understanding. And see how they try to twist it? So everything hinges on
the validity. Now, of course, there's gonna be different views on the
non-essentials that for some reason we love to argue about, right?
Myself included, I don't know.

It's called pride, by the way, in case you didn't know. But this is why
there's so much division. If God's Word is true, the inerrancy of
Scripture, then certain behaviors and lifestyles are wrong.

White House, we look to God's house, not the White House, for direction.
And so that's why. How can they quote Scripture? Did you know our
governor put on a billboard supporting abortion, Jesus' words? What in
God's name? I mean, I can get real fired up right now, but I'm not going
to, I promise myself.

But how is that even possible? Because it's not the inerrant, inspired,
thus saith the Lord. It's conjecture, it's theory, it's good practices.
Do unto others as you like to have them.

And so they can take it and now twist it to what they want to believe.
Judge not, all you judgers out there. It says judge not.

No, actually, it does say to judge. Keep reading. It says judge with the
right heart.

So this is so important. I know many of you understand that, but many of
you don't. You're seeing a big divide in the church and the nation.

Who do I believe? What do I believe? Look to God's Word, the final
authority. Well, it's been the test of time for 2,000 years. Actually,
it's been the test of time since humanity.

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

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

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

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

He's guiltless. And so they heard all of these things, the Roman
soldiers. But finally, they came to that point.

Truly, this was the Son of God. They saw. But I wanna show, I think we
have it, John 20, 29.

I want you to look at this. Jesus said to him, and this is to Thomas.
We're fast-forwarding a little bit.

I don't know if we have the next slide, Sarah, on John 20, 29. If not,
you can listen. Thomas is the doubter, right? We know Thomas is the
doubter.

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

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

If I could get to the root of faith, faith is the evidence of things not
seen. It's the substance of things hoped for. And so I hear the Gospel
call.

I hear the conviction of the Spirit. I need a Savior. I believe in
Christ, and faith rises.

And Jesus says, blessed are you, because I did not have to come down and
show you my hands and show you the sight. I did not have to shake you
and say, look, look, feel, taste and see that God is good. And it's
exhibiting faith and faith alone.

So yes, you have to step out in faith. Absolutely. Not blind faith.

Why do I not use the word blind faith? Because it's not blind. It's
faith, stepping out and believing God. I mean, let's be honest, clearly
there's a God.

And so now we get to why we're here, Matthew 28, 14. Now after the
Sabbath, after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn,
Mary of Magdalene and the other Mary came to see Jesus at the tomb. Now
this is important because questions do come in.

I know that people are curious about this topic. After the Sabbath, on
the first day of the week, so it appears, obviously, right? That's why
we celebrate Sunday as Resurrection Day, Resurrection Sunday. And
there's a big misconception out there.

There's even a billboard on the 395 that tries to get you to download a
book because the Mark of the Beast is worshiping God on Sunday. Oh, it
was started by the Roman Catholic Church in the third century. No, it
was started by the early church.

Early church to recognize this is the day that Jesus rose from the dead.
Friends of Israel said this, the ancient Jewish leaders, okay, this is
for all of you who like to keep the Sabbath, okay? I'm gonna get into
that in a minute because I think we should keep, as far as a principle,
a day off, a day of rest, unplug, seek God. But persecuted Christians in
China do it Friday morning.

Those in the Middle East might have to do it Monday, early at 4 a.m. So
see, we can't put a day on it. You can only worship God on a certain
day. We should be worshiping God every single day of the week.

So what they did in Jesus' time, they added 39 extra categories of work
along with all of their additional Sabbath laws and traditions. They
didn't get much rest. Instead, you'll be weighed down with a legalistic
burden that exhausts people with minutiae and the fear of God's wrath
that Jesus condemned, laying such burdens on people's shoulders.

So here's the thing with the Sabbath. Yes, we recognize it's a very
important principle. We should rest, we should take that day off.

But we also have to look at Scripture. Jesus is the very source of our
rest now. Matthew 11, in Him I rest from my labors.

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

If you're turning on your car, if you're doing a little yard work,
that's work. You couldn't kindle a fire. That's what an engine does
unless you have a Tesla.

But where do you draw that line? Where do you, you can see how
legalistic and rigid rules make you become? And so it does beg the
question, are you resting in Him? Are you resting in Him? Because I do
think we need a Sabbath. I think we need a day off to unwind and to
unplug into just a day. That's what it's for.

It's actually a day of rest. Anybody need a rest from Twitter and
Facebook and Instagram and texting and all these different things? It's
very good, very important. I know it's very difficult though.

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

He's not your Sabbath rest in this deep relationship. Now because I have
that relationship, I'm gonna live a little differently, amen? I'm not
gonna look like the world, but it's not because I'm following rules,
it's because of my relationship with Him. And you can tell, a lot of the
rules, I can tell a rule follower from a genuine Spirit-filled believer
who's resting in Jesus.

