Learning To Pray God's Will Part 2

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Most of us pray for things of immediate concern to us, but Paul taught the Ephesians to pray with a view to God's big picture. In expansive language, Paul taught them how to pray far beyond their immediate needs. Today, how we too can learn to raise the bar when we communicate with God. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, it's amazing that Paul could write on such lofty themes while in a Roman prison.

Dave, the reason the apostle Paul was able to write as he did is that he was not a part of his surroundings in the sense that what he was experiencing was controlling him. He knew that he was connected to Jesus Christ, and that's why he prayed such a beautiful prayer in the midst of some very depressing circumstances. And you know, as we consider these kinds of prayers, we are reminded of the fact that God loves to have his word prayed back to him. I also want to emphasize that we are in the middle of what we are calling our matching gift challenge. What that means is every gift that you give during this period of time will be doubled. What an opportunity.

At the end of this broadcast, I'll be giving you some info as to how you can become a part of this and also sharing how Running to Win continues to expand around the world. There are times when many of you, thankfully, pray for the pastoral staff, but you don't know what our schedules are. You don't know what pressing needs we have at the moment. And you sometimes say, well, how can I pray for them because I don't understand what they're going through. We talk about missionaries on the mission field and we say, you know, I don't know what challenge they are facing at this moment. Could I say important though it is to know all those things, you don't have to know the details without praying effectively. You pray that the eyes of their heart will be enlightened, that they might know God better. And the challenges that they are facing that very day are going to become much smaller if they remember and see God. Now Paul goes on to say, how do we know God better?

Well, we know him better by knowing two things about him. First of all, something about his purpose and then something about his power. In the middle of verse 18, we read, in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you and the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.

Wow. First of all, Paul says, you know that God has a purpose toward you. It is the hope to which he has called you. Because time is somewhat of the essence today, I'm going to be very brief and explaining this except to say that this is the wonder of God's intention toward us. The thing that someday we are going to be raised above Lucifer and the position of responsibility he had before the fall.

The Bible says that we are going to rule over angels. That is the hope that motivates us. And he says, I want you to know something of the grandeur and the beauty and the eternality of what it is that God has planned because God's intentions towards you are kind and this life and its problems are going to become much smaller when you begin to look at eternity on a grand scale. Paul says, know something of the hope. Now, my dear friend, it is not a hope that we generally think so when we say, well, you know, I hope so.

This past week I was visiting my wife in the hospital and a priest and I happened to meet at an elevator and because I could see that he was a priest, I simply said to him, are you walking with God? And he said, I hope so. And I said to him, you know that we can actually know that because of the gospel and because of Jesus Christ. Now, maybe my question caught him off guard.

Maybe it was even an unfair question. I mentioned that only so that you might understand that the word hope that is used in the Bible is more than simply I hope so. It is the assurance, the assurance that we have that someday we shall be like Christ. But now I want to show you something in the text that I'm not making up.

Actually, everything I've shown you in the text today I've not been making up. But this really comes now to the limits of our imagination. Now we begin to really fathom God's mystery and God's love toward us. Listen to what the text says, that you may know the hope to which he has called you and the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. We are part of God's treasure.

Now I can't understand that. You know, in the Old Testament, Israel was a part of God's treasure. It says the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance. Now we know that we have benefited through faith in Christ. We have been indescribably wealthy because of Jesus Christ. But what the text is saying, what the text is saying is that God considers us a part of his wealth because of his investment. His son died for us, gave himself up that we might be redeemed and God says, I'm going to take these unworthy sinners. Jesus Christ actually overpaid because we weren't worth as much as he paid for us. And God says, I'm going to take these unworthy sinners and I'm going to do something so wonderful through them and my grace is going to be lavished upon them in such a wonderful way that they actually are part of my inheritance and I consider them to be a part of my wealth.

Wow, his inheritance in the saints. And so God has an investment in you and the investment is going to pay some dividends. He is going to get glory.

He is going to get honor. We're going to see in the next chapter that we as the church are going to be his showcase forever. He's going to show us off as examples of his great mysterious undeserved grace, mercy, and love toward people who deserved it not. God says, you're my inheritance.

Now notice how far we have come. When you don't know how to pray for someone and you're not sure what God's will is, you pray that they will know God better. You pray that they will know something of his purpose. His purpose for us is manifested in two ways.

Number one, that we would have the privilege of knowing the hope of our calling and be steadfast in the faith, but also that God's inheritance in us might also be known so that we might receive encouragement. Remember it says in Psalm 139, how precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God. And the Hebrew scholars tell us that it should be translated God's thoughts toward us. God's thoughts towards us are precious.

They are more to be numbered than the sand of the sea. Will you remember today that you are number one on God's agenda to take care of in the universe? Will you know that despite the trials and the temptations and the defeats that you are precious to him?

Now listen carefully. We know something about his purpose, but we also know something about his power. And you'll notice it says in verse 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe that power is like the working of the strength of his might. I'm actually quoting it from another translation from which I memorized it, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every title that can be given not only in the present age, but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Wow. The power of God. Paul uses four different Greek words here in this passage for power. What he wants to do is to let us know that God's power is unsurpassed. It is, it is beyond our ability to comprehend and he uses two illustrations. The first is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The fact that Jesus was dead and he arose. And in order to do that, God needed to create.

