Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus. the founder and perfecter of our faith. Telling lies, being addicted to substances or sex, moral failures, all of us have bad habits we need to lose. What we lack is the means to break the cycles of bondage that hold us prisoner. God sets three conditions for your freedom.
To learn what they are, stay with us. 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, today you'll be sharing three prerequisites for change.
Why will these three be important? Dave, in order to answer your question, I'm going to go back a little bit, back to the Garden of Eden. Because when Satan tempted Eve, what he said to her in effect is this, God is not good. If God were good, He'd let you eat of that particular tree, the tree that he has said you should not eat of it. And at the root of all of our temptations is this.
We believe that God is not good. And that's one of the prerequisites that we're going to be discussing today. It's so important for us to realize that God has our good in mind. As I frequently say, he does not want to rob us. He wants to enrich us.
So even as we listen today, I trust that our understanding of God, His grace, and His love will become very evident. I've written a book entitled How to Break a Stubborn Habit. And it's very important, I think, for people to have this so that they can read it on their own, so that they can underline it and share it with others. Here's what you can do for a gift of any amount. You can go to rtwoffer.com.
or you can call us at 1-888-1. 218. 9337.
Now I'm going to be giving you that contact info again. At the end of this message, Now let us listen. There was once a man in the Middle Ages who used to make. Links for chains. And his links were made so strong that he used to brag about it.
He used to tell other people that when you see a link with my mark on it, you know that it's a link that cannot be broken. And one day that man committed a crime and he was put in jail. And he was confident that he was going to get out of jail, but he discovered that the chains by which he had been bound were chains. that had his own mark. The very links that he had made and the links that he had manufactured became the links that bound him.
And how often it is in life that we get ourselves into habits. That bind us, habits that are almost like links of a chain that. Cramp us. and that tie us down. and confine us Oftentimes, these habits are things that develop simply because we.
Perhaps as we go along in life, we develop wrong thought patterns, and these thought patterns eventually Lead to certain types of behavior, and then that behavior ensnares us, and we cry up to God to be delivered, and sometimes we're not delivered, even though we cry up to Him for deliverance. And sometimes those habits become so bad that they. may become something like alcohol. and alcoholism. And how many people are there in the world who would just like to be free of alcohol?
They just like to be able to shed that burden and that weight. and they genuinely try to be free. And they determine that they will be free, and they vow that they will be free, and they promise their wives that they will be free, but they're not. And then you find that there are those who develop habits such as the pattern of worry. And pretty soon, after years and years of worry, we develop that habit, and we just learn to live with it, and we learn to cope with it, and we learn to accept it, until suddenly our system breaks down under its weight.
But basically, we have become enslaved by a bad habit.
Now, oftentimes we're told that the way in which you break a bad habit is to yield to the Lord. And so there are many people who, in moments usually of guilt, Usually, after they've gone through that same cycle over and over again, and they begin to see that their lives are becoming ensnared in a very dangerous path, they cry up to God and they say, Oh God, I yield, and they really are sincere. But it doesn't last. And you know what happens to a person like that? They go through a cycle in their lives where they repeatedly yield to the Lord and they commit the same sin over and over again, the same habit time and time again, until they become deeply, deeply disillusioned.
And the latter state of people like that become worse than the former. If you want to find out How to avoid that, you have to come back next week. But you know that as a result of these habits, we tend to develop. We sometimes wonder why it is that the temptations in life that lead to those habits, we wonder why it is that those temptations are so desperately strong. And before I get into some principles tonight, I'd like to, by way of introduction, comment on that.
You know that I teach at Moody Bible Institute, and sometimes the students at Moody come to see me and they say, why is it that the temptations of life that ensnare us, why are those temptations so desperately powerful? Why is it that A person can burn and be consumed so easily with lust and covetousness and pride. Why is it that God doesn't do something to make life easier? And do you know that He could? He could.
God could just go like that and he could exterminate the devil.
Now that it helps. Wouldn't it? If God were to do away with the devil, it would make life a whole lot easier for a lot of people. And you know, God could do it. Why doesn't He?
So, that our choice in life would be a little bit more easy and that it would be weighted in the direction of God rather than in the direction of sin. God could do that. You know, that something else that God could do is He could create us with natures, even if they were sinful natures. He could make it so that our natures were not quite so desires to be enticed. with evil.
Now God could do that. He could take some of those passions that are within us, and he could somehow ease them, and he could throw some cold water on them. And then the choice to serve God could be easy, or God could put us in places where we won't be tempted quite so strongly. Have you ever said to yourself, Oh, I wouldn't have done that, but. Look at where I was.
Look at the person that God put next to me. I wouldn't have fallen into that sin, but why is it that God allowed these circumstances to happen? And as a result of those circumstances, I fell into my old habit. I wouldn't have become angry. But look at who I married.
