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. Death, everyone's unavoidable fate, the legacy of the first sin committed by Adam and Eve. But believers cling to the promise of Jesus. I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. 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 is showing us portraits of Christ in a series he's calling "Come and See Jesus." Pastor, that tomb being empty is the only reason we can know that we too will live again. Help us come and see his empty tomb.

Dr. Erwin Lutzer: And you know, Dave, that's not all. The Bible says that our lowly bodies shall be like unto his glorious body. What a future, what a hope, what joy in the midst of suffering. To all those who are listening, I hope that you have a pen or pencil handy because I'm going to be giving you some very important contact info. I'll give it to you now, I'll repeat it at the end, and I'll let you know why.

Here's what you do: go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com because during this month, every gift that you give will be doubled and we have a special gift in appreciation for your investment. Or you can pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-9337. So let's go to the empty tomb and let's talk about our future.

Dr. Erwin Lutzer: Till we cast our crowns before him, lost in wonder, love, and praise. I'm going to ask you a question and I want a yes or no answer. Is he risen? I think you can do better than that. Is he risen? All right, we shout it out all throughout the world.

The 28th chapter of Matthew opens with the interesting story of women who go to the tomb intending to find the body of Jesus. Aren't you glad that they didn't find what they hoped to find? They found something much better, not the body of Jesus, but they discovered that Jesus was alive. And some of you may have come here today because you wanted an inspiring worship service, and we've certainly had that.

But I hope that you actually find something even better than that in these moments, and that is that you personally are confronted with the reality of the living Christ. It's an interesting story in Matthew 28 because in the preceding chapter, the priests and the Pharisees, they go to Pilate and they say, "Pilate, Jesus predicted that he would rise again. To make sure that the disciples don't steal the body and pretend that he fulfilled his word, make sure that the tomb is sealed."

So Pilate says to them—this is chapter 27, verse 65—"You have a guard," he says, "go, make it as secure as you can." So they went away and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard. I'm amused by the phrase, "make it as secure as you can." Try to keep God in the tomb. Like speaking to the sun and telling it don't shine anymore, or speaking to the oceans and saying no longer be wet. How are you going to keep God in the tomb?

Well, the Bible says in chapter 28 that an angel, verse 2, descended from heaven and came and rolled the stone away and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him, the guards trembled and became like dead men. I would think so. But I want you to know that the angel didn't roll the stone away to let Jesus out. Jesus was already out because the molecular structure of his body was such that he was not limited by stones and by mortar.

Jesus Christ had already arisen. The stone was pulled aside so that the people could look in and see that the tomb was empty. That's why the angel did that. And the angel gives them two commands. First of all, he says, "Don't be afraid." He says, "I know that you are seeking Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen just as he said."

And then the first command is this: "Come and see where the Lord lay. Come and believe. The tomb is empty." Now, many people don't like the empty tomb. It started right here in the New Testament. If we took the time to read verse 11 of Matthew 28, we'd discover that some people, when they discovered that Jesus was alive, the chief priests and the Pharisees are upset and they pay money to the guards. And they pay this money and they say, "Say that his disciples came and stole his body."

That was the first lie that was told about the resurrection. But how absurd. How would his disciples be able to overcome the guards, push the stone away, and steal his body and get away with it? Furthermore, they would not later on preach the resurrection and be willing to die for it if, in point of fact, they knew that Jesus was still dead. So some unbelievers have said, "Well, the disciples wouldn't have stolen the body, but maybe his enemies stole it."

Well, what would they do with the body? And furthermore, when the disciples preached the resurrection, they would have produced the body and they'd have said, "You're liars because here he is and he's dead." Others, using their fertile imaginations, have said, "Well, you know what really happened is that Jesus didn't really die completely. He just swooned on the cross, and then after three days in the cool tomb, he finally arose."

I want to say here, get a life. First of all, are you telling me that the Romans would have put him in the tomb without him being dead? Number one, they made sure that he was dead. Number two, a man who was lacerated like Jesus was, in the tomb three days, he pushes away the stone and the tomb is empty? He'd have to be in the hospital for six months just to recover to be able to walk, much less inspire disciples to go about and change the world.

The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, he says that 500 people saw Jesus and many of them are still living. We're not talking about hallucinations. We're not talking about the spirit of Jesus somehow arising. We're talking about the physical body of Christ whom later on in this passage the people touched and they said they held his feet. We're talking about a literal physical bodily resurrection.

Alice Meynell wrote, "No planet knows that this earth of ours bears as its chief treasure one forsaken grave." That is the chief treasure on planet Earth, one forsaken grave. So the angel said, "Come see the empty tomb." And then the angel said in verse 7, "Then go quickly." First of all, come and see, and then go and tell his disciples that he has arisen. Tell his disciples that death is defeated.