Huge, huge mark, a huge characteristic that marks them. You guys ready
for this? It's a good takeaway. You sure? Get your pen out, get your
phone out.

One has joy, the other's very critical. Angry, critical, look like they
drank prune juice or a lemon and they're gonna force those rules on you.
Isn't that true? Anger, rigid, critical, but they're good rule
followers.

Man, they're good little boys and girls on the chore chart, right? But
there's no joy of the Lord. There's no joy and grace and forgiveness.
They're walking around writing it down.

They didn't do this, they didn't do this, they didn't do this, they're
mean-spirited, they're angry, they're arrogant, they're critical. Same
rules. Why don't I go to the movies and watch those things? Well,
neither do I, but I do it because I want to draw me away from my
relation with the Lord.

I love joy, Jesus, and there's joy. You see the difference? And so we
get the best of both worlds in the church. We get the joy-filled and
then the legalistic Pharisees.

And you know, because they're just pointing their finger at you. And
they're trying to discourage you. I mean, just think about it.

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

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

It's hypocrisy. That's why He called them out. You whitewashed tombs.

You look so great on the outside, but you're dead inside. Right? You
vipers. We forget that Jesus got a little bold.

If you call the religious leaders of His day vipers, you better run for
the hills because you're getting stoned. Vipers. Call them out boldly.

He threw over the money changers' table. Amen? I shared with you guys
Friday, but I had to explain to my daughter a little bit of that when I
went to Planet Fitness and had a talk with the manager about allowing
men to go into the women's bathrooms. And it's okay to say this or it's
too late now, I guess.

You know, she's a little shell-shocked and rightly so, and I don't blame
her, but you've got to explain. It's not just all love. Because true
love defends.

Actually, let me tell you the truth. It's actually easier to be a
coward. Is it not? I mean, I'm sitting at home for a week.

My wife already went in there a week ago. I'm like, just cancel online.
I don't want to deal with this stuff.

Easy. I'm not going to upset anybody. Just love them.

Go team. But love also defends. Love also speaks the truth.

Think about it. Jesus. Jesus Christ.

I'm not telling you to do this, but He took the money changer tables. It
was okay for the money changers to actually be in the temple. They had
to convert the denary with a different currency.

But what they're doing is ripping the people off. Would you have loved
to see this? Mild, meek, little Jesus, the pictures carrying a little
lamb. He doesn't tell them to clean up their table either.

He just throws it up, and then He starts to make a whip. Why is that not
enough? Probably because they're trying to get stuff. He says, I'm
getting you out of here.

My Father's house shall be called a house of prayer, not a den of
thieves. Zeal for His house has consumed me. Zeal for His house has
consumed me.

And that's why when you know it's righteous indignation, you say zeal
for the truth and purity and holiness has consumed me. How dare you,
will you, you perverted monsters begin to push this agenda? That is true
love because I care for the little ones more than this woke culture. I'm
just tired of cowards telling us how we should live.

It's actually the cowards that brought Hitler to fame. Matthew 28
continues, and behold, there was that great earthquake. Again, another
earthquake.

For the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and he came and rolled
back the stone from the door. Now this is interesting. He didn't do that
to let Jesus out.

He's gone. He's out. Now I know a lot of you are thinking, where did he
go? Where did Jesus go? Well, this would take a whole other sermon.

And there was a lot of confusion because the Bible in Ephesians, I think
it's Ephesians four. I didn't write down any of this. And it talks about
how Jesus led captivity.

There's different views. Jesus went to hell. No, there's a place called,
it's a holding place of the body.

Sheol, Gehenna is a different term. And you have these terms in the Old
Testament and the New Testament. And you see in the New Testament, there
was a gulf, Abraham, Bosom, and Lazarus was on this side, and this evil
man was on this side.

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

And the angel, I love this part, he sat on it. I mean, how, it's
probably, I don't know, a couple, I mean, you have to get the sticks and
you've got big, and you probably roll it like this and the guys get
behind you and they start, you know, as you roll it, you put a little
rock underneath it. Guys, you know what I'm talking about? And you begin
to roll the stone away.

How are the soldiers sleeping? Right here. Did you know that's still
what they say in Jerusalem today? They stole his body while they slept.
That's impossible because also those guards would lose their life.

They would be killed. And so he's pushing this stone away and he just
sat on it. And he looked like lightning.

His face was like lightning representing power. And his clothing was
white as snow representing purity. And the guards shook for fear of him
and became like dead men.

Here's what really happened to the soldiers. Here's what really happened
to the soldiers. They feared God.

