A Cry Of Suffering Part 2

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.

It's a great paradox. The one who said, I thirst from the cross is the one who says, If any man thirst, let him come to me. He paid the price that lets sinful man drink from the fountains of eternal life. Are you thirsting for life that will never end? If so, please stay with us as we learn more about a cry from the cross. 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, it's my prayer that today's program will awaken in many the kind of thirst Jesus spoke of when offering himself for a lost mankind.

And you know, Dave, I join you in that prayer. I think of the many who are listening today, who are going through times of distress and hopelessness and emptiness, and we urge them to come to Jesus Christ, the water of life. Already in the Old Testament, Isaiah said those who come to God can receive refreshment without money and without price. And of course, Jesus is the one who offers himself to us in the same way. I've written a book entitled, Christ from the Cross, a Journey into the Heart of Jesus. And as we think of the Easter season, we're reminded of the fact that Jesus gave himself for us. And the cross of Jesus Christ is not a pendant to be worn around our necks. If we wear it, let us live it. For a gift of any amount, this book can be yours.

Simply go to rtwofferer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. Christ from the Cross, it is indeed a journey into the heart of Jesus. You remember he said to Saul, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?

You touch the church, you touch my body, and you're touching me. Yes, Jesus understands that pain and he feels that pain. Do you feel violated? Do you feel as if people have taken advantage of you? Do you feel humiliated because of what you've experienced? Look at Jesus Christ on the cross, so far as we know, crucified, naked, did not have an opportunity to die with dignity.

Do you sometimes feel as if people have forsaken you, friends have let you down? Remember that Jesus Christ's disciples forsook him and fled, though John later returned to the cross. Jesus understands and Jesus feels. I thirst the suffering of Jesus. Yes, I thirst we can see here the submission of Jesus and we can see the sympathy of Jesus. How do we wrap all this together so that our lives are changed by its central message? Those of you who come regularly know that I always have a bottom line and usually I have three bottom lines and one bottom line follows another as we get to the end of the message and today also you're going to get three life-changing facts.

Here they are. Number one, all of us have thirst. All of us have thirst. Little baby is born into the world thirsty.

That's the physical side. But we are also born with a spiritual thirst. Henry Sugol, I believe it is in the 16th century, said that man is born with an inextinguishable, catch this now, raging thirst. It's a thirst for God.

It's inbuilt in us. Our problem is that we are tempted to fill that thirst with all the wrong things because we're fallen creatures. We go our own way. We don't want to come to God. We do not want God to fill us. And so we turn to drink and to sex and to money and to prestige and to self-will and our own choices and we're determined that we're going to find somewhere to drink. And as a result of that determination we finally discover at the end that some don't discover it until the end of their lives that all the wells of the world are dry. There is no refreshment out there.

All these promises but there's no refreshment. You see it was God's intention that we be filled with God himself. That's why Pascal said there is within us that infinite void that can only be filled by an infinite object that is to say with God himself. And Augustine on the first page of his confessions, oh Lord thou has made us for thyself and our hearts are restless until they find they're all in thee. Do you know why Hugh and I turn to sin? We turn to sin because down deep we feel that God is not meeting all of our needs. And sin seems more promising.

It seems to be more fulfilling. It seems to be the thing that will really satisfy us and to give us what we need to make it through life. It is sin that is going to give us those pleasures that are so stimulating and so wonderful and in a sense we're slapping God's face because we are saying your will, your purpose, you have not filled me therefore I must fill myself.

No matter how much we say about the need to turn away from sin at the end of the day it comes down to this that you and I must develop a passion for Christ and God that is greater than our passion to sin. God does fill us. Jesus said if any man thirsts let him come on to me and drink. And I want you to know that at the foot of the cross where you see Jesus saying I thirst, he's the one who gives us the refreshment. So first of all the first lesson is that all of us are thirsty. The second lesson is that the issue really isn't whether we thirst but how long we're going to thirst. I have to explain that a little bit.

It isn't whether or not we thirst but how long we're going to thirst. Let me ask you a question. Let's get into it this way. What do you think the people in hell are saying? What do you think that they are going to say throughout all of eternity? Jesus told an interesting story once. He said that there was a rich man and there was a poor man and the poor man knew God. The beggar did and the rich man didn't and both of them died and their fortunes were reversed in the afterlife. And the story is that the rich man who had no time for Lazarus, that was the name of the man, not to be confused with the Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead.

This was a different one. The rich man had no time for Lazarus at all in this life but in the next life they were able to talk together because at that time there was a huge gulf between them but there was some verbal communication though one could not pass from one side of the gulf to the other. What is the rich man doing in Hades? Abraham send Lazarus that he might dip his finger in water and put it on my tongue for I am tormented in this flame. I am thirsty.

