Extraordinary Death Part 2

One reason for us to Jesus found her perfect love of God was put on this when Jesus went to the cross to die soon. His sacrifice was visible.

That day in Jerusalem and its visible life of those who trust him for the salvation is death purchase from the Moody Church in Chicago this is running to serve as clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line at certain.

Today we learn about a big theological word tell us about justification day. I love to talk about the word justification is that even after joining seminary. I never really appreciated this word.

Of course I knew the justification meant that it is just as if we'd never sinned and I appreciated that.

But later on I began to understand the full import of what that word means the fact that God demands absolute perfection from us and then he supplies what he demands. So, as Luther discovered. Now it doesn't matter how high God's standard is as long as I don't have to meet it. Christ meets it for me and it's not just as if I have been declared righteous.

It's as if I have lived a perfect life of righteousness.

He stands in for me. I love to talk about that my friend today. If you are blessed as a result of the ministry of running to win. Would you consider becoming an endurance partner endurance partners are those who stand with us regularly with their prayers and their gifts. I like to think of them as people who join the running to win the family. Of course you want more information.

Here's what you can do. Go to RTW offer.com is all one word RTW offer.com. Click on the endurance partner button or if you prefer to call us at 1-888-218-9337 and now I want you to listen carefully as we understand better the depth and the assurance of our salvation. And I can assure you it's all because of Jesus.

Years ago there was an atheist who wanted to model God so they wrote a pamphlet little tract in which they said the Old Testament Abraham was a liar and is called friend of God.

Jacob was a cheater and yet he is called a prince of God.

David and adulterer and a murderer, and he was quote a man after God's own heart. Now see the atheists what kind of a God associates with people like that in their perverse way, they had appointed a ask the question of the gospel. How does God associate with sinners and still retain his integrity. How can the scandal be removed from his name, even though he associates with us who are sinners, so the Bible teaches that God remain just about he also became the justifier God says I sure can't look to man to rectify this relationship that's for sure. That's already been excluded. But God says I will do it.

I as God the father will allow God the son, who is me in the flesh.

Three persons, but one God… The sun will go he will become one with humanity. Even though the remaining this thing from it and being sinless, and he will offer a sacrifice which I will receive.

And so it will be God the son making a sacrifice to God the father without so much as one bit of the human initiative or effort or works involved none salvation will be of the Lord. I'm told there was a man in California who was caught speeding and went to court to pay his fine and the judge read him the sentence he had to pay the fine. But after the sentence was read. The judge left the bench, stood by the defendant and paid the fine for him.

That's what God does. How does God associate with sinners. How does he do it without spurning his own reputation, or denying his own honor. He says these sinners who have done nothing to their salvation and to rectify their relationship with me every single demand that I could ever ask of them has been met, and I have been the one who has met it.

Now my friend are those of you who are students of comparative religion who are interested in finding the common center of all religions you go to the library's you study the textbooks you travel to different countries, you search it out you find the weather there is another religion that teaches that man has abs literally nothing to do with reconciliation is God who does it all on the basis of his mercy, love, and still retains his justice. You seek it out. There is none.

There is not all the other religions say that it is your responsibility to become enlightened. It is your responsibility to follow the eightfold path is your responsibility to do the will of Allah. But nobody knows how high our standards are all that you can do is hope that everybody else's. It is up to you and the Bible says Jesus paid it all. There is no other religion like that. Imagine God plans it. God initiates it gone complete set a number for God freely offers it. God freely offers it.

Now if you're thinking and I know you are everybody who comes here. Thanks you already knew what the fourth point was going to be fiercely it has to be given freely. Obviously because we have no part in having worked it out. We've already agreed that we are on the other side of the chasm and there is nothing that we can do to take a step in God's direction. God must reach over and in the incarnation, he did and that's why Christ had to be God because a Savior not quite God would be like a bridge that was broken that the farthest and he had to be God and that he had to do it all in and offered freely by grace ye are saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God not of works not have sacraments not of a cooperative effort, lest any man should boast.

Look at what Paul says put your finger on the text verse 27 where is boasting then it is excluded. By what kind of law works. No, but by the law of faith who is very man who can say I worked out to my salvation because I learned it. None. Every valve is stopped every mouth as guilty. It is offered only to those who personally believe satellite is not limited to those who believe. I need to tell you that God enjoys being believed. That's why the Bible says that our faith is so important.

