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 proclaimer of our faith. There has already been one war that was supposed to end all wars. One day there really will be such a war, Armageddon. This war will be so awful that Christ himself will end it. Jesus will return to the earth with his saints to destroy the mass armies of the world, Armageddon. Sign number seven that Christ will soon return. 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 sign number seven, which Pastor Lutzer calls the world's bloodiest conflict.

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: Zechariah 14. Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished, and half the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as when he fights in a day of battle. And in that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east.

And the Mount of Olives will be split in the middle from east to west by a very large valley so that half the mountain will remove toward the north and the other half toward the south. If you've seen pictures of the Mount of Olives, you know that today already it comes in two halves. Tourists who go there looking at the mount from Jerusalem say, now which one is the Mount of Olives? Is it this or is it this part of the mountain over here? The answer is both are. And geologists tell us that there is a fault line that runs from the Mount of Olives all the way to the Dead Sea.

Now notice what the text says, that it will be split from east to west. That means that the Mount of Olives will be split in two. And you have one part that moves toward the south and you have the other part that moves toward the north when Jesus comes. And the whole topography of the area there is severely and significantly rearranged. Now the Bible says in Revelation that every eye shall see him. How can that happen? You have somebody coming to the Mount of Olives. The world is round. We can't see him. Well, some people have said, oh, thank God for television.

Thank God for television. ABC will be there. NBC will be there. Maybe even CNN will be there. And therefore every eye will see him. Well, that's a possibility, but I have a of a better scenario, I think. Imagine this. Here is Jesus. He's coming out of heaven and he comes slowly. In fact, it may take him a couple of days to descend in all of his glory. So here is Christ. You begin to see him. It is the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And people begin to say, what is that and who is that?

And as the earth rotates on its axis, the entire world gets to see him and maybe over a couple of one or two days or more, Jesus is descended. And each time the earth revolves, he's a little closer. And then of course, the juxtaposition of events is such that his feet stand upon the Mount of Olives, which lies before Jerusalem on the east and the mount splits because God has come. And all the nations, the Bible says, have gathered together to fight in Jerusalem. And they all are going to say, you know, he is our real enemy.

And they will set aside their differences and the scripture says they will fight against him now because he is coming to take over planet earth. And they're saying, not a chance. But he says to them, not a chance. Let's look at the passage of scripture in the book of Revelation now that discusses this. And this you have to turn to. Revelation chapter 19. I feel so sorry for some of you who don't bring your Bibles and open them. I don't know how God is going to judge you. I don't know, you know, how you're going to explain all this to him because he's going to ask you about it and all that.

And I'll just leave that with you and with him. But notice it says in Revelation 19 verse 11, and I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse and he who sat upon it is called faithful and true. And in righteousness he judges and wages war. And his eyes are a flame of fire and upon his head are many diadems. And he has a name written upon him which no one knows except himself. And he is clothed with a robe dipped in blood. And his name is called the Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven clothed in fine linen white and clean were following him on white horses.

And from his mouth comes a sharp sword so that with it he may smite the nations and he will rule them with a rod of iron. And he treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God the Almighty. And on his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Wow. Now you've heard me say this before if you attend Moody Church and probably you're going to hear me say it sometime in the future, but I have to say it again. I have to ask you the question.

Who are the armies verse 14 in heaven clothed in fine linen white and clean following him on white horses? Who are those armies? Well, listen, the Bible doesn't leave us any doubt. It says in verse eight of the same chapter speaking of the marriage supper of the Lamb, I shall begin in verse seven, let us rejoice and be glad and give glory to him for the marriage of the Lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready and it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen bright and clean, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

I've explained before you need two kinds of clothes to get into the wedding feast. You need the righteousness of Christ to get you into heaven and you need righteous acts so that you have something to wear, something to to put on for the wedding feast. But but we are those people that are with Jesus Christ because we will already have glorified bodies. We will have been enraptured. Our bodies will have been transformed and we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is. And we shall come This is incredible. Thank you there Michael.

