Telling the Truth

Guest (Male): God is intentional and had something in mind when he made you. Today on Telling the Truth, Stuart Briscoe shares practical wisdom to help you continually discover and live out God’s plans for your life. But first, God wants to use every season in your life to strengthen your faith. Discover how to make the most of the life lessons God is teaching you with Stuart and Jill’s three-message series, A Lifetime of Wisdom.

It’s our thanks for your financial support to keep this broadcast going strong. As an additional token of appreciation, we’ll send you a beautiful, framable art piece featuring Hebrews 10:23 that will help you remember God’s faithfulness. So call today to request yours: 1-800-889-5388. That’s 1-800-889-5388, or you can give online at tellingthetruth.org. Now, let’s get to Stuart with today’s message, "What I’m Still Learning."

Stuart Briscoe: The wonderful thing about God is He has the ability to reveal Himself and has given us the ability to receive what He has revealed. That's how you come to know God. Now, of course, if we only had God's self-revelation in creation, what would we finish up with? We'd finish up with an awe-inspiring, frequently terrifying, impersonal force who loves beauty and order but has a zany sense of randomness mixed into it. That's about as far as you get knowing God in creation.

Fortunately, God took a step further with His creation and He spoke to Adam and He made a covenant with Adam. A little later on, He revised it to Noah. A little later on, He amplified it to Abraham. Eventually, He developed it with Moses and we have the covenant. God reveals Himself in covenant. Do you know what He reveals? He reveals first of all, "I am not an impersonal force. I am personal and, moreover, I am relational and I have made you capable of having a relationship with me. This is what I am like and this is what a relationship with me looks like, and I am calling you into this relationship and this will be your role in the relationship," covenant.

Now you are growing in the knowledge of God. That's why we love the Old Testament. It's all about God making covenant with people and showing that He is personal and relational. But if that was all we've got, it is the story of a lot of people who didn't keep their side of the bargain. But God then sent Christ into the world. In Christ, He begins to reveal Himself par excellence.

Jesus is described as the express image of His person. He makes the invisible God visible. He makes the unknowable God knowable. He makes the intangible God tangible. He says to His disciples, who were frustrated with Him on one occasion and said to Him, "If you'd just show us the Father, we'd be satisfied." Jesus said, "How long have I been with you? If you've seen me, you've seen the Father."

What do we discover in God's self-revelation in Christ? Much more than we discover in creation, infinitely more than we discover in covenant, for in Christ we discover a suffering, self-sacrificing God who is redeemer and healer and savior and Lord. That's how you come to know God through creation that we love and explore, through the covenant which is in the Old Testament which we love and explore, through Jesus in the New Testament which we love and explore.

How well do you know God? An educated person is somebody who's learned how to learn and never stops learning. What I've known, what I've learned, and am still learning about God. What I have learned and am still learning about church. How can you teach Jesus and not teach what Jesus is committed to? This is what He said, "Simon, your name is Peter. Peter means rock. You're a rock. On this rock, I'm going to build my church."

Now, ever since, we've been arguing what exactly is the rock and missing the point. Whatever that rock is, and I have my own views, but that's not the point right now. The point really is this. Jesus says, "I'm going to build a church. I'm going to have a church." Now you can say don't tell me about the church. Jesus said, "I told you, I'm going to have a church. So if you're going to be interested in me, get interested in what I'm interested in."

Not only that, "This church I'm going to build is my church. Don't mess with it." Not only that, "I'm going to build it. Don't get in my way." Not only that, "All hell won't stop me." And then He said, "And you guys are going to be involved in what I'm doing." I began to put all that together. "Jesus, you said you're going to build a church. Are you going to build one with a spire or a tower, with pillars outside? What kind of music are you going to have? Are you going to have all kinds of pretty lighting?

What are you going to do? Are we going to sit in a square around a table or are we going to have a big amphitheater? Are we going to have a long narrow thing where we can get as far away from the preacher as possible? What's it going to be like?" I learned something very simple. Church isn't somewhere you go. Church is something you are. Because if church is somewhere you go, it's somewhere you can stop going.

