Unlimited Grace

Bryan Chapell: Rejoice when God puts us in opportunities to take the gospel to lost people, that we actually love lost people, not just feel a duty to reach them. To actually long for the day that dirt and rust come together to make gold. And when that happens, we say, "Thanks be to God. He has made me a part of his family, and he has extended my arms to reach a greater family, and he's made me a part of a church that wants to do the same."

Guest (Male): So glad you joined us for today's Unlimited Grace, the audio broadcast ministry of pastor and author Bryan Chapell. In today's episode, Pastor Bryan shares the second half of a lesson from Ephesians 2. Dr. Chapell shares how the work of Jesus Christ removes the barriers of hostility and prejudice, and his love unites us. You can find this lesson and many others when you visit unlimitedgrace.com.

And while you're there, look for Pastor Bryan's commentary on the book of Ephesians, which he wrote for the Reformed Expository Commentary series. Dr. Chapell reveals how when we lift our eyes beyond ourselves to share Paul's expansive vision, then we too will join his doxology for God's amazing grace that transforms the world. Let's hear now from Dr. Bryan Chapell as he shares the second half of the lesson, "When Walls Come Tumbling Down."

Bryan Chapell: The scriptures speak of different mountains that God must move. The title of the sermon is "When Walls Come Tumbling Down," and that, of course, is a reference for most of us to a song about Joshua in the Old Testament at Jericho defeating an enemy as God brought walls tumbling down.

But in the New Testament, for the Apostle Paul, he refers to the New Testament Joshua. That's Jesus, by the way. Jesus is just the New Testament term for Joshua. Jesus is responsible for other walls coming down. Last week, we saw how the dividing wall of hostility between humanity and God and between humanity and other humans, how those walls have been tumbling down by the work of Jesus Christ.

But then the question is, what now? In the Old Testament, when the walls of Jericho came tumbling down, there was still a land to occupy by force. In the New Testament, when the walls of hostility between us and God and between us and others come down, there are hearts to occupy by the Spirit.

And the Apostle Paul will tell us how as we look at Ephesians chapter 2, verses 17 through 19. Let me ask that you would stand as we would read this portion of God's word and consider: What is the consequence of the walls tumbling down of hostility once between God and us, and now between us and one another?

Verse 17, speaking of Jesus, says, "And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God." Let's pray together.

Heavenly Father, thank you for doing so much already in this service to demonstrate to us what it means when walls come tumbling down. When there is love for those who need it. When there is love for those who are different from many who are here. When there is a great willingness of the people of God to expand the embrace of the gospel to a family larger than we can imagine.

And to do the work in our hearts so that we are willing for that precise thing to occur. We're going to ask now that you keep doing that work by your Word and Spirit, training our hearts to magnify the goodness and the glory and the family of Christ. Help us to see what that means, that we might be the means by which you embrace many. This we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

One of the church fathers of the ancient church says, "When the Apostle Paul says those both far and near are being given access to the Father, it is like an object of clay and an object of rust being put together and coming out as an object of gold." It's dirt out of the ground and corroded rust. The dirt as in the pagan religions, the rust as in the rusty Jews, no longer corroded, corrupted by their own faith, rather than by the faith of God himself. And God putting them together and saying, "As I deal with you together, you're gold."

When that happens, what should happen in us is just an absolute rejoicing. This is a heavenly action. This is the beauty of the gospel. God is taking those who are apart, those who are in hostility, those who were first in hostility with him, and often have differences, and God is putting them together in his church.

So that they learn not only his love but, through their love for one another, his love of the gospel for others also. There is dirt and rust being put together right here so that gold will come out of us, which is the gold of the gospel. And when you begin to perceive the wonder and the goodness of that, you begin to rejoice whenever you see it happen.

Some years ago, I was invited to a mission conference as a speaker, and it was a church much as ours that had the video screens. And we were shown a video of a ministry that that church was being asked to support. This was a Presbyterian church in the South, but the video was showing a Korean pastor who'd been commissioned in Romania to minister to people in Hungary.

Now, just to put that in the season's terms, this was an Anglo church supporting an Asian pastor who'd been commissioned in the land of Dracula to minister to the people of Attila the Hun. This is better than Halloween horror. This is heavenly glory. God's people look at that and they say, "This is all languages and peoples and nations being brought together for the purposes of the gospel."

And when we see it happen, we say, "That's gold. That's the gospel." We rejoice to see it. We yearn to see it. We love to be part of what God is doing. When we, as the conference of calling of this church, talked about unlimited grace being our joining as a church, early we trust in the song of Revelation 5, it was saying: What can we do? What will God enable us to do so that we can say, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive glory and honor and praise because with your blood, you purchase people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation"?

