Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. For many, silence is uncomfortable. We want sensory input to fill every waking hour. But the Bible tells us to sometimes set it all aside, to live life from the center, from within, hearing in silence the voice of 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, today you finish your series on the disciplines of the soul, four ways to stay close to God. We're learning about the discipline of silence, and I guess Psalm 62 has a lot to say about it. Dave, you have framed this so well. It is true that we often want to live with all of this sensory input.
It's very difficult for us to be silent. And then I also noticed that you talked about living from the center. That's perfect because what God wants is our hearts. And in a day and age in which we have iPhones and we listen to television and constant news, It's so hard for us to be silent before the Lord and The psalm that you referenced, of course, refers to that, that we are to be silent. in the presence of God.
I'm holding in my hands a book entitled How to Begin the Christian Life. It's a book written by Doctor Sweeting. And today is the last day we're making it available for you. Let me run through some of the chapters. How to grow in the Christian life.
You and the Holy Spirit, you and the Bible, how to pray? Daily Prayer and Bible study How to be sure of your salvation, you and the world, you and the church, you and money, scriptural promises. We think it's going to be a blessing to you. And of course it's a wonderful book for you to pass along for others.
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Now because this is the last day we're making it available, I'll be giving you that contact info again. But for now, let's go to the pulpit of Moody Church and listen.
Okay. There are some situations in life where we can't even depend upon people. And we've all had the experience of being so disappointed in what people People have done, and people that we have depended upon, and we haven't understood that it is God once again cutting out from under us those props that we might wait in silence before Him. alone.
So David was tempted to look at other people. He was also maybe tempted to think, you know, if I had lots of money, I could run and I could do something. Because you'll notice what he says in verse 10, Do not trust in oppression, and do not vainly hope in robbery. If riches increase, do not set your heart on them. They won't help you either.
I'm always reminded of a couple that in the lottery won $20 million. dollars. Imagine winning 20 million dollars in a lottery. And yet, the woman died of cancer six months later. When wealth increases, don't set your heart on it.
You'd better flee to God. Because all of these things are temporary.
So David says that within this context now, I'm going to wait on God. And I'm going to do it. in silence. Why? Because he has to renew his inner life with God.
Remember that what a man is in the presence of God is all that he is. And nothing more. Who we are is who we are before God.
So David says, I'm shutting out the world as I'm in this cave, as perhaps this is where the psalm was written. I'm shutting out dependence upon people, upon even my wealth. My soul waits silently before God alone.
Well, you say, well, how is this done? We'll get to that in a moment, but before that, what are we waiting for when we wait in silence before God? First of all, we are waiting to listen to God's voice. We're waiting for God's voice. The Bible says in Isaiah chapter 28, verse 23, give ear.
and hear my voice. Listen to hear my words. And at this point we all become very, very nervous. Because there are some people who are listening who are going to say, Are you telling me that if we're really silent before God, He's going to give us a new revelation, He's going to come and speak to us?
Well, as you know, I'm opposed to those folks who think that Revelation continues. Who thinks that we can have a word from the Lord and we can say, Oh, guess what the Lord just told me? You know what He said to me? And then people roll off, things like that. And that is distressing.
You know, one day a man Wrote a letter to me and said, I can't believe that you believe thus and so. And he quoted me. And he said that he heard it in a message over the radio. I knew I had not said that because it was something with which I disagreed. And so I even listened to the message just to make sure, and I discovered that he took something about what I said and connected it with another idea and came up with a quote.
with which I did not agree. But here's my point, folks. If I, as a fallible human being, do not like it, When people put words in my mouth, Think of how serious it must be to put words into the mouth of Almighty God. Be careful. We're not listening for some new revelation, but let me tell you what we are listening for.
We're listening for God to reveal in the stillness our sins and our anxieties that are sometimes even hidden from us. That's been my experience. Silence in the presence of the Lord. I begin to think about this matter that is not under God's sovereignty and control, and this sin that needs to be confessed, and this anxiety that has never really been given over to the Lord. And all these things are revealed in the silence.
I cannot hear them in the den of the noise. I can't hear the voice of God with the television set on, or even the radio on, or while reading the newspaper, and sometimes not even by reading my Bible, unless I am silent and say, Lord, come and search me and show me what you find. That's what we do in the silence. Our secret sins.
Sometimes, also, God may give us direction. There are ideas that come to mind if we're seeking leading. It could well be that ideas are put into our minds by God to help us give us some direction, but even then we have to be careful. It is much better to say, I believe that the Lord is leading me this way, or I think. Because sometimes it is difficult to distinguish our own thoughts and desires from the thoughts and the desires of God.
But there in the silence, God can meet us. and do a work in our hearts that he could never possibly do just because we're in church, however important that is.
So first of all, we wait to listen. Secondly, we wait to rest. It says in Psalm 37, verse 7, Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him. Fret not yourself because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who carries out wicked schemes. It is in silence that we rest.