It's somewhere you can go occasionally. It's somewhere you can keep going until you get bent out of shape. It's somewhere you can go as long as they tell you what you want to hear and have the kind of music you want. If it isn't, well, you can trade it in for the new one that's opened down the block. That's church as somewhere we go. Church isn't somewhere you go. Church is something we are.

What is it? Ecclesia is the word. Ecclesia, that's a Greek word, and this is what ecclesia meant in the Greek language before the church borrowed it. It meant what happened in a Greek city where people had the privilege of being members. Once they had the privileges of membership in this city, occasionally the affairs of the city had to be decided by the members of the city. When that happened, they formed the ecclesia.

That meant they stopped doing what they were doing and they devoted themselves not to personal interest, but to community concerns. They were called out from what they were doing to deal with community concerns. It was all about calling and it was all about community. If we're going to understand church, we've got to understand Jesus is building it. It is precious to Him. We are to be involved. All hell won't stop Him.

It's all about community and it's all about being called. So all we've got to do is know what it means to be called, what's unique about the community, what Jesus is doing, and how He is doing it, and not getting in His way. That's what I learned about church and that's what I've been learning about church in the wonderful experience I've been afforded, learning about church and knowing how I've got to keep learning.

Guest (Male): You’re hearing from Stuart Briscoe today on Telling the Truth. He’s coming right back with more on the lifelong calling to learn. But before Stuart jumps back in, life is full of ups and downs, trials and successes. In all these seasons, it’s important to slow down and consider how each of them strengthens your faith. We want to help you make the most of your experiences by sending you Stuart and Jill’s three-message series, A Lifetime of Wisdom.

Filled with colorful stories and personal insight from Stuart and Jill, this series will help you learn through your circumstances. A Lifetime of Wisdom is our thanks for your gift today to help more people experience life in Christ through Telling the Truth. As an additional token of our appreciation, we’ll also send you a beautiful 8-by-10 framable art piece featuring Hebrews 10:23 to help you continually remember God’s faithfulness in every season of life.

So call today to request your copy of the series and the framable artwork when you give to help more people experience life: 1-800-889-5388. That’s 1-800-889-5388, or you can give online at tellingthetruth.org. For many, our smartphones have become our social connection. But we want to help you make a spiritual connection with the Telling the Truth mobile app. You can listen to daily programs, engage in Bible reading plans, journal, and share your thoughts and prayers on the community wall. Get the Telling the Truth app through your app store or log on to tellingthetruth.org/mobile-app. All right, let’s get back to Stuart with more of today’s message from the series, A Lifetime of Wisdom.

Stuart Briscoe: What I learned about the Bible, what I learned about God, what I learned about church, what I learned about people. This can best be summarized by something Paul said in 2 Corinthians chapter five. He said, "Henceforth, we view no one from a human point of view." Henceforth, we view no one from a human point of view. Well, what does it mean to view people from a human point of view? Well, I guess how do we look at people? Well, we notice gender, we notice generations, we notice ethnicity, we notice sometimes socioeconomic standing.

If we spend more time with them, we recognize education. We may even find out political leanings. We may even discover which football team they support. Human point of view. That's how we look at people. How do we evaluate people? By looking at all those things. Paul says no, there's an entirely different way. Now we look at people from a human point of view. Well, let me give you four clues. The key words of Christian theology are creation, fall, redemption, and glory. Get those deeply ingrained in your thinking.

Creation, fall, redemption, and glory. Four things I know about every human being I've ever met. Number one, they're created in the divine image. Every single human being I've ever met is created in the divine image, which means they have an immense potential for productivity and good. But every created individual is fallen, which means every human being who is capable of immense good is also paradoxically capable of unbelievable evil.

But the good news is everybody who is fallen is redeemable. That means God can roll back the consequences of fallenness and put in a new principle of transformation, which means every human being I met has a huge potential for good, a frightening potential for evil, and a vast potential for transformation. The end of redemption is glory when we are fitted for the presence of God and equipped for life in new heavens and new earth, which means every human being who is redeemed is capable of eternal significance.