Let me ask you something today. What is hell? Hell is outer darkness. Jesus endured that on the cross, didn't he? What is hell but loneliness? Jesus endured that on the cross.

My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? Hell is pain and hell is thirst. Hell is heightened desires of the body but no fulfillment.

So that the alcoholic longs for a drop of alcohol but there is none. There is none for all of eternity. The sex addict wants sexual fulfillment but there is none throughout all of eternity. There are these ravenous desires that are constantly burning, constantly unfulfilled. There is an eternal hellish thirst.

I thirst. And that man in the story that Jesus told is still thirsting. What is heaven?

Oh, heaven is a lot of things but let me give you this description. This is what the scriptures tell us heaven is going to be like. Oh, never again will they hunger. Never again will they thirst.

The sun will not be down upon them nor any scorching heat. For the lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of living water and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes. My dear friend, you drink from the watering holes of the world in this life and you thirst here and forever. You come to Jesus who offers us the living water.

As he said to the woman at the well, if thou wouldst ask of him he could have given the living water which will bubble up which will be an artesian well to bubble up into everlasting life. We take what God has implanted within us in a sense all the way to heaven and we enjoy refreshment now and we enjoy refreshment forever. And the issue is not whether or not we thirst. All of us thirst in this life. The issue is how long will that thirst last? And for those who do not know Christ, forever.

Well there's a final lesson and it gets to the heart of it as you've already guessed it. Jesus thirsted that we might never be thirsty again. Jesus thirsted that we might never be thirsty again.

Now if you were to study the Gospel of John along with Matthew and Mark, because each of them have a different information, some of it overlaps, some of it does not, some of it is new material. What you discover in Matthew and Mark is that when Jesus arrived at Golgotha, right at that moment, before the crucifixion started, he was offered a drink of gall and wine. We don't know exactly what that goal was. Some people say myrrh, some people believe it was a kind of opium because the intention was it was a sedative. It was given to people to lessen the pain. But it's very clear in the scripture that Jesus refused that cup and said no I'm not going to drink it. I have to ask you today why did he refuse that? Why didn't he take the sedative?

I think there we know the reason. In John chapter 18 verse 11, you remember the words that he spoke to Peter, put the sword up into your shield, and then he said these words, the cup which my heavenly father hath given me, shall I not drink it? What is that cup? It's the cup of God's wrath. And what Jesus was saying was this, I have to drink the cup of God's wrath and this cup has been given to me and I shall drink it without any sedatives, without any way of diminishing its impact. And as Jesus hung there on the cross, he could experience a pure sense of hell without any way that it might be mitigated through medication. So he refused it, the Bible says. What they offer him here in John 19 is a different offer now because he's about to die. This is some cheap wine. It says that a jar of wine vinegar, this was the kind that the soldiers would drink was there so they soaked a sponge in it and put the sponge on a stalk of hyssop plant and lifted it to Jesus' lips and when it touched his lips, he said what we will look at in our next series, in our next message, he said it is finished.

So this is near the end of his death. So Pastor Wiersbe has pointed out that there are actually three cups here at the cross. The first he says is a cup of charity, was a genuine desire to help him in his circumstances but he refused it. The second is kind of a cup of mockery. This is the cheap wine of the soldiers. Oh, he says I thirst so they take a jar of vinegar, they put it in a sponge, they put a sponge into it and they put it to his lips.

These were the mockers that were doing that. There's the cup of charity, there's the cup of mockery but there's also the cup of iniquity and that's the one that Jesus Christ drank for you and for me. And Jesus said I will drink this cup that you might never be thirsty again. How could he possibly say to the woman at the well if you come to me, I will give you living water that will spring up into eternal life. It's because Jesus knew that on the cross he would bear her thirst and because he would take the cup of wrath and drink it, you and I have the refreshing fountains of his love from which we can enjoy life eternal and the artesian well bubbles up into everlasting life. See that's why the poet said death and the curse were in our cup. Oh, Christ was full for thee but thou has drained the last dark drop.

Tis empty now for me. My dear friend, have you drunk of the living water? I'm talking to those of you who still have never believed in Christ savingly. Oh, you're good people.

I'm not arguing that point. You're religious or you wouldn't be listening to this message. You've maybe even made some kind of a quote decision or commitment because we live in a day of decisional regeneration where all that you have to do is put up your hand or pray a prayer and you think that you're in.

I want to ask you a question today. Have you drunk from the living water? Because if you do not, you'll be thirsty forever. Is it any wonder that the last invitation of the Bible. These are the words of Jesus to John and in four verses later the New Testament ends.

