Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Believers are told to give thanks in everything.
Some will say, do you mean I'm to be thankful for calamity? Today, we'll sharpen our focus on why we can and must be thankful. And why and how we can rejoice, no matter what the circumstances. 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, sometimes it's tough to be thankful. Help us learn to rejoice rather than become bitter.
Well, you know, Dave, I want to emphasize this, that if we want to get rid of bitterness, and I certainly hope that we do, what we have to do is to develop a thankful spirit. And sometimes we give thanks when we don't feel like it. We recognize intellectually that we should give thanks, and even as we obey this command in the midst of calamity, You might be surprised, pleasantly surprised, how much grace God pours into our hearts. The simple fact is this, and I've emphasized it in this message. and I continue to emphasize it whenever I speak of thanksgiving.
that in thanksgiving we bring God into our situation. We see that at this situation whatever it is is not out of his control. and even if we cannot give thanks for it, We give thanks to God for what He's going to do. Through it. Let us learn to be thankful.
Yeah. You rejoice not because of what is happening to you necessarily. You don't rejoice in the pain and the hard things. They're not the source of your joy. In fact, as we mentioned, they're oftentimes the source of our complaint.
But rather, what you do is you rejoice in the Lord.
Now if you're here today and you're investigating Christianity Or maybe you're a visitor, maybe you're a regular attender, but you do not know Jesus personally. You may be religious, but you don't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. You can't understand that phrase. Because it is only when we know Him personally, when we can come into His presence, when we connect with Him. And we know that we're connecting with Him because He's forgiven our sins and we belong to Him forever.
It is in that set of circumstances we rejoice in the Lord. We rejoice in who He is. And we rejoice at times when rejoicing seems to be the last thing in the world. We as Christians should be like an oasis in the desert. I've been in a desert.
I've been in the Sinai Peninsula many years ago. You go day after day and then suddenly you see some trees and because you see trees you know that there is an oasis there. Because there must be hidden streams feeding. That clump of trees, and there are hidden streams feeding it. Very same way.
Your circumstances at work in the office are just like everybody else's. But you're not overcome by them. You don't complain like the others. Why? Because you have a hidden source of strength.
and faith. and you rejoice in the Lord always. That's what the text says.
Now Then also it says, Let your reasonableness be known unto all men. Reasonableness, we could also use the word patience. Let your patience be known to all men. Because you see, you don't always have to get your way. You don't always have to win.
The stress is off because You have resources, inner resources. You know God. And so, as a result of that, you can be patient, and then you'll notice it says, Do not be anxious about anything.
Well, I have to read that again. Does it say that? It does. Don't be anxious about. Anything.
You say anything? I don't know, I'm just reading the text. It includes your circumstances, your health. your relationship, your future. That's what the text says.
And then it says, with prayer and supplication and appreciation Thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known unto God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding. It doesn't make Sense. You should be tied up in a knot just like everyone else should be. You should be filled with anxiety like all of the people of the world should be filled with anxiety, and you're not.
So it surpasses all understanding, and Paul says it may keep your heart and your mind in Jesus Christ. It guards actually. That's the word, it guards it.
Now you've seen, I'm sure, perhaps you've been in cities. that have walls. And that's the imagery that's here. And in Europe today, there are still some cities like that, even though they've outgrown their walls. The walls are oftentimes there.
And they would have sentries of soldiers that were looking out for what? For enemies. They were guarding the place. that the peace of the city might be maintained. And they were guarding it against enemies.
How does giving thanks to God with prayers and supplications, but with thanksgiving, how does it guard our mind? From what does it guard our mind? It guards it from the enemies of the mind. And the enemies are fear. Dread because of the future.
Anger because of circumstances and injustices. guilt that can destroy you. If you don't take care of it and then accept God's forgiveness and God's peace. And so, what happens is the peace of God acts as a guard to keep us. From all of the things that want to disrupt us in the midst of circumstances that we can't control, that break in upon us without warning and There's nothing we can do about it.
And notice the thoroughness of it all. I love it, it says he will keep your hearts. your hearts so that you may feel the right things and not feel the wrong things. and your mind so that you might not think. the wrong things.
And there you are. as a bird nestled in the barrel of a cannon. with your nest. Surrounded by circumstances, That you do not understand and you can't control, but you are at peace. I remember going through a trial.
in which my peace was disrupted. hugely disrupted. But the verse that kept coming back to me is this: that thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee. And this is what I discovered. What I discovered was that if I gave thanks to God for what was happening, even though what was happening.
was, I believe, unjust. As long as I was giving thanks, Peace came. But giving thanks was difficult because because of the unpredictability of God. Just because you're trusting God doesn't mean that you know how it's going to turn out. That's why the Apostle Paul here doesn't say.
