Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus. The founder and perfecter of our faith. To those who became His disciples, the call of Jesus was clear and unambiguous. Their response was to immediately leave their nets behind. Are we as quick to heed the call of Christ?
If not, perhaps today's broadcast is tailor-made for each of 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 is showing us portraits of Christ. He's calling, come and see Jesus.
Pastor, I know you've walked along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus called his first band of followers, a calling much higher than the life of fishing they knew. Yes, and you know, Dave, on one of those occasions, I remember that you were with me, and as we walked along those shores, we were reminded of the high cost of discipleship. And, my friend, to day it's not possible to be a disciple of Jesus Christ unless we learn to pray. And if you find your prayer life boring, well We have a resource that we think will be transforming. and this is the second to last day we're making it available.
So here's what you can do. Go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer dot com or call us at one eight eight eight two one eight ninety three thirty seven. The name of the resource is Praying the Bible by Donald Whitney. I promise.
It will transform your prayer life.
Now let us listen and at the end of this message I'm going to be giving you this contact info again. Please take advantage of this resource that will help you in your Christian walk. Yeah. Today I begin with a story. On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks were frequent, a crude little life-saving station was built.
The building was just a hut. And there was only one boat, but the few devoted crewmen kept a constant watch over the sea. With no thought for themselves, they went out day or night tirelessly searching for any who might need help. Many lives were saved by their devoted efforts. After a while, the station became famous.
Some of those who were saved, as well as others in the surrounding area, wanted to become a part of the work. They gave time and money for its support. New boats were bought. Additional crews were trained, and the station grew.
Some of the members became unhappy that the building was so crude. They felt that a larger, nicer place would be more appropriate as the first refuge of those saved from the sea.
So they replaced the emergency cots with hospital beds. put better furniture in the enlarged building.
Soon the station became a popular gathering place for its members to discuss work. and to visit with one another. They continued to remodel and decorate until the station more and more took on the look and character of a club. Fewer members were interested in going out on life-saving missions, so they hired professional crews to do the work on their behalf. The life-saving motif still prevailed on the club emblems and stationary.
And there was a liturgical lifeboat in the room where the club held its initiations. One day a large ship was wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews brought in many boatloads of cold, wet, half-drowned people. They were dirty, bruised, and sick, and some had black or yellow skin. The beautiful new club was terribly messed up. And so the property committee immediately had a showerhouse built outside where the shipwrecked victims could be cleaned up before coming inside.
At the next meeting, there was a split in the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club's life-savings activities altogether because they were so unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club.
Some members insisted on keeping life-saving as their primary purpose and pointed out that, after all, they were still called a life-saving station. But those members were voted down and told that if they wanted to save lives, they could begin their own station.
somewhere down along the coast. As the years went by, the new station gradually faced the same problems the other one had experienced. It too became a club. and its life-saving work became less and less of a priority. The few members who remained dedicated themselves to life-saving.
They in turn then began another station. History continued to repeat itself, and if you visit the coast today, you will find a number of exclusive clubs along the shore. Shipwrecks are still frequent in those waters. But most of the people drown.
Well, as you know, that story is the story of the church. We're to be a life-saving station. And it could be very easily. that we've turned into a club. And we have forgotten.
our primary purpose. The Bible says that Jesus, knowing that he was to die, chose twelve disciples. And the reason that he chose those disciples Is that he had to convince them that they could carry on his work? and he had to equip them for the task. They were to be the life-saving station.
They were to be reaching out to those who were drowning. And you and I need to know that the same Lord who called them calls us to a similar task, to similar responsibilities. And what I want to do this morning is to convince you that you can do God's work and. Also, hopefully to even equip you. That's the agenda.
The passage of Scripture is the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew chapter 4 and The verses are few, and so I shall read them. Matthew chapter 4, where Jesus called two sets of brothers. Two sets of brothers. Chapter 4, verse 18: While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
And he said to them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee. and John his brother In a boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father. and followed him.
What are the steps that Jesus took? to equip people A series, actually, I should say, of twelve men, one of whom was a rebel. to continue his work after his death. First of all, he called them. He called them.
Now, I need to point out that there are really three callings that they experienced. The first was the call to salvation. When we read a passage like this, we think to ourselves: I mean, how could Jesus just be walking along and see two people and they quit everything that they're doing and follow him? Remember this, this is not the first time they met. If we had time, we turn to John chapter 1, where we discover that Andrew comes to Jesus and he brings his brother Simon and he says to Simon, who is Peter, Peter, we have found him of whom the prophets spoke.
We have found the Messiah. Who is called the Christ, and he brings him. to Jesus. That's the call of the gospel that's given to everyone. And if you're listening here today, we say to our Jewish friends: the first call.
The first call is the call To see Jesus as Messiah, as Christ, as Lord. There's a second call, and that is the call to be a disciple, to be a learner. And for that group, Jesus had quite a large number. In fact, at one time, he sent out 70, the Bible says, who went out two by two, which means that they had 35 different teams going house to house. And then there was also, though, this specific call to be.