Thank you. If I'm interpreting this right, that means that in fact the Bible says he's going to come with his saints. This is the coming with his saints. We are going to be a part of that descent that I told you about that his armies, the righteous people who have accepted Christ and who belong to him are returning with him. See, that's why I told you that you don't have to be too concerned if you don't get to go with Schwartz to the to Israel. You be a believer in Jesus and you're going to get the grand tour.

Christ coming to the Mount of Olives and his people coming with him to fight and to rule. Now very quickly I want you to notice what happens in this context of Revelation 19 and 20. It says in verse 20 and I love to read these verses. And the beast was seized and within the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. Who's winning this battle by the way?

Any doubt in the mind of anyone? And then a thousand years elapses as I'll mention in a moment, but let's pick it up in verse 10 in chapter 20 20 verse 10, and the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are also. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Wow. One summer I read Dante. I thought it was time to stretch my cultural quotient. It's got a lot of interesting things to say, a great writer, but he was wrong about his conception of hell.

You know this idea that demons are going to be running around in pitch with pitchforks tormenting people. And they're going to be the tormentors. No, no, my friend, in hell Satan is not the one who is going to do the tormenting. He is not the tormentor. He is the tormented. And if it is true that the devil said as Milton believed that he decided that he would rather be a king in hell than a than a servant in heaven, I'll tell you he was incredibly mistaken because listen to me carefully, there are no kings in hell.

There are no kings in hell. He is tormented along with the beast and the false prophet day and night into the ages of the ages forever and ever. Any doubt as to who the winner in this conflict is? Jesus is the winner. And the battle of Armageddon is interrupted by his glorious return. Let's continue on now. We're not finished yet. Number four. Many individual Jews during this period of time recognized Christ to be the Messiah. We were telling you all throughout this series that the Bible says in Romans chapter 11 the apostle Paul says, so all Israel shall be saved.

He doesn't mean every individual Israelite, but what he does mean is that is that there's going to be a whole generation of Jews that are going to look upon Jesus Christ and recognize him as their Messiah and they will be saved. And they are the ones that are going to populate now the millennial kingdom still in their earthly bodies. They are the ones over which Jesus Christ shall rule as we shall see in a moment. It says in Zechariah chapter 12 verse 10, I will pour out the spirit of grace and supplication so that they will look on me whom they have pierced.

They will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son and will weep bitterly over him like weeping over a firstborn son. So the Jews, many of them at that time living, will believe in Jesus and accept him as their Messiah and their king. Number five. Christ will establish his kingdom here on earth centered in Jerusalem.

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: Well, this is Pastor Lutzer. If you've been overwhelmed because of all the things that have been mentioned in this message, that's okay. What I urge you to do however is to make sure that you're going to be on the right side of history, the right side of prophecy, and that you will be with Jesus Christ forever. He will be the winner. We may get some of the details wrong, but the Bible does present a scenario of what is going to take place in the future. And we'd better be ready. I'm holding in my hands some letters that we received from listeners.

And the reason that I want you to be aware of this is because you have a part with us in these testimonies. One person writes that they listen and they discuss the messages on Running to Win. And they end by saying, we don't just listen and enjoy, but we also put into practice what we are learning. Someone else has written, you are the first to talk about Jesus in a way that I hadn't heard until that point. And then it talks about him coming back to Christ and now becoming involved in his church. Let me ask you a question.

Would you consider becoming a part of this ministry an actual partner? Many of you have, but I want you to pray about the possibility. Here is what you can do. Go to offer rtw.com. Let me give that to you again. Go to offer rtw.com or pick up the phone and call us at 1-800-215-5001. Right now go to offer rtw.com and click on the endurance partner button.

Dave McCallister: The Bible's breathtaking revelation about the future should leave us all confident that God is in control. Erwin Lutzer has brought part two of the world's bloodiest conflict, the seventh and final sign in a series on seven signs of Christ's return. Next time more details about the war to really end all wars. For the believer the return of Christ is our great hope. Our current series Seven Signs of Christ's Return will be sent on CD 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 offer rtw.com. That's offer rtw.com or write to us at Running to Win, Moody Church, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60614. Ask about seven signs of Christ's return. This is Dave McCallister. Running to Win comes to you as a ministry of the Moody Church.