Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. One day, Jesus will be united with his church at a great marriage supper of the Lamb in heaven. What that will be like is our focus on today's broadcast, as Erwin Lutzer wraps up his study of the church as a key element of what we believe. 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'm glad that in the end there really will be unity in the church.
Well, Dave. You're absolutely right. We are going to have to wait until that day to experience the unity that Jesus Christ died for.
Meanwhile we have our differences, yet we can respect one another. even though we might understand some of the doctrines differently, What unites us is the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The fact that we have to be born again into the kingdom of God, and it's not something that happens just because you're baptized. This is a miracle that God does, and that's why we are making available for you a book entitled The New Birth by Peter Mead. At the end of this message, I'm going to be giving you some contact info as to how this book can be yours.
For now I want you to listen. And I also want to thank you in advance for helping us as we continue this radio ministry around the world. Don't be Um In most weddings, The emphasis is on the bride. understandably in this one the groom. gets an awful lot of attention.
You'll notice it says in verse 7, Let us rejoice and exult and give him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come. Let us at that moment, folks, give him glory. For the marriage of the Lamb has come. Are you going to be excited to give Jesus glory someday? Are you going to be?
Wretches that we are. Brought out of the pit.
Now the wedding. You know, in ancient culture, you never saw the bride. The bride and groom sometimes didn't meet until their wedding day.
Well, we haven't seen Jesus, but. Having not seen him, you love him, the Bible says. We love him, though we haven't seen him. But at that time, we'll love him even more intensely because we will be there and we'll actually see him. All right, now.
There's something else that needs to happen. You need something to wear because it's the wedding feast, right? I mean, you've got the righteousness of Christ that's brought you there, but. What are you going to put on for the wedding?
Well, let's read it. It was granted in verse 8. to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure, for the fine linen Are your Bibles open? How many of you have opened Bibles? Oh.
God bless you. The rest of you, you have to trust us. See, that's why you should bring your Bible to church.
So that you can read along with us. Notice it says: for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. When you arrive at the wedding Of Jesus as the bride, what you wear is a gown of your own making. The righteousness of Jesus Christ gets you there, but when you're dressed for the wedding, It is your righteous deeds. This is not the righteousness of Christ.
Notice it says the righteous deeds, plural, of the saints, plural. You make up your own clothes while you're here on earth.
Now can you imagine How some people are going to be terribly terribly underdressed. You know, I think only once in my life that I remember clearly did I fret about whether or not I was underdressed. My wife would tell you that she wished I would fret a little bit more often. about whether or not I'm underdressed. But have you ever showed up someplace, and I remember once it happened.
Where I was just woefully underdressed. I thought that this was something very casual and everything, and everybody else was very formal. I was really feeling pretty. Silly actually. There are some people who are more concerned about showing up in church properly dressed than they are showing up at the marriage feast.
properly dressed. You know that? Notice it is of our own making. We're weaving garments. That's what we're doing.
You're teaching a Sunday school class, you're mentoring children, you're working with young people. You're giving to the ministry, you're giving to missionaries, you're giving to our. Christian Life Center. You're doing all these things. What are you doing?
You're making garments so that you won't show up. underclothed. At the marriage. Supper. A couple of observations.
First, Notice that there is but one church. There's one church, there's one bride. Isn't that beautiful? It's not that Jesus marries One group of people and says, Well, you're my bride, you're my bride, you're my bride. No, no, no, no.
He's not an adulterer. He's not going to be, he's not going to have a number of brides. It's one bride. And it's one bride from, as the book of Revelation says, from every nation and tongue and people, all the different colors of the world, all brought together. for that beautiful bride.
For the Lord Jesus Christ, one bride. And when we're sitting on the throne, and the Bible does say, he who overcomes, Jesus said, to him I shall grant to sit with me on my throne, even as I overcame and sat with my father on his throne. Wow. Jesus said, you're going to sit with me and you're going to rule with me, and I'm going to be marrying you. And the engagement period is over, the marriage supper has now come, and we're going to celebrate, and we're going to be together for all of eternity.
And that, my friend, is a long time. A long time. There's but one church.
Some people think that Now, I know that we have differences. We have differences in theology with other folks who are also going to be there, and our differences are important to us. But that which unites us as members of the body of Jesus Christ is much stronger than that which divides us. And so, what we need to do is to minimize the differences and to accentuate the unity for those who trust Christ as Savior, mind you. This isn't for everybody, everybody's invited.
in this life. And I'm going to be extending an invitation in a moment, but... But This is the bride, those who are in Christ. The church. is but one church.
Secondly, the church is very costly. Jesus died that he might present to himself. The church. so that he could marry her, so that he could clean her up from the gutter. declare her to be totally pure.
and marry her. and do so rationally, morally. legally and in every way. All right?
