Running To Win 15 Minute Version

Dave McCallister: Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Can you trust that your bank balance will last through retirement? No. Can you trust that you'll always live in a time of peace? No. But you can trust in this: as a child of God, your salvation is sure, and you have a home in heaven waiting for you. Stay with 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. Erwin Lutzer is teaching on how you can be sure that you will spend eternity with God. He comes now with the final portion of "Knowing For Sure."

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: But the word of God takes the spirit of God and creates within us the life of God, and that is the third aspect of assurance. Because the text that we read in First John says there is life in His Son, and suddenly we discover within us, growing within us, is the life of God. Then we begin a life of serving God, and that results in being able to love people whom we weren't able to love before, being able to forgive people, and there's a whole life of growth now. We explained this actually in a previous message.

The root is faith that has been persuaded that Christ is sufficient. The fruit is the ministry of the Holy Spirit of God who connects with me that I belong to God, and the second aspect of the fruit is now the life of God begins to work itself out. The leaves begin to turn green, though they may be brown often as well. Let me say a couple of words about assurance and then a few words about doubt.

First of all, about assurance. Assurance is a process of growth. There are some people who come to know Christ as Savior, and they may waffle on the issue of assurance and they are genuinely saved. But as time goes by, as they begin to read the Word and as they begin to commune with God, their assurance grows. That's why it says in the book of Hebrews that we should come before God—get this now—with full assurance of faith. That implies that there are times when we come to God without full assurance. We come, but we come without full assurance.

There is a story in Canada that in one of those lakes that freeze over in the winter, there was a man who wanted to walk across the lake. It was an emergency, and he needed to get some help, but he was so fearful. He began to walk across the lake trembling. There were times when he wanted to get down on all fours so that he would spread his weight, thinking that perhaps the ice was too thin.

While he was filled with terror and fear, suddenly he noticed that coming toward him in the distance was a team of horses running along. When he saw the team of horses, he knew that he could walk across the lake with confidence. He had misjudged the thickness of the ice. Everything was okay. There are times when we come to Jesus Christ to believe on Him, and as the words of the hymn say, "Just as I am, though tossed about with many a conflict, many a doubt, fightings within and fears without, O Lamb of God, I come." We walk on the ice and we're not sure whether or not it is able to hold us, and then once we begin to walk, we develop the confidence and we see what Christ can do, and we get up and we walk with more assurance.

I'm more confident of my salvation today than I was when I accepted Christ at the age of 14. There is growth in assurance. But let me say a word now about doubt. How do you handle your doubts? Remember a few messages ago I talked about the children of Israel who had to put blood on their door so that the angel of death would bypass them. God says, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you." I mentioned at that time how important it was that when we face the issue of doubt, that we not look at the leavened bread and we look at the bitter herbs, but that we look at the blood on our door.

Let me tell you a story today, but in order to tell you the story, I need to set the context. There is a pastor who is widely respected and a very fine man, and what I have to say about him is not to be construed as a criticism. But in recent years, he has been convinced that one of the things we have to combat in the church is easy believism.

So the way in which he thinks that we should do it is by stressing that unless a person's life is radically changed by God, that they should therefore recognize that they are not Christians. Unless you're pursuing holiness, unless you're walking in faith, etc., if you backslide too long, it shows that you were never saved, etc. Now all that is very well and good because there is the emphasis on the life, as I've already mentioned. The problem is that people who listen to him think—and I don't know whether he's saying this, but it appears as if what he's saying is—when you doubt your salvation, look at works and don't look to Christ. That's what people think, at least, he's saying. All right, that's the context, and now the story.

A few years ago, I was sitting in my study here at the church in a morning and my secretary called me on the intercom and said, "Pastor, there's a woman who wants to talk with you and she is crying. Will you talk with her?" I said, "Sure." So I picked up the telephone and here's what I heard. Here's this woman sobbing. Between the sobs, she said, "Oh, Pastor Lutzer," she said, "I'm 71 years old and I live in a senior citizens' home here in the city of Chicago." She said, "Every morning," she said, "some of us get together and we listen to the radio." She said, "I've been listening to the radio and a message by," and then she gave the name of the pastor. She said, "I've walked with God for about 40 years," and she said, "now he tells me that I'm not saved," and she just began to cry.

