The Cost Of Avoiding The Cross Part 2

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Peter could not imagine his master nailed to a cross and told him so. But Matthew chapter 16 records a stern rebuke from Jesus.

Get thee behind me, Satan. Jesus knew that the cross was his destiny, planned by God from all eternity. 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, we're learning about Peter, a man chiseled by the master's hand. Peter had to learn that the cross was unavoidable, despite his well-intentioned efforts to prevent it. You know, Dave, you're absolutely right. This is a remarkable passage because after all, Peter, who loved Jesus, ends up speaking the words of Satan.

And of course, Jesus, when he said, get behind me, Satan, he didn't mean that Peter was Satan, but what he was saying is that, Peter, the words that are coming out of your mouth are in line with Satan's intention for me, because the devil did not want to see Jesus Christ go to the cross. But thankfully, he overruled that, and today we are redeemed. We here at Running to Win are so excited about all of the ministries that God has given to us. And it's because of people just like you that we can continue to expand this ministry.

Would you consider helping us? And this is a very special time. It's special because we have those who are contributing to matching gifts. In other words, whatever you give to the ministry of Running to Win, it will be doubled. Fifty dollars becomes a hundred. Twenty-five becomes fifty. Well, you can do the math. Here's what you can do.

Go to rtwofferer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337 and your gift will be doubled. Now, if you missed that contact info, I'm going to be giving it again at the end of this broadcast. Are you, by the way, surprised or troubled by the fact that Peter could at one moment speak as the agent of the living God and speak under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit? Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, and a moment later speak under the inspiration and according to the wisdom of Satan? Are you troubled by that? Are you troubled by the fact that Jesus said to Peter, you are the rock and you are going to have a place in the foundation of the building of the church? And then just a few verses later in our Bible, Jesus Christ says in the middle of verse 23, you're a stumbling block to me. And instead of being that platform, that rock upon which the church should be, if not built, at least he would have a part in introducing you to the part in introducing the Gentiles to the church, which is involved in the power of the keys, as we noticed in a previous message. And now this rock becomes a stone of offense, trying unwittingly to trip Christ up. Are you surprised at that?

Well, you may be, but you shouldn't be because all of us can be like that at times. There are times when we can sing songs, we can praise God with our lips, and we can say beautiful things which are right, and even say them under the inspiration and the guidance of God's blessed Holy Spirit, and moments later be saying some very vile things that the devil would be very happy to hear. Tell you this, we're sure no better than Peter.

We may be worse, but we are no better than he, that's for sure. And you know something? It is also possible for us to nullify the cross. You see, if there's anything that Satan doesn't like, it is the cross. You say, well, yes, but Satan didn't prevent Christ from going to the cross. It is now a historical fact that Jesus died.

Yes. So you and I can't be in the position of talking Christ out of going to the cross or trying to, as Peter did, that's true, but you and I can diminish the cross too, because by nature we don't like the cross. The cross is, if it's anything, it is the the weapon that goes to the depths of our being and runs cross grain to everything that we would naturally think about salvation. Let me give you some ways in which we tend to avoid the cross today. We can avoid the cross even by thinking that there are some sins that are too big for God to forgive. That's diminishing the cross.

It's nullifying what God did. This past week, as you know, we received many, many letters every single day here at the church because of our radio ministry. Someone handed me a letter and I didn't read it all, but the letter said that we should pray for a young woman who has been sexually abused. Well, we get dozens of letters like that. That was not the thing that made it unusual, but the next paragraph said, I am one of her abusers.

Wow. You know, it dawned on me the other day, we talk about sexual abuse and that's why we have a sexual redemption seminar. One of the reasons is to help people with emotional and spiritual healing because of the devastation of wrong views of sexuality, but the other day I was thinking, you know, we're always dealing with the victims of abuse. Where in the world are the abusers? They've got to be wandering around somewhere. We've got to have some who are listening today, either in this congregation or over the radio. They are out there because these things aren't happening in a vacuum. Is there anything we could say to them?

The answer is yes. When Jesus said it is finished on the cross, that death even paid a sacrifice to God the Father for those who abuse children. I have to tell you, it's hard to say that because how can people abuse children? I don't know how, but this much I know, they can also be forgiven because when Jesus died on the cross, he became an abuser legally dying for that sin. No wonder Isaac Watts wrote, well might the sun in darkness hide and shed its glories in, when Christ the mighty maker died for man, the creature's sin. Don't ever diminish the cross by saying, oh the sin is too big to be forgiven. No, it is not because the cross is mighty and it is complete.