Now, think of how much it meant to Jesus. to die for us. What do you think? God thinks. And Jesus thinks of people who are members of his body, who take his people and commitment to the church, and I'm talking about the local church, so casually.
What do you think God thinks of that? I mean, I could just name all kinds of things. For example, if you're going to meet the President of the United States, you'd be there an hour ahead of time. Yet some folks bless them. are late every single Sunday.
to our church. You think, for example, of people who have never, we live in a time, and I just read this this week, that we live in a time when it is endemic. I hope I use that word correctly. I don't use it too often, but it's widespread. How do you like that?
I think that's safer. It is widespread that we live in an era that has been called an era of commitment phobia. People don't want to be committed to anything. I'll attend if it's good, if I like the sermon, I'll be there if I like the music. But if somewhere else has got something going on, I'll be there.
I'm not going to commit. I will not put a stake in the ground and say, here I'm going to be a part of what's happening. I will. Stay at a distance and do what's right for me and include the church when it seems to fit.
So I don't give regularly? I date the church, mind you. But I'd never think of really committing myself to the church. And so I have no regular Way to give. If I have a couple of extra bills in my pocket, I throw them in, but there's no consistent plan to give.
We have a Christian life center that we are all building, and thank God for the hundreds and hundreds. That are helping us, and God knows we need every single person, but the casualness with which we treat Our treasures, our time. and our talents When there are young people, when there are children that need to be mentored, Whether it's here at the church or through kids' club. That's the way in which we sew garments, you see.
So that at the marriage supper of the Lamb we'll actually have something to wear. It is the righteous deeds. You say, well, none of my deeds are that righteous. You've got that right. That's good theology.
Here's what happens. We read the passage this morning, actually. God takes our sinful deeds, and through Christ they are made righteous.
So when we get to heaven, And we have all of these mixed motives on earth. God purifies all that, and so, in the eyes of God, these are righteous deeds. because of our commitment. to one another and our commitment to the Church.
Someone has written, the church community is where we learn to love God and others, where we are strengthened and transformed by truth from the word, where we are taught to pray, to worship, to serve, where we can be most certain that we're investing our time and abilities for eternity, where we can grow in our roles as friends, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers. The church is earth's. Single best place. God especially designed this place. It's the place to start over, the place to grow, and the place to change for the glory of God.
That is the church. that God loves. And you and I should love it too.
Some of us this past week heard Ravi Zacharias. He told an interesting story. He said that he was in Thailand and picked up the Morning newspaper, and found a story about a boy with Down syndrome. who had learned to weave cloth in such a way that it was so artistic that these cloths were being sold. And Ravi was so impressed with the article, he actually tracked the boy down and visited him.
and his mother. What Rave discovered is that this boy who was taught to weave and here has this artistic talent. When he sold his first piece of cloth. That was woven. He was so.
impressed and so excited. That he began to sell others, and so far he has sold 61. of his clothes. is artistic clothes. to people.
When he gets paid, This boy with limited ability. And what a reminder that In God's eyes, nobody is limited. We use those words. But this boy takes his money and he always gives it to his mother because he says, I want mother to have all of it because were it not for mother, Were it not for mother, I wouldn't have the encouragement and the knowledge how to do this.
So this boy is very intent on giving all of the money to his mother. You see, We are weaving garments. Maybe they're not too artistic. Because Jesus said, It is through my church I have eyes that can see human need. Through my church, I have feet that can go to places in need.
Through my church, I have the opportunity to speak words of comfort and hope. To the church, the church represents me on earth. I am still on earth. This is my body. And as they go into neighborhoods and communities, and as they give and go and pray and work and commit, that is my work that they are committing and going and giving and praying for.
That's me. And that's the way in which we weave our clothes.
so that we'll have something to wear. at the wedding feast. Your works are incredibly important. You know, as evangelicals, because we stress that salvation has nothing to do with works, it is a gift. We stress that over and over again.
People think, well, you know, I can get saved and then just drift along and pop in and pop out. God is watching. God is watching. And he's keeping track of even a cup of cold water. whoever it is that put this up here.
given in my name, he'll not lose his reward. Especially today when I need it so badly. And then what do we do? like this boy with Down syndrome. When we're standing there at the wedding feast, And we are now clothed.
by these white linens holy and clean. that have been made clean by Jesus. What do we do? We do like that boy with the Down syndrome. We take our crowns, we take whatever Jesus has given to us and the tremendous privilege and opportunity to be His, and we cast our crowns before Him and we say, Jesus, you get all the glory, all the praise, because if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here.
I'd still be in the gutter. and I'd be somewhere else. You say, well, Pastor Luther, I don't love the church because the church is so imperfect. I was hurt by the church. If you were hurt by us, come and tell us so that we can apologize.
