Running To Win 15 Minute Version

Narrator: Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Bible prophecy foretells a regathering of Jews to their land in the end times. And Israel is once again a nation, but we may not be seeing the real fulfillment of those prophecies.

Today, why the rebirth of Israel must be understood in a larger context as the coming of Christ looms on the horizon. 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 in a series on seven signs of Christ's return. Today, we're looking at the rebirth of Israel, the first of those signs, and why Israel's present status is not the Israel that one day will be.

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: The present regathering of Israel is in unbelief. That is to say that they are not accepting Messiah Jesus at all over in Israel. It is a scandal beyond irony that one can be an atheist and be a citizen in Israel today, but one cannot be a Messianic Jew. You cannot be a believer in Jesus as a Jewish person and be a citizen in Israel today.

In fact, because of some of the extremist groups, there is persecution in Israel today. The Gospel of Jesus Christ cannot be freely and openly proclaimed. Laws are being enacted to restrict it. The Jews are still religious; they still pray at the Western Wall. You can actually fax your prayers and someone will put them into the stones at the Western Wall for you.

They are praying to God all the time, but they are not being accepted by God because they are not coming through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Nobody can approach God on his own. That's the great lie in America. It's not just a reference to Jewish people; it is of all different religions, no matter what your denomination might be in terms of your Protestant upbringing. The fact is that nobody can come to God without Christ.

Because Jesus Christ died on the cross and it is His shed blood by which we must come. You can put all the prayers you want in a wall and still not have God's acceptance. Jesus said, "He who honors me honors the Father, but if you dishonor me, you dishonor the Father." So, present Israel is in unbelief. That means that not everything that Israel does today is right. It doesn't mean that they're on the right side of every issue.

The Arab believers, the Christians, tell us what a great stumbling block it is for them to try to witness to other people about Jesus Christ and then to have the Arabs, their friends, say to them, "I refuse to accept Jesus as your Messiah because your Messiah and you Christians are on the side of the Jews in the disputes." Some of the Arabs have said that Christians have gone to Israel and they have put their hands on Jewish tanks and prayed for them that God might grant great victories in the battles.

How would you like to be an Arab believer trying to witness to one of your friends about the wonders of Jesus and see that go on? We must recognize here that not everything that Israel does today is right because they have rejected the Messiah. The promises that we read all have within them the Messianic hope that they will accept Christ as Messiah.

Third, the present regathering might be preparation for the predictions and the conversion of the nation when the nation turns to Christ. Repeatedly, God says, "I'm going to bring you into the land and I'm going to set the Messiah over you." They are in the land, but the Messiah isn't here yet. Keep in mind that when Jesus does return to the Mount of Olives to rule, He is going to rule over the earth for a period of time, probably a thousand years, before that kingdom is swallowed up into an eternal rule.

When Jesus Christ returns, I believe those of us who know Christ as Savior will already have been raptured years before that time. So, the coming of Jesus Christ could be at any moment. We don't know when that is, but isn't it interesting that after centuries of struggle and grief all over the world, God should bring the Jews back in the land even if they haven't believed on Messiah yet? They are in the place where God said they would be when Messiah comes.

One day, as Jesus was on the Mount of Olives, He was going to ascend to heaven. The disciples asked Jesus a very interesting question. They said, "Wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" If their interpretation of the Old Testament was wrong, if it was not God's intention to ever restore the kingdom to Israel again, Jesus had a marvelous opportunity to straighten them out.

But He didn't. He simply said, "That's not for you to know. The times and the seasons are in God's hands." That's why it's so important that we not set dates, so that we not say we know when Jesus is coming back. The times and the seasons are in God's hands, but you shall receive power after the Holy Spirit is come upon you and you shall be my witnesses.

We have the responsibility of being witnesses today to Jewish people, to non-Jewish people, no matter what religion or background people have, and to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Because the day is going to come when Christ is going to return to the Mount of Olives and the Bible says that the Jewish nation shall look upon Him whom they have pierced. They will recognize Him to be the Messiah and they will say, "He is our brother, He is the Messiah for whom we have been watching."

So all Israel will be saved. Those who are living during that period of time, the bulk of them, will say Christ is Messiah and God, and the Old Testament scriptures will be fulfilled. You say, "But Jews do not accept Christ; they consider Christ to be their enemy." That's true for many of them. But thankfully, even in our day, before the return of Christ, there are Jewish people receiving Christ as Savior.

