Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus. The founder and perfecter of our faith. Consider this: the only thing between us and eternity is time. How we use that time defines our effectiveness for God. We only have one life to live and 24 hours per day to work with.
Today we learn how to carve out time from its bondage to evil and use that time well. Turn with us to Ephesians chapter 5. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Wind with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. We've come to the end of our series on managing God's gifts, focusing today once again on managing our time.
Pastor, every day is an opportunity to either invest our time or to waste it. And you know, Dave. I'm sure that I speak for a lot of people because I certainly speak for myself and say this in retrospect. I've wasted time. time.
But one day I was in London recently and I decided to give a lecture at the tomb of Karl Marx. I knew that Marx was buried there. I knew, of course, about Marxism and its tremendous evils. and I wanted to explain that to people, and as I was preparing that lecture, it dawned on me that he and DL Moody, who founded the Moody Church and the Moody Bible Institute, they were contemporaries for forty six years. and this led me to a study, and actually to a book entitled Marks and Moody, that I'll be telling you more about at the end of this message.
But I want to emphasize this, that don't ever think that philosophers simply are in ivory towers spinning theories. When you stop to think of the impact of Karl Marx, it of course continues to influence the world. But so does the ministry of Dwight L. Moody.
So I want you to listen to this message. It has to do of course with time. And then at the end of the message, I'm going to be giving you some contact info as to how this book can be yours. Yeah. This past week someone asked me a question.
It was, he was actually from a country, a huge country, a country that is larger than the United States landwise that is north of us. And uh He asked me, well, it's a good country too. He asked me a question, he said, would you give me an evaluation of the church in America? I'm really not qualified to do that, quite frankly, because my vision is somewhat narrow here in Chicago, Moody Church, and so forth. But I said I want to say two things to you.
First, There's some positive things happening. There's no question that the prayer movement, for example, happens all over the country. People are getting together for prayer. You find that there is unity among pastors that I know that we never had in the city of Chicago here 20 years ago. There is a coming together, there is a sense of oneness that is taking place, and people are being saved, and the gospel is being preached.
And opportunities are being given, and for that we are grateful. But the negative part is this. We have not been able to stem the moral and the spiritual slide of our country. We simply have not been able to put on the brakes. And I don't know all the reasons why.
But maybe one reason is because we as believers, being in the world, have become so much a part of the world that the unfruitful deeds of darkness that are bombarding us, we have become a part of, and therefore our light has been dimmed, and we are not what we should be in society. We've rationalized and become a part. of the world. You'll notice Paul says that we should live with goodness and righteousness and truth and find out what pleases the Lord. I was thinking to myself in Bible classes In seminary, we have many different courses on theology and church history and church administration.
Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a course entitled, Finding Out What Pleases the Lord? and then doing it. That's what Paul says we should do. He says it is shameful to mention these secret things that are done. And then he says, wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Some people say he's talking about the unsaved because we are not dead, we are alive if we are believers. But maybe the Apostle Paul. Is using this language to speak to us as believers and saying to us in the clearest possible language, you are asleep, you are no longer light in the Lord the way you should be, and therefore Wake Up. Wake up. You see, the times in which we live.
We see society with its debauchery and with its betrayal and with its rampant sexuality and with its seductiveness and all of the things that are pushing upon us. And Paul would say to us as a church today. To me and to you, wake. Up. Understand your times.
Well, let me give you now the second principle. And now we'll finally be able to understand it, I think, with greater force. He says. Redeem the time.
Well, let's read the text. Verse 15. Be careful then how you live. And here I like the King James Version of the Bible. I know that it is cumbersome at some points, and that's why we use a different translation.
But the King James, which I memorized many years ago, says, walk circumspectly. Here it says very carefully. Circumspectly means that you walk in such a way that your eyes are really all about you. If you could possibly have eyes at the back of your head, you would, because you know that your enemy, Satan, and the flesh within, is trying to destroy you. It's trying to ruin your fellowship with Christ.