It is finished. We can also diminish the cross by, as Christians, living with guilt because we think that the guilt is partial payment for the sin that we've committed. That's diminishing the cross. It's kind of Protestant penance that some people go through. It diminishes the cross. Oh yes, there are consequences to sin. God will discipline us because of those consequences. But guilt is only designed to lead us to the cross and once we have been there, staring at the wonder of somebody who died for us and seeing the blood that was shed on our behalf and receiving to our bosoms the forgiveness that was purchased there, once that has happened, we no longer need to think that our guilt is partial payment for sin because Jesus paid it all. But by nature, we want to diminish the cross. We say, it can't be that great.

Yes, it is that great. We can diminish the cross as Christians by thinking to ourselves that we can avoid the implications of living a cross-bearing life. Look at what Jesus said in verse 24. Then Jesus said to his disciples, if anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. You say, well, what is the cross? Is the cross an illness? Sometimes people say, you know, I have to bear my cross.

They'll talk about some kind of sickness or some kind of tragedy. It may be related, but you know what the real bearing of the cross is? Jesus talks about following Christ and losing your life in verse 25. The cross is to die to self-will.

You see, all of us have a protective coating. Not a one of us walks with God as well as we'd want people to think we do, including myself. And so what we do is we encase ourselves in this life, hiding from others our true selves so that we might live and be able to grasp all the things that this world has to offer. When Jesus says that taking up your cross means a willingness and humility to actually let God and maybe others find out who you are and say no to all of the self-will that wants to rule our lives the way we want to have them ruled. Jesus said, except a corn of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone. You see, the reason that so many of us have not borne fruit yet is because at root we have not let God deal with self-will.

We have absolutely not let him do it. No matter how well we sing sometimes we still hold back. Why? Because there's something within us that says I do not want to face the full implications of what it is like to yield and to bow to the authority of that cross and as Jesus carried his own cross for me to carry my own and to simply say Lord I'm yours for whatever and all the pain that other people give me and all the grief that other people give me and all of the difficulties that circumstances give me I will accept as part of the way in which you are breaking me down to show me in a greater way my need of you. That's what the cross is. We don't like that do we?

So let's hurry on. There's another way that we can diminish the cross and that is by thinking that there are other ways of salvation. You think of this, there are ministers in pulpits in America today who are standing up and telling their people that they can save themselves or that they don't need Christ or that all that they need is good teaching and the minister is doing that because of love. He doesn't want to offend people because of the cross. He doesn't perhaps believe in the cross quite himself and he certainly doesn't like to talk about such things as a blood sacrifice and it's all love just like Peter.

Oh you don't need to do that because there's another way. What does Jesus say? You're setting your mind on the interests of men not the interests of God.

I want you to know today there is no other way. You know how some of you are diminishing the cross? Can you can you believe this and I know this to be true because whenever I have the opportunity I like to talk to people about Jesus. This afternoon God willing I'll be flying to Akron to speak in a service there and then be with pastors all tomorrow morning for three hours at least after speaking at a breakfast so you can pray for me but if I'm sitting on the plane and if God gives me the opportunity I'm going to talk to the person next to me about Jesus but you know what I find? There are some people who think that they don't need Jesus.

Honestly. They actually think that they're going to save themselves from the coming wrath of God. They don't need a savior. They don't need the cross because they're as good as their neighbor or the next person.

What do you think Jesus would say? If Peter here in this suggestion was speaking as the word of Satan think of all those who have so given themselves over to self-righteousness that they think that they do not need that cross. Yeah we diminish the cross too don't we? You know what the difference is between Christianity and all the other religions of the world? Most of the other religions have blood sacrifices. They sacrifice animals. Sometimes they even sacrifice themselves and they offer blood to God. The difference between all that and Christianity is that in Christianity God himself offers the blood.

That's the difference. Yes. See from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down.

There such love and sorrows meet and thorns compose so rich a crown. I love the cross. Do you get that impression?

I hope so. You know why I do. It's because I'm a sinner and I need the cross. I needed the cross yesterday. I needed the cross this morning.

I'm going to need it this afternoon and God knows I'm going to need it tomorrow morning. And yet we want to avoid the cross. You've heard the story. The man who had the responsibility of taking care of the switches of a bridge and as the train was coming he gave the signal that the bridge would be down and so that huge drawbridge began to go down for the coming train. And then the man realized that his own son was caught in the gears.

But there was nothing he could do. To reverse the movement meant that the train would smash and hundreds would be killed so he just let that bridge grind down and kill his boy. And as the train sped across the bridge everybody was waving at the man who had that responsibility and having no idea that he just gave his son for them.

And that's the way people are. Just moseying along forgetting. My friend, God gave his son for you. Jesus must go to Jerusalem, the text says, to suffer, to die, to offer himself so that we could be cleansed, forgiven, welcomed by God and received by him. Have you received him as your savior? Have you honestly thought that you could get to heaven without the cross, without belief in the Christ who died there and the sacrifice that was made for sinners?