We have many of them with us today who are examples of the fact that there are Jewish believers accepting Christ and they become the prototype of the many that shall accept Him in the future. One of those who has accepted Him as Messiah is Pastor Schwarz, who is sitting here on the platform and who is going to come and share with us a little bit about what it is for a Jewish person to believe on Jesus as Messiah.

Pastor Schwarz: One of the things that the Talmud writes about, which is the commentary on the scriptures by the sages and rabbis of Israel, is that as they looked at these prophecies, they recognized there appeared to be two Messiahs described. One who would be king and lead Israel in all of her glory, the Messiah who will return and rule and reign, the Messiah Pastor Lutzer has just spoken of.

But also they recognized from prophecies like Isaiah 53 that there is going to be a Messiah who's going to suffer, who will be betrayed. In the Talmud, the rabbis wrote about these two Messiahs and they named one Messiah ben Joseph. They called him ben Joseph because he was like Joseph, the beloved son of Jacob.

He was betrayed by his brothers and sold for the price of a slave. If he had been over 21, it would have been 30 pieces of silver that they betrayed his brother, but because he was underage, it was 20 pieces of silver. Through a chain of events, this one whom they betrayed, the rabbis go on to write about this Messiah ben Joseph, like Joseph, he would become Savior of the Jewish people. First to Egypt, first to the Gentiles, and then ultimately to all Israel.

As it's written in the last chapters of Genesis when the brothers come before Joseph, whom they don't recognize because he looks and acts like an Egyptian, very foreign to them, he reveals himself to them and they weep and they cry. They fear retaliation and they ask for forgiveness. They look upon him whom they betrayed and he begins to weep and comfort them and says, "Brothers, what you did you did for evil, but God meant it for good to save us all, a multitude alive."

The rabbis go on to see Messiah ben Joseph, the one who would be betrayed by our own people, who would ultimately be our deliverer. I praise God that in His grace He showed me that Messiah ben Joseph is Jesus, whom we as Jewish people betrayed, whom we sold for 30 pieces of silver. By His grace, He opened my eyes.

Even as the day is coming, as the Pastor spoke of, that Zechariah the prophet wrote in Zechariah chapter 12, "In that day I will pour out upon them, Israel, the spirit of grace and supplication, grace and prayer, and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced and mourn for him as one mourns for an only son and weep bitterly for him." That's the day that Paul wrote about when the Spirit of God will come upon Israel.

A day yet to come, a day I believe is soon, when at the end of a great battle called the Great Tribulation, we shall look upon Him whom we have pierced and mourn for Him as one mourns for an only son. I thank God that in His grace He opened my eyes and I looked upon Him. I pray that today, as you hear and understand how prophecy is being fulfilled in our day, that the spirit of grace and prayer might come upon you, that you too might look upon Him whom we have pierced.

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: My friend, isn't it wonderful to know that anyone who believes on Jesus Christ can be saved? We are so thankful for our many Jewish brothers and sisters who recognize Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the Redeemer, the Messiah. I want to thank you for supporting this ministry. It is because of people just like you that the ministry of Running to Win can go around the world.

What we desire to do is to help you on your spiritual journey to run successfully all the way to the finish line. In order to encourage you along that journey, we make resources available. Right now, I'm holding in my hands a book I've written entitled Failure: The Back Door to Success. Do you feel that you have failed?

Do you feel that you have failed so miserably that there is no way that you can really bounce back and be pleasing to Christ? You'll be encouraged. Let us always remember that Jesus Christ died for sinners. He died for us and He thought we were so valuable that He died on our behalf. For a gift of any amount, this book can be yours.

Narrator: Pastor Erwin Lutzer concluding "The Rebirth of Israel," the first sign in his series Seven Signs of Christ’s Return. Next time, we meet a powerful king, a strange dream, and a roadmap of history in the form of a giant statue of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and clay. Don't miss our next program: "Europe Reunited."

It was Corrie ten Boom who said, "There is no pit that is so deep that God is not deeper still." Failure is like a pit, and Pastor Lutzer has written a book he calls Failure: The Back Door to Success. This life-changing book will be sent as our gift when you give a gift of any amount to support Running to Win.

Just call us at 1-800-215-5001. That's 1-800-215-5001. Online, go to offerrtw.com. That's offerrtw.com. Or write to us at Running to Win, Moody Church, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. Ask about Failure: The Back Door to Success. Running to Win comes to you as a ministry of the Moody Church.