Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Ever wonder if your coming to faith in Christ was an accident or a coincidence or just maybe a good choice on your part? Not a chance. In Acts chapter 8, God went to unusual lengths to get the gospel to a needy Ethiopian. And you know what?
He did the same for you and me. 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, I believe you've often found yourself in the right place and at the right time to bear witness for Christ.
Oh Dave, there are so many examples I could give of that. One that comes to mind very clearly is years ago, my wife and I were in Herrenhoot. which is in the Czech Republic where the Moravians lived. and we were looking for the cemetery. And through the providence of God we found it because a man helped us.
It ended up that I had the privilege of explaining the gospel to him with such clarity. As a matter of fact, I remember when he said, when I told him he had to be born again, he said, I've been born once, why do I have to be born twice?
Well, you and I know someone who asked that very question. But here's what we want to emphasize: that we here at Running to Win believe that the same kind of providence. leads people to our program. And at the end of this broadcast, I'm going to be reading you a story of someone who listens to us as a Spanish speaker. And I want you to think about the goodness of God in connecting the gospel with people who desperately need it.
And you, my friend, are a part of that. For now I want you to listen carefully, but at the end of this message, I'll share with you. A letter of good news. Yeah. In the opening chapters of Acts, we have three very special Conversions Do you remember the families of the earth after the time of Noah were actually divided into three different categories?
You have the family of Shem, Ham, and Japeth. The Shemites were the Jews. In Acts chapter 9, the Apostle Paul is converted. He was a Shammite. In this chapter, a Hamite, who migrated to Africa.
He was converted. And in the 10th chapter, you have a Gentile, and that turns out to be the European nations, he representing them, he's converted, because right in the early chapters of Acts, God wanted to show that the gospel is for all the families of the earth, whether you belong to Shem, to Ham, or to Japeth, whatever your origin, the converting power of God is for you. Yeah. Now there are some lessons to take home. transforming lessons.
The first is that it is God who takes a prepared heart. and brings them together. with a prepared servant. God brings them together. I've had that experience often in my life where, just through the normal course of things, I've never had an angel speak to me.
Sometimes I had no awareness of being directed by the Holy Spirit and yet the Spirit of God was directing me to someone, maybe not just for the purpose of conversion, but a very important friendship or connection was made that had tremendous significance down the road that you couldn't see at this particular moment. That's happened in your life, that's happened in mine. And sometimes God reveals that to us in a very unique way. I remember being a student at Winnipeg Bible College and working in the mission. The downtown mission of Winnipeg.
One evening we were about to close up. No one was left. Just a few students and the director, and we're going to close the door and go home. And a man comes running down the aisle and sees me and comes to me and says, please lead me to faith in Jesus. Please lead you to faith in Jesus.
Tell me your story.
So he told me, he said, I'm a- I was hitchhiking. And he said, I was picked up by a trucker. Who witnessed to me and told me I had to believe in Jesus. And then, when he dropped me off in Winnipeg, he said, when you get real desperate. Go to the mission, and they'll tell you how to get saved.
So he said, I'm here. to be told how to be saved. Wow. By the way, the Bible says One sows. And another reaps.
God gives the increase. That trucker sowed a seed. I happen to have the privilege of reaping the harvest, but it was God who saved them. And that's the way God does it.
Sometimes those stories are dramatic, oftentimes they're not, but they're just as real. I need to tell you one more. I love to tell this story about us flying in 1985 from. Hong Kong to Tokyo in one of those huge jets. You know, you say to yourself, when does this place get to Tokyo?
And I was sitting next to someone, a Chinese man, and I was reading my Bible, minding my business. But we struck up a conversation and I discovered that sitting next to me was a communist who taught chemistry. In China, a Chinese university. And I thought, oh, if only I had a Bible to give him. My daughter overheard the conversation.
We weren't able to sit together on this jet, and so my wife was a couple of seats ahead of me. And our oldest daughter overheard the conversation, turned back and said, Dad, you know that mother took that Bible from the hotel room in Hong Kong that's in Chinese.
Now I need to tell you that my wife is not a thief. I told that story this summer when I was preaching to the Gideons at their annual convention. And they really got on to me. They said, you owe us six bucks. When I wanted to give them six bucks, they wouldn't take it.
And I said, Yeah. What do you mean she has a Bible from the hotel room?
So we got Rebecca, and sure enough, in her. case that was on the plane. She had a Bible. Chinese on one side, New Testament, English on the other. I gave it to the man.
And I asked him whether he had seen a Bible before, and he said, No, no, no, I've never seen a Bible before. And God is my witness. He held it in his hands like this, and he says, So you mean this is a Bible? And I said, Yeah. He said, You mean this is a Bible?
I said, Yeah, this is a Bible. And then he asked me one more time. Is this a Bible? And then he said, I'll tell you why I'm so interested. He said, my mother, who died when I was six years old, was a Christian, and I always wondered what Christians believed.
By now this huge jet was beginning to have its descent into Tokyo and there I was explaining the gospel to him, drawing a diagram of the cross, explaining how Jesus died for sinners. And my final words to him were this, you know, your mother probably prayed that someday you'd accept Christ as Savior so that you could be in heaven with her. I want to see you in heaven, I said as I looked into his eyes, and your mother is there waiting for you. And he said, well, he said, who knows? But at least he had a Bible.
