Engaging the Culture in Love and Truth (Part 1) - Dr. Erwin Lutzer

Our Blessed Hope

Titus 2:12-14 "…12 It instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 as we await the blessed hope and glorious appearance of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. 14 He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.…"

Those who are not waiting for the blessed hope are probably not born-again. Christ in us gives us this expectation and joy for what is coming.

How the Devil Destroys Faith

One of the ways and perhaps the most effective way the devil works to destroy our faith in these last days is to send people to place pressure on us to disbelieve what God said in His Word.

The devil caused doubt in the mind of Eve, even telling her God was not completely honest with her.

In our day the devil uses people to claim things about God's Word that are not true, leading weak believers into error and even undermining what little faith they have.

Another way the devil distracts believers is to keep their focus on the meaningless and even foolish drama surrounding us in these days of raging insanity.

Politics and fear of what we put into our bodies are two very prominent deceptions making the rounds in "conservative" circles, almost as though there is a spiritual aspect to following certain belief systems associated with these two concerns.

These things are distractions to the gospel. When we know that the most important thing in our lives is what we do with Christ all the other worldly concerns pale in comparison.

Matthew 6:25-27 "25 “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing?

26 Look at the birds of the sky, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather crops into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more important than they?

27 And which of you by worrying can add a single day to his life’s span?"

God provides all our needs and He places into political office those whom He decides.

Daniel 2:20-22 "“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him. 21 He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. 22 He reveals the deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with Him.…"

Do we believe God or do we allow others to take us down that road of fear and panic?

Proverbs 3:5-6

"5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart

And do not lean on your own understanding.

6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He will make your paths straight."

Once I realized Christ knew everything full of perfect wisdom, I made the decision to trust only in Him. Then I became free of worry, free of frustration, and free to follow Him, rejecting all the pressure from the culture to do as they do and go where they go. Hallelujah!!!

Seeking Conspiracy Theories will Destroy your Peace and even your Soul

Next time someone presents another conspiracy theory for you to ruminate over and constantly worrying about, just read this and you will be reminded that the world is now so full of lies and false news that hardly anything we see online or in the news is worth listening to.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12

Man of Lawlessness

2 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, regarding the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him,

2 that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit, or a message, or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.

3 No one is to deceive you in any way! For it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, "

We are living in the apostasy of the church right now. Politics and conspiracies have become more prominent than Jesus Christ. The worship of knowledge, even false knowledge has become the norm.

If those who say they are Christians spent one month not seeing any news at all they would perhaps begin to draw closer to Christ as they ponder His glory and our future home going.

2 Timothy 4:8 "in the future there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing."

I promise you, there is no value in knowing all the news out there especially since we have no way to vet any of it.

The value of meditating on God's Word and sharing it with others is of far greater value with eternal consequences.

Matthew 24:14

"And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."

Psalm 96:3

"Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!"

Our mandate from God was not to keep track of all the political events or the filth happening, but it was to share the gospel, grow in holiness ourselves and keep ourselves from being corrupted by the world around us. We cannot keep ourselves from corruption by knowing the details of what evil people are doing.

Galatians 6:8 "because the person who sows to his own flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit."

Seeking after knowledge of the wicked world is sewing corruption for the flesh.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 You must realize, however, that in the last days difficult times will come. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, unfeeling, uncooperative, slanderous, degenerate, brutal, hateful of what is good, traitors, reckless, conceited, and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. They will hold to an outward form of godliness but deny its power. Stay away from such people."

God commanded us to "stay away from such people as described in 2 Timothy 3, that would include all the news about them.

The Trials for the Believer Strengthen Them

Christ in us knows why we are going through trials, to strengthen us. We must go through difficult things to make us stronger like a weight lifter who must tear his muscles so when they repair themselves they are stronger than they were before.

James 1:2-7 "2 Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials,

3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.

7 For that person ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,

8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."

For those who love the Lord, we have trials to make us stronger and we can look back and see all that we learned from those trials. Perhaps the only thing we learn is that Christ goes through with us, and believe me it is the most valuable lesson. Life is full of challenges for the born-again believer but they never devastate us.

2 Corinthians 4:8-10

"8 we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing;

9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying around in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body."

The thief who defended Christ on the cross had no works to show, but what he had was faith alone that Christ was Who He said He was. He went that same day into paradise with Christ.

Luke 23:42 "…42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!” 43 And Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”"

Whether the struggle is of our own making when repentance is needed to be forgiven or something that came upon us that was not our own doing we can go through it knowing Christ knows all about it, what is to be done next if anything, and what the outcome will be.

My husband used to say often, "will this matter in 100 years?" The answer was clear all that we do right now is insignificant compared to our inheritance and life in heaven.

1 Peter 1:24

For, “All flesh is like grass,

And all its glory like the flower of grass.

The grass withers,

And the flower falls off,"

Colossians 3:23-24

"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ."

Hallelujah!!! There is great hope for all born-again believers and those who are not yet saved can have it too if they will just believe Christ and desire Him to change them into a new creation.

John 14:6

"6 Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me."