Wouldn't it be great if we could sing that? And yet we are singing it so much of what we're doing. As we see parents who adopt, who say, "All barriers down, all hearts open." As we are trying to reach neighborhoods around us and we say, "All barriers down, all hearts open." As we see the ons, even as they come into our culture, saying, "We want to go to those places where there are new families in our particular community, where there are people moving in from different demographics, different places." And we see yams who are saying, "I want to be a part of that." And we see a church that says, "I want to hire a pastor who will do that."

And what we are doing as a church is we're saying, "That's gold." When we're able to take so many different people and say, "Show them the gospel by having the peace that we have received now multiply from us." But it is hard. It is really hard to take all those background differences and all those ethnic differences and all those community differences and say, for the sake of the gospel, we want all barriers down and all hearts open.

I don't want you to miss the last words of verse 18. Paul says there through Christ we both have access in the Spirit to the Father. We both, Jew and Gentile, have access to the Father. And the verse explaining more of what that means that we'll look at more next week, verse 19, says, "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God."

You are family now. You have the same Father. You're in the same household. Different backgrounds, different languages, different tribes, different ethnicities, you're family now. And when that happens and the reality of it has begun to work in us, this is something greater than obligation. It's the heart that begins to yearn for an expanded family and to treasure all those who are in it.

Right here in this place just a couple of weeks ago, we put to rest one of the dear saints of this community, and that's Lois McRaven. And one of the things I loved learning about her and her family is what a bad grandmother she was in terms of how she addressed each of her grandchildren. Those of you who are at the funeral know what I'm talking about. One of her grandchildren would come in the door of the house and she would say, "Oh, it's so good to have you here. You're my favorite."

And that sounds terrible until the next grandchild walked in the door and she would say, "Oh, it's so good to have you here. You're my favorite." She always called each of her grandchildren her favorite, so that at family reunions, all 13 grandchildren would wear a t-shirt that said "Mimi's favorite."

They all recognized that by her love, they were equally favorites. And what God is doing when he says, "I've decided to deal with both of you, Jew and Gentile, with an understanding that you have one Father and you're part of one family," is God is saying by his great grace that we are equal in honor before him, each one a favorite.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Unlimited Grace, the audio broadcast ministry of pastor and author Bryan Chapell. The Apostle Paul wrote the letter to the Ephesians to declare God's plan that the gospel of Jesus Christ would reach the world through weak and sinful people like you and me. He writes that God has redeemed us to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

When we lift our eyes beyond ourselves to share Paul's expansive vision, then we too will join his doxology for God's amazing grace that saves individuals, empowers the church, and transforms the world. Yes, such grace really is possible. And Pastor Bryan's commentary on the book of Ephesians clearly teaches the details of this amazing truth.

As a thank you for your support of our ministry here at Unlimited Grace, we would like to send you a copy of Dr. Chapell's commentary, which he wrote for the Reformed Expository Commentary series. You can request your copy of the commentary on Ephesians when you donate online at unlimitedgrace.com or by calling 844-41-GRACE. That's 844-414-7223. And now, more from Bryan Chapell on today's Unlimited Grace.

Bryan Chapell: What God is doing when he says, "I've decided to deal with both of you, Jew and Gentile, with an understanding that you have one Father and you're part of one family," is God is saying by his great grace that we are equal in honor before him, each one a favorite. What does that do to us?

If I begin to recognize those near and those far are a favorite of God, well, first of all, it ignites in us a mission impulse, right? I so rejoice to be a part of a church that has such a great history in giving of missions, such a great zeal to take the gospel forward. It's saying that part of Christ's heart is our heart. We want the gospel to go out.

And it's not just a mission impulse. There's such a great mercy impulse here. As I see people who are wanting to take the gospel forward to widows and to orphans and to prisoners and poor, and more and more it's happening, not just as a former generation, but a new generation is saying, "We recognize this is our calling, to make the gospel plain by saying there's more family than what's sitting here and there's more family that ought to be here than what's sitting here." And the way that we express that is by showing people they're his favorite, just as we are, because we're part of the family of God, not by our doing but by his grace.

What I'm ultimately saying to you is when we talk about this expression of the gospel by which we take it outward, if all we do is say that's just our obligation, that's just our duty, that's just what this church is saying right now, I will tell you it will not work. What ultimately happens and the reason I think the Apostle Paul speaks in terms of family is because for each one of us, there is a hole in our hearts until our family is whole.

There's some deep yearning in us, there's something in us that wants our arms full, our embrace wide, until the family that we desire to have is present. I can't exactly explain it, but I remember Kathy saying to me when we had three children as they were getting older, saying, "My arms feel like we need one more."

It wasn't exactly my impulse, but it was hers. It was the right impulse. It was something saying family has a heart more than it has an explanation. It has love more than it has duty. And when we are saying God has given us one Father and made us one family, then maybe for the first time we begin to love lost people, not just feel an obligation to reach them.