Did you honestly think that? Get thee behind me, Satan, because you are not setting your mind on God's interests but on man's. That is humanistic thinking that will lead you to eternal separation from almighty God. Nobody is saved without the cross. Let's pray. Now, Father, what more can be said except the fact that we do love you and we do desire to serve to serve you? And we pray for those who are present this morning who have never trusted in the cross. We pray for Christians who think that they have sinned too greatly to be forgiven. Help them to understand the wonder and the completeness of what Jesus did. We pray for those, Lord, who are unsaved today. May they receive you as savior at this very moment. We ask, Lord Jesus, that in a wondrous way, your Holy Spirit would lead them to saving faith. Lord, I've said enough.

Just do whatever you have to do. Amen. My friend today, have you savingly believed on Jesus? Have you believed in the cross? That is to say, the work that Jesus did on the cross, shedding his blood for our sins.

It's the only way to the Father. I urge you today to trust Christ as savior. And if you've already done that, would you consider helping us in this ministry? We're so thankful for the expanding ministry of Running to Win. And you can become a part of it. And this is a very special time because we have some matching gift friends who say that they are willing to match whatever is given to the ministry of Running to Win up to 90,000 dollars. Well, you can become a part of that.

Your 10 dollars becomes 20 and then all the way up. Here's what you can do. Go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com. You can do that right now. Or call us at 1-888-218-9337. That's rtwoffer.com.

Or 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. Some of the great leaders of the past have skeletons in their closets.

This has come to light for a listener named Dean, who says, I'm thankful for Moody Radio and listen to it all the time, especially Running to Win. I do have one concern, however. In some of your sermons, you quote Martin Luther and seem to hold him in high regard. I read Lutzer's book, The Jews and Their Lies, and have to say that his suggestions of dealing with Jews were parallel to Hitler's and the Nazi Party's methods. It's very hate-filled and anti-Christian. On the basis of what I read, I don't think I could attend a Lutheran church again.

I've been told by my friends that this is a knee-jerk reaction and isn't relevant today. Although I'm not a Lutheran, my mother and mother-in-law are, and I occasionally attend church with them. I feel it necessary to tell them about Luther's writings and opinions, lest they follow false teachers, no matter how well-intended they seem. Before I make a final decision, I thought I should contact you and see what you had to say, as this is very important to me. Well, my friend, first of all, let me thank you so much for your question. And that's exactly why we exist here on Running to Win, is to respond to your needs through the preaching of the word and the answering of questions to the best of our ability.

So thanks so much. I am acquainted with Martin Luther. I'm acquainted with these terrible things that he says about the Jews. I've written a book entitled Hitler's Cross, and in Hitler's Cross, I also deal with some of the things that Martin Luther said about the Jews. And they are very awful things, and they are totally unjustified.

That said, let me make a couple of comments. First of all, Scheier, in his Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, said that there could have never been a Hitler unless there had first been a Luther. And then he quotes Luther's words.

But that actually is unfair. Hitler believed that the Jews should be exterminated and said some awful things because he believed that they were an inferior race. It was a racial issue. Luther made these terrible comments based on theological issues. The Jews were the Christ killers.

So there's that difference. The other thing you need to understand is that before he wrote that terrible tract, Luther said some very nice things about the Jews. As a matter of fact, he said, how can we expect them to be converted unless we are kind to them?

But here's what happened. Martin Luther, as he became an old man, became a very bitter old man. He believed that because he had uncovered the gospel, that the Jews would believe on Christ. When they didn't, he turned against them, and that's when he wrote those awful words of condemnation. Now, I do quote Luther, and I do admire Luther, but not because of those terrible things, but because of other things he's written, because of his courage, because he did uncover the doctrine of justification by faith alone, which had been lost.

In many respects, he was a very remarkable man. Now, the question is, should you attend a Lutheran church? I need to tell you that many Lutherans have publicly apologized to the Jews for the things that Luther said. So my response would be, yes, of course you can attend, because we must recognize that human beings have a great deal of flaws and weaknesses, and certainly Luther had his, and he had others too, besides what you have simply uncovered. And yet at the same time, we can learn from these people, we can admire these people for their strengths, reject them for their weaknesses, and we can move on from there. And I know one thing is certain, that all the Lutherans who are alive today, I'm sure, I hope all of them, would totally repudiate what Luther had to say about the Jews.

So to give a specific answer to your question, there's much in Lutheranism with which we disagree, but if your mother invites you to go with her to church, I would say go. And just remember, we must always keep our eyes on Jesus and not on man. Thank you, Dean, for your question. Thank you, Dr. Lutzer, for taking the time to give him that detailed answer. If you'd like to hear your question answered, go to our website at rtwoffer.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 Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60614. Running to Win is all about helping you understand God's roadmap for your race of life. Jesus knows full well our races of life. He knows our weaknesses, and He knows what we need. He's aware of the demands each day brings. And so, next time on Running to Win, we'll join Peter in learning a lesson from a coin in a fish's mouth. Thanks for listening. For Dr. Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.