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. Believers are told to wield the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. It's not just a book, it has power and it's the means God uses to open closed hearts to the gospel. Today, a final look at Ephesians chapter 6. 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, today you'll wrap up your series on the invisible war.

What's your focus as you finish up this teaching?

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: Well, David, one of the things that I frequently emphasize when I talk about demonic activity, two things really come to mind. Number one, I'm reminded of a person who said to me, I think that if I leave the devil alone, he'll leave me alone. No. You may leave him alone, but he will not leave you alone. And second also, it's so important for us to emphasize that he targets the mind. He puts ideas in our minds that we think are our own, so we don't fear them. It's so critical for us to emphasize that we are in a battle.

I've emphasized before that we don't need to sign up for it. It is what it is, but thank God for the resources that we have learned about in this series of messages. I've written a book entitled How to Break a Stubborn Habit. I'd love for you to have a copy because I think it will be a blessing to you. It will map out a strategy to deal with sin in your life which is repetitive. For a gift of any amount, we're making it available for you. Here's what you can do. Go to rtw offer.com or call us at 1888 218 9337.

Remember the title of the book, How to Break a Stubborn Habit. Probably he was bluffing and most assuredly he was very deceptive, but what he wanted Jesus to do is to bow down and worship me, which is really the heart of what the devil wants. If there's anything that he wants, it is worship. And he is being worshiped today in many, many different disguises. He's being worshiped by false religions. He's being worshiped by the new spirituality that I've spoken about where there is a transformation of consciousness and people are into touching that outer realm, that inner consciousness which eventually without a guide leads to occultism and the whole spirit world.

And they think that they are in touch with God and they are actually in touch with the devil. It is his most dazzling deception. And so Jesus replies with a verse of scripture, but Jesus adds something. And I like what Jesus added. This time he says, begone, Satan. Begone, Satan, he says. For it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve. Begone. And so the devil leaves. But does he leave permanently? No. The Bible says in the Gospel of Luke, here it says the devil left him and behold angels came and were ministering to him.

In the Gospel of Luke, it says, and Satan left him waiting for a more opportune time. New converts especially don't get this. You say they think to themselves, well, I fought the devil and I won a victory. Praise God, I am on the victory side. And they don't realize that the devil comes back and he comes back and he comes back and he comes back and he isn't nice. He doesn't play by any rules. He is the quintessential example whose essence is only ever totally evil, totally angry, totally enraged against God and his people, and he has no conscience whatever.

All that he can do is do evil. I saw a video clip of seven lions eating a water buffalo. They took on this big water buffalo, but because there were seven lions, they conquered that beast and they began eating and tearing at the animal while it was still alive. No conscience. The Bible says that Satan is a prowling lion goes about seeking whom he may devour without conscience, without rationality, without sensibility, without compassion, destroying, destroying, destroying, destroying. And Jesus said, begone, for it is written that you shall worship the Lord your God only. Notice that Satan wanted Jesus to avoid the cross.

In other words, don't die because he knew that when Jesus died on the cross, that would be his downfall and his defeat. So avoid the cross, get all that you want. And today Satan says to people today, wealth and power is where it's at. And people have sold their souls for wealth and power. Wave big money and you'll be surprised at what people will sometimes do. And Jesus said, beware, beware of wealth and power. Don't sell your soul. Don't sell your soul for wealth and power. So Jesus conquers these temptations. Now the question is what do we do and how do we bring this down and why should this message change our lives?

So let me give you some suggestions of application and transformation. First of all, number one, what we must do is to prepare ourselves for the battle. Prepare ourselves for the battle. Jesus was ready because Jesus knew the scriptures. Are you ready? Do you know the scriptures? Do you know what verses of scripture you would appeal to in the midst of temptation? Let us suppose that there would be an enemy who would come across a wall and he would come across in the very same area of the city wall each time. Wouldn't you think that the leaders in the city would say, this is the part of the wall that needs to be strengthened.

Now what part of your wall, so to speak, needs to be strengthened? Are you ready for the enemy? You're struggling with moral impurity. Do you know the verses such as what Jesus himself said very clearly on the Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Have you quoted that verse four or five times? What does it say in the book of Philippians very clearly? Whatever is right, whatever is honorable, whatever is pure, think on those things. And on and on we go through God's holy word. I was reading in Psalm 119 just the other day and it says, oh God, divert my eyes, turn my eyes from worthless things.

Have you ever prayed that prayer? Do you know the word of God well enough to be able to use it against that which is your greatest temptation? Your greatest temptation is anxiety. Do you know the verses of scripture regarding the peace of God that passes all understanding that should come to you? How do we wield the sword? Well, we wield the sword by very directly using passages of scripture as Jesus did that relates to our temptation and our situation. That's how we overcome Satan because if we continue to stand, to stand on those promises, he will eventually leave us.