A disciple The twelve. Matthew chapter 10, verse 2 says that Jesus called the twelve disciples to them, and then it says, And the names of the apostles are, and it lists them. as apostles. And Luke says, he called 12 whom he also called apostles. They were a unique group, they were going to spend full time with him.
They are the ones. Who were going to follow him around, who would be with him in Galilee and in Jerusalem, and wherever this rabbi went, that's where those disciples. we're going to be.
So he called them. Aren't you struck with the fact whom he didn't call? He didn't call the Pharisees, He didn't call the Sadducees, He didn't call the elite. As I looked into this, I was astounded once again. at the ordinariness of the men that Jesus called.
And you know they were slow learners. They were hard-hearted. One day a multitude comes and they say to Jesus, Well, send the multitude away so that they can buy their own bread. And Jesus said, No, you give them to eat. And Jesus wanted them to be the ones who would see the miracle, but they were quite hard-hearted.
One day, People were bringing little children to Jesus so that he could touch them and bless them. And they said, Well, you know, he's busy. And they tried to hinder the people from doing it. And Jesus said, No, invite the little children to come to me. And then this really astounds me.
They had several arguments as to who would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Can't you just imagine that happening? Wouldn't that be something if among the pastoral staff at Moody Church there would be an argument as to who is the greatest? Wouldn't the elders, if they heard about it, fire all of us and start over again. I think so.
And here you have disciples who are petty, who are self-willed, and who are calloused. And this is the group upon which Jesus put this responsibility, and these are the ones who are going to carry on after his death. Wow. A friend of mine says that Jesus doesn't call the equipped. He equips those.
who are called So first of all, I want you to know that he called them. Secondly, He challenged them. The call was follow me the challenge is and become fishers of men.
Now notice how Jesus takes their vocation, which they were good at. They'd been out on the Sea of Galilee for all of their lives, born into homes were fishing. was the vocation. Jesus is saying, I'm going to take your vocation as a fisherman and I'm going to translate that into someone who is going to catch people. And so Jesus makes that transition because he knew that there were qualities in fishermen who would be very, very good, good qualities, once they began to fish for people.
namely to evangelize. What are those qualities? First of all, fishermen are patient. Patient. I just marvel at the fact that there are people who go fishing early in the morning, even at Lake Michigan.
And throw Hooks into the sea and spend an entire morning drowning worms. This has been. This has been endlessly fascinating to me that somebody would do that. Patience. Hour after hour after hour.
And I say, have pity at least upon the worms, but there they are. Courage in those days, their little boats out on the Sea of Galilee were often beaten by the waves. The Sea of Galilee could have some tremendous storms, and so they'd have to go out. You want to be a fisher of men, a fisher of people, you want to witness for Christ. You're going to have to have some courage because sometimes it is not easy and sometimes it is not convenient.
I think of knowledge. You need to know what bait fits what fish. Common sense. You stay out of the way. Let the bait and the hook do its work.
And of course, perseverance. Have you ever met somebody who's really in love with fishing? I mean, there are actual people who pay good American money. to go up north The country that is north of us has Very, very good fishing. And they'll go up there and they'll fish.
But if you ever talk to a fisherman and you say, Well, you know, were you fishing yesterday? Yeah, I fished the whole day. Did you catch anything? And he says, no, I challenge you to say to him, well, I guess that's the end of fishing. You'll never fish again in your life, will you?
Fishermen say, are you serious? Just because I didn't catch anything yesterday doesn't mean that I'm not going to continue to fish. I will fish, fish, fish, fish, fish, fish until I catch some. Aren't we that way in witnessing? I remember when I was in college, I made friends with a number of students who clearly did not know Jesus as Savior, and we used to eat lunch together.
And I would give them some good reasons why they should believe on Jesus. And to my knowledge, none of them did. And I remember how discouraged I came. I, in effect, said to God, God, why should I even bother if people don't believe? What a good fisherman says is, I'm going to do it and do it and do it and do it.
If I don't catch anything, I'm going to do it, do it, do it, do it, do it. Persistence.
Now, listen to me carefully. God was going to take these qualities. Fishing in Galilee and translate them into fishing for people. You know, there's some of you here who are gifted in what we call sometimes secular vocation, though you're serving God in the secular vocation. I recognize that.
But you're gifted as bankers and accountants and computer geeks, and you have the ability. I mean, isn't that okay? Isn't that what they are? Let me tell you, they're sure something. They're sure something.
And you have the ability. to be able to do this and your writers. And you don't understand that In the Christian community, your giftedness is desperately needed, and some of you who are about to retire. Want to spend the rest of your life. In sunshine.
Doing nothing, having all day to do it. Listen to me. God may be equipping you. To take those gifts and translate them into the mission field, into Christian service, into work for which you are uniquely qualified. And God said to these people, you're doing this kind of fishing, I'm going to introduce you to a different kind of fishing, but the qualities that you need for this side of the work.
you're going to need for the other side. Listen, you are uniquely gifted. Don't ever spend. the last years of your life. doing nothing.
