Running To Win

Dave McAllister: Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Looking to Jesus, the founder and proctor of our faith. God made it clear that all of us need a day of rest. The concept is so important that he made it into one of the 10 commandments. Nowadays, Sunday is just another day to shop, work, or be on the move. Not a day for reflection, meditation, and prayer. Stay with us. 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, are we expected to work six days each week as the Bible seems to indicate?

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: Well, you know, Dave, I don't think that we have to say that in a strict sense. Obviously, we don't object to a five-day work week. But that being said, the principle of having a day set aside for worship, for meditation, I believe is thoroughly biblical, and as far as possible, it was practiced in the New Testament. Now, when Jesus was confronted with issues regarding the Sabbath, you remember when he told his disciples, he said, if your ox falls into a pit on the Sabbath day, obviously, you're going to pull it out. There are many healthcare workers that work on Sunday, and I think that that is perfectly acceptable.

But to emphasize again, the need for that day of rest is very important. Well, at the end of this message, I'm going to be giving you some contact info because I've written a book entitled Why Holiness Matters, and I believe it will help you on your spiritual journey. For now, I want you to listen.

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: Now, we come to the $64 question. What about Jesus Christ's relationship to the Sabbath? Jesus six times in the New Testament is specifically accused of having broken the Sabbath. The Pharisees were constantly getting on him. For example, one day, he and his disciples were walking through the fields of grain, and they took some of the heads of wheat, and they rubbed them in their hands, and they ate that grain, and everybody said, the Old Testament said you're not supposed to thrash on the Sabbath day, and they are thrashing. They're harvesting. And Jesus said to them, now, wait a moment.

The Sabbath was made for man's benefit. And if we have to eat on the Sabbath day, we eat. If your ox falls into a pit on the Sabbath day, you pull them out. There are these necessities of servanthood that you have to do on a Sunday, or rather on Saturday, that are perfectly legitimate. If you're a nurse and you have to work on Sunday and you have to help people, what better way to commemorate God's rest and God's interest in the human race than to have deeds of kindness on the Sabbath day? And then Jesus healed people.

And you remember they said, wait a moment. There's nothing in the Old Testament that says that you can heal a person on the Sabbath day. And Jesus once looked around, glaring in anger because of all of the flak that he was getting for healing people on the Sabbath. And Jesus said, well, what is it better to do? Shall I do evil on the Sabbath day? Is it wrong for me to do good on the Sabbath day? They called him a Sabbath breaker. In fact, they called him a continuous Sabbath breaker. We don't have time here to look into all the passages, but I just want to say that I don't think Jesus broke the Old Testament Sabbath because he came to fulfill the law.

And Jesus Christ being under the law of the Old Testament, it is unlikely that Jesus broke the Old Testament Sabbath even though he said he was Lord of the Sabbath. What's more likely is that all kinds of little laws and traditions grew up to protect that day. And Jesus was someone who loathed tradition. He constantly was speaking against it. He was saying to the people, you nullify the word of God through your traditions. You are always adding all kinds of little regulations to what God has said, and you are making it more stringent and more inexplicable than God's word.

And so that's what happened. In 1954, Time magazine reported that in Tel Aviv, there are some elevators in hotels that go constantly all day. They are set to go all day, and they stop at every single floor because the Orthodox Jews do not want to press a button on the Sabbath day. So you see what really happens is there are laws that grow up regarding the Sabbath, and people begin to so emphasize those meticulous laws when God says you're missing the point. I had intended that you'd have a day of rest and worship and reflection, and here it has been reduced to a time when you are nitpicking regarding all kinds of small little regulations.

Well, that's one question. We come to another question. And that is why does the Christian church not observe the Sabbath? And this, of course, is a tremendous controversy as you well know. Some of our seventh-day Adventist friends will tell us that we are breaking the law of God. And in response, of course, all that we can do is show them the New Testament, how that the early church began to meet on the first day of the week. And they took this time of rest and reflection, and they changed it into a time of rejoicing. Now, just to give you an idea, for example, if you're taking notes, John chapter 20 verse 19, it says that they gathered together on the first day of the week.

