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. There's coming a day for believers when life's race will end. That day is the Christian's bright hope, the day Jesus returns. That day will be like no other before or since. And because the scripture cannot be broken, that promised day is an absolute certainty. 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, lots of people count dates and explore Bible timelines. Can we really know when Jesus will return?

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: Dave, the short answer to your query is no, we do not. You know, as you look back on history, you see many people who predicted the exact date that Jesus Christ would return, and of course, he didn't.

But this much is sure as we read the scripture, and that is the absolute necessity for us to be ready at any time. Jesus emphasized that, and who knows, it might be just around the corner, the return of Jesus on Earth.

Now, there was a man who denied the existence of God, he denied Jesus Christ, and he wanted to bring about a revolution. And that revolution, of course, was the Revolution of Marxism.

I've stood at the grave of Karl Marx and many people know that at the end of the Communist Manifesto, the last line is, Workers of the World Unite. But what they miss is the statement just before that.

At the end of this message, I'm going to be giving you that statement and also be giving you an opportunity for you to receive a copy of the book Marx and Moody. Two contemporaries, two gospels, two tombstones and one choice. You stay tuned.

In the Hofburg Library in Vienna, Austria, there is a spear believed by many to be the one that was used by the Roman soldier who pierced Christ's side.

When Adolf Hitler was in his early twenties and was spending his life there in Vienna, sketching and drawing some diagrams and selling them so that he could live. He spent a lot of time in the Hofburg, studying Eastern occultism, and he became mesmerized by this spear.

In fact, what happened is he was there studying when a tour guide said to some of the guests, Whoever unlocks the mystery of that spear will rule the world. That said Hitler, that remark changed his life.

He began to study the spear and discovered that there were many spears that claimed to be the one that was used to pierce Christ's side. But nevertheless, he concluded that indeed, this was the one and it had mystical, awesome, occult powers.

It is said that Hitler would sometimes stand before this spear, inviting its spirit to possess him. One observer said that as he would stand there, it would be as though he was engulfed in ectoplasmic light, absolutely taken over by the spear and its power.

Later on, when Hitler went to Munich, it's there that he became introduced to the deepest levels of occult transformation, and when he marched into Austria later without a shot, he went into the Hofburg and took that spear and held it to his bosom.

The spear was then taken to St. Catherine's Church during the Second World War, that is in Nuremberg, and you can believe this or not, but through a fluke, fell into the hands of Americans on the very day when Hitler committed suicide in his bunker in Berlin.

One of the things about Hitler that I believe is that somehow he is a prototype of Antichrist. Antichrist will come and march onto the world scene after there will be an economic collapse and there will be great need for powerful and strong leadership.

He is one who will be able to do economic miracles, transforming a depressed economy into a very buzzing economy. And he shall always speak peace, but at the same time be preparing for war.

I find it interesting that the very last battle on planet Earth, at the very wrap-up of history as we know it, is basically a religious war. It is a war between all the forces of Antichrist and all of the gods that follow him, and then it will be a battle between all those false religions and Jesus Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And the final battle answers the question, which God is true, which God reigns?

If you have been with us, you know that this is the number eight in a series of messages entitled Christ among other gods. Because we have been trying to show the absolute superiority of Jesus, that there is none like him, that the gulf between him and other gods is infinite, and he alone is king. And before I tell you about his return, I would like to spend just a moment reviewing with you some information that perhaps you already know as to what Antichrist will teach.

What is it that will be the basis of Antichrist's rule, what is the culmination of false religion on planet Earth, and what are its major doctrines?

First of all, Antichrist will teach, and the people of the world will believe, in self-transformation, self-transformation. They will believe that we can have a transformation of consciousness without a personal infinite God, but that we can bring it about ourselves.

Marilyn Ferguson, in her book The Aquarian Conspiracy, says that this self-transformation or esoteric experience can take place in our lives in two different ways. The slow way is by meditation. You get into the Eastern religions and that will put you in touch with the powers. The fast way, she says, is by transformation and drug, psychedelic drugs.

In the case of Hitler, he used both, drugs in Vienna, drugs in Munich, but also became in touch with the powers. As a matter of fact, Dietrich Eckart, who was Hitler's mentor, said of him because he had transformed him into a thoroughly demonized being, He said, Follow Hitler, for he shall dance. But it is I who have written the tune. And because of that, I have introduced him to the powers and I will have influenced German history more than any other German, he said.

Because he believed he had received a satanic annunciation saying that he was supposed to prepare the vessel of Antichrist. This is now a parenthesis. Throughout history, there have been many pastors and teachers who have said, The end time is near, things are shaping up in Europe, we can see it all happening, and they've been wrong.

But the reason that they've been wrong is because we must remember, Satan does not know when God is going to wrap up history, and he always has to have somebody ready who will step into the role of Antichrist at whatever period, whenever he is needed. So there are times when it seems as if we're living near the end. And that's why people have sometimes misread the signs.

