Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus. the founder and perfecter of our faith. Becoming Christ-like involves a growing sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, who wants to create in us the character of Jesus. Sins that seemed so small suddenly seem big. And our desire to please God means saying no to many things that didn't bother us before.
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, as we become more sensitized to sin, we could find ourselves discouraged at how often we fall short.
Well, Dave, I think what you've said is absolutely right. As we walk with God, we do become more sensitive to sin, but also we become more appreciative of grace. And even as we see our sinfulness, We are constantly reminded that there is grace for us for every single need.
Well, I'm so excited about the many of you who have joined us on our Matching Gift Challenge. During this period of time, whatever you give is doubled, and at the end of this month, that happens to be the end of our fiscal year. We want to end strong so that we can continue to share the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Around the world. I hope that you have a pen or pencil handy.
I'd like to give you some contact info. Pray about the possibility of helping us. Here's what you do: go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com or pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-888. 218.
9337. Right now, you can go to rtwoffer.com. Thank you so much for helping us as we journey together. Let me tell you that when the Holy Spirit has His way in a church or in a community, There are all kinds of issues that people have to deal with. For example, um I'm thinking of somebody who during a time of revival Had a 99-cent bag of potatoes go past the checkout counter without the checkout lady seeing it.
But you know, it's 99 cents. The store is big. It's not that big a deal stealing 99, and I didn't intend to steal it. It's just that she didn't see it at the bottom of my shopping cart. But now, when the Holy Spirit of God begins to work, the Spirit of God, who makes us sensitive, Begins to speak to people, and they say, you know.
I have to make that right.
So, this lady did, and because there was a revival going on in the community. The store manager said, either something is going on in this town or else this is my lucky day because you're the second person that has come. To confess stealing from the store. She told him something is going on. He was visibly shaken.
Why? Those who do not know God, when they see righteousness like this, they're terrified. Years ago, I told you the story about the man bent over in his office weeping. His pastor came over to him, thought for sure a child had died, wondering what in the world, couldn't even talk to the guy who was sobbing so much. He said that the Holy Spirit showed him his heart.
And he said it was like looking into hell, and he had been dishonest in terms of his reporting cards, you know, the business accounts. All businessmen steal, don't they? Don't they fill their cars with the gasoline on the company credit card? Isn't that just kind of accepted if you can get away with it? It's no big deal.
But when the spirit has his way, it becomes a mighty Big deal. You see, you and I, we become so insensitive to the Spirit that we wound the Spirit, we displease the Spirit, we grieve the Spirit, and we do not even know it having justified. What we have done.
So that's the third change. Let's go on to another. Let no corrupt talk but encouraging words come out of your mouth. No corrupt talk. The Bible says regarding the tongues of the wicked, it says in the book of Romans, their throat is an open sepulcher.
What it means is stench. Have you ever met with somebody? And all that can come out of his mouth is that which is, what shall we say, evil and foul, a foul tongue we talk about. And Jesus said, from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. And so you have obscenities, and you've got all that.
But I want to talk to you about slander. Criticizing other people. You see, the reason that we all do this is because if we can chop other people down, if we can take them off the pedestal, maybe we ourselves look. Just a little Better. When I was in Bible college, I was at um The table, and I guess I was waxing eloquent regarding somebody criticizing them.
I certainly forget the details. But I remember a student walked with me out of the dining room later and said, You ought to go to your room and memorize Psalm 141, verse 3.
Okay. Psalm 141, verse 3. Nothing came up on the computer as to what that might be, so I looked at the text. And what does it say? Set a guard, O Lord, before my mouth, and guard the door of my lips.
How I wish. that I had done that. Ever since then, we are all guilty. of wanting to exalt ourselves. By the criticism of others, saying, I'd never do that, look at what they have done.
Paul says, let no corrupt talk come out of your mouth, but only encouraging words, words that build up. Years ago, I read about a man who was going to divorce his wife. He went to his favorite attorney and said, I can't take it anymore. She does this, this, this, this. I'm going to divorce her.
And the attorney said, you really hate her, don't you? He said, I hate her. He said, you want to hurt her? He said, I want to really hurt her. I want to socket to her.
The attorney says, Well, if you want to really do that, he says, Let me give you a suggestion. He said, you can always divorce her. If you divorced her now, she'd kind of be expecting it. Here's what you do. Postpone your divorce for a month or two, and during that period of time, don't utter one single claim.
criticism. Just build her up. Tell her how beautiful she looks. Tell her how wonderful a cook she is. Commend everything she does.
Remember, do not criticize her. You've got plenty of time. And then you see, as you build her up, she begins to think, oh, this relationship is going very, very well. And then you can give her the divorce papers and sock it to her, and it'll hurt her more. I thought, well, you know, that's a possibility.
He said, I'll try it. I can always divorce her.
So, for a month or two, he commended everything. Rather than coming in while she was making dinner and telling her that the thing in the pan looked like an unidentified frying object. He now said, I just love the way you make dinner. I love the way you dress. Thank you so much for doing this.
