Running To Win 15 Minute Version

Guest (Male): Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Looking to Jesus, the founder and proctor of our faith. Pop culture makes much of angels, but who are they? To serve believers, God provides an unseen army of powerful beings who do much more than decorate Christmas trees. To learn who they are, stay tuned for a series we're calling a flurry of wings. 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. To begin his series a flurry of wings, Erwin Lutzer comes now with his first message, what angels do.

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: If you know anything about our culture, you know that angels are flying low these days and they are everywhere. I took a trip to one of our bookstores to try to find out what's going on in the secular book world, and I came across a lot of angel titles. I thought there might be one or two, but I was shocked at the number of books on angels. Here are some of the book titles, angel letters, angelic healing, a celebration of angels, angels over their shoulder, messengers of light. Now I determined I would buy only one of the books, and I bought the book angels among us, but my wife would have preferred that I had bought another book.

It's entitled be an angel. But I I passed I passed that one by. I discovered that there's angel wrapping paper, angel calendars, angel artifacts. And the Los Angeles Daily News says that the prophets are Well, you probably guessed it. The prophets that are coming about as a result of this angel phenomenon are perfectly heavenly, the report says. Now I believe these stories that we read in the books and in the newspapers about angel visitations. The problem that I have, as we shall see this morning, is the interpretation of them and how we might understand the angel phenomenon in our culture.

What I'd like to do today is to begin by giving some reasons why it is that angels are making a comeback and why it is that there is such a discussion and so much flurry regarding angels today. Here they are, couple of reasons. Number one, it enables people to experience the spiritual without bothering with God, without bothering with God. Because the minute you begin to deal with God, then you've got all these problems of sin and redemption and the need for obedience and wondering what God's will is, whereby if you have an encounter with an angel, they don't make those kinds of nasty demands.

They're very accessible, very accepting of human failure. And it is so much easier to be able to shuffle a deck of angel cards than it is to study the Bible. So what you do is you go into angels and they are more accessible as a way into the spirit world. In fact, that's the second reason. It makes the spirit world appealing and friendly, friendly. I stood there in the bookstore and I took some of these books down and I began to speed read them. And I noticed that all of the stories were so positive. I mean, there is no angel doing anything nasty.

Everything that was happening was was so good and so helpful and it was saying in effect, all that you need to do is to recognize that there's a friendly spirit world out there, and it's important for you to get in touch. There's a third reason. And that is that it makes the occult It makes the occult appear very biblical. Because the Bible has so much to say about angels, people therefore study the Bible. They will read Billy Graham's book on angels right alongside another book on angels and they think, well, one is just as authoritative as the other.

I mean, after all, an angel is an angel is an angel is an angel. 13% of Americans say that they have seen an angel or have sensed the presence of an angel. What I want us to do today is to take our Bibles and to turn to Luke chapter one. Luke chapter one, this is the first in a series of three messages on angels. Today we're going to discuss what angels do, next Sunday, what angels believe or what they know, and then the following Sunday, what angels celebrate. And as we turn to Luke chapter one, I want to remind you that angels are such a phenomenon that happen on the pages of scripture.

I may have mentioned to you over 300 references to angels in the Bible. And I not only believe in angels, but before this message is over, I'm going to share with you some angel stories. But before I get to that, I've got a couple of other things to say. Let's look at this passage of scripture. Gabriel is the angel who brings a revelation to a man by the name of Zacharias, whose wife Elizabeth is going to become the mother of John the Baptist. Luke chapter one verse eight. Now it came about that while he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division, according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer, standing outside during this time of the offering. Verse 11. An angel of the Lord appeared to him standing to the right of the altar of incense, and Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear gripped him. I find that interesting because in the books that I scan, nobody seemed to be scared of angels. They just seem to walk up and do something nice and disappear and the minds of many people it was as if this happens every day. Zacharias at least was troubled, and so were the shepherds.

The angels had to say to them, fear not. But these angels that we read about today are not frightful at all, are they? Verse 13, the angel said to him, do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, and he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine or liquor. Goes on to discuss him and how John the Baptist is going to fulfill an Old Testament prophecy.

