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 proclaimer of our faith. On a pivotal day in Bethlehem, God sent his only son to live among us. A day marked by a chorus of jubilant angels. Today, final thoughts on why those angels were rejoicing and why we can rejoice with them. 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. In a series on A Flurry of Wings, Pastor Lutzer is concluding a Christmas message on what angels celebrate.

We're in Luke's Gospel chapter two, noting that the main thing they celebrate is the glory of God.

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: The answer is we exist to the glory of God. And every drop of water testifies to the glory of God. Every flower magnifies God. But no matter how much nature might sing, it must become silent. When God becomes flesh, it must no longer sing for now there is a song that cannot be comprehended. It is so great and so wonderful. There is no song like the song of the incarnation. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. And then notice it says glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased.

That phrase incidentally is capable of a number of different interpretations. The King James you remember says goodwill towards men. My translation which I just read says peace among men with whom he is pleased. The NIV translates it peace to men on whom his favor rests. I like that translation. Peace upon those upon whom God's favor rests. You see it wasn't just simply peace on earth, goodwill toward men. Have some good luck. I wish you the best. Do you realize that not everybody is blessed because of the coming of Christ? Not everybody benefits because of the coming of Christ.

And certainly there has been no peace on earth since Jesus Christ has come. In fact, Simeon said regarding Jesus that this child is set for the rise and the fall of many in Israel. Jesus Christ on the part of some will he will exalt them. On the part of others, he will be their judge and humiliate them. It depends upon those upon whom his favor rests. Those who respond to the son are given eternal life, but those who do not respond to the son are not given eternal life, but the wrath of God abides on them.

Well, we pick up the rest of the story in verse 15. It says it came about when the angels had gone away from them into heaven that the shepherds began as saying one to another, let us go straight to Bethlehem and see this thing which has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. And they came in haste and found their way to Mary and Joseph and the baby as he lay in the manger. And when they had seen this, they made known the statements which had been told them about this child. And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart and the shepherds went back glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen just as it had been told them. There're several things that we could contemplate. One is I've often thought about the question of whether or not anybody believed the shepherds when they left Bethlehem. The Bible says that they told everyone and others wondered at what was told them. I wonder whether anybody believed. But you know to the shepherds it didn't make any difference because they had seen the angels and they had seen exactly what the angels predicted.

They had seen the baby in the manger and that's all that mattered. It didn't phase them, though others may not have believed. They were convinced. They had seen the Messiah, the Christ. Another question I think that we would like to find out someday maybe in heaven because the Bible is silent on it. I've often wondered whether these shepherds maybe met Jesus later on. 30 years later when Jesus would begin his public ministry, it's possible that some of these shepherds were still alive and they may have thought to themselves, this is the one whose birth we had the privilege of heralding to all those who are in our path.

We lived at the time that we saw the Messiah, the king of hosts, God in the flesh. And now he has been revealed. It may well be that they had seen him or saw him at a later date. Well, after the music dies away in the hills of Bethlehem, after the angels go on back into heaven because as soon as their duty is done they disappear. We read that the shepherds want to in effect reenact the glory and the wonder that they had seen in verse 20. They went back glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen just as it had been told them.

And that's your responsibility and mine today. It is to make sure that we share with everyone else the glory and the wonder of Christ, not Jesus tacked on to other religions, not Jesus who is simply a part of some other kind of a religious system, but a Christ who stands alone because the gap between Jesus Christ and all other religious options is infinite and unbridgeable. When I arrived in my office today, there was a letter from someone. I don't know. It was unsigned, but uh excoriating the Christian church for celebrating Christmas. Says that Christmas day is pagan and it should not be celebrated.

Well, one of the things that we can do to make Christmas day special is to recognize that this is the season and this is the day that provides for us a bridge to the world to tell them the true meaning of who Christ is. Well, let's ask the question now. What is it that angels celebrate? Angels celebrate Jesus Christ. Angels celebrate the glory of God. They are focused in on salvation as we have learned. The Bible says regarding salvation that these are the things that they desire to look into. But there's something else that angels celebrate.