One of the reasons That heaven becomes exciting is: I can hardly wait to see whether he's going to be there. I think he is. Because God puts that all together for us.
Now, here's what I want to say to you today, from my heart to yours. Can you think of the tragedy? Of a prepared heart who is empty and seeking, and God brings them up against His servants, and they have nothing to say. They have nothing to say. There are people working in your office, in your hospital, in your bank.
Who are empty, they're searching, they don't know where to turn, and you are there, and you have never given them a Christian book and said, Read this and then we'll talk about it. You have never spoken about Jesus, you have never thrown out a hint. that you believe that Jesus is the one who changed your life and therefore is able also to change the life of your colleague and there are hungry people who do not understand what they are reading. Who needs someone to slip next to them and say to them. Let me share with you.
And you know how to do it. You can do it so, so easily by simply saying, Would you mind if I were to share with you something? that somebody once shared with me. I've used that, I've never yet had somebody say, no, I don't want to hear that. Let me say that again.
Would you mind if I were to share with you something that somebody once shared with me that's very special to me? And then you tell them about Jesus. And you'll discover that God directs your appointments. And if you don't know what to say, that's why we have 100 people every Tuesday here at the church with evangelism explosion, teaching people how to witness, not just on Tuesday night, but teaching them to witness as a way of life. If I had had just a few more moments in the airport in Winnipeg, that young lady, God bless her, would have heard the gospel, but because of some interruption, it didn't happen.
Why? Because there are all kinds of hungry people who don't know where to turn. And when God is first, we suddenly discover that He directs us. And leads us and opens doors for us. And all that we have to do is to be obedient and to walk through them.
There's a second lesson, and that is that the real key to witnessing is joy. You'll notice that we read it a moment ago that the Ethiopian went on his way rejoicing. Do you remember when you were saved? Do you remember that sense of peace that you had, that overwhelming conviction that you knew God? The age of 14, that's what happened to me.
Just such a strong sense of conviction that finally I've come to know God through Jesus. And you know, sometimes that joy leaves us, doesn't it? And I'll tell you why it does. It is because sin causes the cup of joy. to spring a leak.
And so the cup drains out and there is no joy. And so many Christians are like a cup half full, trying desperately to spill over. They want to spill over, at least on Sunday when we sing such wonderful hymns. But sin is there. As soon as sin enters, joy must leave.
And putting God first means. That we seek God, that we confess our sins, that we deal ruthlessly with it, that we take it very, very seriously. And we do whatever we need to do to find help. to overcome that which Stifles. Robs.
us of joy. What would Moody Church look like if God were first? We would be joyful. Witnessing Christians, not buttonholing people. But joyful witnessing Christians, available to the blessed Holy Spirit of God to be led.
I've often been led, and so have you. without even being aware of it, just in the casual events of life, you're led, but you're open and you're available and the Spirit of God begins to move in and say that if you are available and yielded, I will use you in ways that you could have never, never predicted. Philip. When he was chosen to wait on tables, this is the guy now, remember? When he was chosen to wait on tables, I'm sure there wasn't a chance in the world that he was thinking, well, you know, I'm going to be faithful waiting on tables because someday I'm going to be an evangelist and get a couple of chapters in the Bible written about me.
No. He was faithful, but he was spirit-filled, and God says. You be an evangelist. and you can speak to crowds. But you can also speak to people in airports and people who are in chariots going down a dusty road who are seeking but don't even know where.
to look. A joyful witnessing church. When God is first. We say in the morning, Lord, All of my appointments today are yours. I just give you my timetable.
Whomever I meet, whatever circumstances, the interruptions of phone calls and other people, I accept as your will because you. are in charge. I love to tell that story about Montana. You know, there is a state in this union called Montana.
Well, God bless the people of Montana. Not a whole lot going on. In Montana. I've been there. You drive all day, get to little towns that are so small that when you plug in an electric razor, the lights go out.
But in the 1850s, gold was found in Montana in some of the riverbeds. And there were some people, about 10 of them, that were getting this gold, and suddenly they came across all of this gold in the river. Lots of gold. But they were tired, their implements were broken, they had no food, they were hungry. One or two of their number had died, and they said, there's no way for us to do this.
So let us form a pact. Let us form an agreement. Among ourselves, that we will not tell anyone where the gold is. Then let's go back to town, let's get our implements, let's get some food, let's get some rest, and then we can come back and get all the gold for ourselves.
So they entered into a pact. that they would do that. Ten days later, when they left the little town to go get the gold, fifty. of the townspeople followed them. He couldn't believe it.
What is this? Did you tell? No, I didn't tell. Did you tell? No, I didn't tell.
I didn't tell? No, not me. The townspeople said, We knew that they had found gold. By the smile. that was on their faces.
Let me ask you this. Do your neighbors and friends In your sphere of influence, know that you found gold. Are you available to the Spirit? As you say, yes, God, take everything that I am, everything that I hope to be. Because by your grace, you R.