That you pray and supplicate and give thanks to God, and whatever it is you ask God for, He'll give you. Not in the text. He's going to give you peace, but he's not necessarily going to give you what you ask for. And this unpredictability of God. can destroy us.
And as a result of that, we can find ourselves filled with fear and anger and all of those other things that erode the soul. But the bottom line is When we give thanks, we are affirming the sovereignty of God. We are affirming the wisdom of God. We're affirming, as we've learned, the goodness of God. And in that, it changes our entire perspective.
It changes everything. You're going through a trial? First thing you ought to do. First thing. It is to bow and to say, thank you, Father, for this.
and then live that way.
Now. Couple of Practical observations here. Number one, you know what? If you're a complainer, And you know, there are some people who are. I don't want to pick on women, but I do remember one who said, Pastor.
She said, if I gave myself to God like you're speaking about. And get rid of all of my anger and all of my complaining, she said, my problem is I'd have nothing to think about all day.
Some of you, it is in your DNA. It is. It is part of who you are. It's your personal identity. Complain, complain, complain, complain.
We can take care of that right here. I'm serious. Here's what you do. Every time you hear a complaint come out of your mouth, ask the Holy Spirit to rebuke you, and you turn it into a praise. Always do that.
Everything that happens, you don't like the food, remember Israel in the desert. It's God who says, You're complaining against me. This is what I gave you.
So you don't like it, hey, don't complain. You're complaining against me.
Now. What you need to do is every time you want to complain, Even about the weather in Chicago. And that's coming. What you say is, Lord, Thank you. and then fill in the blank.
You fill in the blank. I've given this illustration before, but it is so good that you need to hear it again. I needed to hear it again. You remember Matthew Henry? Who was a commentator, wrote a commentary on the whole Bible, but he was robbed one night.
And a thief grabbed his wallet. And when Henry got home that night, He wrote in his diary four things to be thankful for. Number one, this is the first time I've been robbed. That's good to be thankful for. Number two, even though he took my wallet, he did not take my life.
That's something to be thankful for. Number three, even though he took all that I had, it wasn't much. And then he said most profoundly. I thank God. that it was I who was robbed, and I was not the robber.
Isn't that great? Lisa Beamer is a name that you'll all be familiar with. It was her husband, Todd, you remember, as the plane was going across Pennsylvania. That her husband Todd evidently said, let's roll. And it was some people on the plane that overcame the hijackers.
so that the plane went down. In the fields of Pennsylvania rather than hitting the White House or some other building in Washington. She wrote a book entitled Let's Roll, based on her experience and what her husband endured, and the interviews that she gave later. She said that when Todd's birthday came around, she was very sad, and we could understand that.
So she decided to take her children to a play. just to do something a little bit light-hearted for Todd's birthday. And then, as she was coming home, her son David, and I don't know how old he was, maybe seven or eight. He said to her, Mommy, why are you so sad? And she said, Well, I'm so sad because your daddy isn't here.
so that we could celebrate his birthday together. And David said, as only a child would, But mom, we can still have cake, can't we? I'm speaking today to some of you who've lost a loved one. You don't know how you're going to go on. You miss them very deeply, and well you might.
And you don't thank God that they're gone. At least I hope that you don't thank God that they're gone. But maybe you can still have some cake. There's always something for which we can thank God. The Bible does not say for everything give thanks, but in everything.
Everything Give Thanks. Best illustration, Job loses ten children, ten fresh graves on the hillside. Imagine that. Prays that night and says, The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed.
Be the name of the Lord. Christians are a thankful people. They thank God. They aren't a bunch of whiners and complainers. They thank God.
Just this morning, I was thinking of all the things that I could thank God, and I just ran out just. Just thinking about that, I could get up in the morning, that I had clothes to wear, that I had food to eat. I mean, you just begin to praise God and you begin to realize we have more things to thank God for, and yet what do we do? We complain. Thanksgiving.
changes everything. Also, what we need to do is to look beyond the present. This is the Christian hope. We look beyond the present to the future. And that's why we are able to endure that which comes to us because we believe that eternity is coming.
And Paul says that the sufferings of this present world are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. No matter how hard it is, eternity is coming, time is short, eternity is long, so we are a thankful people. Because we know Things that perhaps others don't, that in God's Word it has been revealed to us what God will do, and we are grateful. Because we have so committed ourselves to Him, we are living for His glory. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep our hearts and minds through Jesus Christ.
Perhaps the name Martin Rinkert doesn't mean much to you. But he was a pastor in Germany during the Thirty Years' War in the 1600s. For some time he was the only pastor in the walled city of Eilenburg in Saxony. Many people in this city were casualties of the war or victims of hunger and illness. During the great pestilence of 1637, Rinkert ministered to the people of the city, and it is believed, catch this.