Tell his disciples that the sting has been taken out just like a bee that can only sting you once, and after it has stung you, it has no longer a stinger. It can only threaten. In the very same way, the sting of death has been taken out. And later on, we discover in the New Testament that because he lives, we shall live also, and we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

You want to know what kind of a resurrection body you're going to have? I want you to know that I've already preached once this morning at a sunrise service in a church here in the city, and in the message, I pointed out a friend of mine and I asked everybody to look at him. And because it was a small church, you could see him. I said, "Just look at the body he brought with him today." That's the body that's going to be changed. It's the body that's going to be like Jesus.

The Bible says it is sown in corruption, and we're all in the process of corrupting. But it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in weakness. You go to a funeral and that body is not only weak, it's dead. It's sown in weakness, but it is raised in strength. It is sown a natural body; it's raised a spiritual body. But there will be continuity and similarity because we will know one another in heaven. You and I will be remade, but the continuity will enable us to know each other. Remember, you are the same person after you die as you were before, with some substantial changes, but you are the same person.

And so what the angel said is, "Go tell his disciples it's not the end. Jesus has arisen." And then I love these words of the angel in verse 7. He says, "He has arisen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you into Galilee." Someone has said that Jesus is the go-ahead God. He goes before us, and he does that all the time. There's no place where God ever asks us to go but that he has already been there.

Someday we're all going to go to our tomb. But when we think of that tomb, we need not fear it because someone else has already been in the tomb, and the one in whom we believe has triumphed over the tomb, and because of that, we participate in his triumph. In the Old Testament days, you remember when God led Israel through the desert? The scripture says that there was a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day. God says, "There's nowhere that you are going but that I haven't gone before you."

There is no dark room that God is asking you to go into but that it is a room into which he himself has gone. Your fears of tomorrow, your anxiety for the future—God has been there, and God is there. Jesus is our forerunner. In fact, it says in the book of Hebrews that he rose from the dead and then he ascended on high, and he went into the presence of God, into the very Holy of Holies, there awaiting us.

And the imagery of a forerunner is this: that when a vessel was coming into a harbor in ancient times, the forerunner would hop off the ship, swim to shore with a rope that was on the ship. He would tie that rope onto a very strong rock, a big rock, and then by means of a winch, that vessel was brought into shore. And in the very same way, the winds may try to blow us off course. Your vessel and mine, the sails might be tattered. It may well be that the boards begin to creak and the weakness begins to set in, and all of our diseases and our handicaps eventually get the better of us. And even if that doesn't happen, we shall die.

But every single day Jesus brings us one notch closer to the shore. He brings us where he is already in heaven, and he says, "I've crossed that river, I've gone behind that curtain, and here I am inviting you and leading you to be with me." He is the go-ahead God. In fact, it's the whole matter of death that separated the early church from the pagans.

You know that when plagues came to the early church and all throughout the land and thousands of people died and there were cartloads of bodies that were pulled off, a man by the name of Cyprian, a leader in the church, in effect said, "These plagues are good." I read one historian who said that Christianity would never have expanded as it did were it not for those plagues. Why? It gave the Christians an opportunity to prove that they die differently than the pagans.

And Cyprian even said that we should not mourn for our brethren. He said our brethren should not be mourned since they are not lost but sent before. Departing, they lead the way, travelers to another country. Let not the pagans see us mourn because we know that they exist on the other side and we shall be with them. That's why the pagans said of the Christians, they carry their dead as if in triumph. They know that it is not the end because they believed in a Savior who has proven that he has power over death.

We sometimes sing, "Because he lives, I can face tomorrow. Because he lives, all fear is gone. For I know who holds tomorrow and life is worth a living just because he lives." Pilate said to the guards, "Make the tomb as secure as you can." You know, there may be somebody here today who wants to make that tomb secure. Maybe there's someone here who'd prefer a dead Christ to a living Christ because if he is dead, you don't have to deal with him. You can ignore him and try to live without him.

Make it as secure as you can. Philosophically, David Hume came up with an argument to try to disprove miracles and he thought that if his argument held water, that Jesus would have to stay in the tomb. Well, his argument did not hold water. Then I think, for example, of people like Darwin who thought that he would have scientific evidence that we could do away with Christ and the miracles of the Bible and that we did not need Jesus and we could keep him in the tomb.

Freud took the stone of psychology and rolled it in front of the tomb and said that we can explain human behavior apart from God and apart from Christ. Voltaire took the stone of culture. He thought that man had progressed educationally in such a way that you no longer needed a Christ to intervene to save you. But those men have been of no greater success than those guards who rolled that stone in front of the tomb and who set that watch because you can't keep God in a tomb.

