Running To Win

Dave McCallister: Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and proctor of our faith. A hungry and thirsty Jesus was offered all the kingdoms of the world if only he'd worship Satan. We too sometimes see a quick solution to our crisis and are tempted to dishonor God to meet legitimate needs. Today, lessons we can take home from an encounter with the devil. 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. Pastor Lutzer, some may say that of course Jesus could tell Satan to take a hike while we who are weaker might find it tough to resist taking the easy way out.

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: And you know Dave, I think that Jesus Christ also found it difficult to be faithful, but he was. But here's what's very important for us to understand. It is not that we have power over the devil, but we do have authority. And if we are under the authority of the word of God, we can exercise the word of God and we can use that authority to overcome the devil. Is it easy? No. Oftentimes very difficult, but at the same time it's important for us to understand that the basic victory over the devil has been won thanks to Jesus.

I've written a book entitled Famines, Deserts, and Other Hard Places. It discusses these matters. It was written to help you as you make your spiritual journey. If you have a pen or pencil with you, you can write this down. Go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com. We are making the book available for a gift of any amount, or you can call us at 1-888-218-9337. Now, if you missed the opportunity to write down this info, I'm going to be giving it to you again at the end of this message, but let us remember ultimately Satan has already been defeated.

Worship me and I will give you the kingdoms. Now, the question of course is did he ever write to do that? I think that the devil was bluffing. If Jesus had bowed down, Jesus would not have received the kingdoms of this world because sure he's the God of this world, but remember he's the God of this world on God's terms and moment by moment is subject to God. And so he could not have given Jesus that right. But what he's doing is this. He's saying Jesus, there's an easier way to get the kingdom than to die and be on a cross because you can take a shortcut.

And if you take a shortcut, you can be wealthy. You can own the kingdoms of this world and you can be powerful. So you don't have to do it with integrity. You don't have to do it following the father's plan. No, you simply go ahead and do it. Worship me and I'll give you. Of course Jesus said no to that and he made the statement. You shall not put the Lord your God to the test and then he says begone Satan for it is written you shall worship the Lord your God only and him only shall you serve.

Wow. What he's saying is no. Another parenthesis giving you plenty of them today, aren't I? Will Satan ever get this? Will he ever be worshipped absolutely? Fact in one of the messages I'm going to talk about whether or not we would have enough faith to trust him even if we were to live in the tribulation period, but the Bible says there Satan's puppet Antichrist all that dwell upon the face of the earth shall worship him except those whose names are written from before the foundation of the world in the Lamb's book of life. He'll get his worship, but oh it is going to be so short because it will be interrupted by the glorious appearing of Jesus Christ to the Mount of Olives in triumph and in power.

And the glory will all be his and his alone. So Jesus passes the test. Jesus says I believe that I am God's beloved son. In me he is well pleased and I can believe that without any evidence, without any miracle, without any shortcut to somehow get possessions and money. I can believe it with integrity because all that matters to me is that I please the father. I find it interesting that it says here in verse 11 now that this temptation was over. By the way, in Luke it says and Satan departed waiting for a more opportune time.

Sometimes new Christians think that if you encounter Satan and you are victorious once, you've got it made. No, he will be back at a more opportune time. But in verse 11 it says and angels came and ministered to him. God sent angels. And the angels, I'm sure said to Jesus we're not here to catch you though they'd have been glad to do it if so ordered. We're not here to catch you, but we are here to bless you. We are here to bless you. Who knows? Maybe we'll find out someday. Speculation. His fast was over after 40 days and 40 nights.

Maybe they even laid the table for him and they had a banquet. We don't know. But God is the one who sent angels and said in effect to Jesus when you are most desperate, when you are most hungry, when you pass the tests, I will be there for you with these kinds of blessings. I began this message by telling you I was going to tell you what's really going on in the spirit world, in your life, and in mine. So here it is and you've already picked up on it. The devil is saying in effect as he did in the book of Job, do you see so and so?

They hold fast their integrity. They go to church, but if you take something away from them, if you take their children, if you take their possessions, they will curse you to your face. And God is saying wait a moment, wait a moment. I have people who are going to believe every word that comes out of my mouth. And if you're here today as a Christian or you're listening by whatever means, whether it is by radio, listen to me very carefully. If you're a believer, God says of you today that you are my beloved son. You are my beloved daughter and in you I am very well pleased.