We're sorry. Yeah, the church is imperfect, but Jesus loved the church when we were very. imperfect. Why don't you and I love the church? He loved us.
before we were redeemed. And he's loved us since that time and will love us throughout all of eternity.
So, what keeps us from committing and loving? and giving and going and becoming a part. of something that means so much to God. I conclude with these words. of scripture.
It says Blessed are those, this is now verse 9, blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Blessed are those. And did you know that you don't get an invitation after you die? Hmm. You're either invited here on earth and you accept the invitation while you're alive, in which case then when you die you are indeed invited, but you can't change course.
After you're dead. It is in this life where those decisions are made. And that's why I end by urging those of you who have never trusted Christ as Savior, you've never believed on Him. I'm saying. If you Turn from your sins.
and trust Christ alone. You can join us at the wedding. And after you have received Christ, Your good deeds are being woven. and will turn out to be linen, white. and clean.
Wow. All that for Terrible sinners, I think, is pretty good, don't you? Praise God, am I all alone up here or is anybody else out there? Let's pray, Father. We thank you today that you love the church.
May we love it too. May we cease our criticism. May we cease our critical spirit. Because we're all filled with faults. May we cease, Father, all of the experiences that have kept us.
from wholehearted commitment. And we ask that this church that you love would be a church that we love, that we might love your people even as you do, that we as husbands might. Love our wives as you loved us. And make this transforming, we ask, in Jesus' name.
Now, Before I close this prayer, have you trusted Christ as Savior? Are you sure that you're going to show up at the wedding feast? What you must do is to say, Jesus, I'm a sinner. You died for sinners, and I accept your death as my substitute. Would you tell them that?
Thank you, Father, for your mercy toward us in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. My friend, I want you to listen very carefully. In the New Testament, there is a story, it's actually in John chapter 3, of a man by the name of Nicodemus.
Now, he was a very religious man. He had the right pedigree, the right knowledge, the right morality, but what he didn't have is what he desperately needed, and that is the new birth. And Jesus said to him, You must be born again. I want to ask you the question that Jesus would ask all of us: Are you born again?
Now, it doesn't happen just because you are baptized as an infant or christened. It happens through faith in Jesus Christ. This is so critical. That's why we are making available for you A book entitled The New Birth by Peter Mead Now what this book is going to do is to clarify for you what the new birth really is, because you have to remember that when we get saved, there's something within us that wasn't there before. For a gift of any amount, this book can be yours.
Here's what you do: you go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-1. ninety three thirty seven.
Now I'm going to be giving you that contact info again. I hope that you have time to write it down. Go to rtwoffer.com. Of course, rtwoffer is all one word. rtwoffer.com or pick up the phone and call us at 1-888 218 9337.
There are many things that we can be wrong about. But let us not be wrong. about the new births. It's time again for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life. Those who've lost loved ones find themselves asking questions they may have never thought about before.
Peggy emailed us this question not long ago. My husband of forty years died on march twenty sixth, two thousand six. I'm having trouble adjusting to life without him. He was saved, so I know he's with Jesus. What happens to you when you die?
Do you actually go to be with Jesus? Can the spirits of loved ones see their families? Can they communicate with them?
Well, Peggy, I just want to say, first of all, that I send you my sympathy and my prayers. It's very difficult when you love someone and you've lived with them for so many years to suddenly find that you're a widow or a widower. But in answer to your questions, the answer is yes. The spirit of your husband, if he knew Christ as Savior, is with Jesus. And when I say that, I mean it's your actual husband.
Now, of course, he is without his permanent body. The body has gone to the grave. But it's the real man whom you knew who is with Jesus. His mind, his thinking, who he is, has gone to be with the Lord. Can he see you?
Probably not. There's nothing in the Bible to suggest that. But I've often speculated that if he's interested in how you are doing, and I'm sure that he is, He could also Think about asking Jesus how you are doing and Jesus would tell him And by the way, he loves you with the same love that he had on earth, only more so. Because obviously he's not going to know less than he did when he was on earth, nor is he going to love less, but even love more. But finally The answer to your question is no.
There can be no communication between you and him. You're going to have to wait until you die and go to heaven and join him. And at that time, the Bible says we shall be all together. With the Lord. Thank you for those words of comfort, 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 you can 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.
One thing's for sure, Christians don't need crystal balls to see into the future. The Bible gives tantalizing details about a heavenly kingdom beyond all description, a new Jerusalem with streets of gold.
Next time on Running to Win, don't miss Pastor Lutzer's final message in this series, the future we anticipate. We'll take a peek through the mists of time into the timelessness of eternity. Running to win is all about helping you understand God's roadmap for your race of life. 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.