He had to have creative power. That's why in the Bible, the resurrection of Jesus Christ and creation are always tied together. But our salvation is always tied to those two events too, because if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. When you got saved, God spoke the word and created something within you that was not there before and only God who is able to create can save you. That's why the New Testament likens salvation unto the resurrection.

It is because of God's creative power and his might. And then a second illustration is, of course, the ascension of Jesus to heaven. The fact that when Jesus ascended far above all principalities and powers, he literally left the Mount of Olives and he disappeared into the clouds. We do not know where heaven is. We do not know whether or not his trajectory changed after he got into the clouds. But this much we do know that when Jesus arrived in heaven, nothing was ever the same again.

Nothing. You can imagine there that the hosts of heaven welcomed him. He did not need a mediator to enter into heaven.

He was there and he was welcomed as God. And when Paul says that he is far above all principality and power, it's not so much a matter of distance. It's a matter of dominion.

It's not so much travel. It is triumph. Christ is in heaven today ruling and he is just as much king when he is winning, when he returns to this earth as he is now while he is waiting until his enemies be made a footstool. You say, well, why isn't Christ doing a better job of running his world today? Well, the answer is, of course, this is the time of waiting. He is waiting.

He's waiting to prove that man can't get his act together. He's waiting to prove the futility of Satan and the time is not yet, but there he is in heaven ruling. Let me make two life-changing theological observations. Number one, salvation always involves the intervention of God into the human life. It is the personal God breaking in.

It is the personal God of power who raised Jesus from the dead. It is he who saves us. Now as you know, I was on the radio for two hours this past week with Bishop Spong. Bishop Spong has written a book entitled How Christianity Must Change or Die.

Can you believe it? He says that there is no God independent of the world. God does not have independent existence. God is the ground of being, a pantheistic statement.

Does not that just warm your heart to know that God is the ground of being? He denies that Jesus Christ died for his sins. He has an entire chapter in his book when he says the idea of Jesus Christ as rescuer permanently has to go. It is barbaric, he said, to think that God would have sent his son to die.

He said that today a father like that would be charged with child abuse. So the whole idea of Jesus dying for sinners is gone. He denies the virgin birth because he says medical science has shown that you cannot have a conception without a father. He denies the physical resurrection and says yes, Jesus is alive today, but in spirit, the tomb is not empty. He denies heaven and hell except that in this life we experience it and catch this, we can have eternal life, he says, because of the people whom we influence and whom we touch.

And when the question was put to him, what do you say to someone who is a criminal and who's filled with guilt, his answer, if I remember it correctly, was something like this. Well, this man has to recognize that he's been separated from himself and he has to be brought to wholeness. He has to be brought to wholeness.

But imagine being brought to wholeness by the strength of your own psyche, by pulling yourself up with your bootstraps. What a wonderful message Jesus Christ has to those who have fallen too far to be rescued and to be brought to wholeness on the basis of their own strength. Salvation is the intervention of God into the human life. God comes, God speaks the word, God grants life where there is death. And as I pointed out, if his book is not the death of Christianity, then what is? A Christianity of this kind deserves to die, deserves to die because there's no power in it. My dear friend, there are some of you here today who have never experienced the power of Jesus Christ in your life and you don't know what it is to receive that gift of eternal life.

You can do that even today. If you humble yourself and acknowledge your need and come to Jesus Christ, you will be saved. And those of you who are alienated from God and from one another and you come with a guilty conscience and you come not knowing how you can respond to the Lord, I want you to know today that as many as receive him to them, he gives the authority to become the children of God, even to those who believe on his name. Isn't it wonderful that we actually have a savior who actually saves?

We actually have somebody who saves. Salvation always involves the intervention of God. Second, the circumstances that today threatened to be over your head are under Christ's feet.

Listen to the text. God has placed all things under his feet and appointed him to the head over everything for the church. By the way, let me ask you a question. What good would a head be without a body? Pretty gruesome. You know, we complete Christ in this sense because we are the body and he is the head. And by the way, my head, such as it is, shares its life with the rest of my body.

It's the same blood, it's the same system all the way through. Jesus is in heaven today as the head, sharing his life through the Holy Spirit with his body, constantly with us, constantly energizing us, constantly reminding us that we are his and that we can partake of his promises. That's what the text is teaching us. But notice it says that all things are under his feet. You say, but Pastor Lutzer, I've experienced injustice this week. That injustice is under the feet of Jesus Christ. Some of you are going through difficult times of betrayal and difficulty and you say, does God know?

And the answer is yes, God knows. And Jesus is above that, fully aware of what is happening. And that which threatens to be over your head is indeed under his feet.

And you know what he does? That which is his by divine right becomes ours by divine mercy. Because the Bible says, as we shall see in the next chapter, that God comes along and scoops us out of the pit of sin and raises us up together with Christ and makes us sit up there with Jesus Christ in the heavenly places.