So this is the last invitation. Jesus said the spirit and the bride say come and let him that heareth say come and let him who is a thirst come. Let him drink of the water of life freely. I urge you today to come to the cross, to the savior who said I thirst that you and I might be able to enjoy refreshing water now and forever.

Let's pray. Our Father, how we do thank you for your grace and your love. How we thank you Father that Jesus did not take the gall and the vinegar. Thank you that he refused it that he could say I'm going to experience suffering in all of its intensity. We thank you today Father that he did not shrink from the cup that you oh Father asked him to drink and because of it he can say to any man thirst let him come to me and drink. Oh Father we have drunk so many times and we keep drinking and drinking day after day as we enjoy your presence and to think forever we'll have refreshment. Now I want you to talk to God.

What is it that you need to say to him? If you're a Christian are you enjoying fellowship with Christ? Is he refreshing your spirit or have you turned to sin to do what only he can do?

That's my question. If you've never received Christ as savior you have doubts, perhaps very legitimate doubts. Would you say Jesus at this moment I accept you as my life giver. I accept the penalty that you paid on the cross for me that I might be yours.

You talk to him. Father who are we to speak such words? Who are we to try to enter into the depths of Jesus Christ's suffering? Take the frail words that have been spoken so inadequately and somehow do something with them and let us never forget the words of our savior I thirst in his name we pray amen. My friend today I want to speak directly to your heart. Perhaps you've walked with God for many many years but your relationship has become routine.

You've lost the wonder. You are no longer refreshed in his presence. We're reminded today that Jesus Christ does refresh us through the water of life which he purchased for us on the cross. I've written a book entitled cries from the cross a journey into the heart of Jesus and as we think about the Easter season and that very special time when we remember what Jesus did for us we are indeed reminded that he endured so much that we might be redeemed. Some of you might be struggling with health issues.

You might actually have a terminal disease. Did you know that Jesus Christ teaches us how to die? When in the last cry from the cross he says father into thy hands I commit my spirit. I believe that this book I've written will be a tremendous blessing to you. It will enlarge your view of the cross. It will help you to see that Jesus Christ himself endured everything that you and I would ever be asked to endure plus a lot more.

For a gift of any amount it can be yours. Here's what you do go to rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. The book is entitled cries from the cross a journey into the heart of Jesus and here's the info one more time rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. Today draw near to Jesus and I trust that this resource will help you to appreciate once more all that Jesus did for us on the cross. It's time once again for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question you may have about the Bible or the Christian life. Making preparations for the end of our lives is a solemn duty all of us share. Brenda listens to running to win every day and needs some answers to allow her to do this. Here is her question.

I listen to your program every morning driving to work at 5 a.m. I've learned so much about the Bible but one question I've not heard anyone ask is this. I know that somewhere in the Bible it says that the human body is the temple and we should not desecrate it. I have concern over the process of cremation upon death of the body. I know the spirit is no longer in the body but what about people that have been cremated and then the rapture of the church takes place and body and spirit are joined again. Do we receive a new body or what? I really don't understand this whole process or the meaning of this scripture.

Please explain and fill me in on this. I can't make a decision on my arrangements until I totally understand the scriptures. Brenda thank you for your question and I need to say that the answer I'm going to give is somewhat controversial but you've asked the question so I shall give you my opinion.

I'll give you an answer. It is true that in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 the Bible says that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. It is also true that when we die when we are put into a coffin or when we are buried in any kind of a an arrangement our bodies disintegrate. However, I believe that when Christians have a choice they should be buried rather than cremated. Cremation of course destroys the body.

It is often done by those who believe that one should go back to nature. The Eastern religions tend toward cremation. Now of course there are some countries in the world where they are out of space to bury people. It is also true that sometimes there are those who are burned in a building or we think of those who died in 9-11.

They had no choice. They were incinerated. In a case like that of course it's okay and God doesn't have a problem taking our bodies and recreating them.

They are going to be new bodies using I believe some of the elements of the previous body but they will be redone. So from that standpoint cremation is not a problem to God. And no matter what happens to your body your soul will be saved and your body your new body will be raised. But if you have a choice be buried like Jesus was. Paul says we are like seeds in the ground. We are sown in corruption but we are raised in incorruption.

And because of that imagery Christians have always insisted on burial. And I believe that if you have a choice that's what you should do. So that's my opinion Brenda.

Make your arrangements and think it through and God will lead you. Thanks for asking. Some wise counsel from Dr. Erwin Lutzer. Thank you 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 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 comes to you from the Moody Church in Chicago. Next time we'll hear a cry of victory when Jesus proclaims, it is finished, sin's debt paid in full. Thanks for listening. For Pastor Erwin Lutzer this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.