Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus. The founder and perfecter of our faith.
Some feel that if a Christian advocates a pro-life position, then he or she is politically active. Others complain that such people are crossing the line, separating church and state. Is this an issue? Or does fighting for the rights of the unborn mean that involvement in politics is what a committed Christian must do? 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, what's the best way for a Christian who supports pro-life to express that belief in an effective way?
Well, Dave, as you know, I've spoken about these things before, but what I want to emphasize is this: as a pastor, I have frequently had the opportunity of counseling women who have had an abortion. What I've discovered oftentimes is shame, deep regret, I wonder whether or not they can be forgiven, and the answer, of course, is yes. I remember counseling a woman who said, Whenever I see a three-year-old girl in a store, it reminds me of the little girl that I killed. Through abortion. I assured her that even though she had that memory, The fact is that God's grace and that God's forgiveness cleanses us from all sin.
She should not be defined by her past, but look forward to her future. and I can think of no better way to illustrate that than the book I have in my hand entitled Dory, The Girl Nobody Loved. She would have been aborted if abortion had been legal in her time, but it's a story of redemption, it's a story of hope, and I'll tell you more. following this message. Let's go to the pulpit of Moody Church and listen.
Okay. Um It says in chapter 6, verse 1, In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. There's a change in leadership happening in Judah. Uzziah, a king largely righteous, also doing some foolish things. He dies, and the throne of Israel, the throne of Judah, is empty.
So Isaiah is in convulsion of spirit. He's saying, Who is going to lead us now that the king is dead? And he goes into the temple, and he sees that on this empty throne, he receives a vision on which God is seated. I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filled the temple. And the seraphim, these are burning ones, these are angels.
They have six wings. With two, they cover their face in reverence. With two, they cover their feet in humility. And with two, they fly as a symbol of their obedience. And they say, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts.
The whole earth is full of his glory. Isaiah said, I saw God high, and I saw God. Holy. I saw him holy. Holiness of God is the only attribute in all the Bible that is raised to the third power.
Nowhere do you read in the Bible, and God is love, love, love. No, no, that's not in the scripture. But when it comes to holiness, it is holy, holy, holy as being God's most fundamental intrinsic characteristic. Holiness. of God.
And suddenly, as Isaiah saw God. And by the way, is not that exactly what you and I need to see today? I think that it is generally known that we have today in Washington a crisis in moral leadership. What is it that we need to see? We need to see God.
We need to see God. Isaiah saw God. Secondly, Isaiah saw. himself and there is the seventh woe. Verse five.
He sees God And suddenly he says, Woah! Is me. Woe is me, I've been talking about my country. But now mine eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts, and now I begin to see what God is really like. And I say, oh.
I'm a part of the problem. I'm a part of the problem. Woe is them. But also woe is me. And then he begins to think about his speech.
He says, I am a man of unclean lips. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. He said, I dwell in a city and in a country of unclean lips, because he says, Mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. And so he sees himself. And what does he see afterwards?
He sees His responsibility. Verse 8, then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? And he said, Here am I. Send me. And the Lord says, Go, go, Isaiah, go.
When you get home this afternoon, you can read the rest of this chapter, but I'll tell you, it is not very optimistic. God says, Go to this people, and I want you to know they're not going to hear. You're going to preach to them. but they're not going to see. And you're going to urge them to repent, and their wills are going to be hardened.
And from the standpoint of man, you are going to be a failure. There will be a remnant, but for the most part, they will not hear. They have substituted themselves for God, and remember, the heart wants what it wants when it wants it. You say, Well, Pastor Lutzer, would you take a little time to somehow summarize all that you're saying today and to bring it together? in a funnel so we can hang on to it.
Thanks for asking me to do that. Because that's exactly what I'd like to do.
So, let me give you three concluding observations that hopefully will put all of this in some kind of perspective that will help us. Number one. In the presence of God, In the presence of God. There is not much difference. Between us.
There's not much difference between us. You see, it was one thing for Isaiah to say, Woe to the greedy, and woe to those who are filled with sensuality, and woe to the murderers, and woe to the alcoholics. Woe, woe, woe, woe. But when you see God, You begin to say, Oh, whoa. To me, woe to me.
My heart isn't righteous. Either. I wish that I were as holy as the sermons. I preach. I'd like to be.
But I'm not. You see, when we begin to see God, we begin to understand that. Our responsibility is to speak to the brokenness of the world of which we are a part because we too are fallen creatures. We could ask ourselves which building is the tallest. We say, well, the Sears Tower is so much taller.
than Moody Church. And you are right if we compare them among themselves.