Yes, my friend, this is Pastor Lutzer. People have tried to do away with God thinking they don't need him. But they can't. As a matter of fact, in the future, God will not only judge, God will rule. I'm so thankful for the many of you who help us get the message of Jesus Christ around the world through the internet, radio, podcast, social media. And we can't do that without you.

Now, here is what's exciting: every gift you give during this month will be doubled. Imagine doubling your investment. And as an expression of our appreciation for you, we have a special gift. It's a book I've written, "Christ Among Other Gods," showing why it is that Jesus Christ alone has the qualifications to be a Savior.

Here's the contact info, sure hope that you have a pen or pencil handy: go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com. Of course, RTW offer is all one word. Or pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-9337. Thank you so much for joining hands with us as we continue to expand this ministry.

Dave McAllister: It's time now for another chance for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life. The New Testament has 27 books, but some people wonder why there aren't more. Peggy listens to Running to Win on WYFG in Ashland, Virginia. She has this question: "What are your feelings about the gospels according to Mary Magdalene, Thomas, and Judas? Why were these books not added to the New Testament?"

Dr. Erwin Lutzer: I'm so glad that you asked that question, Peggy, and I am ready with an answer. You know, during the days when the Da Vinci Code was news, I wrote a book entitled "The Da Vinci Deception." And the Da Vinci Code, as you will remember, is basically based on this Gnostic Bible. Now, I have a copy of the Gnostic Bible and it is just as thick as our regular Bible, and it has all of these Gnostic books. You mentioned only a very few of them.

So why is it that these aren't in the Bible? Well, let me give you a couple of reasons. First of all, they are spurious. That is to say, they are false writings for a couple of reasons. First of all, when you read them, you notice how different they are from the New Testament. You know, the New Testament has names of places, of people in relationship to Jesus. It also has references to the Sea of Galilee and mountains and so forth.

What you will find is that these books refer to no historical events. These books actually were written by Gnostics. Now, that word "Gnostic" comes from the word "knowledge." They believed that they had hidden knowledge, and much of this knowledge was derived from a mystical view of the world. Many of them were followers of Plato. So what they tried to do is to harmonize the New Testament with Platonic writings, and that's basically what the Gnostic Gospels really are.

One thing that we know and every scholar admits, for example, is that their authorship is not genuine. That is to say, nobody believes that Thomas actually wrote the Book of Thomas. Nobody believes these sorts of references. What scholars generally say is that they attributed their Gospels to somebody who was famous so that people would read them. Of course, when the New Testament says, "I Paul am writing this," we believe very deeply that it is authentic, that Paul wrote these books. You have no such assurance in the Gnostic Gospels.

And the bottom line is this: the late date. You know, the New Testament by and large is a reference to eyewitness accounts. You know, John was there when Jesus was crucified and when he was raised and so forth. The Gnostic Gospels occurred about 150 to 200 years after our regular Gospels were written. So as a result, you find a lot of speculation, but you have no historical verification.

Let me put it to you this way: whose account of, say, George Washington would you want to believe? Somebody who knew George Washington, who saw him, who interacted with him? Or somebody who speculated about Washington 150 years after he lived and tried to combine his beliefs with some philosophy that meant something to somebody?

So that's what we are really confronted with. You may be aware of the fact that recently it has been said that Jesus might have been married because there was some kind of a reference to Jesus and Mary Magdalene in a small scrap of manuscript that existed. And that manuscript also goes back to about the third or fourth centuries. So, of course, it is spurious. We do not have any assurance that it is based on historical fact.

We have Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John with some rather detailed accounts of Christ, and yet, of course, there's no reference to Jesus marrying anyone. And most of us would believe that that would have been impossible because of who Jesus was and all of the theological implications. The 27 books that we have in the New Testament, they were accepted by the church over a period of time, and since that time, no book has had a serious claim to the canon.

Yes, there have been those who have wanted to add to the New Testament, but when you read the books that they want to add, even when you read them, you don't get the sense of divine inspiration. And furthermore, many of these books contradict the 27 books of the New Testament. So we need to believe that God preserved his word, and most assuredly, the Gnostic Gospels are not the Word of God. If you don't believe me, just pick up a Gnostic Bible and begin to read them, and you'll see that they are filled with many foolish ideas, and they simply do not have the earmarks of authenticity.

Dave McAllister: Thank you, Peggy, for your question. Thank you, Dr. Lutzer, for helping us understand which books belong in the New Testament. 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. Running to Win comes to you from the Moody Church in Chicago. Next time, we conclude this series of portraits in the life of Christ. Join us for final thoughts about the empty tomb in Jerusalem. Thanks for listening. For Pastor Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.