And because we rest in God, We don't have to become a part of the pushes and the pulls and the And the dynamics of life with all of its distractions, we can live differently. You know, it's almost as if God wanted to give me a sermon illustration yesterday about this. I met with my prayer partners, and after I met with them, I went up to the study and I spent 15 minutes. in silence before God.
Now, I've been doing this for years, but not every day. I do it a couple of times a week, just 15 minutes. I just get down and verses of scripture come to me. Maybe a hymn comes to me, but I just simply say, God, this time. is for you.
This is God's time.
Alright, so I left the church to go home and uh feeling as if my soul had been at rest, and I decided to get my car washed. And I was in a wash where you have to buy a ticket and then you have to punch. Punch the machine. I mean, they don't even want to pay human beings now to take money on these car washes. And you have to punch the number that you get after you purchase your ticket.
Well, wouldn't you know it? I was car number nine in the lineup. And uh The person who was at the head of the line either A didn't know that he needed a ticket, B had a ticket but didn't know how to punch the machine, C had nothing to do all day and wanted to make sure that the rest of us also had nothing to do all day. You know, I mean, that's what, you know, you have all of these thoughts going through your mind. And you're just waiting and you're waiting.
I remember I had spent 15 minutes of silence in God's presence. I had a choice to make. What do I do in a situation like this? Do I sit on the horn like the man behind me was doing? I mean that was one option.
Do I just fret and say, well, you know, this is the way life is, I've got so much to do, and here I sit as if I have nothing better to do on a Saturday afternoon than to sit here. There's another alternative. To simply say, Father Ona, thank you for this additional time. of silence before God. You know, I sometimes have gotten early to places.
Where you're waiting and you have an extra 10 minutes. What do you do? Grab a magazine, look at this, do this, frat. Yeah. What you simply do is to say, Father, I'm here early, so this time is your time.
Your time, and even in the midst of noise, you can communicate with God. But I don't think that you can do that until you have learned the value of silence in the solitary place. And Jesus is the one here who instructs us, is He not? The Bible says that he would get up early, even before the sunrise, and he would go to a solitary place and be there alone. Why?
Because we're to live out life from the center. And when we live out life from the center, and we are quiet before the Lord, and we rest in the Lord, and we are silent before God, we can handle all of these other things because our souls can be at rest. Our souls have the opportunity finally. of being able to catch up with our bodies. And together there's that sense of wholeness and that sense of peace and that sense of tranquility because we've been in the presence of God.
Why silence before God? First of all, We are silent to listen. We are silent to rest. We are silent. to worship.
I've already said that these are some of the most special times of worship. that we can have in God's presence. I can't worship if I'm distracted. If I've got this going on and that going on, and this anxiety and this matter that hasn't been taken care of. What I'm asking us to do today is to say: can we compose our souls?
in such a way that we can worship. in quietness and in solitude. The Bible says that David sat before the Lord. I love that. What he was doing is saying, God, these moments are for you.
These moments are to enjoy your presence, just you and me. And I'm sitting here before the Lord in silence. I don't think he was reading a newspaper, he didn't have the television set on. It was just him and God. Isn't that wonderful?
And you know, if all of us do that, you know, when we come together to worship, imagine the different worship experience. This message has to be tied with a preceding one that I preached on worship. As you know, this is a series. titled The Disciplines of the Soul. There was a mother who always, whenever she took her little child or little girl to church, said, Now, now you have to be quiet.
Because this is God's house. She said, you have to be quiet. Because this is God's house. One day the little girl looked up and he said, well, mommy, why is He never home? Done.
I trust that here at Moody Church, when people come in here, they'll say that this is God's house. and he's at home. We've been silent.
Now we can sing. We've paused.
Now we can praise.
Now I want you to look at the text. Because what I'm asking you for, and here now we come to the transforming part of all this, because so far this is words, unless we do it. You'll notice in Psalm 62, David begins, he says in verse 1, My soul waits in silence for God only. He's describing what happens. But by the time he gets to verse 5, he's talking to his soul and bringing his soul into line.
He says, My soul, wait in silence for God only. He's speaking to his soul and saying, Soul, you're going to be silent.
Now he wasn't schizophrenic. But what he realized was that he had to take control over his soul. I already mentioned that if we follow our souls just wherever they lead, if we just take everything that comes into our mind, then we'll never worship, we'll never focus, we'll never be at rest. Because our souls are those wandering spirits that we talked about. And so David says, soul.
Soul, you be silent before God only. Here's what I'm asking you to do. Begin with about 10 minutes. You say, well, does this 10 minutes have to be added on to the prayers that you taught us to pray and the meditation? I can't answer that for you.
Every person has to answer that question for his or herself. But I do need to say, take out 10 minutes. Ten minutes when you simply say, this is for God. Perhaps take a verse of scripture, the words of a song, and come into God's presence and say, God, this is for you.
Now, my mind and my heart has to be focused on the Lord. And I want to be perfectly still. Before you. You don't empty your mind like transcendental meditation. Which leads oftentimes to demonic experiences.