There are so many worthwhile things God has given you to do. Isn't it amazing? Finally, when you get it all together and you find out what it's all about, you leave it.
Now you transition. into a brand new form of service. First of all, he called them. Secondly, he challenged them. Thirdly, he partnered with them.
And this story is found in the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Luke. Luke chapter 5. Because you see, Jesus said, if you're going to be fishers of men, if you're going to be fishers of people, Why then indeed, what I'm going to do is to show you that I know something about your secular vocation, and I'm going to prove to you that you can do my work. I'm going to partner with you in the fishing business. This is a remarkable story because the crowd is pushing in on Jesus, remember?
They're getting so near the shore that he feels that if he takes another step back, He'll be in the water.
So what he does is, there are two boats there and he says, I'm going to get into one of the boats and I'm going to let it go out maybe a hundred feet from the shore. And he sat in the boat and the crowd was right up to the shore, right their toes were touching the water. and he taught them. And we can imagine that he began teaching maybe at mid-morning and now it's noon and Peter is washing and mending the nets because Peter and his companion were out all night fishing. And Jesus said to him in verse 4, Put out into the deep and let your nets down.
for a catch. Yeah. You know why I love this story? It's because it shows the power of Jesus. It is the story of how Jesus caused the fish.
to go into their nets. It's the power of Christ. But you and I can't have that power unless we learn how to pray. And so many Christians, God bless them, They find prayer rather boring. It's a few words given to God at the beginning of the day.
I have a resource that we are making available for you. It's a book entitled Praying the Bible by Donald Whitney. It's transforming because it will enable you to pray scripture so every morning you're excited to know, what am I going to be praying today? For a gift of any amount we're making it available for you, and I might add that this is the second to last day we are making this offer. I sure hope that you have a pen or pencil handy, because I'm going to be giving you some contact info.
Here's what you can do. Go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer dot com or pick up the phone and call us at one eight eight eight. 218. 9337.
Now, because this has a sense of urgency, I'm going to be giving you that contact info one more time. Go to RTW Offer. Dot com or call us at 1-888-218-1. nine D three thirty seven. Remember the title of the book, Praying the Bible by Donald Whitney.
It's time now for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life. Lisa listens to running to win in Concord, New Hampshire. And she has this question. My husband and I have been married for seventeen years. He is not a believer and does not work.
My friends tell me I should get a divorce because he is holding me back. but I believe that divorce is a sin. What should I do? Lisa, there are several things that I'd like to say to you about your situation, and I think that others who are listening are going to benefit from what I have to say. First of all, the Bible is very clear that if there is a wife who is married to an unbelieving husband she should not leave him, because he's an unbeliever.
Remember the Apostle Paul says, What do you know, O wife? but that your husband is sanctified by your relationship. And so you have in the life of your husband a very positive input. And as a result of that the Bible makes it very clear that wives should stay with unbelieving husbands, and of course the opposite would be true as well. A believing husband should stay with an unbelieving wife.
That's the first thing. Secondly, we need to always keep in mind that the Bible says that the wife is to win her husband over. without a word.
Now this is found in First Peter chapter three. Peter says that if there are those whose husbands do not obey the word, they may be one By the wife without a word. That's actually a paraphrase, but that's what the text says. Husbands are notorious for not responding to wives Who witnessed to them? who want to cajole them or to manipulate them into faith or going to church, they react against that.
But the Bible says that through your conduct. It's there in the text. His heart will be affected by your life.
Now, I have to tell you that frequently there are Christian women who do not act Christianly. towards their husband. I'm sure that you're not one of them, but That actually negates this promise of how God is going to win your husband.
Now, of course, if there is abuse, of course you should leave, you should run to get help. But just because a man is an unbeliever and out of work, as your husband seems to be, that's no reason to leave him. Then I should also give a word about the importance of vows. You know, the Bible says this, that the Lord honors those, blessed are those, who swear to their own hurt. and yet do not change.
You may look back in your life and regret that you married your husband you may think to yourself I should have married some one else. Let me tell you, the minute you begin to go down that path, That path has has many danger points along the way. You married this man? You're committed to him? You're going to be faithful to him.
You are going to be silent in the sense that you aren't going to try to control him or manipulate him into faith. You're going to give him to God, trust God for him. And remember, my sister, Eternity is coming. God rewards those who are faithful. Even when faithfulness means sacrifice.
Thanks so much for communicating with us. God bless you, and I trust that you will have a very fulfilling marriage. That's some wise counsel from Dr. Erwin Lutzer for Lisa in Concord, New Hampshire. Thank you, Dr.
Lutzer. If you'd like to hear one of your questions answered, go to our website at rtwoffer.com and click on Ask Pastor Lutzer or call us at 1-888-218-9337. That's one eight eight eight two one eight ninety 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.
Next time on Running to Win, a fresh look at what it might mean for us to leave our nets behind and follow Jesus. 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.