But back to Antichrist and self-transformation. The Bible says regarding Antichrist and his power will be mighty, but not by his own power. He will destroy mighty men and holy people. His power will be given to him. He will be transformed, and he will tell us that we too can be transformed either through drugs or through meditation. We too can be in touch with the power to have that special experience of enlightenment, a very keyword.

This is Satan's most dazzling deception. You see, what he always wants to do is to counterfeit Christianity, he wants to counterfeit Christ and God. Jesus said to Nicodemus, he said, You must be born again because if you are not born again, you will not see the Kingdom of Heaven. Satan says, I want to give people a born-again experience.

And so what he does is tell us that we can have our own mystic experience as we get plugged into the power, thoroughly demonic. One of the teachings of Antichrist is the power of self-transformation.

There's a second doctrine, and that is that men and women are God. He will teach the deity of mankind. Now take your Bibles and turn to Second Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 4, where we see this most clearly. Second Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 4, where we have Antichrist spoken about, and we can see here the awesome power and deception that will overtake the world.

It says of him that he opposes, this is verse 4 of chapter 2, Second Thessalonians, He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called God or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.

Now many of us believe that this will take place in the middle of the Tribulation period. He will have made a covenant with the nation Israel to protect the nation, but then he will turn against the Jews, and he will go to Jerusalem where the temple will already have been built during this period of time, and he will say, I am God, worship me.

And everybody who has been schooled in the New Age movement and the influence of Eastern religions in America and throughout the world will say, Well, why can't he be God? After all, we are God too. Don't we all remember Shirley MacLaine running out onto Malibu Beach shouting, I'm God, I'm God, I'm God. And Charles Colson saying, Aren't you glad she's wrong?

And so he's going to believe in the deity of mankind, and look at the miracles he's going to do to pull it off. It says, verse 8, And then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of his mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of his coming. That's actually what we're talking about today, is Christ's coming to crush all of this rebellion.

That is the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not love the truth so as to be saved. And God will send them some strong delusion that they might believe what is false. It really is that they might believe the lie. What is the lie? The lie is the deity of mankind.

Ever since in the Garden of Eden, Satan said to Eve, You will be like God. People have believed it. It is the most dazzling, the most dazzling deception, the deity of mankind.

Then third, there will be a commitment to globalism, globalism. Because remember, it says in Revelation 13, and this is an awesome verse. It says regarding Antichrist and all that dwell upon the face of the Earth shall worship him, except those whose names have been written in the Lamb's Book of Life from before the foundation of the world. He is going to for a few days, for a few weeks, receive what he believes to be absolutely universal worship. And you can't have that unless the whole world becomes a global community.

I have in my hand the Global Ethic that was published at the Parliament of World Religions here in the city of Chicago, September 5th, 1993, a global ethic. This Global Ethic says that all the religions of the world can unite, all the religions of the world can be together, and we can change the world globally.

It begins by saying the world is in agony. The agony is so pervasive and urgent that we are compelled to name its manifestations so that the depths of its pain might become clear. Peace eludes us, the planet is being destroyed, neighbors live in fear, women and men are estranged from each other, children die. This is abhorrent. And we certainly would all agree with that.

But then it goes on to say that we must commit ourselves to a culture of nonviolence, respect, justice, and peace, that we will not injure, torture, kill other human beings. There's much in this document that is good, that we would agree with.

But I want you to know today that no Christian can possibly sign this document without signing on on Antichrist's agenda. For one thing, it doesn't even mention the word God, because there were some Buddhists who objected to the use of the word God in the document, since some Buddhist groups do not believe in God. For another, it does capitalize all the way through, it capitalizes the word Earth.

You see, it is Mother Earth. Years ago, when I wrote a book on the New Age movement, I had a quote in which someone says, When you go to bed at night, say good night to Mother Earth. You know, tuck her in nicely, have a good sleep, Mother Earth. Pantheism, the belief that everything is God, and the Earth is God. And unfortunately, this philosophy also lies underneath those who sometimes promote globalism and the entire global agenda.

And so what Antichrist is going to do, what he will be doing is is having a global strategy for the world. Now, this document has no power. None of us were compelled to sign it, though incidentally, it was not made up by the Parliament of World Religions, it already came and we were told that there would be no debate about it, but many people signed on. But what Antichrist is going to do is to have a structure whereby it can be enforced.

And I can already see it happening where people are asked to sign on, and then if you don't, they say, See, you're opposed to peace. You know, these Christians are standing in the way of a global agenda. Here we are on the verge of a brand new age when we're going to bring peace and we're going to end hunger in the world, and who in the world won't get on the agenda? It's those Christians who think that their God is the right one.

A commitment to globalism. Number four, there will be a commitment to Utopia, Utopia. We can usher it in. You should just see how optimistic this document is, though it was written by a man who had some sense of realism. But he says, We appeal to all the inhabitants of this planet. Earth cannot be changed for the better unless the consciousness of individuals is changed. We will pledge to work for such transformation in individual and collective consciousnesses for the awakening of our spiritual powers through reflection, meditation, prayer or positive thinking. Choose whatever you like or none of the above, for the conversion of the heart. This is for the conversion of the heart.

