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. The sin nobody sees can light fires of lasting conflict. Covetousness, longing for what others have is a recipe for ongoing discontent. God's 10th commandment makes it clear, we are not to covet. 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, it seems to me that a great cure for coveting is to give money and things away to those who need them.

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: Dave, many years ago here at the Moody Church, I preached a message entitled the Generosity of God. That's actually the argument that the Apostle Paul uses in 2 Corinthians when he encourages people to give. And yes, in giving we give our selfishness away. I've written a book entitled Why Holiness Matters. And as you've heard me say before, I wrote it because I think that the Christian church oftentimes thinks that holiness is optional. But the Bible does say in the book of Hebrews, pursue peace with all men and holiness without which we shall not see the Lord.

And I think that also involves personal holiness. The text seems to indicate that this should be our experience. Seeking holiness in a world that intrudes upon our lives through technology and in other ways. For a gift of any amount, we're making this book available for you and I want to emphasize that this is the last week that we're making this resource available for you. Hope that you have a pen or pencil handy. Go to rtw offer.com. That's rtw offer.com or pick up the phone and call us at 1 888 218 93 37. Now because this is so important, I'm going to be giving you that contact info again.

Let us listen now. But what do we say when the Bible says that a covetous person is an idolater? Why? He has set up rival worship. God says if you have a covetous heart, what you are doing is you are supplanting me. You are saying that I am second and that you are inviting a rival into your life who is vying for your attention. Covetousness is is idolatry, says the scripture. That's why God hates it. Remember the Bible says that we can trust God. I will not fear what man unto me be content with such things as ye have for you know that the Lord has said I will never leave you and forsake you.

You see contentment is related to the presence and the faith that we ought to have in God. Another question, how can we overcome it? How can we overcome it? I want you to know today that you and I are born filled with covetousness, filled with it. You say, well you don't even know me. I don't have to know you. The only requirement for me to say that is that you be a member of the human race and you make your own judgment whether or not you qualify on that score. We are born born with a deceitful covetous spirit.

And so how do we take that that root that is within us? Coveting our neighbor's wife, our neighbor's possessions, our neighbor's house, anything that belongs to anybody else, desiring it, craving it, building in our imaginations the hope that someday it will be ours, the wish that it were ours. How can we take that awful root that is so implanted in the human heart and extract it? Well, the answer is you can't because covetousness is so much a part of you that that it's not even possible for you to get at it. Only God only God can take it out of our hearts.

Only God can do it. You know, I think that one of the greatest miracles you know when you really know when when God is able to change people, we say you know can God change people? I'll tell you there are times when God has actually taken a stingy person and made him generous. Did you know that? I I that's hard to believe. Boy, when I heard that, I remember hearing about a man who was so stingy, so miserly, everything that he gave was so incredibly measured because he didn't want to be guilty of over generosity or over giving.

He wanted to keep everything absolutely right and just give enough to make it look good. And guess what? God took this Christian who had allowed that root of covetousness to grow up in his life and God smashed him. God loves to do that. Just took him apart piece by piece, just one trial after another one, difficulty after another, budding up his head against the stone wall until God just showed him himself and he was just absolutely broken in the sight of God and he saw it in all of its ugliness, stinginess, miserliness, covetous, desiring that which isn't his, not being thankful for the fact that he had many times more than most of the poor people in the world, absolutely unthankful, always desiring more.

And then God began to take that root and to extract it. How does God do it? First of all, by repentance, by repentance. I've already told you I cannot get you to see your own heart, only God can. By repentance. I have been slain just like the Apostle Paul was as we'll see in a few moments by this commandment. Nobody can meditate upon the commandment thou shalt not covet without being absolutely devastated before God because when you see yourself, you know that you are guilty and you've got to see it and repent of it and confess it as sin and recognize it as idolatry.

The first commandment and the last are the same. Thou shalt have no other gods before me and thou shalt not covet are essentially the same commandment. Repent, acknowledge that it is there. Second, the matter of ownership. Give everything that you have over to God. Don't own anything. That is the secret because covetousness says I own I own. This is mine and this ought to be mine. That's the covetous spirit. And God says you don't own anything. Anything that I give you is nothing but a gift to be used in my work and I will hold you accountable for the way in which you use it, but I never lose ownership of it just because I entrusted to you for a short time.

Ownership. Consciously recognize that absolutely everything that you have belongs to God. Give it over to God. Have you ever been on vacation and spent a lot of time worrying whether or not a thief was breaking into your neighbor's garage and stealing his car? You say oh no I well why why would I worry about whether a thief was stealing my neighbor's car? Well, then whose car were you worried about? Oh, you say yours. Well, wouldn't it be nice if you didn't own one? Would free you from a lot of worry. So what you do is you take and you give your car to God and then you don't own it anymore and it's God's responsibility to look after it.

And if you come back from vacation and find your garage is broken in, then just simply say Lord, I I don't know why it is that you didn't take better care of your stuff, but that's right. We will always be covetous as long as we possess. Always. God says I am the owner. I remember in the revival in Canada, here was a woman who was trying to back her car into a space out on the street and one of those light poles happened to jump out and hit the car. You know how that happens. She lived with a husband who is covetous.