You say that can't be. It's what it says in the book of Ephesians. We have been graced in the beloved one. You see God loves us and he loves us and it's independent of performance. Now, here's what the devil does in our lives. He has two different major ways to get at us. One is circumstances, injustice, fired from a job, unable to make ends meet as my friend indicated, humbling us, going through times of distress, personal conflicts. God takes us through that. And that's one way that the devil tries to get us to disbelieve that we are still precious to God.

After all, if you are precious to God, he'd do something for you, wouldn't he? Would he let this go on just year after year after year? That's one thing the devil uses. And then for us he uses something else that he could have never used for Jesus, but he uses it for us and that is guilt. You see he is the accuser of the brethren and when does he accuse us? During the day and during the night. And this is what happens. A Christian falls into sin. Their soul is sullied. Their soul is defiled and they don't know what to do.

They say to themselves you know God must be so mad at me. There's no use me really connecting with God because I may do the same thing again. And so not properly understanding the gospel, they are led to despair and the devil wins because he has separated your soul from the father. There's no fellowship when you have a defiled soul. I've learned that long ago. How can you look into the eyes of your heavenly father and tell him how much you love him and how much you appreciate his grace and forgiveness if all that you have in your mind are memories of impurity and and sins that you've committed, you just say I don't even want to go there.

And so you may come to church and sing the right songs and listen to the right prayers, but you leave unchanged. How should we handle that? Should we say well devil you know I I just want to clarify one thing. I'm not as bad as so and so. You know if you really want to compare people, you go into my bosom and you find something good and then you present it to Jesus and the devil says great. And he has you for lunch, dinner, supper, and dessert. It's not the way you handle it. The way you handle it is you go back to the gospel that says that we are accepted in Jesus and there is nothing that I can do to make God love me less and nothing that I can do to make him love me more.

Someday I'll preach an entire message on that for you unbelievers who didn't clap very loud. John 17 Thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me. You belong to Christ. You are permanently and totally loved. And so you come back to Christ and you come back to him and you rely on the work that he did on the cross and don't you dare pull something nice out of your bosom and say well you know I did have my devotions this morning, so I'm not that bad. It's not the basis. The basis is what Jesus did for us and because he won, we win even when we fail.

That is the good message of the gospel. So how do we counteract the devil? The word of God it is written. What is written? Would you all look at me for just a moment? Pretend I'm not saying this, but God is. You're my beloved son and you're my beloved daughter in whom I am very well pleased. Hunger, no miracles, no way to confirm the faith by some dramatic event. But you live by every word that proceeded is out of the mouth of God. And when Satan comes and reminds you of your past, you remind him of his future.

I have often quoted Romans 8 in my own life. Begone Satan, I say, for it is written who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? It is Christ that died, yea rather that is risen again, who is even now on the right hand of the throne of God who also maketh intercession for us. You can't corner me on this guilt thing. I am a sinner and I did wrong, but Jesus Christ's blood and sacrifice is great enough and wonderful enough to set me free.

So we use the word of God, but we also use the work of God. Colossians chapter 2 says that when Jesus Christ died on the cross, it says that he disarmed all principalities and all powers and made a show of them openly triumphing over them in it. You say oh Pastor Lutzer, I am so weary. I am so weary of the stress. I am so weary of the pressures. I am so weary physically, mentally, and emotionally. I can't fight the devil anymore. Well hear me when I tell you you don't have to. Jesus did and he won.

So we lay hold of the fact that Jesus is the winner in the context. But then there's also the people of God. You say well Pastor Lutzer, Jesus fought the devil alone in the desert. I can fight my own demons alone. Well, like I say, news flash, you're not Jesus. But also think of this. When Jesus was in his most difficult temptation, when Jesus was assaulted emotionally in a way that he was never assaulted in the temptation in the desert. When he was there in the garden of Gethsemane, sweating as it were great drops of blood, when Jesus was there, then what happened?

He asked the disciples and said come and watch with me. Come and watch with me. Help me bear my burden. Even Jesus needed others in a moment of a special grief and heartache and agony. Who are we that we think we can do without the prayers of others and the commitment of other people? We can't. Sometime ago I was watching what I think is one of the best channels on television. It's the Animal Channel. You say well Pastor Lutzer, just use your zapper and go through. There are a lot of channels out there that might in some sense be described that way.

Am I going too fast for some of you? But I'm talking about the real Animal Channel. And I saw something and I said wow. I hope I can draw the picture for you. Wish we could flash it on the screen, but it's a little too gruesome anyway, but I'll describe it. Here you have a herd of buffalo. Maybe I don't know. I'll say 100, 200, I don't know. And here are five or six lions who noticed that one of the buffalo is just away from the herd. Maybe two or 300 ft, maybe a little farther.