It is more important than gold the parishes and the reason that God sends trials into our life, even after we have accepted Christ as Savior is because God says I want you to go on believing me so that you have something to offer me when I see you faith. Faith. But even the faith with which we initially believe is not a work.

It is a gift from God. Salvation from beginning to and is of the Lord.

He offers it freely through faith in you know, of course. Another consequence of that is the fact that he can give it to anybody who believes you know I'm talking to some of you who think today that you cannot receive Christ as your Savior because of the enormity of your sin.

If you are willing to admit how bad you are. You're in a good position to receive this free gift. Sometimes God has more trouble with those who think they aren't so bad and don't need it.

You may say well I have to work out the consequences of my own sin. I'm in a mess that I've created what I want you to know that we do not believe in karma. Thank God that cruel, impersonal law that says that everybody gets exactly what he deserves because of what he did in a previous existence. No, I'm here to tell you today that grace means that we don't have to get we deserved because Jesus Christ took the suffering that he didn't deserve that we might receive the forgiveness that we don't deserve. And no matter how bad your need, no matter how deep the pit into which you have fallen, God does not find it harder to give you the gift and he does some person who's not even acquainted with some of the sins that you've committed after giving out free gifts.

It is easy to give them to the criminals. It is easy to give them to the immoral, as it is to the self-righteous who perhaps don't even recognize how desperately they need it free gift to those who believe.

So God plans redemption, God begins it he completes it. He offers it to us freely and he guarantees it he guarantees is comes with God's stamp of approval. It means that once we have come to that place of saving Lee believing in Christ, we will be God's forever. Oh, you say well we might want to give the gift back. Hell, it's not quite that easy.

I need to say not easy to give this giveback. In fact, but may be clearer.

It is impossible to give it back. It involves so many of God's attributes. It involves the truth of God regarding sin, then regarding us. It involves the mercy of God, having declared us righteous in his presence, who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect. It is God, the justified. Who is he that condemn if it is Christ that died ADA, rather, that is risen again. It involves the integrity of God having purchased. Those who believe and then being unable to take them to glory that is unthinkable in involves the faithfulness of God in granting us the Holy Spirit within our hearts involves the creative power of God. It says if any man be in Christ he is a new creation. God does a miracle within PS just speak the word to change us.

All of this is involved and if you're a believer today. You are already seated with Christ in heaven and you can't be thrown out of heaven unless he is thrown out of heaven and he is not going to be thrown out of heaven.

It comes guaranteed by God and then finally it comes giving us a future with God the future with God, and you know there are many people who believe in reincarnation, Shirley McClain says that you just keep being recycled. It's like shooting a movie and you keep redoing it until you get it right. The problem is that there is not only evolution in the process. There is sometimes devolution and some people think that you come into the next existence being a mouse or an and Torah or a reptile of some sort of Christianity has nothing to do with that. Don't know that absolutely not. Absolutely not. But Christianity says that when you die, your body is actually going to be raised from the dead. The body that you brought with you today and it is impossible to come to the church without a body, I might add, we do make that limitation, the very body that you brought with you is going to be put in the grave some day is going to be raised. It is going to be re-created and it's going to look something like the one that you brought here today, but much better and the mind and all your memories in your memories and everything else is going to be a part of you and you're going to be totally Wheatley whole personally in the presence of a personal God forever. There is no other religion in all the world, but believes that all the other religions give an expression of human experience in an attempt to somehow get out the divine in many, many books have been written about that many many muddled books many many contradictory books because everybody has a different experience Christianity as we have learned in previous messages says that God has spoken he has given us clarity and he in mercy has done it all, not the cosmic Christ. But Jesus of Nazareth, the only qualified Savior of the world that I need to remind you they were living in a day and age when all kinds of saviors are popping up our throat. Guthrie was at the Parliament of world religions whose into Buddhism and Hinduism and Christianity in that wonderful amalgamation that we showed in previous messages can ever be pulled off said that he had a vision of Jesus 17 years ago that totally changed.

He was in the back porch. He says, and Jesus appeared to him in Jesus was light. And Jesus was love. And he said you can believe me or not.

Believe me, but he said it was just wonderful to behold, Jesus I was listening to a tape this past week of another pastor who said that he was talking to another pastor in this pastor says while I am shaving in the morning, Jesus comes and puts his arm around. Isn't that sweet. I wonder if the man keeps shaving. I wonder there was a televangelist. A number of years ago who said that Jesus came to him and they spent 7 1/2 hours talking about some things which now I believe not come to pass all kinds of Jesus is cosmic Jesus. That's what you know that Satan comes in whatever appearance he is expected to take. You want a visitation from Jesus. Satan might give it to you but the question is, is it Jesus of Nazareth. That's the question many of you know that even though I strongly disagree with Martin Luther on a number of points. I do greatly admire him. His courage is ability. Even as a theologian and as an author. One of the things about Luther is that he often struggled with the question of whether he was hearing God correctly because he came from an era in which there was lots of mythology lots of appearances of Christ.