How do you know if a husband is covetous? Watch how he takes care of his new car. She parked the car in the garage and when he came home, he came through the garage. And she was waiting for the storm. The kids were upstairs in a closet. Closed the door. I'm telling you a true story. But you know when he hugged his wife and gave her a kiss, she thought that he hadn't seen what happened. But he had. But he had. He's the man that I was telling you about a few moments ago whom God took apart piece by piece.

Who was so concerned, you know a scratch on his new car would mean much more to him than whether or not the neighbors understood that Jesus Christ died on the cross for their sins. Covetous spirit right to the core, always justified by saying well we should take care of the things that God gives us of course. Did do you remember what I told you about covetousness having a cloak of respectability? Always coming clothed in righteousness and in sensibility and in wisdom and prudence and frugality. Those are the cloaks that covetousness wears. But you see what that man had done is he finally gave that car to God.

He finally relinquished ownership. And what you and I have to do is to relinquish ownership. When we relinquish ownership, we'll find it so much easier to give money. But there's no question but that as a congregation, we will give more to the ministry of Moody Church. We will give more to missions. And incidentally, our missions fund need some extra money. We will give more in all of these areas with liberality, generosity and freedom once we say God, this is yours. It is no longer mine and we repent of a covetous heart. So there's repentance, there's ownership.

And once you're devastated by God, there is changing your focus. I want you to turn to Romans chapter 7 for just a moment because the Apostle Paul was slain by this commandment. Do you remember the young man who came to Jesus and Jesus and he said what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And do you remember how Jesus Christ did not say to him, have you ever heard of the four spiritual laws? Though I'm not critical of the four spiritual laws. But Jesus said well he said you're a young man, you've read the law.

What do you think? He says well I think we should keep the commandments. Jesus said fine. He said how many of the commandments have you kept? And he said oh he says I have kept all the commandments from my youth up. I'm okay, the young man said. And of course since you're Jesus, you're okay. I'm okay. You're okay. Jesus said wait a moment. I'm okay, but you are not okay. You think that you have kept all of the commandments. Fine if you keep them all, that's really all that can be expected. I mean if you're perfect, then it's true.

You don't have to be saved. But Jesus said what you do is you go sell everything that you have and then come and follow me. Why did Jesus say that? It's because the Bible says this man had great possessions and Jesus wanted to point out that he was as covetous as any person could possibly be. Just ask a person to sell everything and to give it to Christ and then see whether or not they have a covetous heart. But the Apostle Paul was once struggling with lust, with with desire, with covetousness. He says in chapter 7 of Romans verse 7, what shall we say then?

Is the law sin? I wish I had time to give you the whole context, but he's discussing the role of the law. And his answer is may it never be. On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the law. For I would not have known about coveting if the law had not said thou shalt not covet. What Paul was saying is I was going along quite well and thinking to myself, you know I'm keeping the commandments, I'm not committing adultery, I'm not lying, I 'm not stealing and so forth. But then he says there was one commandment he says that absolutely killed me.

Thou shalt not covet, verse 8. But sin taking opportunity through the commandment produced in me coveting of every kind. He said the minute I heard that commandment, he says it was as if all the covetousness of my heart came to the surface. It exposed me for what I was. Verse 9. And I was once alive apart from the law. I thought I was doing well, but when the commandment came, sin became alive. And he says I died and this commandment which to was to result in life proved to result in death for me. He said I thought that the law was given for me to have life, but he says I realized it can't give life.

All that the law can possibly do is to expose sin. If you're here today and you're not a Christian, for me to expect you to stop coveting would be the most foolish thing that I could ever imagine. If you don't know Christ as Savior, there is no way that you can stop coveting. It would be like telling an elephant that if he really tried hard, he could fly. There is no way that you can stop coveting. Covetousness is is so ingrained in the human heart because a little drop of Satan's rebellion fell on every single human heart and Satan is above all a possessor, someone who wants to own, to possess, to covet, to hoard.

And that exists in every human heart and no way can it be extricated. Paul says all that the law can do is to point out that it's within me, but it can't change me. That's why when he gets to verse 24 of this chapter, he said oh wretched man that I am, who shall set me free from the body of this death? How am I going to get out of this? I hate coveting, but I do it all the time. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. And then he goes to chapter 8 verse 1, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. Paul says when I begin to contemplate what Jesus Christ has done for me, when I remember as a believer that I am in Jesus Christ and part of him, then says Paul, I begin to release the power of the Holy Spirit and I I take courage and I take heart and I I remember that legally God does not condemn me. God accepts me and that doesn't justify the covetousness, but what it does is it gives me encouragement and hope that as the Holy Spirit of God works in my life, I can be free from that coveting, scheming, miserly heart.

