Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus. The founder and perfecter of our faith. How can one describe God? How can one describe anything infinite? The best we can do is to list his attributes.
These qualities open a door of understanding, a door that lets us catch a glimpse of his greatness as well as his grace. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Luxer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, we've seen that God is self-existent, holy, and wise. Are there other attributes of God we'll learn about today?
Yes Dave, as a matter of fact, I think we're going to be talking about his sovereignty. and his truthfulness, but I want to emphasize this. Even as I meditate on God I realize that He is a very complex being. And all of these attributes in here, within him without contradiction, And have you ever imagined how it is that God can listen to hundreds of thousands of prayers simultaneously and respond to each person according to his will? Mind-boggling.
But at the same time we are admonished to worship him. And you know, even as we worship him, we recognize, as Jonathan Edwards says, that the ideas of God go on for all eternity. I've to say this, that perhaps for ever We will be learning more and more about him. I hope you listen carefully and at the end of this message I'm going to be giving you some contact info for a very special resource that we think will be a great blessing to you. Uh God Is wise.
Number four, Immutability. Immutability means that God is unchanging. Thou, O Lord, in the beginning, hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou remainest. They shall wax old, as doth a garment, and as a vesture, thou shalt roll them up, and they shall be changed.
But thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. Hebrews 1.10 and following. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever. The motto here at the Moody Church, I am the Lord and I change not. What's the first thing you say to your mate after you've been gone all day?
You say something like this, don't you? How are you doing? Please don't ever ask God that. I know somebody who used to say, God, how are you doing this morning? I mean, that's just plain silly.
How is God doing? He's doing very well. Thank you very, very much. And he's doing just as well as he did yesterday morning. All right?
He hasn't learned anything since yesterday. He hasn't forgotten anything since yesterday. He's no less in control today as he was in control. Yesterday And he is the Lord, and he changes not. Immutability.
God exists outside of time. But he recognizes time. Sure, prophets prophesied. He recognizes days and months and years in our existence. But he sees everything as having already been completed because he is immutable.
He learns nothing. If he were to change, would it be for the better? Unthinkable, because he's already absolute perfection. Would he change for the worse? Unthinkable that God would do that.
So God is the same, even though you and I aren't. And as a result of that, time goes by, our lives go by, and God gives consistency to history because He's always here. and he's always immutable. And so how do we live out that excellency before a skeptical world? We are now a people.
Who live with less stress because we recognize that because God is immutable. You know tomorrow that you're worried about That relationship that you have to give to God, or else, even be more worried about. You realize, of course, that God has already lived your tomorrow. He's already lived here tomorrow. He's already lived last week.
He already knows what is going to be said at your funeral, all those nice things that. We say at people's funerals, all of which I'm sure is true, but everybody gets something nice said about them at a time like that. God knows all that already, so... Why should you and I be so anxious about tomorrow? Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing, and yet your father feeds them?
Are you not of much more value than they? God, you're immutable. You don't change. We sang moments ago, Great is thy faithfulness. And you'll be here after we leave and after other people take over in the leadership of this church and after other people use our new Christian life center and we've passed off the scene.
God will be there. God will be there, converting, changing. people's hearts. doing his work. The immutability of God.
The weight of the world is on his shoulders. He can handle your particular need. The sovereignty of God. We could talk about. The fact that we are loved, we are a loving people.
Because we've been forgiven, we are a forgiving people, but let me hurry on to sovereignty. God is sovereign. I love it, Psalm 115, verse 3. But our God is in the heavens. He has done whatsoever He has pleased.
Yeah. Nobody tells God what to do. Nobody has suggestions to make to him. He is God and he is sovereign. And he proved that when he decided to create.
The moment he created, he knew about sin, he knew about all of the dominoes that were being set up that would take place. Throughout history, he knew about you and me. About our failures and sins, and there was nothing that you and I have done or could do in the future that would catch him off guard. And he'd say, Boy, on second thought, I don't know why I saved so-and-so, because just look at this. None of that for God.
He is sovereign. He created. And also he redeemed. is that big. Huge.
God redeemed.
Sovereignly. Working out the details of Jesus Christ's death, choosing us to belong to Him. All of that is under His control. If God doesn't approve, A fly. doesn't move.
The very hair of your head is numbered, and as I look across the auditorium, I see that God has. Less and less. worry about. as he counts the hair. of some of you.
Myself included. Every time you wash your hair, And you see various hair in this thing. God's total just completely changes. The whole computer just goes berserk for a minute, and then there's a brand new total. Have you ever thought of the absolute detail?
of God's sovereignty.
Somebody said, Well, is God big or small? Depends on how you want to calculate it because he is big and he inhabits the heavens.
Solomon said, The heaven of heavens cannot contain thee. How much less this house? that I have built. And yet the Bible says in Isaiah, and it's confirmed many times in the New Testament, that God in His greatness has chosen to dwell in the hearts of those who believe in His Son. What a God we worship.
What a God. we believe in and trust.