It's her fault. I'll tell you, I've got some things to say about that in this series. I've got some things to say about it, but I want you to know that one of the reasons why God lets us be tempted so strongly is because He wants to develop, for one thing, within us, great self-understanding. He wants you to get a good look at how weak and wicked you are. He wants you to know that There is within you the capacity for all sorts of sins.
Don't you ever think that your heart, your sinful nature, is a lot purer and better than Hitler's? The only thing that distinguishes us from all the criminals in the world is our environment and the grace of God. And God sometimes wants to simply show us how evil we are, and therefore He allows the temptations and He allows us to be in circumstances just to prove that we are, apart from His grace. desperately Wicked. You know that there's something else, though, that God wants to do in the temptations and the habits of life.
He wants to give us a clear choice to choose in His direction. He really does, and he wants that choice to be made so clear that he says, I'll throw a whole lot of temptation in the way to give you lots of chances to see whether or not you really love me. You can't say that you love somebody until you've had to make a hard choice in their favor. You can't say that you've loved your wife until you've taken care of her when she's been sick or when some tragedy has happened. We can't say that we love God with all our hearts, our whole mind, and our whole soul.
And we can't say that we love Him with a consuming passion until we have faced the strongest temptation and we have said, Oh God, because of you, I will resist that temptation and I will choose in your direction. God says, that's why I throw lots of temptation in your path. Give you lots of opportunity to make sure that your loyalty lies in the right direction, and God is concerned and interested in doing that in our lives. And so He allows us to be put into places where we are tempted. In fact, sometimes He puts us there.
He puts us there. And so, one of the things that God wants to do is to develop that, and He wants to do something else, and that is show us His power. Show us his power. And if you to day are bound by some habit that you'd like to get rid of, If there is something that you just like to be able to shake and you've tried a thousand times and you haven't, God wants to display His power and He wants to show that He can deliver you. Because he can.
Isn't there a song that says, He breaks the power of canceled sin? He sets the prisoner free. His blood can make the vilest clean, and his blood availed. For thee, and God can deliver you. He can deliver you from laziness.
He can deliver you from sensuality. He can deliver you from a hot temper. He can deliver you from worry. He can deliver you from covetousness. He can deliver you because he's in the business of delivering you.
And if you have a problem like that, I just am really glad that you do. Not because I rejoice in your sin, but I rejoice in what God is going to teach you as a result of the deliverance process. That's the whole reason why he doesn't do away with the devil. That's the reason why he doesn't make it easier. Is he wants us to use every temptation and every bad habit as a stepping stone, and he wants to use it to teach us, to purge us, and to conform us to Christ's image.
And so he throws all of these difficulties in our path, and we get ourselves entangled in all sorts of bad habits and messes because God says, I want to use that in your life to show you my power, my greatness, and my grace. doesn't justify your sin or your habit. But it shows you the might and the ability of a God who can take all of the messes of life and can use those messes as stepping stones. And he wants to be able to take the temptations in your life and turn them into triumphs.
So don't become upset. If you're in a bad habit, Become upset with a habit, but I want you to know that there is hope and there is deliverance, and I want you to be able to focus on that deliverance. Because God can free you. God can free you.
Now, what I'd like to do is to ask you to turn with me to the third chapter of Genesis. Genesis chapter 3, because I want to give you three things that you've got to believe. in order to be set free from your bad habit. Three things that you must believe. You must believe.
Now, believing these three things in themselves will not deliver you. But they will set the foundation for deliverance. You know, Genesis chapter 3 is a great chapter because here's where all of our problems got started. And uh it shows you how Satan works and uh He works the very same way today. He's not like General Motors.
He doesn't bring out a new model every year. Basically, the same things that Satan uses, the same tactics are used today. And I want to give you three things that you've got to believe very deeply. Before you become a candidate for deliverance. The first thing that you have to be convinced of is this: that God.
Is Good. God is good. Do you know that this temptation in the Garden of Eden was basically casting doubt. on God's goodness. You remember it says in verse 2, That the woman said to the serpent, From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat.
But from the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it. neither shall you touch it lest you die. And the serpent said unto the woman, You shall not surely die. For God knows that in the day that you eat thereof, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God. knowing good and evil.
Do you see what Satan is saying? He is saying, Eve, don't you understand? God is withholding something very good from you. God is withholding from you the privilege of knowing good from evil, of having your eyes opened, and of being enlightened. As a matter of fact, if you disobey Him and if you eat of that tree, you will actually become like Him.
But God isn't good and He wants to rob you from that privilege. And because he wants to rob you of that privilege, he has said, don't do it. But listen, God hasn't got your best interests in mind.
Now, do you know? There are many people today who think that if God were to deliver them from their sinful habit, they would be missing out on some great. Pleasure. And that's why they don't really want to be delivered. A student in one of our Bible schools here in America said, quote, Some of the students in this school look at the world and think they have been gypped.