Together, get this, folks, together we can move mountains. And without a willingness to take risks and a readiness to sacrifice, there can be no fundamental change in our situation. That's why we commit ourselves to a common global ethic, to better mutual understanding, as well as to a societal beneficial peace-fostering, earth-friendly way of life. Earth, of course, being capitalized. Utopia is on the corner. It's just around here.

The Bible says regarding Antichrist in Daniel chapter 8 verse 25, And through his shrewdness, he will cause deceit to succeed. And he will magnify himself in his heart, and he will destroy many while they are at ease. I like the King James translation here. It says through peace he will destroy many. And you have all of the doves of peace that will be flying around, and behind it will be the most brutal, politically motivated, religious organization that this world has ever seen that will be viciously cruel.

Let me give you one other commitment of Antichrist, and that is, of course, intolerance, intolerance to those who disagree, intolerance of all dissent. Listen to the words of Mariah Tims. He says the plagues of Revelation are a special package of karma visited upon the obstinate. That they might awaken to their wrong attitudes, animals that don't adapt become extinct. Remember, survival today means understanding and responding to change within the context of internal revolution. Now, the Bible says that when Antichrist comes, people are going to be forced to take his mark upon their forehead or upon their hand.

Dave McAllister: Well, my friend, you certainly are going to have to join us next time for the end of this message. It's so important for us to realize that Jesus Christ is coming, and we had better be ready.

Well, this is the last week we're making a very special resource available for you. It's a book entitled Marx and Moody, two contemporaries, two gospels, two tombstones and one choice. Many people know that at the end of the Communist Manifesto, Marx says that the workers of the world should join together, and of course, he was talking about bringing about a worldwide revolution. But just before that, he says this.

Communism teaches that we need a forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Imagine that. And later on, Marx says that he will not apologize for the violence. He said, We should make the revolution as violent as possible. And of course, we see that that was brought about throughout history wherever Marxism has gone. But there are plenty of lessons there for us. We'll see how Marxism has even impacted and come here to America.

Now, for a gift of any amount, we're making this book available for you. Go to RTWoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. I hope that you go to your computer right away. Go to RTWoffer.com. This resource will enable you to better understand our culture and the future to come.

It's time again for you to ask Pastor Lutzer, a question about the Bible or the Christian life. Theologians really wish the Bible was organized like an encyclopedia with an index, but it's not. Several attempts have been made to come up with a big picture outline. And a listener named Brad wonders which of two major understandings you believe is correct. He asks, Pastor Lutzer, of what doctrinal persuasion are you? Dispensational or covenantal? My guess is that you are dispensational. If so, what type and why? And how important is doctrinal position?

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: Brad, you've asked a question that books have been written about. So my answer is probably not going to completely satisfy you because it is going to be very brief, and the summary, however, has to be given. The bottom line is, yes, I am dispensational. What does that mean?

Dispensationalists make a distinction between the church and Israel. The bottom line is that we believe that there are some promises that God made to Abraham that have not yet been fulfilled to the Jewish nation and will someday still be fulfilled.

We are the people who believe that it might be significant that Israel is back in the land today. Because eventually, we believe that Israel will be in the land. And we believe that the Bible predicts that no matter how far they are scattered, God will bring them back, and some of us look at modern-day Israel, and we say to ourselves, at least that this could be the fulfillment of prophecy.

If you are a covenant theologian, you believe that the promises that God made to Abraham are all fulfilled in the church. So God has no longer a future for ethnic Israel. That all is past.

So that really is the distinction. You say, well, how important is this? It is absolutely critical for the doctrine of prophecy. Because whether or not you believe that Israel still has a future in God's program is dependent on how you interpret the text.

We believe that when God told Abraham that he would have the land and that he would possess it forever, that that prophecy and all of its attendant implications has not yet been fully fulfilled. And Abraham never did encompass all of the boundaries that God said that he was going to have. So we see in that still a future fulfillment.

Now, of course, there are some things that God promised Abraham that we are a part of. Through him, all the nations of the earth will be blessed, and it is through him that Jesus Christ came, and we are blessed through him. That's why the Bible can say that we are all children of God by faith in Jesus Christ, and it says we are the children of Abraham by faith in Jesus Christ. But we think as dispensationalists, that that does not exhaust all that God promised Abraham. There's still more to follow.

Thanks for your question, Brad. Do some study along these lines. It's very interesting, get somewhat complicated, but it's worth the effort.

Dave McAllister: Some wise thoughts from Dr. Erwin Lutzer. Thanks once again, Pastor Lutzer. If you'd like to have your question answered, you can. 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 LaCelle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614.

The hope of Christ's return has motivated Christians for 2000 years, and that return in power is nearer now than ever. Only a few saw Jesus rise into heaven, but every eye will see him return to vanquish his enemies. Next time on Running to Win, why the return of Jesus takes place during an era with a globalist agenda.

Thanks for listening. For Pastor Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.