And I thought of this all week. Do you fear God? Do you fear God? Oh,
here are those, and I've had people ask me, are you one of those hell,
fire, and brimstone, the fear of God guys? Like, well, what does the
Bible say? God is love. Yes, let's preach God's love.

But it also says, Jesus told me to fear him. Psalms, Proverbs, the fear
of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. You want to know, you want to
get direction for our nation, even economically, or for your families,
or you want wisdom? Have the fear of God.

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

That is wrong. But why? Because they don't fear God. Or, I should say,
they don't fear the right God.

Because a lot of them will say, oh, I believe in God. I like Jesus'
teaching. But to them, I can picture it now.

God is this, you'll hear me say it sometimes, this cosmic ball of love.
Man, he's just everywhere. He loves me.

And there's people passing out pamphlets. Have you seen them at the gas
stations? That God was a she. Mother God, on their pamphlet.

Do you fear God? No, he's Spirit. Those who worship him must worship him
in Spirit and truth. But Jesus, a physical God, chose to come in the
form of a male body.

All these blasphemous things. They do not fear God. And you'll see,
that's why we have decayed so much is we used to fear God at least.

At least they fear God. That's a reverence and a respect. Many of you
fear you're more afraid of an airplane than God.

But the angel answered and said to the women, do not be afraid. You need
to hear that this morning. Many of you came here because you are
concerned, you are afraid.

And he said, do not be afraid. For I know that you seek Jesus who was
crucified. He is not here.

He is risen. Now this underlying part gets me excited sometimes. So I'm
gonna try to contain it though.

As he said, if you can just get your heart back to having faith on what
God said, there's no need for fear, there's no need for worry, there's
no need for confusion if we focus on God said it. God said it. And if he
says something, what can change that? What can stop that? Again, some of
the promises are conditional, right? If you do this, I will do this.

But Jesus, and you just reflect on these things, whoever hears these
sayings of mine, Jesus said this, whoever hears these sayings of mine,
what we're preaching today, and he does them, he actually applies them,
I will liken him to a man who built his house on the rock. And when the
winds came and the floods came, it did not fall. Whoever, come to me all
who are weak and heavy laden and I will give you rest.

What I said earlier, I am the way, the truth, the life, nobody can come
to the Father except through me. I am the light of the world. He who
believes in me will be set free.

Come to me all who are weak and heavy laden and I will give you rest.
Those are promises you can take to the bank. I live off those, that is
my oxygen, that is my spiritual breath, that is the depth of my
relationship.

If we have not the promises of God and we follow some type of God like
Elijah mocked and he said, where's your God, is he on vacation, is he
using the restroom? But let the God who answers by fire, let him be God
and that God showed himself to be true. And come and see, come and see
the place where the Lord laid, I love that about God. Come and see,
that's why we invite people to church, that's why we love to open the
word of God and say, look, come and see, taste and see that God is good.

Seek him and you will find him. Listen, he who has ears to hear, let him
hear what the Spirit of God is saying. There's a call to come in and
taste and see that God is good.

And isn't it challenging because it's that constant call, come and see,
come and see, come and see. And go quickly and tell his disciples that
he is risen from the dead. And then Matthew 28, eight goes on to say, so
they went out quickly, I bet they did, from the tomb, with fear and
great joy.

Oh, what a wonderful combination, isn't it? The fear of God and the joy
of God. Boy, you wanna live a powerful life, you wanna deal with all
these issues going on, have the fear of God and the joy of God, they go
together. In the book of Acts, I think it is, it says the church began
to do many miracles and power was upon the church, and it said they
walked in the fear of the Lord with great joy and great boldness.

There is, guys, there's no other way to experience true joy and peace
than to have that relationship. Do you know I'm not saying anything that
they didn't say 2,000 years ago? They might have scrolls maybe to open
Paul's letters, but they would say the same exact things. So our
excitement should accompany faith, shouldn't it? Now, we don't always
stay there, amen? Difficult days, feel great today, but come tomorrow,
ask me again.

But there should be an excitement, I have a right relationship with the
God of the universe, I can pray whenever I want, I can go in and shut
myself in my prayer closet, and God will answer, God will listen, God
will direct me, God will fill me. You might get a little excited. There
might be some excitement behind genuine faith.

So it does beg the question if somebody doesn't have excitement, do they
truly have that relationship? Because what we're excited about reveals a
great deal about our hearts, doesn't it? What we're excited about. All
these people getting excited about all these different things, because
what you're excited about is ultimately what you worship. Now, of
course, we're gonna have different, if the Dodgers win, I'm excited, of
course, there's different, there's excitement levels.

This year, if you get a tax return, excited, you watch those gas prices
come down, it's okay to get, because those fall underneath general
excitement, but there should be an excitement about, and that's what we
love about what we try to do here at this church. People come with the
spirit of expectation. I don't know how many songs, I don't know how
long I'm gonna preach, I don't know what's gonna happen in the prayer
room, but we've been having salvations, baptism all the time.