Now all of that leads us. to the question of worship. I want you to come with me to a remote village. Want you to be introduced to a woman. She was a woman who had a series of bad marriages, five, as a matter of fact.
And when she was living with the sixth man. She decided to do that because, after all, to be married again would just be a charade. Why even go through the act? Just simply live. common law and that's what she did.
Most of the women in her village would go to fetch water at the local well, and they would do that usually early in the morning before it got too hot. But very probably they didn't want her along because after all she had a really bad reputation. And there are some people, you know, who can't handle people who have bad reputations. And so she came alone at noon. and she met a stranger at the well.
And he said, Give me to drink. And she said, How is it that you, being a Jew, asked, Drink of me, which of a woman of Samaria? It's working all If actually you were to ask... I could give you living water. Oh, she said, give that to me.
So I don't have to come here and draw day after day. Then he said to her, Hey, go call your husband and come here. She says, I don't have a husband. He says, yeah, yeah, you're telling the truth. After a manner of speaking, you've had five of them.
And the man that you're living with isn't your husband.
So, you know, you're being truthful. Which may show, by the way, that God doesn't accept common law marriages. She says, you know, you must know more than most people did. You know, when the Messiah comes, he's going to tell us everything, and Jesus. Oh.
He looks at her and says, I who speak unto thee. M He. First person in the Gospel of John to whom he revealed his Messiahship, a fallen. despised woman who had nothing but a history. of failure.
in her life. You're talking. to Messiah. She said, well, She said, You know, our fathers worshipped in this mountain, Mount Gerizim. In fact, a An altar was actually found there by archaeologists a number of years ago, but she says: you say that Jerusalem is the place.
where we ought to worship. And Jesus said, let's get this straight. Two things about worship. First of all, it's not a matter of place. The time is coming, and now is when the true worshipper shall worship the Father in spirit.
It's not a matter of place. It doesn't happen just because you're in a temple. And it doesn't happen just because you're in a church. It doesn't happen just because you're singing the right songs. And at Moody Church, we know that you're singing the right songs because we choose them.
Doesn't necessarily happen. No, no, no. It's a matter of spirit, it's a matter of heart. It's a matter of bringing yourself into the presence of God. It's a matter of that.
Doing that, Jesus said, Well did Isaiah speak about you and say that this people they honor me with their lips, but their heart. is far from me. You can be here today. And have sung the songs and have listened to the sermon and have heard the prayer in your heart, far, far from God.
So Jesus said: two clarifications. First of all, it isn't a matter. of location. As a matter of fact, if you don't worship God at home, it is very doubtful, perhaps impossible for you to worship. when we come to church.
So it's a matter, Jesus said of heart. Secondly, Jesus said it is also a matter of truthfulness and honesty. When we come before God, this is not the time for hypocrisy. This is not the time, you know, when you put the right spin on it. We're coming into the presence of the sovereign, immutable, all-knowing, holy, self-existent God.
And he knows more things about you than you know about yourself. He knows the number of grains of sand that were on your shoes when you came to Moody Church this morning. That's how exacting his knowledge is.
So we come into that presence and we open our lives and we say, God, my life is an open book to you. Walk through every room, show me what you see. Search me, O God, and know my heart, because you already know it. Finally, I have the nerve to invite you in. and let you look around.
Now Jesus is talking to this woman. He's talking to somebody who hasn't amounted to anything.
So far as this world is concerned. And then he throws this bombshell on her. He says the Father is seeking such. to worship him. He's saying, Woman, in the eyes of the world, you've been a failure.
But the Father is looking for people like you. to worship him. The father's on a hunt.
Well, why doesn't He go to the rich? The rich oftentimes, not always, but oftentimes are self-absorbed. Do they really need God? Why doesn't He go to the famous people? Listen, the famous people who are on the covers of the magazine, they're not looking for a god to worship, they're looking for worshippers.
He goes to the lowly, the contrite, the people who know that they are sinners. the people who know that they need grace. The people who have not been a success And he goes really to all of us, whether all of those descriptions belong to us or not, but it is almost impossible to develop. Fervent worshipers in an affluent society because we have so many things. that satisfy our appetites temporarily.
But the real needy, the ones who are desperate. For whom success has passed by, they oftentimes are the best worshipers and they delight. The heart. of the father. The self-existent Father, the Holy Father, the all-knowing, wise Father.
They delight that holy father, yes, and they delight the sovereign father, because that's what he's looking for. Success, as we generally think of it, is not open to everyone. But being a worshiper of God Yeah.
So when we come into the sanctuary, at Moody Church on Sunday morning, we know that we are leaving. The profane. and we're coming into the sacred. We know that we are leaving earth. for a little taste of heaven.
And we know that we're making God look good because we worship well in the eyes of others. and most of all hopefully in the eyes of God. And we proclaim his excellencies not just by words, but also by heart. And we come cleansed. We come with our consciences silenced.
Because of forgiveness and repentance, and we come with our eye on. God. I hope that's one of the reasons, the primary reason.
