We Are Called To Witness – 1 of 2

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

Ever wonder why you've been placed on planet Earth? In a marvelous verse, our reason for being is a call by God connected with our roles as members of a divine community. Today, some clarity on why you and I are here and what God expects us to do. 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 beginning your final message on living as God's community, which you're teaching from 1 Peter.

Give us a preview of today's message. Dave, the Bible teaches very clearly that we together as a congregation can have a witness that is even greater than individual witnessing, even though individual witnessing is also very important. There is something about the body of Jesus Christ that expresses to the world the glories of the gospel. And that's why today's message has to do with witnessing for Jesus Christ. And you know, I want to thank the many of you who support the ministry of Running to Win.

Thanks to you, we continue to expand this ministry. Would you consider becoming an endurance partner? Would you look at some information so that you know what an endurance partner is? Well, here's what you can do. Go to RTWOfferer.com.

When you're there, you click on the endurance partner button or call us at 1-888-218-9337. Thanks in advance for your prayers and for your gifts, because together as a community, we're making a difference. Are you all doing? You're somewhat quiet today, and I hope that if you are quiet, it's because you are thinking, praying, and wondering what God has to say to us today as a church.

Let me ask you a question. What does come to mind when I mention the word church? For many people, what comes to mind might be the building.

I often use it that way. I tell my wife I'm going to the church. Sometimes we use the word, and most often, to refer to a congregation. We speak of the church of Moody Church, the congregation, the people of Moody Church, which is the way in which the Bible uses it most often. Or else there is also the Church of Jesus Christ, the body that belongs to the entire world, all those who have trusted Christ in whatever denomination they might happen to be. Sometimes people refer to that as the invisible church, and sometimes there are people who say, well, you know, I'm not joining Moody Church. I don't join any church because I belong to the invisible church, and I want to say I'm glad you do, but give me a break, would you please?

When you're sick, I hope that there's an invisible pastor who comes to visit you, and when it's time to preach your funeral service, I hope that it's an invisible preacher who comes to say nice things about you, all of which I'm sure will be true. The fact is that in the New Testament, everyone who is called by Jesus is called to community. You are called to belong. So I speak to everyone who is listening who has any connection to Moody Church. If God has led you here and you're a part of our body, what you should do is belong and become a part of what we're doing. You know that I introduced last time a mission statement, 15 words, and it isn't printed in your bulletin today. I wonder if you remember those 15 words. I'll give them to you, and then I want you to say those words with me. The Moody Church is a community called by God to live passionately for Jesus Christ.

Can we say that together? The Moody Church is a community called by God to live passionately for Jesus Christ. The passage of scripture I want you to turn to again is 1 Peter, chapter 2, verse 9. 1 Peter, chapter 2, verse 9, and today's message, ultimately, as we get to the end of it, some of us are going to squirm, but it's good to do that in the presence of God's word, especially if we're hearing God's truth. But in 1 Peter, chapter 2, verse 9, it says, you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own position, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Now, in this epistle of Peter, and remember the epistles were not the wives of the apostles, as some people think, the word epistle means letter.

What Peter does is he uses that word called in a number of different contexts. We are, for example, called to salvation. We are called out of darkness into his marvelous light. That's a wonderful calling.

That's the beginning of the calling. But as part of this call, we are also called to community, because you'll notice, as we emphasized last time, we're a royal priesthood, we're a holy nation, we're a race, we are a community, called to community, but also called to show forth the excellencies of God. Now, what are those excellencies?

Well, of course, they'd be the attributes of God. We would show forth the grace of God, and the world needs to hear about the grace of God. Broken world, God cares about you and did something that can actually give you hope and help and eternal salvation. So we proclaim the grace of God. We also proclaim the judgment of God, because if you don't have judgment, then grace doesn't mean very much. We proclaim the mercy of God and the compassion of God. Very clearly put, you and I are God's feet to go in places that other people might not go, in the darkest regions of the world, so that we might proclaim God there. We are God's hands to help those who need help, and we are God's mouth to speak good words of hope, eternal life, and the gospel. We are to display the excellencies of God.

And through our lives, people are to say, oh, that's what God is like. Now, what I'd like to do is to answer a question that people sometimes ask, and they say, when it comes to witnessing, what is important, the most important, my life or my lips? The way I live or what I say? If anybody ever asks you that, you smile and you say, I have a question for you.

What wing on an airplane is most important, the right or the left? Because you can't have one without the other. Listen, if you share the gospel with people, but you don't have the integrity to back it up, what will they say? They'll say, spare me. Even if it's true, even if it's true, I don't want to hear it from you. If on the other hand, you have a beautiful life and you live a life of integrity and kindness, and you don't tell people about Jesus Christ, what they're going to say is, you know that this person was just born nice. It's part of their DNA. And they won't know that the reason that you are who you are is because of Jesus.