Okay. But let's suppose that we take a different comparison. Instead of comparing the height of our building with the building down the street, let us compare them with the farthest star and what distance they are from the farthest star. Oh, well, suddenly the difference between the two buildings is negligible. It doesn't even count.
Because this building and that building looked at from that light. Or very much. The same. Of course, there are some sins that are greater than others. Of course it would be true to say abortion.
is murder because you're snuffing out a precious human life. But I want you to know today that when we come before God and stand before Him. We are all sinners. We are all sinners. And what we need is to go on now.
to a second observation. A second observation. In the presence of God there is cleansing and there is forgiveness. In the presence of God there is cleansing and there is forgiveness. Isaiah saw his sin and cried out to God.
And the Lord had a coal taken from off the altar and brought, and it says in verse 7: He touched my mouth, and it said, Behold, this has touched your lips, and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is. Forgiven. And here's where I want to speak to those of you. who have had abortions. I want to tell you today of God's forgiveness and his cleansing.
Some of you have had that experience and it has been put behind you and you've been able to get over it.
Some of you are like the woman who said to me some time ago: though it's been years ago since I had an abortion, I still feel the emptiness, the anger. And the guilt. What does it mean to be pro-life? To be pro-life means that we not only oppose abortion, Which we should do. But it also means that we are involved in helping people pick up the pieces.
after they've had abortions. That we are involved in such things as crisis pregnancy centers, which give some young women alternatives and which give them hope, and that we might be involved as a redeemed community, compassionately dealing with those who have had the kind of pain that many. have experienced. You see, if I could sit down and listen to women who have had abortions, if they were to share with us. their experience.
Within five minutes, we would be in tears. We would hear stories about how they did not want an abortion, but their boyfriend pressured them into it. We would hear how sometimes the family wanted it because they felt that their reputation would be ruined. We would hear stories of broken promises, of false hopes, of dashed dreams. We would hear about what happened in those abortion clinics and the lies that were told and the manipulation that went on.
We would hear stories that would make us weep. But in the midst of that, I say to you today that there is cleansing, there is forgiveness, not only for the women who have had abortions, but for the sensual, self-centered, irresponsible men who were responsible for their pregnancies. To them we also say, You come with your need, and you come with your sin, and with your failure, and you come before the holy God, and Jesus Christ died for sinners so that we might be able to come before Him. and to in effect hear the voice of God say, Your sins are Forgiven. In the presence of God, There isn't much difference between us.
In the presence of God, there is cleansing and forgiveness for us and for our nation. For if those to whom Isaiah had preached had come to God, they too could have been cleansed, even as he was. A thirdly. In the presence of God. There is something for us to do.
In the presence of God, there is a commission that is given. Whom shall I go, and who will go for us? And the Lord said, You Go.
Now, I want you to notice that before God said go, Isaiah had to say woe. When he said, Woe is me, God says, Now you go. Have you ever worked with a Christian? Who has said go, but he has never said woe. He has never seen himself in God's presence, and that's why he's so egotistical.
That's why he's so hard to work with, that's why he's so opinionated, that's why he burns out easily and becomes very obnoxious in the work, is because he's saying go and with Isaiah he has never had to say woe is me. For I I am ruined. I am undone apart from God's mercy. and apart from God's grace. But once we have been in God's presence and received His cleansing and forgiveness, It is impossible to simply sit by.
Once you have met God. And to you and to me today, he says, go. And to some of you, he says, go help those who are working in the crisis pregnancy center. I think our bulletin has some information about that. Help them.
To others, he may be saying, go and write to your congressman. To others, he may be saying, go and begin that Bible study in the high-rise. Talk to Pastor Milko.
So that that ministry can be begun. I mean, I don't know what God is saying. He is not saying the same to all of us, but this much I know: that once we have seen the King, the Lord of hosts, And the coal has been taken from off the altar and placed in our heart. There is a fire within us that will not let us sit by. For the ride, without any involvement, without any sacrifice, without any willingness to be involved with God's work on earth.
God's message to you and to me today is Take time. to see. God. And when you do, you will say, whoa. And after that God will say, Go.
But it begins by seeing him. It begins with a coal from off the altar placed. In our mouths and in our hearts. It begins with the cleansing and the forgiveness that we need within the church before we can be effective to talk about those. Outside.
and the people. in the world. Yes, woe to them. Woe to them. But unless We're forgiven and cleansed.
Woe to us. Two. Let's pray. Our father. We look at our nation with its great, great needs.
We want to ask your forgiveness for. For the fact that you are constantly snubbed day by day, you are insulted. Because we have put ourselves in your place. We have called ourselves God. And we have said that our convenience And how our desires override anything that you say in your word.