Well, you come to Moody Church and your worship doesn't end when the singing is over. It continues. Through prayer, through our gift. I mean, imagine coming to God and bringing him nothing. It continues through the message.
And we leave saying, the transforming moment of my life has just happened one more time this week. I have beheld. The Almighty. And he has. My heart.
Will you join me? as we pray. And Father, we ask in the name of Jesus. that we might understand the Father whom we worship. We pray, Father, that we might love him, adore him.
Give him all that we have. and worship him. in spirit and in truth.
Now right now we're going to have a few moments. Of silence. And I want you to talk to God. If God's talked to you, If it's a conscience that troubles you, would you confess that sin and promise? that that sin will be taken care of.
If it's a divided heart, Confess that. Let's come into the presence of God and let us do business, as it were, with Him. who is monitoring every single thought right now. looking, scanning. for worshipers.
Um My friend, today, this is Pastor Lutzer, and I want to especially speak to those who are perhaps depressed. You may feel as if you are abandoned. Maybe life is very difficult. You've had some bad news. I want you to remember the words of Jesus to the woman at the well.
The Father is seeking worshippers. Imagine that. and if we worship him we do gladden. His heart. Very quickly, we're making a resource available for you entitled Be Joyful, it's written by doctor Warren Weersby.
Deals with all kinds of topics brought up in the book of Philippians.
Now, what you must understand is joy is something that happens within us. despite the circumstances. There's so much more I could say about it, but I want to give you the contact info. Here is what you do. You go to rtwoffer.com.
Perhaps I said that too quickly. Go to RTW Offer. Dot com or you can pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-1. 9337. I'd like to encourage you to go to your computer right now.
Type in RTW offer. dot com or call us at one eight eight eight two one eight ninety three thirty seven It's time again for another chance for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life. Today's question comes to us from Alex, who lives in Connecticut. Here's his story. Although I was raised a Roman Catholic, I was saved and ended up joining a Baptist church, which I later found out was a fundamentalist church.
I didn't even understand what that meant at first, but eventually found myself walking on eggshells in the midst of the fundamentalists and in some ways worse off than when I was a Catholic. I am studying for the ministry and feel a strong call to it. But when I wanted to marry a divorced woman, this church objected. They advised me to find another woman. I have tried to rationalize my engagement because my fiancé has strong reasons to believe that when she was still married her former husband was cheating, but there is no real proof and she is unwilling to find out.
there certainly is no shortage of sin around, but Christ died that we might live despite our sins. My fundamentalist church says that an elder or pastor should never have been divorced or married to a divorced woman based on First Timothy and Titus. But since I have never been divorced myself, and she will be my only wife, don't I meet the qualification to be the husband of one wife, as the Scripture says? would I be sinning, and therefore an adulterer, if I marry her? and if I do marry her, should I not try to enter the ministry?
Well, Alex, you have asked many questions. I'd like to begin by saying that there could be worse things than attending a fundamentalistic church, as you described it. You know, fundamentalism itself is usually a defense of the Scripture. It is usually you find churches that love God's Word and preach the gospel, but some of them, yes, it's true, become legalistic, and that is a danger, isn't it?
Now in your case, however, I'd like to suggest that um To marry a woman who's been divorced I don't think that that would disqualify you based on what the Bible says in Titus and in Timothy, because there it does say that you should only be the husband of one wife, but Since you have not been previously married, you are indeed the husband of one wife. whether she was divorced or not. But the more fundamental question is this Should you marry her? When you marry her would you commit adultery?
Now you say in your letter that she is not willing to investigate her former husband. That strikes me as a little strange, because why wouldn't she be willing to? Has he been married? If he has been married, then in my mind that uh bond would be broken and you would be free to marry her. Perhaps he is living with some one.
It seems to me that it would be worth while to investigate that fact. Then you ask the question of whether or not you can enter the ministry.
Well, it depends, of course, in what denomination and what church. There are some denominations that have no rules at all. and so they would indeed welcome you, no doubt, with open arms, into the ministry. I cannot answer that question because of the difference of opinions. But getting back to the bottom line.
I believe that if you marry her and her divorce, was not legitimate in God's eyes. You may indeed be committing adultery.
Now that's tough news, but I suggest that you do some investigation regarding her former husband. and then based on wise counsel, You make your decision. I pray that God will give you both the grace and the strength to choose wisely. This is a huge decision. and it does not have A simple answer Thank you, Dr.
Lutzer, for that answer. 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 us at one eight eight eight two one eight nine three three seven. That's one eight eight eight two one eight nine three three 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. God is so vast and incomprehensible that unless He took direct action, we'd never understand Him in a meaningful sense. He took that action 2,000 years ago when Jesus appeared on earth. The Bible reveals that Jesus is the Son of God and that all the fullness of God dwells in Him.
Now, to see what God is all about, all we need to do is look at Jesus.
Next time on Running to Win, we'll take that look, a look at the sun we follow. Thanks for listening. For Pastor Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.