We need both the right wing and the left, both the word and the lip. Now, what I'd like to do is to talk about the very practical ways in which we show forth the excellencies of God in a way that most of us might not like, but it's in the text. First of all, Peter says, part of that undoubtedly is verse 11, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage war against your soul.

If you're taking notes, you can write down honor. Yes, it's going to come up in a moment, but the word purity. He says, if you want to witness for Christ and show the excellencies, you cannot become a part of what we could call the pollution of our world, the moral issues. And of course, we think immediately of pornography and immorality, and undoubtedly that's what he has in mind here, the desires of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Now in war, you have two antagonists, one of whom wants to be the victor. And in this battle, there's no doubt that lust wants to control us.

It says in the book of Romans chapter six, verse 13, do not let these desires rule over you, but my, how they want to rule. And today that I have no doubt that I'm speaking to some of you who know exactly what the battle is like, and all of us know what the battle is like. We've all fought that battle and continue to fight it, but some of you are losing. And I'm even more concerned about those of you who have even already given up.

You've just simply succumbed to us. You're saying I'm tired of fighting. Notice that it says that these desires wage war against the soul. And the way in which they wage the war is because of the pollution of the conscience, the defiled conscience. And that conscience keeps you from being free in Christ to be able to witness to others.

You know that. How can you share with others the excellencies of God's name if you yourself have in your mind constantly the images that you are seeing, whether it's on the computer or any other way, or if you are in an unholy relationship, you can't tell others about the excellency of God because of the fact that your own soul has been polluted by these desires. Notice that Peter is saying abstain. In other words, he must mean that there is a way in which we can fight these desires in such a way that we win.

Now I know that they didn't live in those days like we do today with the entertainment industry and technology, but even today we can abstain from those lusts, even though the price oftentimes is very high. Some time ago I read about a house that was for sale, and this house was for sale, and the man said I'll sell it all to you, but I want to keep one nail in the door. The nail that was partially nailed into the door, he said, and so that I can hang whatever I want on that nail. Well, the man bought it and thought, well, I can put up with anything on that door.

Well, after it was sold, the man then took a pound of rotten meat and hung it on the nail. Isn't that the way in which it is when our souls are polluted and Peter says abstain? All that I can say to those of you who struggle is this, because this should be an entirely separate message, and I have preached on these things before, is do whatever you must. Jesus said that if necessary pluck out your eye or cut off your hand. He wasn't speaking literally, of course, but he was saying do whatever you must.

You must go for help. You must make some drastic choices, because if you don't, you'll not be able to show forth the excellencies of God. So purity. And then it goes on in verse 12 and talks about honor. It says keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable so that when they speak against you as evildoers they may see your good deeds and glorify God and the day of visitation. What he's saying is is that you have to live with integrity even when false evidence is presented against you.

This is very critical. Someday I'm going to preach an entire message just on false evidence. You are living a life of integrity, a life of glorifying God, and what happens is they speak about you as evildoers. Mark my word that happens individually, but also it's going to happen much more globally here in America as we continue to go the direction we're going. The last couple of years eight books at least have been written to try to show that the Christians are the real problem in America.

We have no problem with jihad, no problem with Sharia law. That's nothing to fear. What is really necessary to fear are Christians who want to impose their values on society and we are becoming the enemy and false evidence of this is being presented.

But notice what he says. He said when this happens to you individually when they speak against you as evildoers and really you're not they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. Clearly what Peter means is as a result of your integrity and your ability to suffer well. They will come to saving faith in Christ and they'll give God the glory on the day when God visits them.

Could be visiting them in judgment or visiting them with salvation. Either way God is saying that we have to live honorably in all aspects of conduct. So first of all we should have purity.

Second we should have honor and third submission and now it begins to get tough. You'll notice it says be subject to the Lord's sake for every human institution whether it be to the emperor as supreme to governors sent by him to punish those who do evil and praise those who do good. For this is the will of God that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.

He said live is free. He says fear God but honor the emperor. Well who was the emperor when Peter was writing? A guy who really loved the Christians. Who really wanted to make sure that they had a very a lot of freedom to proclaim the gospel. Of course not Nero. And Nero was an egomaniac who who loved to persecute the Christians and who according to Tacitus actually set Rome on fire.

There's false evidence. Set Rome on fire blamed it on the Christians so that he could persecute them and kill as many as he possibly could. And here Peter is saying fear God honor the king submit to those who are in authority.

And I'm just going to let that hang out there for a moment and not comment on it further. Except to say that he says submit to the government and the political authorities and those who are sent by him his associates who rule over you. And then he talks about submission in another area it says verse 18 servants be subject to your masters with all respect not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. Really the word servants is slaves for this is a gracious thing when mindful of God one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly for what credit is it if when you sin and are beaten for it you endure. But if when you do good and suffer for it and endure this is gracious a gracious thing in the sight of God.