Thank you for doing that.
Well, you know what? The story is that a month later, rather than get divorced, they decided it was time for a second honeymoon. Imagine the power of encouraging words. That build up. Rather than tear down.
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but only that which is good to the edification for the need of the moment. If you talk about somebody, it should always be with the intention of talking to somebody who's either part of the problem or part of the solution. If not, the spirit is grieved because the spirit is sensitive. Number five. Bitterness and anger.
I'm going to skip the verse here regarding grieving the Spirit because it's the heart of what I've been preaching. But notice this: verse 31: Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. I'm going to stop there in verse 31. Six different words. To refer to the resentments.
The anger. And whatever is in the human heart. Six different words to describe it. Paul wants to get it all. A message or two ago, I preached on sexual purity and how impurity grieves the spirit, but I think next to that, or maybe equal to it, is the kind of resentments and anger And self-protection that people have because of the way in which they've been treated, because of the injustices of the world, either from others or from God.
And so Paul wants to encompass it all. He says, Let all bitterness, wrath, two different words for wrath. Thumus in the first use, and then orge, anger. The first is, you know, the wrath that blows up. I just blow up.
And then I get it over with. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And everybody picks up the pieces. And anger, that's more of a steadied. desire that can also be The word does not come to mind immediately, but...
It refers to a consistent kind of anger. And then clamor. Any of you live with a guy or a woman, and they can be described as clamor? Always criticizing, always having to be in the seat of the The middle. Always having to be the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral.
You know. Always the center of attention in case you missed the figures of speech. And slander be put away from you with all malice. Be kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God forgave you. Come with me.
to the crucifixion. Jesus is carrying his cross. He gets to Golgotha. They lay the cross down. and they nail him to it.
And he's nailed to that cross. And while he is being nailed to the cross, the first of the seven words at the cross are what? He's talking. His lips are moving. What is it that he is saying?
He is saying these words. Father. Forgive them. for they know not what they do. Can you say that when you are being crucified?
When you are treated unjustly, when your friends run away from you as the disciples fled during this period of time, can you say, Father, forgive them? for they know not what they do. Jesus didn't say, Well, I'm sure going to get even with them. I'll teach them a thing or two. Wait till my father gets a hold of you.
And then you're in deep trouble.
Now, Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. What do you mean? Judas knew he betrayed innocent blood. Pilate knew that he was guilty of betraying someone in whom he found no fault.
What do you mean? They knew not what they do. Jesus is saying this. Yes, of course, they knew that it was unjust. but they did not understand the extent and the enormity of the crime that they were committing.
And Jesus said in the middle of that, Father, forgive them. For they know not what they do. Be tender-hearted, forgiving one another. even as God in Christ forgave us. latent anger, bitterness, resentment.
Hinders the work of the Spirit and makes us much less blessable. because the spirit is a spirit of forgiveness. not a spirit of revenge. There is a story about a man in seminary who loved to do creative things to get a point across to his students, and what he did is he had a dartboard. And then a table full of darts, and he said to the students, I want you to draw a picture of somebody that you hate.
And then what we're going to do is we're going to take that picture and we're going to put it above the dartboard. Then you can throw as many darts at that person as you want. The kids had a ball. There was a girl there who drew a picture of a girl who stole her boyfriend. There was a young man who drew a picture of his father whom he hated, and on and on it went.
The question was not, is there somebody that I hate? The question is, how do I choose among those that I hate? The kids really loved this.
Well, picture after picture was put up there and they took those darts and threw them as hard as they could. And then the prof went. And he said, Enough. And he took down the dartboard and behind it was a picture of Jesus. And the students sat in stunned silence.
Here it was. the mangled picture of Jesus, his cheeks were cut. His eyes were pierced out. His teeth and his mouth were unrecognizable. Even when the bell for recess came, they still sat there.
As the professors said to them very simply, that inasmuch as you have done it unto these my brethren. You've done it unto me. Every dart that we throw at people that we hate ends up being a dart thrown. at the heart. of Jesus Be tenderhearted.
Forgiving one another. even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you. the scripture says. If not, we grieve the spirit. That's the context in which the famous verse is there in verse 30.
We grieve the Holy Spirit of God, who is a forgiving spirit. Oh, judgment will come. But now forgive them, for they know not what they do. You know, Psalm 139, you don't need to turn to it, but I memorized it years ago and used to actually teach it without opening my Bible. Could still do it, I think.
But it's that psalm in which David begins and says, O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. Thou knowest my downsetting and mine uprising. Thou understandest my thought afar off. And then you get to the end of the psalm, about verse 23. David says, Search me, O God, and know my heart.
Try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me. We say, hey, wait a moment, David. Verse 1, O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. Verse 23, search me. What's going on?