One day Jesus was being criticized for spending too much time with tax gatherers and sinners. Tax gatherers were hated in those days because we think that the IRS may not always be as kind as it should be, but that's nothing in comparison to the kind of gouging the tax gatherers did. And as for sinners, this may refer to prostitutes, those who were immoral, whatever the phrase may mean. And Jesus was being criticized by religious people for spending too much time with people like this. In order to defend himself, Jesus told three stories. I'll remind you only of the first two.

He said let's suppose that you have a hundred sheep and one of them is lost and then you go and you find that sheep. When you bring it back, aren't you going to rejoice? In fact, will it not even give you more joy than the 99 who didn't need to be found? If you've ever lost a child in a mall, you know how thrilling it is to find that child. And at that moment that child means more to you than the other children that don't need to be found. And Jesus is saying, if you uh find somebody who's really lost and I'm with lost people, why are you criticizing me?

I am looking for lost sheep. And then Jesus told another story he says that if you lose a coin in ancient times people didn't go to banks. Sometimes their entire wealth was wrapped up in that little coin. And Jesus said if you lose it and then you sweep your house and you find the coin, aren't you going to throw a party and invite others to rejoice along with you and to say I can rejoice because the coin has been found. And then Jesus added this statement. He said in the very same way there is joy in the presence of the angels for every sinner that repents.

That's what angels rejoice over. Remember that they are independent beings with their mind, emotion, and will. They exist among us though they are in heaven. They are in among us. They are observing our worship here this morning and they rejoice when they see one person who repents. They say somebody repented. Somebody believed the gospel. Someone was born again and there is a cosmic celebration throughout all of heaven because somebody has been saved on earth. That is the kind of detailed information that they have regarding what goes on in our worship services and in our homes and in our offices, always observing, sometimes sad, sometimes rejoicing, but always interacting with what is happening here on earth.

If you know Christ as savior, you could make the angels rejoice by your yieldedness and dedication, by your willingness to face the future in his hands. And if you don't know him, if you've never savingly believed on Christ, if you say well I believe in him I wouldn't be here today if I didn't, but you believe in him intellectually, but you have never received him as your own personal savior. Today if you do that, there will be angels in heaven that will rejoice because they rejoice in Jesus Christ. He is an endless supply of wonder and glory to them.

And they rejoice in the work that he did for us. Today I urge you to believe. Well my friend, this is Pastor Lutzer. I want to ask you a question. Do you and I rejoice over the conversion of people like angels do? I hope so. I hope that when we hear of a soul that has come to know Christ as savior that we do indeed rejoice. And the angels are rejoicing with us. I'm holding in my hands a letter from someone who is an Arabic speaking listener. And they tell us about their conversion. Now the reason that this is important is this.

The ministry of Running to Win goes around the world in 50 different countries in seven different languages. And we can only do that because of people just like you who join hands together with us. The letter says when I first discovered Running to Win, I was angry and frustrated because I had many unresolved questions. Through your ministry and your team, I discovered God's love and redemption. Over time I became more open spiritually and eventually prayed to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as my savior. And then it goes on to say that their hope is renewed.

As I already emphasized, this is an Arabic speaking listener because the ministry of Running to Win goes around the world in different languages. We can only do that because of your faithfulness and helping us. Would you investigate something? Would you investigate the possibility of becoming what we call an endurance partner? Here's what you do. Write this down. Go to offer rtw.com. That's offer rtw.com or you can call us at 1-800-215-5001. Let me give you that contact info again and I'll tell you why. It's because we need people like you, partners like you in this ministry.

Investigate it. Pray about it. Here's what you do. You go to offer rtw.com or pick up the phone and call us at 1-800-215-5001. And by the way, when you're at offer rtw.com, click on the endurance partner button.

Dave McAllister: Erwin Lutzer has concluded what angels celebrate. The last in a series of messages on A Flurry of Wings, a study of angels. Our series on A Flurry of Wings can be yours on CD as our thank you for a gift of any amount to support the ministry of 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. This is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is a ministry of the Moody Church.