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

Anybody relate, or is this a spiritual group at 8.30? Okay. So it's not
always there. Thank God we don't live off excitement.

It's a good reminder, what I say often, your feelings are not the engine
of your train, they're the caboose. So your feelings don't drive you
around, they follow right decisions. Or they follow wrong decisions.

The feeling of depression, or anger, or fear. And so, we see this point
now, they're going out quickly, and they went to tell the disciples. And
as they're going to tell the disciples, Jesus met them, and He stopped
them.

He said, rejoice! Rejoice! He meant them, has Jesus truly meant you? And
again, back to this word, I don't want to keep laboring the point, but
do you have the joy of salvation? The joy of salvation. Again, I'm not
saying life's not challenging. I'm not saying you don't get depressed
sometimes.

Some of the best preachers you've ever heard, especially even hundreds
of years ago, struggle with depression, struggle with anxiety, struggle.
What we struggle with is not who we are. But also, with that
relationship, with having that right relationship, the byproduct is joy.

There is joy. Do you have that joy of salvation? And so, they came and
they held Him. Can you picture this? I don't know if He's just like,
surprised.

Because they're running on the road. Can you believe? And then here He
is. Here He is.

And they fell down, I bet they did, and they worshiped Him. And that's
why sometimes you'll see people at the altar, and sometimes they're
broken, and they're worshiping God, because they see if God had not
brought me out of that, that addiction would've took me out. If God had
not brought me out of that bad relationship, I'd be married and in
misery.

And if God has not brought me out of that anger and that abusive
relationship, and if God has not taken that away, oh, I've got to
worship Him. I've got to fall down at His feet. I've got to cry out to
Him.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I was
lost, but now I'm found. I'm blind, and now I see.

How dare you chastise those who worship God in spirit and truth because
they're excited. There's an excitement there. And that's why I often say
the dead church, the cemetery church, you might want to wake up.

We should not be dead to the things of God. And then Jesus said, do not
be afraid. Go and tell My brethren, go to Galilee, and there I will see
them.

It's interesting, if you look up the word Galilee, in short, you look up
the root word and then you kind of put it all together, it can mean a
circle. It can mean a circle, and I don't know why I added this, but I
think many people, especially on Easter, Resurrection Sunday, after a
long series of events, the same situation that you started with still
exists. Some of you need to come full circle this morning.

Break this circle of defeat and failure and addiction. Break this circle
of playing games with God. You're gonna keep going around and around and
around doing the same thing, expecting a different result.

Anybody know what the definition of insanity is? I'm telling you the
truth. That's the definition of insanity. Oh, that's insane.

Such and such is insane. What it means is you have no sanity because you
can't see that you're doing the same thing and getting the same result.
Same thing, getting the same result.

Same thing, getting the same result. At what point do you say, you know
what, this is insane. There is no hope outside of Jesus Christ.

There is no hope. That's why we go through different seasons. Any women
go on shopping sprees all the time? Or men, I kind of went through that
season two where there's what they call mid-life crisis.

And you go through this and you try this and let me try this and let me
try this and you realize it's not getting me anywhere. We need to come
full circle back to this relationship with Jesus. Maybe some of you have
lost it.

Maybe you've walked away. Maybe you've drifted. It's time to come full
circle and come back.

And I even talk about full circle with unbelievers, even though they
didn't have a genuine relationship with God at the beginning, they can
come full circle back to how God originally created us. Did you know God
originally created us with Adam and Eve? To have that relationship with
Him, to already not need Jesus necessarily because we already had that
right relationship. We didn't need the cross because sin had not entered
our life yet.

And so that's why they called it the Adamic nature, the nature of Adam.
Because of His fall, we've all fallen. And after He fell, Eve fell.

Then we needed that sacrifice. So maybe coming full circle back and
having that relationship. Don't you think the most important thing on
planet Earth right now is to restore that relationship? To restore that
broken relationship? Well, that's your opinion.

There's other religions out there. How do we know this is true? Ask God.
Ask God.

And if you're sincere, He will show you. Lord, I want to believe. I hear
it, but I'm having a hard time.

I don't know if it's me. I don't know what's going on. But the enemy
will plant seeds as well.

There's a literal devil. There's a literal demonic realm. I'm not
getting weird because I'm just quoting Jesus.

He seemed to believe it was pretty important. And then Paul goes on to
say, your battle actually is not with flesh and blood. Your battle is in
the spiritual realm.

Fighting good and evil. This is how I fight my battles, right? With
worship and the Word and obedience to God's Word. And then we come to
this point where the soldiers are bribed.

Now, while they were going, behold, some of the guard, some of the
guard, I just caught this this morning. Not all of the soldiers it
appears. I can guarantee I know where the other ones went.

