Running To Win

Dave McAllister: Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. If we face life with just our emotions, we're up one day and down the next. But if we face life with our hand in the hand of God, we've got an anchor. Those who run life's race need to know that the good shepherd will bring us safely through the storms of life because He knows what's ahead.

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, life certainly does bring storms, and some of them can be overwhelming.

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: Dave, I like the fact that you mentioned that God sees the future even though we don't. I like to put it this way: God can see around corners, we can't. That's why we have to trust Him. Even as we anticipate the future, it is so wonderful to know that we have a shepherd who goes ahead of us, and He does not expect from us anything that He Himself has not endured.

We here at Running to Win are deeply committed to help you as you run the Christian life, and you do so with a sense of confidence because we don't know the future, but God does. I'm holding in my hands a very special book. The title of the book is *Life-Changing Bible Verses Every Woman Should Know*. This book actually was written by my lovely wife, Rebecca. At the end of this message, I'm going to be giving you some contact info and explaining why it is that we believe that this resource is going to be of tremendous help to you. For now, let us listen.

Jonathan Edwards was one of America's premier theologians. I will say that he is America's premier greatest theologian that this nation ever produced. He was also the great revivalist of the 1740s in Massachusetts, preaching to large crowds. You know his sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." Many of us would like to just go to his grave and say, "I was there where Jonathan Edwards is buried."

I have used this to comfort many a pastor going through difficulty, not the least of which just recently, a young pastor being edged out of his church. It was not because of immorality or doctrinal deviation, but because he released a staff member who had been a problem in the church. It is a complicated story, but hear this young couple's going through all these trials, and I shared this with them.

Jonathan Edwards was actually voted out of his church because he believed that only those who gave evidence of being born again should be members. That disagreed with his famous grandfather and so forth. There was a person in the church who stirred up opposition to Edwards and had him kicked out. I think the vote was something like 230 to 30 against him.

How do you take it? You're the great revivalist, you're a great theologian, and here's this congregation that says, "We don't need this guy." We'd give anything to have Jonathan Edwards here, and they kick him out. How did he handle it? Listen to the words of his biographer. His biographer said of Jonathan Edwards that his happiness in God was beyond the reach of his enemies.

His happiness in God was beyond the reach of his enemies. "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over." Oh, God, You're so good to me. Notice that the Lord protects His sheep, He provides for them, and He even plans for them.

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Jesus said, "I'm going to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there ye may be also." Get the imagery. Here is the sheep that is following the shepherd, and behind him are two watchdogs, goodness and mercy.

Goodness is going to take care of all my needs. Mercy is going to blot out my sins. Then I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. What does it say in Psalm 27, verse 4? "One thing I have sought from the Lord, and that I seek after, that I might dwell in the house of the Lord, and that I might see the beauty of the Lord and meditate in His temple." I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

There are two very important observations. Number one: sheep are never asked to fight their enemies. They are asked to stay close to the shepherd. Jesus said, "I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves." What could be more defenseless than a sheep in the midst of wolves? What if the sheep all got together and said, "We've got a problem here, we're going to take care of it by getting together and we're going to fight these wolves"? Not a chance.

I frequently have met Christians, and it comes to me all the time, that sometimes we fight battles that God never intended us to fight. The reason is we're taking responsibilities that really rest with God. Our responsibility is to stay close to the shepherd and say, "Oh, my beloved shepherd, the wolves are encompassing around me, they are circling the wagons. Lord, You are mine. You are my shield, You are my defender, take up my cause."

We live in a very litigious age. I don't get a chance to use that word often, so I'll say it again. It is litigious. Everybody is suing everybody else. Everybody is going to an attorney. There may be a place for that. We've got some attorneys here today, and so I need to tread very kindly as I walk through this valley of the shadow of death. I want you to know today that there are some things that would be better just left with God to sort out.

Sheep are not required to fight their enemies. Number two: there will be no path that the shepherd will ever take us but that He Himself goes with us. You are never separated from the shepherd. There was a young woman who was giving birth to a child, and it became very clear to everyone that she was going to die. She was weeping because she knew she was going to die. She kept saying, "I want to take my baby with me. I want to take my baby."

The doctor said to her, "You really can't because the gate through which you are passing, you're going alone. Your child, we promise you, will be well looked after." But she said, "I don't want to go alone. I want to take my baby with me." G. Campbell Morgan, a pastor overhearing this, goes to this precious woman and says, "I want you to know, you don't have to go through the gate alone. The good shepherd goes with you."

We have some friends who found their mother dead in an apartment. They felt so badly because she had been there for a day or two and they thought she died alone. But when you stop to think of it, if you're a member of God's sheep, nobody ever dies alone. The shepherd says every step you take, "Yea, though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you will fear no evil, for I am with you." Step for step, moment for moment, the good shepherd walks with us through the fearsome valley and we come out on the other side in the light of immortality.