I said to her, "Well, what is he saying that makes you think that you're not saved?" She says, "Well, he seems to say that unless you're almost perfect, it shows you were never saved." She said, "Oh, God knows how often I have failed my Lord." She said, "I led my daughter to saving faith in Christ when she was 19, but oh, there have been so many times of backsliding and coldness." She said, "I guess I'm just not saved."

So I said to her, I said, "Let me ask you something. If you were to die today and God were to say to you, 'Why should I let you into heaven?'" I said, "What would you say? What are you trusting for your salvation?" She said, "Oh, Pastor," she said, "I'm trusting the blood of Christ." She said, "Is there anything else?" And then this was so cute, I actually wrote it down. She said, "I cannot take steel wool to my heart and scrub it." She said, "I trust the blood of Christ."

I said to her, "Lady, I want you to understand something. If you are trusting the blood of Christ, that is enough. That is enough." She said, "Can you assure me of that?" And I said, "Yes, that is enough." By now she had stopped crying and we talked a while, and then I prayed with her on the telephone. Before she hung up, she said, "You know what I'm going to do?" She said, "When I hang up," she said, "I'm going to tell all the others that are here in the room with me that trusting the blood of Christ is enough. Enough."

Tomorrow, God willing, I fly to Europe. I fly to Berlin. Swissair, flight 125, Chicago to Zurich to Berlin. If it should go into the ocean and this is the last message that I will ever preach from this pulpit—and by the way, I have no premonition that that's going to happen. I like Swissair. Will you always remember that Pastor Lutzer's last words were that the blood of Christ is enough? I have no other argument, I have no other plea, it is enough that Jesus died, and that He died for me.

And if I should see God before you do and He should say, "Why should I let you into heaven?" I will not say, "Lord, Lord, I preached, I counseled, I prayed." No, no, I stand and I say, "Father, I believe Your Word, and I believe that the blood of Christ is enough." Are you persuaded today that the blood of Christ is all that you will ever need to stand in the presence of a holy God? Are you persuaded that the blood of Christ is enough? If you say, "Pastor Lutzer, I believe," believe where you are seated and say, "Yes, I believe. I accept Him because I believe that what He did is enough." And if you will, let us pray.

Oh, Father, we think of those who are saying, "Just as I am, though tossed about with many a conflict, many a doubt, fightings within and fears without, O Lamb of God, I come, I come." May Your blessed Holy Spirit speak to many people who are here today who do not know where in the world they stand in their relationship with You. We pray that they may savingly believe even at this moment. May they say, "I believe it, and I believe it for me." Grant them that gift, we pray.

And if you need to talk to God now, would you talk to Him right where you're seated? Because He sees your heart. Just simply say, "Lord Jesus, I believe that You are enough and I believe You." Tell Him that. Lord, do the work that only You can do. Plant the tree deeply, sink the roots into deep soil that we might not be uprooted. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

Dave McCallister: Well, my friend, once again I can't help but think that there are many of you out there who needed this message. You have never savingly believed on Christ and you have not understood that the blood of Jesus Christ is enough. This is the last day we're making a special offer available for you. It's the book entitled, "How You Can Be Sure That You Will Spend Eternity with God." This book not only emphasizes the nature of saving faith, but also stresses the assurance that God gives us through His Word and through His blessed Holy Spirit.

I believe that this book will be not only a help to you as you run the race of life, but I want you to share it with someone else because there are plenty of people out there who will say that they hope that they have eternal life, and they lack assurance because they have not believed on Christ and do not understand the fullness of the Gospel. It's more than words. It's a heart transfer of our trust to Christ alone.

For a gift of any amount, we're making this book available for you. And remember, as I already emphasized, that today is the last day we're making this resource available for you. And I want to thank the many of you who join us and you become a part of this ministry through your gifts and through your prayers because Running to Win exists to help people to understand how they can be sure that they will spend eternity with God.

We admire Christians in the past who were martyred for their faith. Could we in our day stand as firm as they did? Next time on Running to Win, Pastor Lutzer begins a brief series on faith that survives fire. Plan to listen.

"How You Can Be Sure That You Will Spend Eternity with God"—what can be more important? Pastor Lutzer has written a book by that title, and it can be yours as our gift when you give a gift of any amount to support Running to Win. For full information, call us toll-free at 1-800-215-5001. That's 1-800-215-5001. Online, go to offerrtw.com. That's offerrtw.com. Or write to Running to Win, Moody Church, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. Ask about "How You Can Be Sure." For Pastor Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McCallister. Running to Win is a ministry of the Moody Church.