They probably headed to Egypt. Or they got out of there. Only some of,
because if you see that, this angel looking like, you know, the
brightness of light, and he just rolled back the stone, sitting on it,
and Jesus is gone.

Yeah, it's a game changer. You're gonna start to really evaluate. And so
some of them happened to come back.

And they knew they would actually get killed because the body was gone.
And they told the chief priests all that happened. This still amazes me.

These Pharisees that wanted to kill him, they hated him because it was
actually his popularity and his notoriety. He was taking believers and
telling them the truth and calling them vipers. And so they told the
chief priest, can you imagine these, and I don't think they're casual,
hey, you know, by the way, let me tell you what happened last night.

They're probably sweating, running. You're not gonna, oh my gosh, wait,
wait, wait, what happened? What happened? This, you're not gonna believe
me. And they're all like, and just this confusion.

And they said, okay, okay, okay, okay. Just say that they stole the
body. Wouldn't you think they'd say, what? Are you kidding me? He said
he would rise again, and you saw this? Let's go see the tomb.

But let me tell you, that is the damning and dangerous part. I'm not
cussing, I'm saying the word damning is like hell. Gotta clarify,
because a lot of people out there, they're already gonna get me for
saying Easter, and not Resurrection Sunday.

Do you know why? Goddess of Esther ate Easter eggs, Easter bunny, sexual
fertility, okay, got that out of the way. So we don't worship Esther, we
worship God and Christ alone, and that's why we celebrate. We redeem the
theme of Easter.

So anyway, they're gonna say that the body was taken, even though they
knew it was not. Tell them, the disciples came at night, and they took
him away while you slept, which again, is absolutely impossible. This
saying is commonly reported among the Jews even today.

What they did really is they rejected the supernatural. Didn't they?
They rejected the supernatural, and we see that a lot today. Now, what
I'm about to tell you is coming from a person who I consider, I think
I'm kind of pretty conservative.

You know, I'm like, mm, anybody not too gullible, don't wanna believe
everything, mm, you know, we gotta, like, I like what Ronald Reagan
said, trust but verify. And you know, not, but there is a supernatural.
God is not bound by our laws of gravity.

God is not bound by different things. That's what supernatural is.
Something happens beyond the scope of being able to explain it with
science.

And if you're not open to that, again, cautious, right? We don't just be
led away by every wind of doctrine, and oh, I watched, did you hear this
video? Did you hear this video? And that's actually a very dangerous
thing in the church, in the churches in Africa that we know. Some are
solid, but a lot of them are following this false prosperity gospel, and
Jesus wants you wealthy and healthy, and you can get really off on that.
But on the other side, if you don't believe in the supernatural, then
you have a God who just stays in the box that you can define.

Nope, He doesn't do that. That's too supernatural. I want to be able to
explain exactly what I see.

And I'm just telling you, pastoring, speaking in different places, it's
not hard, it's impossible to explain everything I see. You can't explain
how God works. So I would encourage you to be open, of course, but
cautious.

Well, how is that possible? What am I supposed to do? Does it line up
with the Word? Does it line up with the Word? Can you go and pray for
someone? They might get healed. Can God supernaturally work behind the
scenes? Absolutely. And so that is the saying, that they slept, and
Jesus was taken by His disciples.

You don't have to put your hand up, but how many of you still think that
happened? Just think about it in your mind. You need to read a book
called Fox's Book of Martyrs. Order it today, or read online Fox's Book
of Martyrs.

Because these disciples that supposedly stole His body, right, if you're
gonna do that, then it's a hoax. Right, you're gonna, you know, you're
kind of, well, we have this hoax, we have this big, you know, the
conspiracy, let's go hide His body. Okay, well, they were tortured.

They were hung upside down and crucified. They were beheaded. They were
thrown to wild beasts because they did not deny the faith.

If they were in some of this elaborate hoax, as soon as they caught
them, they say, okay, okay, you got me. We put them, you know, in such
and such place. Nobody's gonna die for something they know is a blatant
lie.

What happened is they saw the risen Savior. Then they waited in an upper
room, which is so important. They waited in this upper room for days,
seeking God, praying.

Jesus actually said, don't go do anything. Just wait. Wait, Jesus said,
wait.

Don't answer, those who know. But think about this. What were they
waiting for? What were they waiting for? We're actually gonna celebrate
it, I believe, May 19th.

They were waiting for the promise. Wait a minute, they're saved, they're
believers? Yeah. They're waiting and praying and fasting, waiting.

Jesus said, the promise is coming. The promise. This will be the
difference maker.

This is night and day. This is spiritual power and weakness. This is
boldness and being a coward.