I always want to make sure that he was hearing God correctly. And that's why he kept going back to the book to the Bible.

The reason that Martin Luther was named Martin is because he was born on the St. Martins Dave Martin was his patron St. and there was a legend about St. Martin, which I'm sure Luther frequently contemplated the legend, or perhaps it wasn't a legend.

It may be a true story. I do not know but the story was that one day Jesus appeared to St. Mark, and they were having a conversation together and then suddenly it flashed into St. Martin's mind that maybe this was not Jesus, and maybe it was an apparition of the devil to verify that it was Jesus St. Martin glanced down at his hands to see if he had nail prints and just as he glanced at his hands, the apparition disappeared, and St. Martin did not get a chance to see his hands and so there were times when Luther would wonder how he heard God correctly. He wanted to be sure, and he realized the only way to be sure is to go back to the Bible because if not, you might end up, except in a Jesus without nail prints. I have the mind to believe that if Arthur Guthrie and the televangelist and the man who says that Jesus comes to him while he is shaving looked carefully there would be no nail prints and so I say to you today.

If you're out looking for a Savior.

Yes I will you know were Savior shopping and today we came to Moody church to see what they had to offer. Your Savior shopping.

Well first of all just be clear which entity is the only religion that has a Savior. All the others have gurus and prophets and teachers but no Savior so your Savior shopping that that narrows it down to Jesus, but having said that, there are plenty of Jesus is like the cosmic Jesus is who seem to be appearing everywhere. I suggest that before you believe in him, you look for nail prints no other Christ can save a false Christ leads to a false salvation and only Christ can say we used to sing a song which I notice is not in our hymnal. I looked for it. Couldn't find it. But the chorus used to go like this.

I shall know him, I shall know him. When reading Dean by his side. I shall stand.

I shall know him, I shall know him by the prints of the nails in his hand when you're looking for a Savior look for nail prints and let us pray our father today. We do want to thank you for the faithfulness of your word.

We thank you that there is nobody here who has fallen so far, but that you cannot give them the gift of eternal life. We thank you that salvation had nothing to do with us.

Thank you that you did it all. I know you offered to us as a free gift.

We pray for those who have believed in many different things, believe in their own goodness believed and going to church and believed in all kinds of things that they thought would change the relationship with you and it hasn't, at this moment strip all that away and may they believe in the Christ with nail prints and before I close this prayer. What is it that you need to say to God today would you at this moment say Lord Jesus. I receive you is mine. I receive the free gift that was worked out on Calibri at this moment I transfer my trust to you what you tell them that this moment, Lord, we thank you for your work in our heart. In Christ name) master's or as you listen to this message and learn once again the weakness of Jesus Christ. There is nobody out there like him and thank you in advance for helping us proclaim this message because people are coming to know Jesus Christ as Savior of the church is being built up as a result of this ministry is all happening because of people like you. Thanks in advance for standing with us with your prayers and your gifts. Now some of you might like to become what we call endurance partners. These are people who stand with us regularly with their prayers and their gifts and you've heard me say this before but I look at it as people who become part of the running to win the family. Of course you want more information. Here's what you can do. Go to RTW offer.com RTW offer is of course all one word RTW offer.com and click on the endurance partner button and there you will receive information how you can become a specific part of this ministry or if you prefer you can call us at 1-888-218-9337 I'm going to be giving you that contact info again but let me thank you in advance for being a part of this ministry for being a part of the running to win family go to RTW offer.com. Click on the endurance partner button or if you prefer, call us at 1-888-218-9337 let us work together to get the uniqueness of Jesus's godhood is salvation and his triumph to as many people as we possibly can. You can write to us running to win 1635 N. LaSalle Boulevard Chicago, IL 60614 no one. The Romans killed never live again until Jesus made the comeback of all time when God raised him from the dead resurrection guaranteed that those who believe in him will one day rise as well. Next time I'm running to win the extraordinary resurrection of Jesus. The only religious founder not still in the two. Thanks for listening for Dr. Erwin Luzerne this is Dave Callister running to win is sponsored by the Moody church