It is trying to come between you and the sensitivity of the Holy Spirit. When we were in Mexico, I remember seeing these large walls that were built in order to keep in various compounds or various homes and houses because of theft. They were well guarded. And some of those walls were perhaps 10 feet high. made around a house, and then on top, as the concrete was being poured, they put many bits and pieces of broken bottles and glass to discourage people from going over the wall.
But you know that cats walk on the top of those walls. But they walk circumspectly, one foot there, one foot there, one foot there. They don't want to be cut. Listen to me carefully. It is possible for you and for me to make one decision in a moment of time that will bring a lifetime of heartache.
Because we've not been circumspect. Walk. Carefully, there's a devil out there who hates you and wants to destroy you. And he says, then walk wisely, not as the unwise. They're the ones that just go across the broken glass.
They're the ones who kick the traces. They're the ones who say, well, it doesn't matter how I live. No matter what God says I'm doing my thing, don't be unwise like that. And then he says, and this is our word now. Redeem the time.
My translation says making most of every opportunity. I want to use the word redeem. I'll tell you why, because it's in the Greek text. In Greek, the word agoradzo means to redeem, that is, you go to the marketplace and you purchase something. But what Paul uses here is not just agorazzo, he uses the preposition ek or ex.
And we see that, for example, when we have an exit, which means out of. Ex agarazzo means to redeem the time to buy it out of the marketplace. What are we to buy it out of? To buy it out of the bondage of evil. Time must be carved out.
of the bondage of evil that he has just been talking about. What do we carve time out of? My dear friend, many people somehow know that you'll never become a professional baseball player unless you practice. You will never become A vocalist, unless you practice. You'll never be a pianist unless you practice.
But many people think that they are just going to be godly without any disciplines of life, without any time management, that somehow it will just happen. They want to be wholly in a hurry. But it does take time to be holy. And it will never happen unless you carve time out of such things as individual pleasures. And here we can refer again to things that sap our time so much, like television.
Like the internet with all of its absorption and all of its fascination, where people sit hour after hour after hour. Can even be good things like sports. or the news, I could very easily be a news junkie. But it dawned on me the other day, particularly because I've been home in recent weeks, it dawned on me that I am just getting absolutely sick of news. Sick of the news.
For one thing, I've discovered that it's not news at all. All that it is, is the same old thing happening to different people. That's what the news is. What are we supposed to do? We carve the time, we shut off the TV, we shut off the internet, we shut off all of these things, and we say to ourselves that we must buy the time out of all of the bondages and the distractions and the things of this world.
Not only out of personal pleasures, but also out of such things as personal responsibilities, where we say, there are some things I have to do, but some things I don't have to do, and God is going to come first. Because it won't happen. If we don't seize the time, the time will get away from us and it will be gone. Why? Because Paul says the days are evil.
Do you believe that these days are evil? If they are, redeem the time. Yeah. Understand our times. redeem the time, and now notice, prioritize the time.
Still all connected in Paul's mind. We go from verse to verse sometimes not realizing that he has a sequence of thought here. In verse 17, therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery, but instead be filled with the Spirit. Paul is saying, if you want to concentrate on those things that will really help you in your Christian life.
If you want to focus on those things that really have eternal impact, then what you must do is stroke off your life those things that distract you. And he mentions wine. and debauchery and drunkenness. There is some similarity between someone who is filled with the Spirit and someone who is drunk in this sense, that both of them are under the control of something other than themselves. But the alcoholic does things that are shameful, the Christian does things that are joyful, the alcoholic loses self-control, but the Christian is fully in control because one of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control.
And so the contrasts are much greater than the similarities. And the Apostle Paul says, Be filled with the Spirit, and then speak to you one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father.
Now, what I'd like to do in the next few moments is to give you five steps that you can apply. that will change your life forever. Because there are so many people who are disorganized when it comes to spiritual matters. They are not at all. in any realm of discipline.