Wait, wait, wait for that promise. And they don't know really what to
expect, but as they're praying and as they're waiting, it was incredible
because it actually says, and this huge wind came through. The house
literally shook in a place called the upper room.

And what happened? The promise of the Father came, and they were now
filled mightily with the Holy Spirit. Oh no, there's a weird term again.
Shane, you're getting out there.

Jesus said it. Jesus said it, not me. He said, you will receive power
when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be witnesses to all
the ends of the earth.

Without the Spirit's power, you can do nothing. You think I'd walk in a
planet of fitness on my own? Heck no, no way. Boldness, boldness to
speak the truth.

Boldness to witness. I don't care what you call me. I don't care what
you say.

Christ has changed my life, and this boldness rises up in me, and I've
got to speak the truth because his word is in my heart like a burning
fire. That's the boldness of the Spirit. So it's available as believers
to everyone.

That was a waiting period. You don't have to wait anymore. It comes with
salvation.

The gift of God, the gift of, I mean, this is mind-blowing. I don't know
why this has all come up on Easter, but here we go. But it's, it's mind,
resurrection Sunday, okay.

Golly, I get chewed out again. I'm joking with you guys, right? It
really, it doesn't bother me. Because, so now the Holy Spirit of God,
God is triune, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit now comes inside a believer. What? By the way, no other
religion does that, says that, teaches that. So now, as a believer, so
as a believer, you have all of the Holy Spirit, but does he have all of
you? That's the difference.

That's the difference. In my 20s, I was a believer, but I had about this
much of the Holy Spirit. You wanna know why? Because I had this much of
Shane Idleman.

Cocky, self-sufficient, self-made. Look what I've accomplished. God,
yeah, I'll pray when I need it.

And that's why the Bible says you're quenching and grieving the Spirit.
Was I standing up for God? No way. No way.

I was a coward for the things of God. Why? Because it hurt my image. I
had friends, remember I had friends? We're hitting the bar, we're doing
stuff.

I've got this image I've got to uphold. But in my closet, I was a
Christian. Just don't tell people.

And so here is this miraculous, incredible power of God being quenched
and grieved. Think about those two terms. Quenched, I put out the fire.

Grieved, I've broken the heart of God. And when you repent of both of
those things, the fire comes back. The fire, I didn't even, I didn't
know what in the world was happening.

I had no clue. In Cortez, California, I still remember the house, I
still remember the couch, I still remember my tears on the table. What
is this? I got to find a Bible.

I just, I got to get, I got to, I got to get the Bible. Mickey's big
mouth, I'm taking you to the trash. Some of you don't know what that
means? There's someone.

Right, and this, what's this change? Now I want to, I love people. I
want to, I want to speak boldly for God. What, what is happening to me?
The promise of the Father.

When full repentance, and that's the problem in the majority of the
church, is they've not fully surrendered. That's just the truth. And let
me just, quick exhortation to those who do love the Bible.

You're a student of the Bible. You love to study the Greek and the
Hebrew. Do you know you can still be quenching and grieving the Spirit
of God because of pride? Pride, pride, pride.

Unteachable, eager to dispute. You think you know it all. You're putting
people down.

You have a critical heart. You know nothing about the power of God. And
everything I just said, I struggle with.

Uh-oh. Cat's out of the bag. But I say, Lord, that's not right.

I don't want it to affect my sermon. Please, God. I don't want it to
affect the church.

And you repent and refilled. It's all, the more you think about it,
that's what it is. Get in the Word, refilled.

And I think somebody by the name of Paul said that. Be not drunk with
wine, which is debauchery, basically, but be filled with the Holy
Spirit. Look up that word if you want for fun.

It's the Greek, it's a verb that actually says, be, be being filled.
It's like you're constantly being filled with the Holy Spirit. It's not,
hey, I did that two years ago.

Well, good for you. Well, you better get underneath the fountain of
living water again because you're a leaky vessel. Deal moody, I can't
take credit.

And so I have no clue, but we're gonna get back on track here what that
was for. But that is so important. Because that's the key.

That's the key. Guys, that's the key. It's too late to switch topics,
but that's the key.

So many of you are looking, looking. All you need to do is stop looking
and fully repent. Oh, I want that boldness.

I want the word of God to come alive. I want to worship. Then repent of
pride, repent of arrogance, repent of compromise, repent of lukewarm
living, repent of rejecting God or putting him on the back burner and
say, God, I come, hands open wide, take this humble vessel, create in me
a clean heart, renew a right spirit in me, God, break me from the depths
of my soul.

I wanna come out of the prayer closet on fire for you because I will
tell you this, the only way to be prepared for where our nation is going
is to be filled with the spirit. You're gonna get through this on your
own finances and your own wit, your humor, you're a good negotiator.
What happens when they convert all of our income to cryptocurrency? And
then the grid goes out.