That's what Paul says. We change through repentance. We change through a transfer of ownership. And we change through focusing on what Jesus Christ has done for us and the fact that we have acceptance before God despite our struggles and therefore the power of the Holy Spirit of God can be released. When God begins to work on us, covetousness is the one sin that is the most stubborn, the deeply, the most deeply ingrained, the most deceptive that God's got to do. But it is his desire that as believers he work with us, expose it to us, ask us to repent, to give him everything that we have and to begin focusing upon Christ who was so incredibly generous that he accepts sinners and forgives them and receives them and welcomes them into the forever family.

Now I told you a moment ago that if you were here and you were not a Christian, for me to expect you to stop coveting would be the most foolish thing I could ever do. I wouldn't even bother you with the attempt. There would be nothing ahead of you except frustration and helplessness. If you could only see yourself the way God sees you. Nobody can stop coveting. But what you have to do is to realize that before you can even begin to stop or try to stop, what you must do is to see that Jesus Christ's death on the cross was a sacrifice for sins including covetousness.

And that his death was the means by which God and you can be reconciled, you can be brought together because of Jesus Christ's death on the cross. And when you put faith and trust in him, admitting your helplessness and trust him, you can become a different person. I mean here's a young man like that young ruler that came to Jesus, successful in business, success keeping him away from Christ. But then he sees his need, trusts Jesus Christ and puts faith in Jesus Christ and God makes him into a different person, the kind of young man that can stand in front of 12 13 100 people and tell them about Jesus Christ.

That's what Jesus Christ can do for you, just what he did for him. But it's only through faith in a Savior who died as a sacrifice for you that you might be reconciled to God, become a member of his family and then God begins to go to work on you to become free and victorious over the awful sin of covetousness which is idolatry. Let's pray. Our Father today, you know our hearts and you know Father how often all of us come short and we are basically at root covetous. Oh God, you know that there exists within every human heart the desire to own, possess, thanklessness, greed, the desire to hoard.

Today Father, expose us in your presence that we might be able to confess it, to forsake it and to let you into every room of our lives. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: My friends, this is Pastor Lutzer and I have to confess this that you and I do not see that sin unless God shows it to us. And yet there it stands in God's holy word that covetousness is idolatry. I've written a book entitled Why Holiness Matters. Did you know that we cannot approach God in whatever way we want? Are you aware of the fact that God not only knows our thoughts, but he intends that we deal justly in this world, that we should not lie, but speak the truth? All of these basic commandments are very important and for gift of any amount, we're making this book available for you.

And I want to emphasize one more time, this is the last week that you can get this resource from us. Here's what you do. Go to rtw offer.com. That's rtw offer.com or you can pick up the phone and call us at 1 888 218 93 37. At a time when you cannot distinguish between the church and the world, we need to get back to the basics and pursue holiness. Once again, here's that contact info. Go to rtw offer.com or pick up the phone and call us at 1 888 218 93 37. And I want to remind you that this ministry is yours.

Thanks in advance for your prayers and your gifts.

Dave McCallister: It's time once again for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life. When you read the Old Testament, it's clear that Saturday, the seventh day of the week was set aside for worship and rest. Anna got in touch with us to ask this question. Pastor Lutzer, what's your view on the day of worship? Is the Sabbath now on Sunday?

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: Well Anna, you know that there are a lot of people who debate this issue and I receive letters from folks who disagree with me. And I respect them, but I do need to say that I believe that the early Christians worshipped on the first day of the week. Jesus was raised on the first day of the week. So it seems to me that since the resurrection of Christ and the beginning of the church, Sunday is the day that we worship God and not Saturday. The Sabbath regulations of the Old Testament had many laws connected with them all about Sabbath day's journey.

You couldn't buy a loaf of bread, etc. etc. And I do believe that that belonged under the law. Furthermore, in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul does not make much of the Sabbath. In fact, he talks about the fact that nobody should regard one day above another. Let every man esteem every day alike. He seems to imply that the Old Testament Sabbath laws, and you can read here for example in the book of Colossians, he seems to imply that the Old Testament Sabbath laws no longer apply. So that's the view that I take. Sometimes you hear well it was Constantine who changed it.

I don't think that that can be proven. Though Constantine did have a great impact in the history of the Christian church. Bottom line, I don't think that the Sabbath as Saturday is our day of worship. I believe it's the first day of the week. Thank you Anna for your question. Thank you Pastor Lutzer for your answer. If you'd like to hear your question answered, you can. Just go to our website at rtw offer.com and click on ask Pastor Lutzer or call us at 1 888 218 93 37. That's 1 888 218 93 37. You can write to us at running to win 1635 North La Salle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60614.

The Decalogue, literally 10 words written by God on tablets of stone. The 10 commandments defined proper behavior. Thought we were done? No, not just yet. Following those 10 commandments is not enough. On a higher plane, believers follow an 11th commandment. In the New Testament, Jesus summed up the 10 commandments with an 11th that encapsulates them all. Next time on running to win, tune in to find out what it is. Running to win is all about helping you understand God's road map for your race of life. Thanks for listening. For Pastor Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McCallister.

Running to win is sponsored by the Moody Church.