They think that somehow spirituality is going to happen by osmosis. But it doesn't And the only thing between us and eternity is time. The only thing we have to work with until we see our Lord face to face is time.
So the question to you and the question to me is, how are we going to use it? That's the question. Let me give you Five steps. Number one, determine what you want to become. determine what you want to become.
I'll tell you why we have to begin there. Let's just forget that this is a message and let's pretend that we are talking face to face now over a cup of coffee in a restaurant. Just you and me. You're looking into my eyes, and I'm looking into yours. I have some questions for you.
Do you really want to know God? Do you want to really have a passion for God? Do you want to love God more than you love sin? Is there something within you that says when I stand before Jesus Christ, I want to have something to be able to offer to say that I did something productive and significant and fruitful for his glory, that I became a woman or a man of character and a man or woman of integrity and commitment and focus? Do you really want to say that?
I think that you do or you probably would not be here. But that's where time management begins. Because you see, if we don't know what the goal is going to be, how can we possibly know about steps A, B, and C? Because if we are content with our disorganization, spiritually speaking, if we are content with our lack of Bible reading, if we are content with our lack of prayer, if we are content with our lack of witnessing, well, then everything else that I've said so far and what I'm going to say in the next few moments might as well not be said.
So, in this first point, I want to stir within you some holy discontentment and to say, I only have so many years. Why should I be idle? I want to use them productively for Christ. That's where it begins. That's number one.
Decide. what you want to become. Number two, stroke from the schedule. Stroke from the schedule. everything that belongs to the unfruitful works of darkness.
Do you understand the battle that you're going to be in? Do you understand how Satan is going to rise up and say no, no, no? We're not talking here simply about time management. We're talking about spiritual conflict because those who are involved in secret sins or addictions or unfruitful works of darkness, you can imagine that Satan is going to say no. This time has been mine in the past and it will continue to be.
And so what you need to do is to say, oh God, come to deliver me and take out of my schedule all those things that lead me into. debauchery. and out of fellowship with you. You know, I want to tell you, you can have a heart that is hot for God. You can have a heart that has been cleansed by God.
You can come to church with a great sense of worship and expectation and leave with a sense of cleanliness and joy and then turn on the television. And watch a sensual program, and an hour later, all of your passion and love for God has been drained, and there's a cloud between you and God.
So what do we have to do? We have to stroke from our lives everything that is the unfruitful works of darkness. Number three.
Now, what we need to do is to add those disciplines. that are honoring to God, to add those disciplines. And to realize that if we're going to buy out the time from its evil bondage, we're going to have to recognize that there will be some extra time just along there. By the way, Since I'm on the topic. Have you ever thought of how godly we would be if all of the time that were spent on the internet and television were spent in Bible reading and prayer?
I mean, really, seriously, folks, we would glow in the dark.
So what do you do? You add the spiritual disciplines. You get yourself a devotional guide. And you begin to read the Bible systematically. Perhaps only a chapter or two a day, and there are many fine devotional guides that will help you along this line.
And if you ever miss a day, you don't wait until January the 1st to get started again. You simply say I've missed a day. Or I've missed two days, and now I'm going to pick it up where I was, and I'm going to continue. And you calmly continue. And you begin to pray through the scriptures, as we've been teaching you how, so that you can now pray with a sense of freshness and a sense of ease.
And every day, as you come into the Word of God, you're saying, What new way am I going to be able to pray for my friends and my family and for the missionaries and for Moody Church? What new way am I going to be able to pray for them now? Because. I've been reading the word and I'm going to be praying these scriptures back to God. And then you carve out time from even things that are not sinful but that you enjoy doing, and say, God, I love you so much, I'm willing to say no to something, to say yes.
to you. That's really what our wives want. Those of us who are married, we know that they not only want our leftovers in terms of time, what they would like to do is to see us say no to something that we like to do, but to say, I love you more than I love this activity, so you come first. That's what God wants, too.