Do you know that if you ever work with young people, you discover that the number one problem with young people, and I might add of older people too, except that they are more subtle. The number one problem is that they envy the wicked. They believe that God is withholding something good, and they believe that in their sensuality and in their habits of laziness and in their habits of covetousness, they really believe that if God were to deliver them, they would be missing out on something that is pleasurable in life. And consequently, they are not convinced that the way of God is better than the way of the devil. You know that that's the number one problem?
That's the number one problem with people who come to other people for counseling. They are not convinced that if they were to give up their sin and they were to give up their bitterness, they are not convinced that that would be right because, after all, that would not be pleasurable, because then you couldn't get even with a person. against whom you have that grudge. People basically believe that they have some pleasure, even in their sin, that they don't like to give up. You cannot give up that sinful habit until you are convinced.
That the pleasures of sin are not nearly as satisfying as the pleasures that exist on God's right hand. You can't give up your sin unless you're convinced of that. It is only when you say, God, I believe that your fullness and knowledge of you and freedom is better than slavery to some of the sinful things I'm doing. It is only when you. come to that conclusion that you're a candidate.
for God's deliverance. Oh, Satan does this. Do you know what he said to Eve? He said, Yea, hath God said that ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And then you remember, Eve said, Yes, we may eat of them all except one.
There probably were hundreds of trees in the Garden of Eden that they could eat from. But does Satan point out to Eve all of the trees that she can eat from? Oh, no, no. He zeroes in on the one that she can't eat from, and it is that one that he magnifies and exaggerates. And in the process, he blinds her eyes to all of the things that she can do.
in the garden.
Now Satan is the same way. He comes to you and he says, You mean to say that God says you can't do this?
Well, I really think that you're going to miss out on some pleasure in life. You mean to say that your God restricts you and you have one thing that you can't do or five things you can't do, just to think you go around once in life and you've got to grab for all the gusto you can get, and you won't get any gusto if you follow God. And some people believe him. Isn't it tragic to think that there are some things that we can't do? If we're yielded to Jesus Christ.
But do you know that for the things that we cannot do, there are a hundred and one blessings waiting for us to participate in? And we are participants of the oceans of God's infinite and matchless grace. And Satan blinds us to that, and he zeroes in on the one or two things that supposedly give pleasure and say, You mean to say that your God wouldn't let you do that?
Now, I want you to realize then that the first thing that you have to believe. with all of your heart. is that God is good. And slavery to God is much better than slavery to the devil. It is better to be a servant of the Most High than it is to be a servant of the devil.
And you've got to believe that with all of your heart. You have to believe that God is not in heaven simply taking the fun out of life. You have to believe that the commandments of God are basically given not only for God's glory, though they are that, but also for our good. And if you don't believe that, I doubt whether you're going to be delivered. I really do.
I think that you will look at the world or look at your sinful habit and say, I'm going to keep it, because if God delivers me, I'm going to miss out on something. And if you aren't convinced that God's way is best, You're going to get back into the old sinful patterns. My friend, this is Pastor Lutzer. Wouldn't you agree with me that oftentimes young people, especially, though it could be said also of older people, Look at the world and think that they have been short-changed. They think to themselves that God is restricting us in a very bad way.
He wants to make sure that we are not happy. And so he does whatever he can to put down restrictions and limitations which actually hamper. are joy.
Well, that's not true. If that's your conception of God, it is so important that you recognize that that is a sinful conception. And we must understand that God is good.
Well, all this material is in a book I've written entitled How to Break a Stubborn Habit. I wrote this book so that people would understand some of the underlying issues that we need to deal with. How stubborn habits can be broken with God's help and God's intervention. For a gift of any amount we're making this book available for you. And I want to emphasize that we are so grateful for the many of you who support this ministry.
You've probably heard me say this before, but because of people just like you, running to win is now in 50 different countries, in seven different languages. We trust that you will help us even as you pray for us. But now for that contact info, here's what you do. Go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com.
Or you can pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-1. 9337.
Right now you can go to your computer, go to RTW Offer. Dot com. It's time once again for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life. All agree that some theological pursuits are a waste of time, such as asking how many angels can fit on the head of a pin. but one of our thoughtful listeners has come up with this challenge for you, doctor Lutzer.
are there now all the angels that there will ever be, or will more, be created?
Well, I think that uh first of all the Bible doesn't speak to that, but I am of the conviction that there will not be more created. I think when God decided to create the angelic host, and I love that phrase in the Psalms that says He commanded and they were created. I think God created myriads and myriads of angels, and He probably created enough.
So I don't think more are going to be created. Simple question, simple answer. Thank you, Dr. Lutzer. 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. Running to win is all about helping you find God's roadmap for your race of life. We must believe that God is good. That's the first of three prerequisites for change.
The second of four messages in Pastor Erwin Lutzer's series on getting to know.
Next time, more things we must believe before we can be free. Thanks for listening for Pastor Erwin Lutzer. This is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church. I'm going to use the same method for the first time.