That's not what we're doing. We have our minds focused on Scripture, we have our minds focused on God, but we don't come to pray, we don't come to speak, we don't come with an agenda, we simply say, God, I'm here. God, I'm here. And we wait before the Lord. in silent Meditation.
What sins have I committed? that I've not received forgiveness for. What anxieties are there within my soul? that have not been laid to rest, reveal all that to me. And what you will discover is in the presence of God, you will be renewed, you'll be re-strengthened, you'll be recharged.
And you'll not only be able to go into your closet and close the door as Jesus said that we should, but you'll also be able to close all of the distractions of the world. And I need to tell you that there are times when I need to simply do this because of the hassles of life, and you come away saying, I've connected with God and my strength is renewed. In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength. Life lived out from the center. worshiping God.
You'll notice that David in his distress discovered that God met him. And you know the end of the story. Absalom was put to death. David was restored to the city of Jerusalem. And God was with him the whole way.
My soul. Be silent only. Before God, my expectation is from Him. Cleland McCaffey wrote, There is a place of quiet rest near to the heart of God. A place where sin cannot molest, near to the heart of God.
O Jesus, blessed Redeemer, sent from the heart of God. Hold those who wait before thee near to the heart. The Christian life can only grow. in solitude. Let's pray.
Our Father, we want to thank you today for your grace and mercy. And today, Father, in this world with so much clamor and so much noise and with so much activity. Make us believers who can rest in the Lord. to wait silently. in his presence.
Grant us, O God, to be people who are transforming. First of all, because you have transformed us. and therefore we can impact others. because of your holy word. And for those who have never trusted Christ, we pray that they also in silence might seek you through Jesus Christ our Lord.
and be changed. Teach us these things, Father, because we are slow learners. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Oh.
Of course, when I made the remark that the Christian life can only grow in silence, I want to emphasize it is also very important that you become a part of the church. I hope that this weekend you're able to go to church. If not, you can watch online. but all of us need connection. But here's the point.
Amid all that, There are times when we have to be silent. before the Lord.
Well, today's the last day. We're making a special resource available for you. It's a book written by Doctor Sweeting. entitled How to Begin the Christian Life. It deals with a lot of basics, how to grow in the Christian life, your relationship to the Holy Spirit, the Bible, prayer, For a gift of any amount we're making it available for you.
And what I'd like to do is to give you that contact info. But before I do, I want to emphasize that this is a book even though you've walked with God for many years. but also a wonderful resource to pass along to others particularly those who are new in the Christian faith. Here's what you can do. You can go to rtwoffer.com.
That's rtwoffer.com. Or you can call us at 1-888-218-9337. I want to thank the many of you who pray for us, the many of you who support this ministry. Perhaps you have heard me say it before, but running to win is not the ministry of a man or a church or an organization it is your ministry it is our partners. And because of you, I am This ministry can continue and expand.
Once again, that contact info Go to rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. It's time again for another chance for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life. I think today's question will test whether Pastor Lutzer can walk that thin line on the top of the fence. A listener named Jack voices the concerns of many in his email. A number of churches and radio stations in our area have switched from hymns, accompanied by piano, organ, and orchestra, to contemporary Christian music, with guitars, bass, and drums.
My question is, what would our Lord have us do, according to the Bible, in regard to Christian music?
Well, Jack, I want to begin by saying that, first of all, I do not presume to speak for the Lord.
So I'm not sure exactly what our Lord would do, but this is my opinion. First of all, it's very important for us to understand that we should not lose the hymns. You know, it used to be in ancient times, and in more modern times also, that singing, Christian singing, always was to have what is called gravitas. that means gravity, it means it was weighty, it means it said something. And today we find many courses, by the way, that really do say something.
We have courses that we sing that have wonderful biblical theology, and we use them here at the Moody Church. And we should take advantage of all the gifts that God has given to people to write this kind of music and to be able to use instruments to play it. But at the same time, Jack, it is so important that we have some latitude here. We need to understand that there are people with different tastes and we need to be able to accommodate them. My hope would be that we'd be able to reach some kind of a balance.
a recognition that the past should not be discarded. The hymns of the past, many of them, are simply too good to not teach our children and our young people and future generations. but at the same time We do have some contemporary settings. We have contemporary music. And we need to be able to say that, yes, there are those to whom that release speaks.
And so hopefully here we can in an amiable way resolve this tension. and not fall off the bench in one direction, Or the other. Thank you for walking that thin line on top of the fence, Dr. Lutzer, and thank you, Jack, for making him do it. If you'd like to have your question answered, Go to our website at rtwoffer.com and click there on Ask Pastor Lutzer.
Or you can call us at one eight eight eight two one eight ninety three thirty seven. That's one eight eight eight two one eight nine three thirty seven. 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. It happens again and again.
A child at death's door. Urgent prayer. The child dies anyway. Where was God? When prayer is not answered as we'd like, many simply stop praying.
If your prayers seem to bounce off the ceiling, you need to listen next time for a life-changing series on the triumph of unanswered prayer. Thanks for listening. For Pastor Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.