Power grid, no access. Anybody live by the grid that went out yesterday?
Holy smokes. You don't realize how I couldn't take a shower.

The refrigerators weren't working like most of the day. Phones aren't
charging. That's for six or seven hours.

And we're throwing a fit. Folks, how are you gonna be prepared? Fill
with the spirit of God. Doesn't make it easy, but it makes it
manageable.

Excuses prevent God from working. Excuses prevent God from working.
Listen, some of you maybe need to lay down your excuses this morning.

Excuses always prevent God from working in your heart. And I put
everything from evolution to how could a loving God cast a person to
hell? How could a loving God allow all this evil? What they're really
doing is giving you an excuse so they don't have to embrace God. Excuses
prevent us from that.

You don't wanna go to hell over a mystery. I'm gonna sit and I'm gonna
explain the complexities of God because all those things have answers.
You just don't wanna hear the answer.

God does not send anyone to hell. What? Oh, I don't know about this
church. Other than obviously the devil and his minions.

But the Bible's clear. Accept, believe in Jesus, choose life that you
may live. Reject my offer and plan of salvation.

And I cannot dwell with sinful man. You have to go to outer darkness.
You choose because of pride.

What about, how could God allow this suffering? Well, look at the sin.
That's what happened. It started back with Adam and Eve.

Sin entered in and we got all kinds of, you don't need an education on
this. Just watch a four-year-old. Mine.

Mine, bam, bam, bam. Don't hit your brother. What, see, it comes out of
us.

So that God, how could God allow? He gave us choice. And these choices
affect how we live. Don't let excuses prevent you from knowing God.

And then finally, he closes, Jesus closes with the Great Commission and
it is not the Great Suggestion. So then the, here's the thing, let me
tell you. We always preach, you know, Great Commission, go out and make
disciples.

You know why it's so hard and exhausting? Because we don't have what I
just talked about, the fullness of the Spirit. When somebody is full of
God's Spirit, you don't have to, come on, let's go witness. Come on,
guys, oh, goodness gracious.

Oh boy, here we go again. Another message on, it just comes out, doesn't
it? Like, I've got to talk to that person. I've got to pray with that
person.

I've got to share with them. It's a byproduct of that relationship. And
so the 11 disciples, they went away into Galilee, to the mountain where
Jesus had appointed them.

And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him. They worshiped Him. But thank
God for that last part there, for some of you, and me for a while.

But some doubted. Some doubted. Listen, there is nothing wrong.

We can use Scripture on this. There's nothing wrong when a person doubts
or questions. It's what they do with that doubt that tilts the scale.

Hey, I'm doubting. Lord, would You help me figure this out? God, I'm
having a real struggle here and I need Your help. Because why? You're
admitting our own human frailty.

And our human nature, we doubt, we fear. That's why it says you don't
even have a spirit of fear. But we do fear.

Wait a minute, I don't have a spirit of fear. Why do I fear? Because the
Adamic nature, that old nature that wants to pull us back. So doubt
comes in.

I deal with doubt sometimes. Don't you? If you're not walking with the
Lord and the hard seasons are coming, you're like, God, Lord, what's...
Did you doubt? I don't think I've ever doubted the Word, doubted
salvation, those big things. My doubt often comes in like, did God
really tell me to do that? Right? Is that God or me? Anybody have that
problem? And so we just get back to Lord, I trust You.

And there are many people still caught between belief and doubt. And
that's why I said at the beginning of the message, you have to make that
decision. You have to say, okay, Lord, I believe.

I believe, help my unbelief. Right, I feel unbelief sneaking in, but I
believe, help my unbelief. And then Jesus said, all authority has been
given to me in heaven and on earth.

John Piper said, the sentence of condemnation hanging over their heads
was stripped from Satan's hand by the shedding of Jesus' blood. And this
will be another 20 minutes, so I'm not gonna go into it. But when He
said, all authority has been given to me, we realize that obviously all
authority is God's, but something happened on Calvary.

Something happened at the cross. If you've ever paid attention to
Scripture, you see that the devil was having a field day before the
cross. People demon possessed, nothing you could do about it.

The darkness, the Prince of Air, this is His season, but Jesus conquers
hell, death, sin, and the grave. And that's why He says, all authority
has been given to me. So a massive spiritual shift took place.

A massive spiritual shift took place. And that's where the title comes
from. From devastation to restoration.

I'm gonna close with this verse. Isaiah 45, 22. Here's the key.

Look unto Me and be saved. All the ends of the earth. Isaiah 45, look
unto Me and be saved.

And that is a message that we need to get out there. Have you ever heard
the name Charles Spurgeon? That's the verse. That's the verse.

This old deacon looked at him. There's like 12 people in the church.
It's a snowy day.

