Running To Win 15 Minute Version

Dave McAllister: Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Looking to Jesus, the founder and proctor of our faith. The battle of Armageddon ends the rebellion of unredeemed mankind. The dead will be strewn over an area of 200 miles. So what happens in the aftermath of the war that ends all wars? Today a final summary of Bible prophecy, the last chapter revealed. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is running to win with Dr. Irwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Irwin Lutzer is in a series on seven signs of Christ's return.

Today we're in the book of Revelation, concluding our look at sign number seven, the world's bloodiest conflict and seeing the aftermath of a great war.

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: And I saw the dead, the great and the small standing before the throne, and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books according to their deeds. The sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades delivered up the dead which were in them, and they were judged, everyone of them according to their deeds. And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Remember now, we're talking about the rest of the dead. That is the unsaved of all the ages, and they are standing before God. Is not this perhaps the most dramatic scene that one could ever possibly contemplate? I want you to look at this crowd and see, first of all, its diversity, the small and the great. I don't take that to be physically, but it has to do with their stature in the world. This is the place you see where the millionaire stands with a pauper.

This is the place where the attorney stands next to the shopkeeper. This is the place where the person who owns a million dollar of mansions or even more, whatever, stands with those who grew up in the ghetto. They're all alike here. They all stand together. They are diverse in terms of their economics. They are also diverse in terms of their geography, geographically diverse. We think, for example, of the the millions in Asia. We think of the millions in Russia. We think of the millions in the rest of Europe. We think of the millions in South America, in Africa, in North America, in Canada and the United States, and our minds cannot take in the vastness of this crowd, and they are all gathered together there before God.

They are also diverse religiously. We think, for example, of the Buddhists. We think of the Hindus. We think of the Mormons. We think of the Catholics. We think of the Protestants. We think of those who are nurtured in the Christian tradition. We think of those who thought that meditation would somehow save them. They too show up, and they are there. Wow. They're also diverse in terms of their lifestyles. I can imagine a person who spent his entire life giving to charity and working and being a good, honest, loving person and promoting love and good deeds, standing right next to Hitler and to Stalin because they are there too.

Wow. You say, well, if that's their diversity, what holds them together? What's their common thread? Because no matter who they are, they are not good enough to enter into the kingdom of heaven, and the Bible says that their names are not therefore recorded in the book of life. Even the best of the best must be damned. So this this judgment is to see the extent of their condemnation. That 's why they're of course Hitler will get something quite different from the people who did righteousness because God is just, but the problem is they lack something, and that is the righteousness of God.

That's their problem. The people who are in the book of life, it's not as if there are such better people. God knows they were born with the same sinful nature, the same tendency to wander into sin, but there's something different about them, and that is they knew that they could not get into heaven as a result of their righteousness. Therefore the only righteousness which God accepts is the righteousness of Christ, and therefore they trusted that righteousness. And in the Old Testament they believed in Jehovah because they believed that a redeemer would someday come and take away sin, and therefore their faith and their trust is in the only one who can redeem them.

And that's why they're in the book of life. And so it all is ends because anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire because your works and your deeds and your religion cannot save you. It cannot save you. Well, that's one look into eternity. There's another one, and that's Revelation 21. What a different picture. I saw a new heaven and new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there's no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven, from God as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be among them. And he shall wipe away every tear from their eye, and there shall be no longer be any death and no longer any mourning or crying or pain for the first things have passed away. And he who sits on the throne said, Behold, I am making all things new. And he said, write, for these words are faithful and true. And he said to me, it is done.

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. Why the difference? The difference is this, that some people saw themselves as sinners and therefore accepted God's way of forgiveness and pardon through Christ, and others thought that they could stand before God on the basis of their meditation, their crystals, their good works, and that every religion is equal. And they shall be damned. God only accepts his own righteousness, the righteousness of Christ, and if you die without it, you too shall be in the lake of fire.

Why should we study prophecy? First of all, as a reminder of the fact that God reigns, he really does. Don't ever try to outsmart him. Don't ever play games with him. Don't ever pretend that somehow you have a better way because in the end he's going to win. If you are wise for yourself even, just totally selfish, you'd submit totally to God and say, hey, I'm giving up the I'm giving up the weapons of a rebel. I'm finished. Here I am. God reigns. Secondly, we live in the light of eternity. All this stuff is going to happen.