Forgive us as a nation. Forgive us, Father. Forgive the things that happen that cause the social, moral, and spiritual breakdown that we see around us. We blush for shame. But then, Father, forgive us as a church, too.
We've squandered your opportunities. We've taken lightly what you've given us. We've come to Moody Church many who were not involved. Do not pray, do not work, are not meaningfully involved, and we've drifted and we have not. We have not considered the works of the Lord.
God, we need to hear from you as well. And then there may be those who are here who have never received Christ as Savior, they've never been washed. They've never heard the voice of God say, thy sins are forgiven. We pray that today they will be drawn to a Christ who forgives, to a God who is merciful if they come. His way through the Savior.
Oh God. Do as seems good in your sight among us. or we are needy. In Jesus' name. I'm in.
What a reminder that when we are in the presence of God, we see our sin, we see His holiness. and it brings about a deep repentance. And as a result of repentance, there is grace. And there is hope. And we begin to see that the people around us need the forgiveness and the grace of God even as we do.
I'm holding in my hands a book I wish were in your hands, and it can be, by the way. It's a book entitled Dory the Girl Nobody Loved.
Sometime I'd like to tell you how we met Dory many years ago. My wife and I were together, and she and her husband became great friends, and I wrote her story. It's a story of abuse and rejection. How would you like to be taken to an orphanage? dropped off like a package, and your mother visit you twice, in seven years.
It's a story of tears. of hopelessness. but also a story of grace. God took her through one trial after another. and as a result of that she met her husband, they became missionaries.
It's a story of hope and redemption. Sure hope that you have a pen or pencil handy, because I want you to have this resource, and this is what you do. Go to rtwoffer.com.
Now I'm going to be giving you that contact info again. because I am deeply convinced that this book will be transforming. It's a story, yes, of grace, but the wonder Of God's Redemption. Go to rtwoffer.com and for a gift of any amount, this book can be yours, or if you prefer. pick up the phone and call us at one eight eight eight 218.
9337. As I've mentioned before, if you think that this book is not for you, it certainly is for some one whom you know. Right now, go to rtwoffer.com or pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-9337. It's time now for another chance for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life. During the Reformation many churches got rid of the statues and artwork that depicted God, in accordance with the Bible's commands about idolatry.
Dr. Lutzer, a listener named Shirley, has this question. I'm a new Christian trying to share my faith with others. I've been talking to a friend about how Hindoo people worship idols. And she replied that we as Christians also commit idolatry because of the cross of Jesus in the front of our church.
is having statues of saints and crosses idolatry?
Well, Shirley, I want to thank you for this question because I think it is a very good one. and I need to say that I really do think that there is a difference between having a cross in a church You don't bow before the cross it's simply a symbol reminding us that Jesus Christ died for us. I think that there is a big difference between that and having statues in churches. that people oftentimes will bow before as if to say that somehow that object becomes a point of contact. between them and God.
That, I think, is idolatry. For example, if you go into the Vatican in Rome, there is a statue there of Peter. It was actually a melted down statue of Zeus. but remade into a statue of Peter. People go before it, they bow before it, they touch Peter's toe.
I asked a tour guide why people do that, and she said, Well, there is this tradition that. If you do that and you die, you go directly into heaven and you bypass purgatory.
Now I need to say very quickly that Catholic theologians would say that this is only mythology. But the point is still this, that it is very easy for us to sometimes think that salvation is mediated somehow through an object. Through a statue or even through a piece of wood. But when you have a cross I think people understand. that this is not an object that somehow grants grace.
It is simply there to remind us that Jesus died for our sins. By the way, before I conclude... Do you remember the story in the Old Testament where Moses took a serpent of brass and put it up? And the people who looked at the serpent, they were healed from their disease? Later on we discover that that serpent of brass became a snare to the people.
Because they began to think that somehow it had special power. And you remember how the serpent of brass was taken, and it was smashed, and it was destroyed. because people had begun to think that it was the object that is important. That is idolatry.
So let us make sure that we understand that God connects with us directly in our hearts, without any objects, without any statues, and for that matter without any crosses. But I think that most of us don't use pictures of the cross in that way. It's only a symbol. It is not a means by which grace is received.
Some words of counsel, wise words from Dr. Erwin Lutzer. For you, Shirley, and for all of us. If you'd like to hear your question answered, go to our website at rtwoffer dot 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 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's easy to have tunnel vision, seeing life through the narrow view of our immediate circumstances. But being committed to Christ means taking a wider view. And next time, we'll learn about commitment, seeing the world.
Plan to join us. For Pastor Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church. I'm going to use a bottle of the same method.