And he said, young man, look and be saved. Look and be saved. And we
sing the songs, behold the Lamb.

Behold the Lamb of God. You look with your eyes gazed up in a spirit of
humility, and you look up, not down upon God. Look and be saved.

Look and be safe. Look and be secure. Look and be satisfied.

Jesus fulfills all of those needs. It's not just salvation. It's safety
and security and satisfying.

And I should answer this because it does come in. People say, well,
Shane, how can you say safe? Safe, look at what's happened to the people
in the Middle East. Look what happened to some of the Christians in
Afghanistan when we pulled out of Afghanistan.

How can you say we'll be safe? Oh, you're talking about this. I'm
talking about eternity. Jesus said, do not fear Him who can kill your
body, but fear Him who can cast both body and soul in hell.

Safe doesn't mean living in my bubble without problems. It means I'm
holding onto the hem of His garment no matter what I go through. And
security, I don't believe, Jesus says, whoever the Father gives me, I
will no way lose them.

What can separate me from God? Paul would cry out, what can separate me
from God? Nothing, nothing can separate me from God. Height and depth
and principalities and powers and creative beings and all these things,
nothing can separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus.
I'm secure in that as a result, thank God for satisfaction.

Thank God this isn't a relationship where like, oh, woe is me, this
sucks. I can't wait till I'm out of here. I am going to bliss out.

What is going on? I hate this world and sometimes I feel like that,
don't get me wrong, but there's gotta be a, there's a satisfaction,
okay, I am satisfied. Every king will bow their knee to Jesus Christ.
Every wrong will be done right.

And guys, don't give up, we can contend, we can contend. We look and
we're like, look at California, look at the United States. You know what
God looks at? He sees that, but He also says, there's my remnant church
in California and San Diego and over in Texas and Tennessee and Florida
and up in here.

Look at these believers crying out and calling out. Look at these people
not giving up. I will fight their battles.

I will stand strong on behalf of them. Do not give up and do not give
in. Oh, I'm just glad I don't have to preach the next service.

I might actually take a nap today, first time in a year. Well, first
time on Sunday, yeah. So Pastor Abram is speaking at the next service.

If you want to stay and be encouraged, I would encourage you to do so.
But you have to deal with that verse. Come to me all who are weak and
heavy laden.

I will give you rest. And then Jesus said this, not me. Go therefore and
make disciples of all the nations.

And what are we supposed to do? Baptize them. Baptize them in the name
of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. What is this? This is
saying, you know what, I believe in Jesus.

This represents my past, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus
Christ. I'm gonna show the world, I don't care anymore what people
think. I'm no longer ashamed of the gospel because it is the power unto
salvation for everyone who believes.

So what we're going to do, well, you know what, I won't even change.
I'll just wear this. Those who need to get baptized, let's do it this
morning.

Again, half-hearted, we can't be half-hearted. We gotta, you know what,
I'm all in. With God, there's no partial in.

You can do that with banks, partial payment, partial this. It's full,
all or nothing. He who dies to self picks up his cross and follows me.

So let us know if you want to get baptized. Maybe you're baptized as an
infant like I was into the Roman Catholic Church. That means nothing,
nothing.

Maybe you're baptized at 12 like I was because I wanted to jump in the
swimming pool. My brother and sister, right? But I finally did that at
age 30 in Lancaster. And that's when everything shifted because I was
being disobedient for a while, for about a year.

I remember, Lord, I'm good, I'm good. I'm 30, this is gonna be
embarrassing. People think I'm a Christian, they're gonna confuse.

They're gonna think I'm an unbeliever and now, no. And I struggled like
a year, but you know God doesn't let you go, does he? Holy smokes. Every
time I read baptism, I'm like, close the Bible.

It's not for me, that's not for me. Here's why it's so important. It's a
step of obedience saying I'm no longer ashamed of Jesus, let the world
know.

Let the world know. And although we don't believe it saves you, I
believe it can lead into that abundant life of being filled with the
Spirit. Because you can't be filled with the Spirit if you're being
disobedient on a key area of spiritual health.

So we're gonna be next door, myself, Pastor Abraham, the prayer team.
Let us know, hey, I need to get baptized again. It didn't mean anything.

I wanna get baptized for the first time, like the Bible says, confess
Christ as Lord and Savior and believe that God raised Him from the dead
and you will be saved. It's a confession. It's not a perfect prayer.

When I came back to the Lord, I didn't pray anything perfect out of the
Bible. I said, oh God, help me. Help me, I'm lost.

I've destroyed my whole life. I'm done, oh God, help me. And he said,
that's a cry I recognize.

Because what it is, it's a contrite and broken heart. That's all he
looks for, a contrite and broken heart.

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Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/_ZII-uc6HKQ.mp4
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/shane-idleman/from-desolation-to-restoration/
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