Unlimited Grace

Bryan Chapell: While we live in this broken and fallen world until Christ returns, what God is saying is, "I'll be with you. I'll walk you through it. I'll be with you." And this we know, if God is with us, if Jesus is with us, we can bear anything if we know He's with us. And that's what He's promising.

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 John chapter 3. Dr. Chapell investigates the life of John the Baptist, who first declared the coming of Jesus and is later sent out by Him on mission. It is a life full of great trial, but also the promise of hope and grace.

You can find this lesson and many others when you visit unlimitedgrace.com. And while you're there, look for Pastor Bryan's book, The Multi-generational Church Crisis. This compelling book asks the question of the church, "What could be accomplished in the name of Christ if we could better understand each other?" Let's hear now from Dr. Bryan Chapell as he shares the second half of the lesson, "Come Full Circle."

Bryan Chapell: As we began looking at an introduction to the life of Jesus, it was John who had the first introduction: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." And now you recognize, of course, life comes full circle as this same John, who introduced Jesus, now is sent by Jesus. But into a mission that he may not anticipate or even like. John 3, verses 22 and following:

"After this, Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized. For John had not yet been put in prison.

Now a discussion arose between some of John's disciples and a Jew over purification. And they came to John and said to him, 'Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness, look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.' John answered, 'A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness that I said, "I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him."

The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.' He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way.

He who comes from heaven is above all. He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.

The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him."

One of the dearest people in the world to Kathy and to me is a woman who through decades was married to a hard and crusty police captain, who wanted nothing to do with her faith, who wanted nothing to do with her children's faith, who made life miserable for them all.

Until the cancer, in which he began to say, "If you were willing to live with me all of these years, to face the difficulty of me all these years with joy and hope, then I want that joy and hope in the difficulty that I'm now facing." And a wife who was willing to live with hardness and heartache for so long because she said, "It's not about me." Even when those in the church were telling her, "Get out of there, you don't need to be in that marriage, you don't have to deal with this." She was saying, "It's not about me. It's about my life shining for Him. It's about Him."

It may happen in a difficult church situation. I mean, I think of what we're facing now as so much of what we face for our future is recognizing that to have a future, we have to be seriously thinking what it means to reach to another generation, to reach to other cultures, to reach to different kinds of people, things that are not accustomed.

And one of the inspiring things to me over the last several weeks has been this midweek class that I've been teaching about talking about our culture and changes in churches and ways in which our culture has changed itself so that in ministry, we have to think in new and different ways. And if you just were to come, what you would see is the predominant age of those who are coming is sixty and above.

As people are saying, "It's not about me. I want to know what God is calling us to do." It may be uncomfortable for us, it may be difficult. I'll tell you honestly, I expected, just because I'm the new pastor, we'd have kind of large numbers the first week and then they'd decline after that. Hasn't happened.

As week after week, we've had a hundred plus people coming to say, "What do we need to be thinking about? I mean, if it's not about us, but it's about Him, what do we need to be thinking about?" And the glory and the wonder and the inspiration of people of God asking the real questions to be a people of faith.

And what would it look like not if you're just in a difficult marriage or a difficult church situation, but if life itself were throwing you the worst curveballs of all? Because I was working on this sermon, I couldn't help but think of these truths as we got the email this week from Glenn and Brenda Vanette. And they were dealing with the reality of Brenda having the PET scan that revealed what nobody wanted to see or know about the spread and the difficulty of the cancer.

But at the end of that email, with all of its descriptiveness of the challenge that's ahead, these wondrous words: "We are so blessed to have a Savior to whom we can bring our troubles and rest in the assurance of His grace." It's not about us. We would not have chosen this, we would not have wanted this, but this is not about us.

This is about the Lord. And we want people to know in the worst of times, in the most difficult of situations, that there is still hope. And it may not be the hope of this life, but it is the hope that is eternal and it's the hope that you need and it's the hope that we have and it gives us courage and nobility even in this awful time. Because we're about Him and in this darkness, we want you to see the light of Him that is our light, too.

Why would we make such choices? Because of what He tells us about Himself. Who is this one who would let His light shine through us? He's the one who says, "I will make a difference every day." And the everyday sometimes means that we are building in our understanding of who He is and what He must do.

If you're after all asking the questions, "When do I start having to make these choices to live for Him? When is it necessary that I begin becoming this vessel?" And the answer is right now. You're not going to wait until the Nazis are at the door or the lions are at the arena and say, "Someday I'll be courageous. Someday I'll act with nobility." It's being called for right now.

I love thinking about how it worked in Jackie Robinson's life. Yes, we know all the story of the great nobility when he was there before the world, but that's not where the heroism started. It started with a youth pastor named Carl Downs, twenty-five years old, who saw this young black man on the streets, who was his own worst enemy: angry, volatile, violent, brushes with the law.