So I look at people on the basis of gender, ethnicity, generation, socioeconomic standing, education? No. I look at people as being capable of intense good, unspeakable evil, vast transformation, and eternal significance. It changes my life. That's what I'm learning about people. What I've learned about life? Here's another quote for you. Ideals are like stars. We seldom reach them, but we steer by them. How many of you have ever gone to a star? None of you.

We seldom reach them. That's putting it mildly. How many of you have either steered by the North Star when you were lost in the woods or have used equipment that is zeroed in to the stars? All of us. Ideals are like stars. We seldom reach them, but we steer by them. Here's an ideal that I have never reached, but I steer by it. I believe that scripture is true when it says, "He that has begun a good work in you will complete it at the day of Jesus Christ."

Now it goes into more detail, but that's where we start. If God has started a good work in you, He will keep it up, He will continue, and He will complete it. But it will be in the day of Jesus Christ, that is in eternity. Now then, this is my ideal. God is going to complete what He started in my life and He tells me what it is. He says on the day of Jesus Christ, I will be ushered into the presence of the risen, glorified Christ. When I see Him, I will be like Him.

And I'll be given a resurrection body like Christ's resurrection body. I'll be presented blameless because of the sacrifice of Christ in the presence of God, blameless, a new creation completed like Christ. That's me. Not now, folks. Don't get alarmed. Not now. That's where I'm heading. That's my ideal. That's my star. I haven't reached it, but I steer by it. And do you know what that means? It means I'm never satisfied with what I've done, and I'm never satisfied with what I've achieved, and I'm never satisfied with where I've got to.

Because I know how far short of my ideal I am. On the other hand, I keep pursuing the goal and I'm humbled by my inability to reach it, but I learn to be patient with other people who don't reach it either. So I have two rules. Because we're in a process of reaching the ideal, we must not settle for too little and simply shrug our shoulders about our humanity. But on the other hand, because we know that we don't reach them, we mustn't expect too much and be humble enough to admit it and be patient enough with other people who haven't reached it either. And those are some of the lessons I'm busy learning right now.

Guest (Male): You’re listening to Stuart Briscoe on today’s Telling the Truth. He’s talking about the hope and acceptance God offers. Stuart’s coming right back to answer the question about dealing with the sting of rejection and more. In moments of both trial and success, it’s important to slow down long enough to consider how life’s experiences add to your faith. And the truth is, it takes a lifetime to become steeped in wisdom and to live daily in the promises of Christ.

Drawing on biblical wisdom and their own experiences, Stuart and Jill have created a three-message series called A Lifetime of Wisdom, which we want to send you as thanks for your gift of support today. Generous friends like you help keep the teaching and resources of Telling the Truth going. So if you’ve never given before, now is a great time to jump in to help keep God’s Word going out around the world through this ministry. And remember to request your copy of A Lifetime of Wisdom when you call and give.

As an additional token of our appreciation, we’ll send you a beautiful framable art piece featuring Hebrews 10:23 that will help you remember God’s faithfulness. Just call 1-800-889-5388, 1-800-889-5388, or you can give online when you visit tellingthetruth.org. Now, let’s get back to Stuart with some questions answered about today’s teaching.

Guest (Male): Stuart, sadly more believers are becoming wary of the church and stepping away. Why is a community of fellow believers so important to an individual's faith?

Stuart Briscoe: In the beginning, God created man and when He created man, He created an individual. Right from the very beginning, there was a very simple relationship. It was God and an individual. Then a little while later, God created woman. As soon as He did that, He, in addition to having created an individual, He created community. And this was much more complex than the original relationship.

When there was just God and man, it was a relationship between God and man and man and God. When woman came along, it was a relationship of God and man, and man and God, and God and woman, and woman and God, and woman and man, and man and woman. Every person that we know who comes to faith has an individual relationship with God. But everyone who is brought into a relationship with God is brought into the community of all the other people that God has a relationship with.

You cannot separate the personal from the communal. People who try and do that, for whatever reason, are denying part of the very nature that God has given them. He has given us a communal nature. We need each other. We are meant to be together. We are meant to support and help and encourage each other. And anyone who tries to go it alone, they may survive, but they will never thrive the way God intended. That's why community is so essential.