You've been searched, David. What David is saying is this, I know that God has searched me and knows all about me, every single detail. But now at the end of the Psalm, I want him to reveal to me what he sees. And see the wicked way that is in me that I need to take care of. And that's why we need to seek the Holy Spirit, and that's why some of you need time alone this week when you truly seek God, because within you, As often is within my own heart, is that which grieves the Spirit of God.
and it makes us difficult for the Spirit to bless.
Now the Spirit will reveal to us. The Spirit will point us to Jesus because when we see our sin, we run to Him and are so grateful that He died for sinners. And if you've never received Him as Savior, that's what you need to do: to accept Him so that this transformation begins its process in your life. And then the Spirit helps us do what is right. The tremendous price that has to be paid for honesty.
I'm thinking of a friend of mine who actually taught me years ago in high school. Who was going to really, now he was a professor and all, he was gonna really pray for his daughter, because she was getting married, and this wasn't just a little prayer: God help my daughter. He really wanted to seek God. And what happened is, he knelt to pray. And it was as if God just said to him, don't bother, don't bother.
Years ago, when he graduated with his master's degree, he had cheated. on a term paper. He said that when he walked across the platform He received an award for high achievement. But every time he thought back, I cheated, I cheated, I cheated. And the Spirit of God says, take care of that.
So he went back to the university. He didn't know but that his degree might be taken away from him. But you're willing to pay any price once the Spirit has his way. you soon discover that the Spirit of God helps us and leads us. But would you promise me That if God has talked to you, That you will talk to God and do whatever the Holy Spirit has shown you must do.
So that the Spirit who loves us who desires the best for us, who wants to bless us. can freely Have his way. Let's bow together in prayer. Would you talk to God now? What is it that you need to say to him in light of what you've heard?
You tell him right now, wherever you are seated. And if you've never believed on Jesus, would you trust him as Savior even right now? Father, our temptation is to forget. to walk out of here. Go back to our old ways.
Enable us not to do that as a church, as your people. Teach us, Father. that the Spirit might have his way. And search us, we ask. In Jesus' name, amen.
And you know, my friend, that's the desire that I have for you. It's a desire that I have for me. that we might indeed allow the blessed Holy Spirit of God to have His way in our lives. I'm so excited because of the ministry that God has given to us. I'm holding in my hands a letter from a listener in West Africa.
I'm a regular listener to your program and I cannot stop listening because I see your teaching is turning my life around and I am blessed.
Now, friends, I want to make something very clear. When we share a testimony, it's because it is your testimony as well, our partners. those whom I like to refer to as members of the running to win family. Together we're able to get the gospel of Jesus Christ around the world. and I want to emphasize that this actually is a very special time.
This is the time for our matching gift challenge.
Now imagine that whatever you give will be doubled. And as I have frequently said, no gift is too small. No gift is too large. We thank the many of you who pray for us and who ask the Holy Spirit of God if you would allow Him to direct you. toward our ministry.
Now here's what I want to do. I want to give you some contact info. I hope that you have a pen or pencil handy. Go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com or pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-9337.
Now because this is a very crucial time as we come to the end of our budget year, I'm going to be giving you that contact info again. Go to rtwoffer.com. or call us at one eight eight eight two one eight. ninety three thirty seven It's time now for another chance for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life. Bad behavior in church.
What to do? Here is David's story, a man who listens online in St. Charles, Michigan. Yeah. I belong to a small fifty to sixty member rural church.
I love the pastor and his sermons however, I always leave the church angry and disappointed. It's because of a small number of members who do not respect the service. They whisper during the sermon, crackle papers, open pocket books or purses, even during the prayers, especially during communion prayer. I've talked to the pastor about this, and he agrees it's a problem. He's preached about respect and to remember where we are and whom we are worshiping.
These people know what they're doing and don't seem to care. Pastor Lutzer, don't they know and revere the God we serve?
Well, my answer to that question actually is very brief. I think it's not enough for your pastor to preach respect from the pulpit. You refer to a small group of people who make noise even during communion, very irreverent, and very serious, by the way. If you read 1 Corinthians chapter 11, the Apostle Paul says some people have died because they've come to communion with a wrong motive. and they've uh observed it wrongly.
So here's what I would do. I would encourage your pastor to do something else, namely, talk to those people specifically. You see, when you preach oftentimes people listen and they think, Well, this is for somebody else. You know, is it a half dozen of people? Ask them to stay back.
connect with them, have lunch with them during the week and tell them, I've noticed this during the service, that you do this, this, this. Don't you realize what you're doing when we're in the presence of God?
So it seems to me that the uh instruction has to go from the pulpit, yes. but it has to go to the pew. directly to those people. Who obviously are irreverent, but they are also distracting others. and that's what makes their sin even more serious.
Thank you, doctor Lutzer, for answering his 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 Running2Win 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. The Holy Spirit bestows gifts of service on God's people.
Some teach, some proclaim from the pulpit, others serve in quiet ways few will notice. But every Christian has a gift.
Next time on Running to Win, you'll learn how to find out what your gift is and how to put it to use for God's glory. This is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.