I mean this is this is unbelievable. And I think C. S. Lewis was right when he said the people who did most in this life are the ones who believed in a life to come. There is an eternity to come to set to rest the injustices of the world because it's all going to come out in these judgments, every little bit. That's how come we're going to sing forever, just and true are thy ways, thou king of saints. We'll say that the judge of all the earth did right, and even the people in hell will say that as we know.

And finally, the whole purpose of prophecy is to remind us that there's a future coming, and we don't know when it is. And even if we don't live to see all these events, we will die, and so we're going to participate with them somehow and in them. That we must flee to Christ because if not, God is a God of wrath. I'm working on a series of messages on God, and one of the lies I'm dealing with is this idea that God is more lenient than he used to be, some people think. Well, you know, in the Old Testament they stoned people, and in the New Testament we don't.

When you read this, do you get any impression that God is less of a just God in the New Testament than in the old? I don't get that impression at all. We'll talk about that in another context except to say this is unbelievable, the justice and the righteousness and the wrath and the anger of God against sin. It is unbelievable. I like to tell that story of a forest fire, or at least not a forest fire, it's a prairie fire. And a man and his daughter saw in the distance that this fire was coming toward them slowly, and they wondered what they should do.

They could have run, but maybe they couldn't outrun it. So they decided to begin a fire right where they were, and they burned many many patches. They burned as much as they possibly could, the story goes. And then as the fire came closer, hours later, they stood where the fire had already been, and it went past them because the fire will not come where it's been. I want you to know today that when you come to Christ and you come to the cross, you are standing where the wrath of God was already unleashed, already unleashed.

Death and the curse were in thy cup, oh Christ. 'Twas full for thee, but thou hast drained the last dark drop. 'Tis empty now for me. Jehovah bade his sword awake. Oh Christ, it woke against thee. Thy open bosom was its ward. It braved the storm for me. If you do not come under the protection of Jesus Christ through repentance and trusting him, you shall be in the lake of fire forever and ever and ever and ever. Let us pray. Father, we know that your goodness leads us to repentance. Your grace does. Sometimes your judgment does too.

And therefore, Father, we pray that this message may not have been more harsh than necessary, but help us to plead with men and women and to say look at the facts that they may come to Christ, that they might be saved. Today, do you know Christ as your savior? If not, you'd better believe on him right now. Don't worry about tomorrow. Right now say, Jesus, I'm a sinner, save me. Father, may many come to know you, to trust you, to believe in you. And we ask that those of us who know you, who've done that, that we might live lives that are worthy until we see you face to face, one-on-one.

We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: Well, my friend, this is Pastor Lutzer. Here at running to win we are deeply committed to preaching all of the scriptures, not just those positive ones that are easy to explain and to enjoy, but also the difficult ones, the ones that have to do with God's judgment, that have to do with the sovereignty of God and what shall happen to those who are unbelievers. If you've never trusted Christ, do so today. And if you are a believer, I want to ask you this question, might you be attending a church in which there is apostasy? Well, that's one of the chapters in a book I'm holding in my hands entitled When Jesus Returns.

We're making this book available for you because we think it's going to be of tremendous blessing, and it will help you to understand the times, but also to anticipate the future. For a gift of any amount it can be yours. And I want to thank the many of you who support this ministry, those of you who pray for us. Together we are making a difference as running to win goes around the world to 50 different countries in seven different languages. Meanwhile, all of us want to be ready for the return of Christ, the title of the book When Jesus Returns.

Irwin Lutzer has now concluded the world's bloodiest conflict, the seventh and final sign in his series, seven signs of Christ's return. We hope you now have new found confidence in the purposes of God as we've learned about Bible prophecy together. When Jesus returns, living in expectation of the end times, that's a book compiled by Jan Markell. It contains the best teachings on Bible prophecy from a wide range of authors. This book is our gift to you for your gift of any amount to support running to win. For full information 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 when Jesus returns. This is Dave McAllister. Running to win comes to you as a ministry of the Moody Church.