So you. Add those things that are pleasing to him. Number four, Now you sign up. You sign up for some course or you take some step That will help you in the right direction. For many of you, it may be beginning to attend our.
Our Sunday school classes and bringing your children, or an adult Bible fellowship. It's beginning to broaden your horizons, or perhaps volunteering for some ministry. Maybe, as we think about the opportunity that we have here at the church with branch ministries, and you begin to say, I want to be involved, I want to do something that is going to get me out of my comfort zone. Taking evangelism explosion so that I'm going to learn how to witness, and so that positively I'm going to have input from others in my spiritual growth because God knows how many years I have left, and soon they will be gone, and I must. Use the time wisely for his glory and for his honor.
Number five. You begin today. You begin today. Today is a good day to pray. Today is a very good day to be reconciled with someone that you know you should be reconciled to, but you've not done it because it feels uncomfortable and you don't want to go over those emotional upheavals.
Today is a good day for you to say, I am going to begin to turn off whatever needs to be turned off, and I'm going to turn on to God, and I'm going to be in His presence until that holy passion is kindled within my life, because you and I know we will never, never overcome our passion for sin until we have a greater passion for Jesus. Because it's a battle of the passions.
So we stay there until God does all that He needs to do in our hearts. By the way, today is also a good day to be saved. The scripture says, Today, if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. I speak to some of you who are listening who have never transferred your trust to Christ. You have never come to believe on him personally.
And you know that you should because you're disconnected from God. Though you admire Christ, He has never become your Savior. Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your heart. Don't turn away from Him when He calls.
Someone has written, the clock of life is wound but once, and no man has the power. To say just when the hands will stop at late. or early hour.
Now is the only time we own to do his precious will. Do not wait until tomorrow. For then the clock. Maybe still. 1,400.
than 40 minutes, a gift. A gift from God. How will we use it. Let's pray. Our father As we think together today, we are so thankful to you for the gift of time.
We do not know when it will run out because the hourglass is running. But we ask for a sense of faithfulness and commitment. Until we see you face to face. Oh, Father. Many of us blush for shame for the many, many hours.
used frivolously. carelessly. And how shall we give an account for you? But that's past. Transform us for the future, we ask.
And make us all that we should be to make those changes that would bring honor to your name. And by the way, if you've never received Christ as Savior, if you're here today and you've never believed on Him, Did you know that even now you can pray, and in the quietness of your heart, say, Lord Jesus. I know that I'm a sinner. I know that Jesus died for sinners. And today, I transfer my trust to him.
I believe in him. and accept him as my personal sin-bearer. Would you tell him that? Father, do in us that which is well-pleasing in your sight. And do not let us go.
until you have blessed us. In Jesus' name. Yeah. Uh My dear friend, Recently, it was my privilege to stand at two different tombstones. the tombstone of Karl Marx in London, and D.
L. Moody in Northfield, Massachusetts. two different lives. They were contemporaries. and we're offering today a brand new book entitled Marx and Moody, Two Contemporaries, Two Gospels, Two Tombstones.
And one choice. What this book will do is, it'll enable you to understand the present culture much better because Marxism continues to influence us, but also it will give you an appreciation for Dwight L. Moody.
I wrote the Marx side. Greg Quiggle, who was a professor at Moody Bible Institute, he wrote the section on Dwight L. Moody.
For a gift of any amount, we're making it available. And remember, this is a brand new publication. Here's what you do. You go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com or pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-8.
9337. What you'll discover is that these two lives Though they were contemporaries for 46 years, they went very different directions. And at the end of the book, we asked this question: what will your legacy be? You can write to us at RunningTowin 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614.
Next time on Running to Win, we begin a series on Christ Among Other Gods, a whirlwind tour of comparative religions showing why Christ is supreme. Don't miss Pastor's first message, the icon of tolerance. Thanks for listening. For Pastor Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.