Think of it this way. You know all the debates that are happening right now with the new atheism are being mastered by people who know a lot more history than I do. One of them is Karen Armstrong, whose book "Fields of Blood" tries to answer the four horsemen of the new atheism. And she responds with remarkable candor. She says, "Yes, it's true. When religion goes bad, you get the crusades and Northern Ireland and the Sudan and radical Islam. It's all true."

But she says, "You have to weigh that against what happens when godlessness runs its course. What happens when godlessness runs its course? Then you get Stalin and Lenin and Mao and Pol Pot and Hitler." Of course, the academics will debate which is worse: the cruelty and suffering caused supposedly by religion, or the cruelty and suffering caused by godlessness. I must tell you each side is going to raise its facts, and I'm doubting that we will solve the debate logically.

Where we will answer those who say, "Is your religion just a cause of hostility or a cause of peace?" is by what's happening in us. Are we a people for whom all barriers are down and all hearts are open? Because when that happens, peace begins to radiate from us, which is our ultimate answer. Are we different? Are our arms wide? Is our family expanding? Do we just love it? Just love it when lost people come into our ranks. When we are changed, that's the evidence of the gospel of peace that Christ came to proclaim.

I couldn't help but think of it a few weeks ago at the funeral of my father. Now, my father was raised in the rural South where regional and racial prejudices were deeply ingrained. So deeply ingrained that at the end of World War II, when he was assigned to the Japanese occupation force and was in one of those experimental integrated regiments, he would say it was really hard on him. So hard that despite being with men in that integrated regiment with whom he faced danger and hostility, he said that when he came back to the States and got off the troop transport and had to shake hands with people of a race different than his, as much as he did not want to do it, it actually revolted him to touch the hand of a man of a different color than himself.

He didn't want that to be the case, but he said it was just in him. We knew enough of that background of my father that when my sister and her husband adopted a child who was African-American, all of us wondered: How would my father react to that?

Our questions were answered one Christmas when all the family gathered with this new baby in our family. And all of the children have a picture of my father asleep on the sofa with the child on his chest, also asleep. There was peace as my father, despite the difficulty, was seeking to live out the gospel he knew to be true.

But I must tell you that wasn't the best part of the story. The best part that I didn't even know about until my father's funeral, where there was that time where there's the open microphone and people can say what they want about the goodness of the person who's now gone. Children spoke, grandchildren spoke in my father's behalf, but what we did not anticipate was the three African-Americans who spoke at my father's funeral.

The first, a neighbor of my parents, who had moved in at that time when transitioning of neighborhoods from one race to another caused a lot of hatred, a lot of difficulty. "What will happen to property prices? What will happen to the neighborhood?" And this older woman got up and said, "Mr. and Mrs. Chapell were the first one to come to my door and welcome me to the neighborhood."

Better yet, there was a man who lived across the street who at some point lost his job, and when paychecks became small and few, he said my father was the first one to lend him money so that he could survive during that time. And if you knew my father's attitude toward money, you would know what a wall had come tumbling down for that to happen.

But the best yet was the man that I grew up across the street calling Coach, who was in our particular neighborhood, the famous high school coach who had won so many championships, but late in his career had stopped being a high school coach and became a school administrator, taking over one of the magnet schools for troubled inner-city young people.

And that man stood up at my father's funeral and said at one point he had come to my father and said, "I have a plan for helping young troubled youth in my school get on a better road." And he said, "Your father looked at that plan and said, 'It will not work because you are not dealing with the parents of these young people. And until you deal with families, this will not work.'"

And so Coach said that he and my father had worked on a plan for families in the inner city of Memphis that has become a model plan for the public schools of the city of Memphis. And I say, I praise God for my father, but I praise God even more for my father's Father, who has taught us the wonder and the goodness and the glory of being a God of peace who breaks down the walls of hostility between us and himself, and then breaks down the walls of hostility between us and others.

So that we actually rejoice when God puts us in opportunities to take the gospel to lost people, that we actually love lost people, not just feel a duty to reach them. To actually long for the day that dirt and rust come together to make gold. And when that happens, we say, "Thanks be to God. He has made me a part of his family, and he has extended my arms to reach a greater family, and he's made me a part of a church that wants to do the same." I praise God for you, and I pray God will make us a church where dirt and rust come together and we become a family of gold for the sake of the gospel that Christ is working in this place.

Guest (Male): That's Pastor Bryan Chapell, and you've been listening to Unlimited Grace. If this message has been an encouragement to you, you can find a collection of more valuable resources at unlimitedgrace.com. When you visit, you will find today's message and many others from Pastor Bryan. Also, be sure to request a copy of Dr. Chapell's commentary on Ephesians.

We'll send you this book right away as our way of saying thank you for your most generous financial support. Once again, go to unlimitedgrace.com or you can give by calling 844-41-GRACE. That's 844-414-7223. Please be sure to join us next time as once again we endeavor to put Christ at the center of our efforts so that lives might be transformed by his unlimited grace. This ministry is brought to you by Unlimited Grace Media and continues to be made possible with your generous financial support.