Two lions, actually all of them run toward this buffalo. Two of them take one takes one back leg, the other takes the other back leg, and they hang on for dear life and this massive beast begins to slow down. As soon as he slows down, other lions hop on his back. Others begin the process in his underbelly and you can just begin to visualize what happens. Now, one lion doesn't understand buffalo very well. He goes for the buffalo's head. Bad idea. The buffalo puts his head down like this and just up with his horns and he threw that lion in the air probably 6 or 8 ft.

In fact, the commentator said that the lion died the next day. You never want to attack a buffalo at the horns. Now, what interested me is what about the other buffalo? They're all standing. No one is grazing. They're just staring, just staring. I don't know whether or not buffalo can think. Never been one, never talked to one. But if they can think, they're probably thinking this oh I'm sure glad that's not me. What a picture of Satan, the splitter, the splitter. First of all, he wants to split people from the church and from other believers.

And I'll tell you how he does it. He does it primarily through anger and bitterness. You've been hurt in church. Other Christians have hurt you. Other Christians have not appreciated you. In fact, things have been done and you've experienced injustice at the hand of Christians. And so you say to yourself so much for believers. I'm not going to have anything to do with those hypocrites. The lion who is trying to devour us licks his chops and says great. I've got him split from the herd. And he wants to use that bitterness in your life and that anger and that disposition to do it and then he does it.

And then he begins to attack you in other ways. You know once you're cut off from the herd, you're vulnerable to all kinds of other things and unfortunately sometimes Christians hear about it or maybe they even say it and say oh do you know what so and so is going through? I I'm sure glad it's not happening to me. Listen, if those buffalo had decided as a herd to take on those lions and thunder toward them, the lions would have fled with all that they possibly were because the lions were no match at all for a herd of buffalo with their horns blazing taking care of those lions.

We need one another in the church. You're going through a trial and God is saying to you you need to share that request with someone. You need somebody to help you bear your burdens. I've been through it. I know what some of you are going through. You're going through times when you don't even have enough faith for yourself because you've been so assaulted by the devil. Somebody else has to believe and trust with you. And that's why today here at the Moody Church we have prayer partners and I'm going to ask them right now to stand in the aisles and you're going to find prayer partners there because in a few moments we're going to be singing a hymn together and I want you to share your need with a prayer partner who will not only pray today, but promise to pray for you all week.

This is not an opportunity to receive counsel. It's an opportunity to in a sentence or two to say my heart is heavy today because of a b c d. Would you lift me up in prayer? Let me say also some of you couples. I speak to the man. You should be a leader. Take your wife's hand and say we're going for prayer together because the devil is splitting us, splitting us from God, splitting us from other people, and splitting us from each other. The splitter cannot win. We will not let the splitter split. We will hang in to every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

And if you're a Christian, God says I love you. And Jesus died for you. If you're not a believer in Christ today, you come forward too and tell somebody I want to be saved and these prayer partners will help you. Let us pray together. Father, take these words. We thank you that Jesus triumphed where Adam failed. Adam in a beautiful garden, Jesus in a desert conquered. And for that we are deeply grateful. Now, we ask that the Holy Spirit who's been given to the church may speak to all of us our hearts and remind us that we all need prayer one with another.

May many people today respond and say we come. We don't want the devil to win. We want Jesus to triumph. Bring us all back into fellowship with the father, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Well my friend, this is Pastor Lutzer. Two thoughts are on my mind right now. Number one, let's remember that when we fight Satan, it is not easy. It has to be done on the basis of the word of God. Oftentimes other people have to pray with us and for us to take our stand against the enemy. But we must be consistent and do that.

Secondly, I've written a book entitled Famines, Deserts, and Other Hard Places and I can imagine some of you listening say I don't need this book because I'm not going through a desert, a famine, or a hard place. Well, my friend, you might not need it today, but you may indeed need it tomorrow. And certainly you know people who need it right now. For a gift of any amount, we're making it available for you. Here's what you do. Go to rtwoffer.com. rtwoffer.com or pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-9337. I personally think that everyone has a desert.

Everyone has times of discouragement. Every one of us have been attacked by the enemy and we need to be prepared. Once again, go to rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. Thanks in advance for helping us.

Dave McCallister: You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North La Salle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60614. Money, we all need it, but one day the money we crave will be no more. And that's the day of final judgment. Then what we are on the inside will be all that matters. Next time, don't miss preparing for the day of calamity. This is Dave McCallister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.