I can't get my mind around it. That he conducted as many as 4,500 funerals, sometimes as many as 40 or 50 a day. one of them. was for his wife. He was a man of frail body but heroic character.
Rinkard faithfully served the people of his congregation and community there in Eilenberg. from 1617 until his death in 1649. One day he wanted to write some words. for his children for devotions. It's supper time.
These are the words that he wrote.
Now thank we all our God with heart and hands and voices. Who wondrous things hath done, in whom this world rejoices. Who from our mother's arms hath blessed us on our way with countless gifts of love. and still is ours today. And we still Sing the words.
Why could he write that? He believed. In a God who could be trusted. with power and goodness and wisdom and he also believed that eternity is coming. Thanksgiving changes.
Everything. It'll lift your burdens. It'll free you. from anger. From fear In everything, give thanks.
Now, there are some of you, you need to begin at the beginning of this because you say, boy, this is more than I can handle. Maybe you don't talk to God like I'm. Suggesting that we as believers do. What you need to do is to thank God for something. You need to begin by thanking Him that Jesus died on the cross for sinners so that our sins could be taken away, so that we can be reconciled to God, and in that reconciliation, to know Him so personally that we can thank Him and rejoice in Him even when things go bad.
And Frank. And we know her story. Said, I do not think and dwell on the misery. But on the glory That remains. She was thankful.
in the midst of our persecution. In the midst of her story, And in the midst of her death, thanksgiving. changes. Everything. Let's pray.
Receive now, Lord God, our thanksgiving. We have nothing to say to you except thank you. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for. Your grace, thank you for your forgiveness.
Thank you that you bear our burdens, thank you that you care about us. Thank you that you don't forget about us when we're going through hard times. Thank you, thank you, thank you for the reversals because when things are going bad, we thank you that for the Christian, they're actually going very good. because you're working them to your purpose. Thank you and thank you that you're trustworthy.
We thank you for your faithfulness. In Jesus' name, amen.
Well, my friend, this is Pastor Lutzer. Even as we give thanks to God for everything, as the scripture admonishes us to do. I want to just take a moment and give thanks to you. our listeners. The many of you who support this ministry You know, as I think about the ministry of running to win in different languages throughout the world, I'm reminded of the fact that this is not the ministry of a man.
a church or an organization. This is a ministry of God's people. And thousands of you are a part of that ministry.
So even as we have the privilege of sharing the good news with so many, we are very mindful of the fact that we could not do that Were it not for the investment and the partnership, Of so many of you.
So from my heart to yours today, I hope that you will have a very blessed Thanksgiving day. But at the same time, Let us make sure that we give thanks to one another. Because we can do things together that we cannot do separately. And running to win, I can assure you of this, is a very shared Effort. And yet through this ministry, we give thanks to God for the opportunity that we have.
to hold hands together. to encourage each other. all the way to the finish line, as you have frequently heard me say. God bless you. It's time now for another chance for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life.
Betty listens to Running to Win in Indianapolis, and she needs some clarification on an issue that's divided Christians for centuries. She writes, I am confused about the concept of predestination. if God predetermined who He would save before the beginning of time, then how can He say salvation is open to all? Betty, I want to commend you for jumping into the deep end of the swimming pool. As you know, predestination has indeed divided the Church.
As Dave has said, it has been a point of controversy.
So my answer is going to be very brief. I hope it will be helpful. but I also hope that it will encourage you to continue to study this doctrine. First of all, let me begin by saying that indeed salvation is open to all, the invitation is given to whosoever will. whosoever desires to come to God can come, and is invited to come, and is urged to come.
Now, where it gets tricky is that the Bible seems to indicate that the desire to come. to God is God implanted. This is where predestination comes in.
So all that we can do is to say at this point that the invitation is for all, but as Jesus said, many are called. But few are chosen. The call is to all but some come and some don't. And the Bible seems to indicate that this is dependent upon God and His working. But don't ever let that become a stumbling block to your witness, because God not only ordains the end of how things are going to turn out, but also the means.
and therefore God uses us to fulfill His purposes. We have to do our side. and we have to trust God to do His. Thanks for listening, Betty, and keep listening, keep studying, keep praying.
Some wise counsel once again from Dr. Erwin Lutzer. If you'd like to hear your question answered, you can. Just 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 RunningTowin, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. Running to win is all about helping you find God's roadmap for your race of life. In the race of life, the clock never stops. Once gone, time cannot be reclaimed. The Bible teaches believers to redeem the time, for the days are evil.
Time must be used wisely because one day, for each of us, time will be no more. On our next program, don't miss a series on Crowning Christ Lord. We'll begin by talking about Christ, the Lord of our time. Thanks for listening. For Pastor Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister.
Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.