First. God will use you in ways that you could have never Possibly. Imagined. May the people of Moody Church and may the people of Chicago know that in the evangelical churches today, because there are many fine evangelical churches like ours that preach the word, that the Christians in Chicago have found. Gold.
Let's pray. Father, thank you so much for this marvelous story of a conversion. that had implications that we cannot even fathom. With the Ethiopian eunuch going back to Ethiopia, possibly beginning the Coptic church. Influencing his generation, all because of the obedience of somebody who is willing to leave a crowd and talk to somebody in a desert.
Lord, help us to be open to what you want to say to us and what you want to do through us.
Now what is it that God has asked you to do today? Would you talk to him for just a moment? And if you've never received Christ as Savior, if you know Jesus, something like I know Michael Jordan, why don't you say, Lord Jesus, today I want to receive you, to depend upon you, the substitutionary. work of Jesus on the cross and be saved even as the Ethiopian was. Do you believe with your heart that Jesus is the Son of God who died for you?
Accept that as yours. Do it, Father, in our lives. Let us not rest. until we've come to know you. and made you first in Jesus' name.
Amen. Yeah. Well, my friend, this is Pastor Lutzer, and I want to say this, that even as we talk about finding gold, namely the gospel, We're reminded of the fact that God connects people with those who know the story of redemption. I'm holding in my hands a letter from someone who is a Spanish-speaking listener. This person says your program is very good.
I recently shared it with a friend who is a man of faith but has lately been doubting and questioning everything about the Bible, its writing, its authors, and so forth. And this person goes on to say, I hope it will be a blessing and a help to him in returning to the truth. And we pray that that will indeed happen.
Now, I mention that because we here at Running to Wind believe that it is very providential that God has given us the opportunity of sharing the good news of the gospel. in fifty different countries in seven different languages.
So, this Spanish-speaking listener is able to hear the gospel. and to share it with others. I want to ask you a question. Would you consider becoming what we call an endurance partner? Endurance partners are people who stand with us regularly with their prayers and their gifts.
Now, of course, the amount that you give... is entirely Up to you. But would you at least investigate becoming an endurance partner? Here's what you do. You can go to rtwoffer.com.
Just go there. Go to rtwoffer.com. Of course, rtwoffer is all one word. Go to rtwoffer.com. When you're there, you click on the Endurance Partner button.
Or you can call us at 1-888-218. 9337. I want to assure you of this: that every testimony we receive. is your testimony as well. Because we are partners together in sharing the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ around the world.
Right now, Go to rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-1. ninety three thirty seven. It's time again for another opportunity for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question you may have had about the Bible or the Christian life. Today's question, Dr. Lutzer, comes to us from John.
He lives in Michigan. I professed a belief in Christ as my Savior when I was ten years old. Shortly after that I attended a meeting at my church, and during the invitation I felt that I should go forward. but not knowing why I should, I didn't, because I thought I had already accepted Christ. Immediately after that I felt a cold rush over my heart.
Ever since that day I've been plagued with doubts concerning my salvation, even though I've attended Bible school and seminary. Later I was involved in an adulterous affair, and have brought trouble into the lives of my grown children. My heart tells me there is still hope for forgiveness. Other people tell me I have wilfully sinned, and against such there is no forgiveness. Do I keep hope Or might I be one of the tares, namely, one of those of whom God will say, Depart from me, I never knew you.
I guess what I'm asking is Is there any hope?
Well, John, thank you so much for your question, and the answer to your question is, yes, there is hope. But let me explain. There is hope for forgiveness for you. No matter how dark the past, no matter how many regrets. Even if your marriage has broken up, and from what you have said it appears as if it might have, The fact is that God is able to cleanse and to forgive you.
For that there is hope.
Now, is there hope that your family is going to be restored? Is there hope that all of you are going to be able to be able All of the effects of your sin are going to be wiped out. No, there is no hope for that. God in His mercy may continue to work in the life of your family and your life. But at the end of the day some of the mistakes that we make and the consequences of them just keep going on and on.
But think of David. David committed adultery. There was no way that he could restore the purity of Bathsheba. There was no way that he could bring the dead man Uriah back to life, whom he had murdered. But still, Read Psalm fifty one.
There he is, rejoicing. in his salvation.
So, my friend, to day, yes, there is hope. I hope that you will flee to God. that you will receive his forgiveness. Your life will be changed. And even in the midst of your brokenness and sin, God.
will still be honoured. Our hearts go out to all those who doubt their salvation, like John. Thank you, Dr Lutzer, for those encouraging words. If you'd like to hear your question answered, you can go to our website at rtwoffer.com and click on Ask Pastor Lutzer. or you can call at one eight eight eight two one eight nine three three seven.
That's 1-888-218-1. 9337. Um Uh 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. A believer's effectiveness is determined by the disciplines of the Christian life practiced every day, every week, every month, every year.
Next time on Running to Win, we begin a series outlining four disciplines crucial to your spiritual maturity. Don't miss the Disciplines of the Soul, Four Ways to Get Close to God. We'll begin with the discipline of meditation. Thanks for listening. For Pastor Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister.
Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.