I found it difficult to preach on Psalm 23. I'll just share with you very honestly and say that the first two messages I preached were some of the most difficult I have preached here. You wouldn't have known it, and some of you maybe even were blessed. God is gracious. I was meditating this week and saying, "Why is Psalm 23 so difficult to preach on? You just came off a series of the book of Job and now Psalm 23, you're struggling. Why are you struggling so much?"

It dawned on me that the reason that I was struggling was because it seemed so unrealistic. That was the reason. It seemed so idealistic. You know, the Lord is my shepherd, He takes care of everything, He fills the bowls with water, He makes me to lie down in green pastures, He takes care of all of my need, and I just go through life staying close to the shepherd and everything is sweetness and light. I know that life isn't that way.

That's why I was struggling so much. It dawned on me this week that what we ought to really do is go back to the author of the Psalm and ask him some questions and dialogue with David who wrote it, whose life was anything but sweet and serene. We ought to ask David, "David, how did you take Psalm 23 and relate it to the nitty-gritty of your experience and your life? How did you pull that off, David?"

We're going to end this message on Psalm 23 with dialoguing with David. David is writing, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." So I interrupt him and I say, "David, come on. Fine for you to say that today. The sun is shining, everything seems to be right with the world. But David, what do you do when Saul pursues you for 10 years? And you go from cave to cave and from stream to stream and you live that way for 10 long years?

David, what do you do when your family rejects you? You were considered the runt of the family. When Samuel was supposed to find a king among the sons of Jesse, you weren't even allowed to attend. How did that hurt you, David?" David was hurt by that, you can see it in the Psalms. What have you got to say, David? "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters."

Oh, David! David, what do you do when you commit adultery with Bathsheba and then kill her husband to cover your sin? Despite the fact that you've tried to cover it so well, the whole kingdom knows about it. In fact, even God says the heathen knew about it. Everybody is whispering behind your back and it is recorded every day in the gossip column of the Jerusalem Post. David, everybody knows it. How do you go on from there?

"He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake." Oh, David! David, what do you do when the child that Bathsheba bore to you whom you love dies, and Nathan the prophet says that the reason it dies is because of your sin and your crime? David, how do you handle your grief? How do you bounce back from an experience like that? "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."

But David! David, you had a son by the name of Absalom, and Absalom rebelled against you. Absalom turned his face away, and he caused an insurrection. Because of that he undermined your authority, he told lies about you, and he committed immorality with your wives. Then you had to go through the Kidron Valley and over the Mount of Olives in great humiliation as you were running away from the civil war that was there. David, how do you manage when in embarrassment your own child wants to kill you?

"Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies." David, how do you handle it when the whole nation is angry at you for grieving over Absalom, who was killed against your wishes? You're grieving so much and you're supposed to run the country, and Joab has to come and talk some sense into your head. Everybody is saying, "What's wrong with King David? Did he lose his marbles?" David, how do you bounce back from such humiliation?

"Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over." David, be real. You're dying now. Here you are, you're on your deathbed. Your kingdom is in disarray. Everything that you worked for is crumbling. There is civil war within your kingdom, and your other three sons are in rebellion. You have been a pretty good king, but a terrible father. Everything is collapsing around you now. Your wives are laughing and whispering behind your back. Now it's over. What have you got to say now, David?

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever." David, write that down. Write that down for the people of Chicago and the people of New York and LA and Atlanta, who have messed up their lives, who've committed adultery, and whose reputations have been ruined because of sin. Write it down for those who've had rebellious children who've turned against them and who've been humiliated because of their children.

Write it down for those who have accepted injustice and for those who at the end of their days find everything for which they worked crumbling before them. Write it down, David, so that they might have hope. At the end of the day, there's nothing left. The curtain closes on David's life just as it opens. All that there is is David and his God. A wounded sheep and his shepherd. That's the end of the story.

Would you join me in prayer? Our Father, we thank You today for the life of somebody whose life was flawed from beginning to end, but who at the end of the day loved You and said, "I have nothing to offer, I have nothing to commend myself to God except my great need. I am the sheep and He is the shepherd. And all that I can do as best as I can is to follow Him." Grant, Father, hope we pray to all who have listened.

We ask, Lord, that You shall take this wonderful Psalm and brand it into our hearts and minds that we might never forget. Now before I close this prayer, I want you to pray. What is it that you need to give to the shepherd? What is it that you need to submit to God? What pathway are you following and you find His rod and His staff is bringing you back? Whatever God has asked you to do today, I want you to do. Whatever He says to you, respond to Him right now.

How many of you say today, "Pastor Lutzer, today I'm one of God's sheep, but I'm coming back home"? Would you raise your hands, please? You say, "I'm coming back home." I see hands over here in the center, in the back, and right up here. I see about six or seven or more in the center section. What about to my left over here on the organ side? There are those of you who are raising your hands, I see three or four hands. On the right on the piano side, do any of you say, "Yes, today I come home"?