But now we skip to verse 18. And Zacharias said to the angel, how shall I know this for certain, for I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years? And the angel answered and said, I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God and have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place. What I'd like to do today is to use Gabriel as a prototype of angels. I know that he is a very prominent angel, but his responsibility, his job description no doubt is much like that of other angels, even though they may have lesser prominence.

Gabriel is a very interesting angel, appears four times on the pages of scripture. His name means a mighty one of God, and Daniel experienced some sightings. In the ninth chapter of the book of Daniel verse 21, Gabriel comes to him, and in the eighth chapter Gabriel comes to Daniel, and they have a discussion. In fact, Gabriel looks like a man, and he touches Daniel, and he communicates with Daniel. What is it that Gabriel can tell us about God's angels? What is his job description? Well, let me give you three responsibilities that Gabriel has for God.

Number one, he stands in the presence of God, verse 19. I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God. Why is it that angels are in the presence of God in the sixth chapter of the book of Isaiah? Round about the throne there were angels. You remember the seraphim, which was one of the levels of angels, and it says that they had six wings, with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew, indicating their adoration, their obedience, and their humility. What is it that they are saying around the throne of God?

But holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts. The whole earth is filled with his glory. They stand in the presence of God to worship. And if you read the book of Revelation, you discover that there were thousands of angels and 10,000 times 10,000 and all of them singing the praises of God and the praises of the Lamb. Worship is their responsibility and joy. Have you ever thought of what it would be like to be able to see God? Now we can't because of our sinfulness. No man can see God directly and live, but the angels evidently do.

And can you imagine what it would be like to to stand in the very presence of God without any moral or spiritual barrier between you and God, because within you there was no taint of sin, and all that you could do is stand and adore God. So angels, first of all, they stand in the presence of God to worship, and secondly, they stand to serve. They stand in obedience to God. They are looking for assignments. God says, Gabriel, I want you to go and I want you to communicate with Zacharias. I want you to communicate with Daniel.

I want you to be involved in this battle, and it is your responsibility to take care of this part of the vineyard, and I want you to guard so and so on this very special trip that they are making, and all of you have assignments. Now it's easy for us to say, well, what about those who do not have the same prominence as Gabriel or a Michael? What about those ordinary angels? Aren't they jealous because God never gives them something spectacular to do? Oh, no. Remember now, angels are without sin, and therefore there is no jealousy.

And as far as the angels are concerned, they can rejoice in the success of another angel just as much as they can rejoice in their own success. Because remember, if you were an angel, anything that God would do would delight your heart, assuming that you would have a heart if you were an angel. It would delight you. In fact, you know that someday when we get to heaven, some of us are not going to be rewarded as well as others who served in places where there was no prominence, who served in obscurity. Are we going to be jealous and say, you know, I envy that positions in the kingdom?

No, because we will be without sin, and like the angels, we will rejoice in those who have positions of more prominence just as much as if we were the ones who were elevated to those special responsibilities. What is the first test when you begin to think about an angel of God versus the other angels? Because remember, just as there are angels that stand in the presence of God, there are fallen angels that stand in the presence of Satan who admire him and who are there to do his bidding, and if they do not, they will be punished.

What is it like therefore when you have a visitation that is an angel? How might you know whether this angel is of God? Well, certainly one of the tests is if there is any communication, you know that an angel of God always agrees with God. He agrees with God.

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: Well, sometimes we have to speak about difficult issues, and we need to emphasize that all of us need discernment because we are in a spiritual battle, spiritual warfare. Today I'm holding in my hands a book entitled When Jesus Returns, and today is the second to last day we're making it available for you. And we're doing this because we think that this resource will help you on the journey of life. It will give you hope in the midst of chaos. It will help you to see the future, but through the lens of scripture and the hope that we have in placing our faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

So for gift of any amount, this book can be yours. Please take advantage of this offer because we believe that you will want to read it and pass it along to others so that we better understand the future and live better today.

Guest (Male): Today Erwin Lutzer introduced what angels do, the first message in a three-part Christmas series on a flurry of wings. Next time, join us for more of this fascinating study. 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.

Running to win comes to you as a ministry of the Moody Church.