And then maybe we should take time to look at the book of Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter 20 where you have the early church again meeting on the first day of the week. Acts chapter 20 verse seven. It says and on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to depart the next day. The breaking of bread refers to communion. And you'll notice that it was on the first day of the week. Another passage, 1 Corinthians 16 verse two. Just write that one down.

You don't have to turn to it. 1 Corinthians 16 verse two. Paul says, on the first day of the week, you ought to keep in store a certain amount of money that you might be able to give it when you gather together in worship. 1 Corinthians chapter 16 verse two. It seems impossible to me that God would have intended that people keep the Sabbath when all of Paul's epistles and all of his writings say nothing about any Sabbath day violations that are going on in the church. In fact, Paul says just the opposite. Now, I know I've asked you to turn to many passages today.

Would could you take one more? Let's take Colossians chapter two. Colossians chapter two. You'll notice it's farther on there in the New Testament. Colossians chapter two. And Paul is speaking specifically to the issue of Sabbath days and special events like that that people were commemorating. And I won't take time to give you the total context and that which precedes it and follows it, but in Colossians chapter two verse 16, it says, therefore, let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day.

Paul says, don't let anybody judge you regarding these things. And in Romans 14, he says, one person esteems one day above another. Another esteems every day alike. He says you have to be fully persuaded in your own mind. So nowhere in the New Testament do we have all of the Sabbath day regulations transferred over to Sunday. Sunday becomes a voluntary day of rejoicing and praise and gratitude, and it's a day when people can do and serve God in the way in which they ought, but not under the compulsion of the Old Testament. Now, you know, of course, that oftentimes in American history, there has been a transfer from the Sabbath day to Sunday with all of the regulations.

Parenthetically, have you ever eaten a Sunday? How many of you ever had gone into a store and had a Sunday? Only 42 of you. I thought more of you liked ice cream. Do you know where that got associated? In Evanston, Illinois. You've heard of that place. What happened was there were no stores open in Evanston, and finally one store opened on Sunday and served only ice cream. And so the idea arose that you would have a Sunday. You'd be able to buy ice cream. And that's the origin of the association of having a Sunday and eating some ice cream.

Well, we've come a long way since that time, haven't we? With everything virtually open on Sunday. Now, what I'd like to do is to take all the loose ends and tie them together and give you three conclusions. All right? And this will help us, I think, nail some important things down regarding Sunday and the Sabbath, etc. First of all, the regulations of the Sabbath are not transferred over to Sunday. The regulations of the Sabbath are not transferred over to Sunday in the New Testament. For example, in the book of Exodus 35 verse three, it expressly says that you shall not light a fire on the Sabbath.

Well, you can imagine, of course, that this would create problems for those of us who live in the Midwest if we tried to apply that on Sunday. They were not to go out and even gather manna on the Sabbath day. You were not to go a Sabbath day's journey, or there was a certain limitation I should say as to how far you could go and travel on the Sabbath. And there were all kinds of regulations that were a part of that that are explained in the Old Testament. And today, I must say that we do not transfer those to Sunday.

Now, what about Eric Liddel? Should he have run that race on Sunday? Well, let me answer this way. If he thought that he was disobeying God, of course, he should not have because the Bible says that whatever is not of faith is sin. If you if you think that you're disobeying God and then you go ahead and do it anyway, you are sinning. Even if it's in something that perhaps you may be mistaken about, such as eating meat onto idols or running a race on Sunday, I would simply say that in the minds of a believer, uh some might be free to run the race on Sunday, and some might not be.

Paul says, don't judge one another regarding some of these matters. And what about that young pastor? Should he have been able to skate to church on Sunday? Well, of course, he should have been able to skate to his church on Sunday. And what the elders should have said is, we want you to skate to church, and we are commanding you to enjoy it. That's what they should have said because obviously, to say that you should skate without enjoyment is is indeed foolish. Now, so I don't see a transfer of the regulations of the Old Testament Sabbath to Sunday.