Secondly, it is so important for us, whenever possible, rebuke the devil verbally out loud because he may not be able to read your thoughts. Let him know what you think so that he can hear it. Now don't do this tomorrow morning in your cubicle at work. Or two men who are dressed in blue might come and take you away and we might not hear from you again. But I've done this many times. I remember parking a car and I was just I was just angry. I don't know what it was. And I was supposed to speak at this conference in about an hour and and here I was.

I was just discombobulated, you know, just everything had gone wrong and and you feel so guilty and you feel you feel so unworthy. And and of course that is right. We are unworthy. But I remember parking the car and out loud I just said, begone, Satan, for it is written, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God who justifieth. Who is he that condemned? It is Christ that died, yea rather that is risen again and is even now on the right hand of the throne of God who also maketh intercession for us.

And just like that, I'm only telling you that if you say that two or three times and the sense of guilt and frustration and and the attacks of the enemy are muted and you begin to say, wow, there is freedom. The word does work when it is applied. And that 's why we should be memorizing scripture. We should be using the scripture and we should be able to take that sword and put it into the teeth of the enemy who wants to destroy us and destroy us. He desires to do. He's after you. The thief comes not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy, Jesus said.

And he's out there and he's after you and after me. So whenever possible, speak directly to the devil because he can hear you. That's why I've said to people that one of the best things we can do in our homes is to get wonderful Christian music that still does exist, thank God. Get some wonderful Christian music and play it in your home. Play the Hallelujah chorus. Make sure that your home is filled with positive praise filled music. And you will discover that it frustrates the enemy who wants to get to you. So secondly, whenever necessary or possible, speak to him and let him know what you think, especially quote God's holy, holy word.

Next, always remember and now I'm beginning to bring this plane down. Always remember that Satan has as much power as we give him, as much power as we give him. Give him a lot of power, he'll take it and more. How much power did Satan have over Judas? The Bible says that Satan entered into Judas. Judas began to dicker in his mind about selling Jesus. He was involved with the high priest and says if I betray him to you, how much money will I get? They were working out a deal. And he had already made up his mind that he was going to betray the only one who could have possibly redeemed him.

And Judas was not a believer and never was. Clearly Jesus had trouble in his own personal staff. And Judas is there and the Bible says that when Judas was in the upper room with the other disciples playing the game so well that they had no idea who it was when Jesus said, one of you will betray me. Another proof of what I said earlier, you never know what's going on in the heart of the person next to you, even if you know them. But notice, because Judas had given Satan room in his heart, the Bible says that Satan entered into him.

Without an invitation, Judas didn't say, now devil, I don't think I can do this unless you inhabit me. No, no, no. Satan doesn't play by rules. He is thoroughly evil and will take every advantage. And there so much sin was in Judas's heart that as he left, the devil entered into him. Judas gave Satan a lot of rope and Satan took that rope and took even more. Every time I walk through our Christian center, the CLC, I marvel at how wonderful our building committee put that together as they guided it. And how wonderful it is to see by the way that all of the rooms are filled.

We have evenings such as Wednesday when I don't think that there's any space. Even after this service, there won't be any extra space. There's room for you, by the way. You can attend the TMC communities, but but the new CLC is completely full. But if you ever go to the top, the roof deck and I'm not sure if it's open today because it can only be opened when there's a TMC community that wants to meet up there, when there's a potluck lunch or something going on up there. But when you're up there, be quiet for just a moment and you will hear a very interesting sound, particularly if you go to the east side of the roof deck.

You will hear the screeching of a bird. And then you will hear the screams and the squawk of another bird, one bird eating the other. Just listen for it. It's up there 24/7. Here's what happened. When we built it, we discovered that we had a problem with pigeons. In fact, one time we had it was estimated there were 200 pigeons on the roof deck. So our trustees discovered thanks to their ingenuity that we could purchase a box. And that box was the recording of a falcon killing a pigeon. And so what they did is they put that box up there and as I say, it runs 24/7.

If you wait about every minute, you hear this screeching of a falcon. You hear a pigeon squealing for its life. And I challenge you to find a pigeon even in the area. I'm serious. Not only have I never seen a pigeon in the upper deck, but I've not even seen one in the sky fly around. Now here's today's question. How much power does that box with a tape recorder have over the pigeon? None. The 200 could come back and they could bring another 200 with them and enjoy the afternoon. But they don't know that. And by the way, we're glad that they don't.

They don't know that. And they have given this box so much power that they stay away. How much power does tomorrow have over you? I'm thinking about that because I was concerned about something and I was being diverted because of anxiety even this week. How much power does tomorrow have over you? None. It's much as that box has power over a pigeon. But if you listen to the devil squawk, if you listen to all of the fears that are out there that we don't understand, if you begin to conquer and think about tomorrow's troubles already today, you'll discover that the devil has awesome power over you and some of you have yet to see the extent to which he can do damage in the life of sinning saints.