Feeling uncomfortable yet? Some people who read this say that the bible is very socially repressive because obviously it is teaching approval of slavery. So I need to comment on this. Slavery in those days was not at all what it is today when we think of slavery. Slavery in those days was not a class thing it was not a matter at all of a race. Slaves didn't dress differently. I think I read one time that there were 50 million slaves in the Roman empire and slavery was was really the whole fabric of society and the slaves often were not mistreated. They could buy their way out of slavery so you weren't necessarily a slave for life and furthermore also important slaves sometimes even owned property. In fact the distinction between the slave and the slave owner in those days was almost something like today we may think today we may think of employer and employee. So we're not talking about the slavery of the 17th and 18th centuries and 19th centuries here in America. What happened in Britain and America during the slave trade was thoroughly irredeemably evil and of course you know that it was Christians. It was Christians such as Wilberforce who stood against that even though he received a lot of pressure because there was a lot of money in the slave trade and wherever you have money you have the continuation of abuse and so the effects of that evil of course oftentimes the repercussions are still evident in our country today thinking about the evil that was done.

So we're not talking about that. When it comes to brutality the Bible is very very clear that God hates brutality. It is listed as a sin in Romans chapter 1 and elsewhere the ruthlessness of the way in which we treat people. Now Peter doesn't stop to condemn slavery he doesn't say well now what you need is an uprising. No because this was just a part of their whole structure of society there was no way what would the slaves do if they had an uprising and so what he's saying is be a good slave but when you are using the word in his context when you are be mindful of God. Now that's an important phrase you'll notice it there in the middle of verse 19. For this is a gracious thing when mindful of God one endures and in a moment we'll find out what that means to be mindful of God. So he says make sure that if you are punished it's for something bad that you do and if you are punished after doing good and and you are mindful of God he says boy this is very special to God. Paul says the same thing in the book of Ephesians. If your employer mistreats you and you respond properly God watches and it's very special to him. Now follow along first of all we're to submit to those who have authority politically we're to submit in our workplace for those who have authority over us and then if if as if this isn't enough if you still aren't uncomfortable notice what it says in chapter 3 verse 1 after speaking about Jesus about whom I shall speak in a moment likewise wives be submissive to your own husbands so that even if some of them do not obey the word they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives. So there it is. We read this today and we say donde esta la exceptions.

It's dangerous isn't it to know a few words in another language. We say where in the world are the exceptions. I need an exception to this because Peter's not giving me the exceptions. Pastor tell me where the exceptions are. Well this is Pastor Luther and I need to emphasize that I do believe that there are some exceptions.

If you're in an abusive relationship if children are being harmed it is time for you to not walk toward a counselor but run receive wisdom receive help so that you might know that you don't have to live under those conditions. Nevertheless we're living in a culture where people oftentimes try to soften what the bible has to say. It's so important for us to be obedient to the word.

By the way I'm holding in my hands a letter from someone who has written to us a Spanish-speaking listener. This person says your teaching is always inspiring and calls for transformation. I've been transformed and I always share with others what I learned from your messages. Would you help us get the gospel of Jesus Christ to even more people?

Very quickly I hope that you have a pen or pencil handy because you might be interested in becoming an endurance partner. Check it out. Here's what you do. Go to rtwoffer.com. When you're there you click on the endurance partner button. That's rtwoffer.com.

Click on the endurance partner button or call us at 1-888-218-9337. I'm so grateful that we have the privilege of working together to get the gospel of Jesus Christ around the world. It's time now for another chance for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the bible or the Christian life. One of the parables of Jesus has prompted a question from one of our Running to Win listeners Dr. Lutzer. She asks, in Matthew 13 Jesus says that after sowing good seed an enemy came and sowed weed seed. Since the devil can't create life where did he get his weed seed from? Did it come from God? One of the things I enjoy about answering these questions is the fact that you never get too alike.

They're always very unique and certainly this one excels in its uniqueness. Thank you so much for asking the question but I think that maybe you've misinterpreted the parable. When Jesus likens the kingdom of heaven to this field and you have the sowing of seed I don't think that what the enemy sows is literal seed. It's not seed that you can hold in your hand.

The seed is evil so when Satan sows evil God does not have to give him any seed and you're right it is weed seed but it's evil and because of that evil it begins to grow and of course as you and I know it encompasses many lives. So I think that's the interpretation of it but thanks so much for asking and God bless you and you have a good day all day. 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 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. In any community there are leaders and followers. How we respond to those who can tell us what to do tells a lot about us. Next time key principles from First Peter on how to respond to authority. Thanks for listening this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.