But I'd like to make a second conclusion and that the principle of one day in seven is woven right into the fabric of the universe. The idea that God rested is predates the giving of the law. And God rested on one day after he had done all of his creation as a principle that I think transcends all time. So to observe Sunday in principle is being completely biblical and right. And what kind of a day should it be? Well, let it be a day of rest. Let it be a day of reflection, and above all, let it be a day of rejoicing.

Let it be a day in which we are edified and strengthened by the gathering together of the body of Jesus Christ. Let it be a time in which Jesus Christ's resurrection and ascension into heaven is exalted and thought about and a day in which we worship him together. The Bible says that we should not forsake the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but that we should be together. We should provoke one another unto good works. Our hearts have to be knit together in love, Paul says in Colossians, so that we can enter into all the inheritance that there is in Jesus Christ.

While I'm on the topic, there are many of you here whose participation at Moody Church is minimal. Uh you may come Sunday morning, and then we do not see you. You are not involved in any ministry. So let me say very quickly, we're glad to have you here. Come back again next week. But do you know that it is so important within your sphere of life to become more closely knit together with other believers to experience the inheritance that there is in Jesus Christ. That's why it's so important that a church like ours it's so important that you participate in a smaller group such as a Sunday school class or a Bible study where you are able to get to know others and where there is interaction and prayer and a bearing of one another's burdens.

And I encourage you in the name of Christ to be all that God wants you to be, to become involved in the lives of other believers and have hearts knit together in love. All that to say this, that Sunday is a day in which that ought to happen as we worship the Lord our God. There's a third conclusion, and that is that Sunday is really a reminder. It's a reminder of God's grace. Do you realize that in the Old Testament, this has been pointed out that in the Old Testament, which was an age of law of course, there was grace in the Old Testament, but the law was given by Moses, and grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

In the Old Testament, during that age of law, the idea was that after you worked six days, you would be rewarded with rest. You'd be rewarded with rest. It's interesting that in the New Testament, the first day of the week is observed as a day of rest, which really means that while law says if you work hard, you get to rest, grace turns that around and says you begin with rest in order that you might be able to work. And it says in the book of Hebrews that there still remains a rest for the people of God.

It's such good news for tired Christians. There is a rest coming for the people of God. He may be speaking there about the millennial kingdom, but notice Jesus Christ's words, come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. I should have pointed out that the Hebrew word is Sabbath, Shabbat, is rest. Jesus Christ, you see, comes along and says freely as a gift, I give you rest. And now that you have received rest, you are free to be able to serve me and to be able to walk with me and to be able to labor in my work.

You see, let me use the life of Martin Luther to illustrate. Here's a man whose prime objective in life is to be right with God. I mean, that's what he wanted above all else, which incidentally is the most important question. Question is not whether or not the earth's resources are going to wear out or whether or not we're going to be at war. Uh that's important, but not nearly as important as where you're going to spend eternity. So here he is. He is pursuing this right relationship with God, and Luther says, I flogged my body perhaps 40 or 50 times.

But how do I know that God doesn't demand 51? In other words, Luther was saying, I'm looking for rest. I 'm looking for security, a sense of knowing that I belong to God. I want to be at rest in my soul and have assurance that I'm on my way to heaven. So he confessed his sins sometimes six hours at a time. The problem was this, that in order for a sin to be forgiven, it had to be confessed. In order to be confessed, it had to be remembered. And Luther's problem was how good is my memory?

And sometimes after six hours, he could still think of one that he had overlooked. Do you think that leads to rest? That leads to bondage and frustration and uncertainty. Then one day when he was studying the book of Romans, he came to that fantastic conclusion that righteousness is a gift of God given in response to faith. Forgiveness is a gift of God given in response to faith. It is a free gift conferred upon those who give up trying and believe in the merits and the completeness of Jesus Christ's work. And after that, he was a man at rest, at rest free to be able to serve.

God says to us today that there is a rest for the people of God. Jesus says, come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest, and I give you the gift freely upfront. And after it's been received, you have the opportunity of serving me. It's not a matter of being rewarded at the end of labor. It's a matter of being rewarded at the beginning. That's grace before you've earned it. And then after that, you can serve me and you can love me. The Sabbath is rest. Sunday, a time of rest.