And God does that all because of his grace. And we get to participate with Christ his right to be at the right hand of God the Father. That is his right. It's not our right. But by divine mercy, it becomes our right. Christianity is always criticized because they say, oh, you have such a dim view of human nature.

Pastor Schwartz and I remember being together at a certain meeting where there were those who were not believers. And I began to explain the depth of human depravity. And they said, that's the problem with you Christians. You have such a dim view of human nature.

And I want to say, yeah, and you should too if you read the Tribune. You should have a dim view of human nature too. You don't even have to read your Bible for that. I mean, that's one doctrine you don't even have to point to a text to.

But here's the point. Only Christianity takes us from the pit and allows us to walk in the dirt. Only Christianity takes us from the mud and says, come, walk with Christ on marble. Only Christianity takes us from as low as you can possibly go and exalts us as high as you can possibly be exalted with Christ.

You remember Savanna Rolla? He had some reforms there in Florence. And in 1496, he had what was known as the bonfire of the vanities.

He asked everybody to bring their their lewd books and some of the magical gadgets that they had to have a bonfire. But before he died, he said this. And I always like to point out that he had to say it before he died. Are you still with me today?

Are you still with me? Before he died, he said this. He who believes that Christ rules above need never fear what happens below. If you believe that Christ rules above, Savanna Rolla was put to death because of his faith. Did Jesus Christ, was Christ still ruling above when all of that injustice happened?

Yes. And he will come and he will set the record straight and and he will be crowned King of Kings and Lord of Lords and and liberals and conservatives and the Bible believers and non-Bible believers will all admit that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And that's why the text can say of him. He has been appointed to be head of all things to the church. And we worship him today. And we take all of the injustices and the difficulties of life and say, Father, I thank you today that you rule.

Your son is next to you and nothing happens without his permission. He is in control. He who believes that he rules above need not fear what happens below. Let God be God. Father, we ask in the name of Jesus that you shall grant us the spirit that we have been talking about. We desperately need the spirit of enlightenment, the spirit of wisdom. We need the spirit of revelation because we have spoken the words, but we do not understand their beauty. We cannot fathom all that you've done for us.

It is beyond us. So I pray for Moody Church. I pray for all who may be listening by other ways. I pray that you might enlighten their eyes as well and make all of us realize that your mercy toward us is beyond all comprehension. Do that, we ask in Jesus' name.

Amen. My friend, I want to ask you a question. Do you believe it would be of benefit to the people of Africa if they were to hear the sermon that you have just listened to? Can you imagine people around the world benefiting from a ministry that exalts Jesus Christ and that reminds them that no matter what happens below, Christ rules above? I'm holding in my hands a letter from someone who writes running to win is a great program which has always been the source of my spiritual food. Your program ministers to me personally and I have become a source of inspiration to many other people in my church.

I'm glad I can share the words of encouragement through what I have learned through your teaching. Now this letter comes to us from South Africa. Would you like to have a part in our expansion as we continue to think about the ministry of running to win, going into three other languages in the next 12 months? Here is how you can become a part of it. We have some friends who have said that they are willing to double the gifts of all those who give up to $90,000.

So your gift of course would be doubled. This is a great time to help us. Here's what you do. Go to RTWOffer.com. That's RTWOffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. As I've already emphasized, we are now in the middle of what we call our matching gift challenge. What a wonderful opportunity to have your gift matched, doubled for the glory of God so that we can go into more countries and more languages. Very quickly, go to RTWOffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337.

That's RTWOffer.com. It's time now for another chance for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life. When you read the news, it seems the end times are right around the corner, and the Bible tells of a powerful one-world leader who will emerge in those times, a man it calls the Antichrist. A listener named Patricia wrote with this intriguing question. Pastor Lutzer, will the Antichrist know he is the Antichrist before he emerges? Well, Patricia, I'm going to give you a very simple and a very short answer.

I think that the answer is no. I don't think that Judas knew that he was going to turn out to be the Judas that we know of in the New Testament. I think that most world leaders, when they take positions on the stage of history, they have no idea exactly knowing where they are going. And I suppose that Antichrist, who I believe will arise in Europe, is going to find a tremendous amount of support from people. He's going to be a peace candidate, and he just thinks that he is going to be the ruler of a certain territory. But as time develops, and as he gains power, he becomes more evil. And he might not know what the Bible says about the Antichrist, and suddenly he's going to realize that he has tremendous power. He's going to desire worship, and he will not know, probably, how it will all end. Thank you, Pastor Lutzer, for that answer for Patricia's question. If you'd like to hear your question answered, go to our website at rtwoffer.com and click on Ask Pastor Lutzer. Or call us at 1-888-218-9337.

That's 1-888-218-9337. You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60614. Running to Win is all about helping you find God's roadmap for your race of life. Pastor Erwin Lutzer has concluded Learning to Pray God's Will, the fifth message in a series on Between Heaven and Earth, taken from the book of Ephesians. One of the great themes in Ephesians is the grace of God. Next time, join us for a message on why grace is so amazing. This is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.