He's awesome in his power if you let him. Jesus said this very interesting thing. He said the prince of this world comes, but he is nothing in me. What a beautiful statement. In other words, there's nothing in me that corresponds to him. He can't get to me because I'm protected by the power of God. I'm in the will of God and I'm in communion with my heavenly father. Now I know we're not Jesus, but that's our goal is to be like him in those ways that we can be like him. The devil is a strong and is powerful as you allow him to be.

But the Bible says, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Resist, resist, resist and then resist. And suddenly you're at peace and you realize you've just won a victory. But he's back. But you learn the principle. Begone, Satan, for it is written. And you stand on the word and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. And Satan begins to say, I can't conquer this person because he knows his resources and his assets and knows who he is in Jesus. How does Satan end in the end? The lake of fire.

He knows it. And he's angry and he wants to destroy us. But Jesus, the Bible says, conquered him. The scripture says in the book of Colossians, having disarmed him, he made a show of them openly triumphing over them in it. You and I through prayer and through other believers together have enough resources to conquer him. But we must learn to use the sword effectively. Let's pray. Father, I do pray in the name of Jesus that you might help those today who feel so defeated, those today who've experienced devastation. And we ask that you'll build them up by the comfort of your word, by your promises.

And help us to know, father, that Satan does not have authority over us. We have authority over him in Christ. And therefore we pray that though we recognize his awesome strength, we also recognize that Jesus is stronger than the devil. And Jesus conquered him. Give us hope. Give hope to those who are here today who've never trusted Christ as savior. And while we did not speak specifically to them, use this message anyway that they might understand their need to trust Christ, to believe him, to be in him, that they might be saved in Jesus's name.

Amen. My friends, this is Pastor Lutzer and I have to share with you the fact that I as a believer who have walked with God for many years discovered that I need to hear and rehear messages that help me in the Christian life. It's amazing how quickly we forget and we need to renew our minds and our hearts in the word of God. And that's why it's so important for us even after having listened to a message, it's important for us to have in our hands a resource that we can go to again and again.

I'm holding in my hands a book entitled How to Break a Stubborn Habit. Now I wrote this book as the previous message that you've just listened to indicates on the basis of the fact that Jesus Christ has won a victory, but the question is how does that victory become ours? For a gift of any amount, we're making this resource available for you. But some of the chapters have to do with the power of the Holy Spirit, how we can strengthen our wills to depend upon God, satanic activity, and what happens when you are trapped again.

Here's what you can do. Go to rtw offer.com. Did I say that too quickly? rtw offer.com or pick up the phone and call us at 1888 218 9337. Thank you so much in advance for helping us even as we get the gospel of Jesus Christ around the world. Call us at 1888 218 9337 or right now go to rtw offer.com.

Dave McCallister: It's time again for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life. The tough economy gets real personal when you are the one feeling its bite. Lisa listens to running to win in Concord, New Hampshire. Here is her story.

Lisa: We are facing serious financial problems because we got taken advantage of and our house may be foreclosed on. We may be able to stop it by filing bankruptcy. I'm not trying to ditch my responsibilities, but I'm the only one earning income and just don't make enough to cover the bills and the mortgage too. I'm trying everything to make money from home. What do you think about a Christian filing bankruptcy? I'm afraid if I don't and we lose the house, I'll never be able to rent an apartment with my credit rating.

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: Lisa, you are in a very difficult spot. First bit of advice, go to a good financial counselor who might be able to weigh the options. You may have some options you haven't thought of. You know, there are people who are discovering that if they go to their bank and if they discover certain agencies that are willing to help them and through that you might be able to avoid bankruptcy. I hope that you can. Secondly, if you need to file bankruptcy, I understand that. It's a provision that is made in our laws for those who have no other option, but make sure that that is your last option.

You may even be able to get some wisdom from friends, from those who are around you, maybe your church so that you know that you are making a very wise decision. Meanwhile, I'm praying for you that God may find a way out because bankruptcy is difficult. It has huge implications and you should not take that step lightly. And I know you aren't. But even as I pray for you, so I pray for people in our congregation here at the Moody Church who are facing similar circumstances, I pray that God may prove himself faithful through these very, very rough patches in our lives.

Dave McCallister: Thank you, Lisa, for sharing your story with us here at running to win. If you'd like to hear your question answered, go to our website at rtw offer.com and click on ask Pastor Lutzer or call us at 1888 218 9337. That's 1888 218 9337. You can write to us at running to win 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60614. Running to win is all about helping you find God's road map for your race of life. All of us have stubborn habits, ingrained behavior that's hard to stop. While it's easy to say yes when tempted to give in to a bad habit, the real need is to find a way to say no.

Next time on running to win, a series designed to help all of us break stubborn habits and develop positive habits for the future. Don't miss getting to know beginning on the next edition of running to win. Thanks for listening. For Pastor Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McCallister. Running to win is sponsored by the Moody Church.