But above all, Jesus, the giver of rest to those that believe in him. Let's pray together. Our Father, we do want to thank you that Jesus Christ fulfilled the Sabbath. And we thank you that he is our rest. We think of those, Father, who today may be searching and going from one part of the world to another, from one church group even to another. We pray that you'll help them to stop to know that they can find rest in Christ who said, come and I will give you rest. Enable us, Father, to see him as the ultimate rest for God's people.

We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: Yes, my friend, there is a rest for the people of God. I want to emphasize that Jesus repeatedly stressed the need for our hearts to be hearts of worship and obedience. And we can get so hung up on some of the debates regarding the Sabbath and Sunday that we forget that it is really within. The most important part of us is what nobody sees. It's the affections of the heart. The question is, where is our heart? And that 's why I've written a book entitled Why Holiness Matters. And I wrote it because I do believe that holiness matters.

We're living at a time when many Christians cross boundaries. They are careless regarding their Christian life. They don't want to be known as legalists. Well, legalism means that the law is used in a wrong way, but there's nothing wrong with using laws and obeying them. I know that that necessitates a longer discussion, but I hope that you have a pen or pencil handy. Here's what you can do. Go to rtwoffer.com. rtwoffer.com or pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-9337. Remember the title of the book, Why Holiness Matters. The subtitle is The 10 Commandments Jesus and You.

It is time for us to understand the holiness of God, and when we do that, we understand our own sinfulness, and we understand the wonder and the beauty of God's grace. Right now, you can go to rtwoffer.com or you can call us at 1-888-218-9337. Thanks so much for helping us spread the gospel.

Dave McAllister: Time now for another chance for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life. It's a lot easier to see in the rearview mirror of history than to peer into the unknowns of the future. And so one Running to Win listener has written asking Pastor Lutzer this question. Do you think any of us here today will be alive at the rapture?

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: Well, I'm going to give an interesting answer. I'm going to say maybe yes and maybe no. You know, I grew up with prophecy conferences, and oftentimes when the speaker was finished, I honestly thought that Jesus Christ was going to return that evening. It seemed as if world events were all lined up in such a way that it was just a moment of time, and Jesus would return and history would be wrapped up. But as the years have gone on, I began to see that there's so many changes in the world, changes that can take place very rapidly.

And yet at the same time, we're really not in a position to say for sure when Jesus Christ is going to come. Put yourself in the shoes of the Old Testament prophets, and you think, for example, of the coming of Jesus the first time in Bethlehem. The scripture says that the prophets tried to figure out the time and how Jesus was going to come and what the details were, but they couldn't quite do it, and I don't think we can either. I remember having a professor at a Bible college who used to say that when it comes to matters of prophecy, sometimes it is better to say much too little than a little too much because we've had people even in our days say that we were living in the last generation.

And yet as time has gone on, that's shown that it wasn't the case. Bottom line is this, and this is the most important thing you'll hear from me in response to this question. Whether Jesus comes soon or whether it is later, it doesn't make any difference regarding our faithfulness. Either way, we are going to give an account for the deeds done in the body, whether they be good or bad. Just because Jesus Christ might come next week doesn't mean that this next week we should be more holy than we would be otherwise. We're going to give an account to God anyway.

Bottom line, let us wait for the return. Let us look forward to the return and be faithful until it happens.

Dave McAllister: A careful look forward from Dr. Erwin Lutzer. Thank you, Pastor Lutzer. If you'd like to hear your question answered, go to our website at rtwoffer.com and click on Ask Pastor Lutzer or 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. Murder, it's now so common that we aren't phased by it anymore. But the taking of innocent life breaks one of the cardinal commandments of God. Since Roe versus Wade, that commandment has been broken untold millions of times. Next time on Running to Win, we turn to commandment number five.

Thou shalt do no murder. A command disobeyed in America by the rampant aborting of the unborn. Running to Win is all about helping you understand God 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.