Father, seal the decision of those who have listened and transform hearts forever because we have listened to Your Word. We pray in Jesus' blessed name, amen.

My friend, today, this is Pastor Lutzer. I want to ask you a question: was this message for you? Perhaps you are one of God's sheep and you have wandered away. Your heart may be angry toward God. Anger perhaps is in your heart toward others, and so you have given up. Would you come back to the shepherd? Would you develop a relationship with Him through intimacy of prayer and Bible reading to recognize that the good shepherd has your best in His mind?

As we go through life, we discover that there are many discouragements, and that's why today I want to offer you a special resource that I think will help you in the Christian life. It's actually a book written by my wife entitled *Life-Changing Bible Verses Every Woman Should Know*. This book actually has 25 or 26 different topics dealing with issues that women struggle with. For example, daily strength, often times being overwhelmed with life, being disappointed, having emotional challenges. All of these topics are dealt with.

For a gift of any amount, we're making it available for you. I hope that you have a pen or pencil handy because this is the info by which you can connect with us. Go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com. RTW Offer is all one word. rtwoffer.com. Or call us at 1-888-218-9337. That's 1-888-218-9337. Ask for the book *Life-Changing Bible Verses Every Woman Should Know*. It's not just Bible verses; it's an exposition of topics from the Bible. I want to thank the many of you who pray for us and support this ministry. Remember, we exist to help you make it all the way to the finish line.

Dave McAllister: It's time again for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life. Today, marital strife has brought one listener to the brink. Janice from Illinois asks: "My husband and I have been married for 30 years. It has been tumultuous at best, and we got married because I was pregnant. I was saved out of a liberal church 25 years ago, and while my husband says he is born again, I don't think he gets it.

My husband left when our son was 15. He had a deep, intimate, emotional affair and then came back one and a half years later. But he came home for our son who was having difficulty in high school. He did not come back for me and our relationship. Our son's needs were always put ahead of ours. Our son is now 28 and married. My husband paid a very sizable amount of his very expensive wedding. I was so angry about the extravagance that I made many inappropriate comments.

This caused tension which has still not been resolved to this day. My son will not allow me in his home to see his wife or my grandchild. My heart has changed since then and I have apologized. They say they forgive me, but unless I'm talking about some general topic, I'm told I'm saying something inappropriate. My question is, since my husband refuses to seek counseling for our marriage, clearly we have no emotional connection whatsoever. What should I do?"

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: Janice, first of all, let me say that my heart certainly goes out to you. It's a reminder to me as a pastor that people live in a great deal of pain. Clearly you do. You feel isolated, you feel alone, you feel as if there's nobody there. There seems to be no hope for your marriage and now, of course, you're being cut off from your son also and his wife.

It is important for you to see yourself objectively in all of this. You do have to ask yourself the question: what have you done to cause such hostility toward you? I always say the ability to see ourselves as others do is a divine gift. I mention that because you need to make sure that your own conscience is clear. Thankfully you have asked for forgiveness, but there may be some other things there that you can do to somehow ease the tension and to defrost the cold relationship that you have there with the members of your family.

From your letter, I got the impression that when your husband had that affair and he came back, there was no counseling and there was no repentance. He came back into your life and wanted to be accepted as if nothing had happened. That, of course, was a mistake because when you don't deal with these issues seriously, when sin is not taken seriously, the cure is not taken seriously. But that is history, apparently, and you can't go back to the beginning in that relationship.

What you must do now is to simply prove your love and have the right attitude toward your husband and toward his son. You need to trust God and simply say, "Lord, I believe that this is unfair, I see no hope, but I'm going to be a faithful wife, I'm going to be a faithful mother, and I am going to try to prove my love and prove all that I believe about You being adequate for this situation." Then go for some counsel. Talk to your pastor. Ask others to pray with you. You can't clean up this mess. Only God can. So all that you can do is to guard your heart, to have faith, and to trust to go for some help. Somebody else has to sort all this out.

Dave McAllister: Janice, thank you for opening your heart to us today. Many listeners probably share the same kind of struggles you do. Thank you, Pastor Lutzer, for your answers. If you'd like to hear your question answered, you can go to our website at rtwoffer.com and click on Ask Pastor Lutzer, or you can call us at 1-888-218-9337. That's 1-888-218-9337.

You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. What do you hold on to when you feel threatened? When sheep are being attacked by wolves, they know enough to listen to the voice of their shepherd whom they know will lead them to safety. Next time, more about the good shepherd and why listening to His voice is the key to being protected from life's dangers. Running to Win is all about helping you understand God's roadmap for your race of life. Thanks for listening. For Pastor Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.