And this youth pastor simply began to minister to Jackie Robinson and tell him about the love of Christ which was more important than his defense of himself. And Jackie Robinson became a believer and there were huge costs almost immediately. Jackie Robinson went to UCLA and already his athletic ability was showing. He became a star four-sport athlete.

But because his father had abandoned his mother, it became necessary for Jackie Robinson to care for his family, to leave college, to leave the acclaim, and work in menial tasks to take care of his mother and siblings. Nobility began early. He had to give up the acclaim of being a four-sport athlete for the sake of his family.

Change of circumstances, he got back in college. And then he had to give up again, he had to give up sleep. Because after bruising football games on Saturdays, Carl Downs expected him to come to church and teach Sunday school on Sundays. So he had to get up and give up his sleep for the sake of young people like himself.

And he was living for the Lord when he went into the minor leagues, actually before that the Negro leagues. And going into the Negro leagues as one who would not drink and would not play around with women, he was himself ostracized and ridiculed by his own black teammates in the Negro leagues.

Getting hated and thrown out and ridiculed was not new for Jackie Robinson when he finally made it to the Major Leagues. Now you know what he faced there, but you should recognize that all that he faced was being prepared every step along the way as Jackie, step after step, was saying, "I'm a vessel. God, what do you need from me today? Help me to be in my brokenness, in my difficulty, what you need to be so others would see you."

What you may not recognize as I tell that story is it did not just begin with Jackie Robinson. As we were involved today in the blessing of family, I hope you recognize, some of you know, that it was Jackie's mother Molly who actually began to tell him what it meant to be a child of God.

When her husband abandoned them, she could have given in to bitterness, but instead she gave herself to making her child a better man and refused to give in to bitterness or unforgiveness for the sake of her child. So that if you think of it long term, we became a better nation because a woman in obscurity refused to hate her husband before her children. As God was building nobility into the system by someone who said, "My life is broken, my heart is broken, but I am going to show Jesus to the world." And she did, in ways she could never have anticipated.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Unlimited Grace, the audio broadcast ministry of Pastor and author Bryan Chapell. It may seem hard for younger Christians to believe, but people over 50 were raised during an era when 90% of Americans identified as Christians. These older believers were once part of a majority group that understood the mission of the church was to take control of our culture to halt its evils. At the same time, Christians under 50 have lived their entire lives perceiving themselves as a minority that needs to make credible their faith to a secular, pluralistic culture.

These distinct experiences and perceptions have a profound impact on the priorities different generations have for church ministry. It's no wonder that younger and older believers don't always see eye to eye. In his new book, The Multi-generational Church Crisis, Dr. Bryan Chapell asks the question, "What could be accomplished in the name of Christ if we could better understand each other?" This practical and hopeful book is backed by thorough research, revealing how to open the lines of communication, appreciate the experiences that shaped each generation in your church, and unite in one mission to impact your community and the world. You can request your copy of The Multi-generational Church Crisis 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: Verse 31: "He who comes from above is above all." I mean, here is all the complexity and the difficulty and the fighting and the meandering and the difficulty and He's above it all, making what needs to happen happen. "He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all."

It becomes all the more important when you recognize that that phrase that we so often cite, "You must be born again," even said in the footnotes of some of your Bibles, that "born again" actually could just as easily be translated "be born from above." And now John is saying, "Listen, if this Jesus is in your life, He is from above and He is now creating all things to work from an above perspective."

He is doing what is necessary because He has eternal authority. He is from above. And not only has He got eternal authority, He's got eternal truth. Verse 32: "He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony." Remember, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Unless the Holy Spirit comes, you would not receive his testimony.

But verse 33: "Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true." Our phrase, "you can take it to the bank," right? You can put your name on this. God is true. And what He is saying is this one from above has eternal authority and He has the truth of the word of God. And what's the consequence of that?

Verse 34: "For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure." He is not limited by the things of this earth. He's not limited by what you see, He's not limited by what you feel, He's not limited by your brokenness, He's not limited by this world's darkness. God has said, "I have sent one with eternal authority who has eternal truth to bring eternal life."

Those are the last words. Remember, verse 35: "The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; but whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him." There's been this great contrast that has been set up.

John the Baptist is saying, "Listen, if you hook your wagon to Jesus, if your belief is in Him, then you have eternal life." It's interesting this present tense: "Whoever believes in Him has eternal life." I thought eternal life was something out there in the future. I thought it was pie in the sky by and by. Our difficulty is we don't have the definition of eternal life until late in the book of John.

Just before His crucifixion, Jesus actually finally gives us the definition of what eternal life is. John 17 and verse 3, Jesus says this. He says, "And this is eternal life, that they know you." He's in prayer and He's speaking of His people. "This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."

What does it mean to have eternal life? To know God and Jesus. Now, it's the biblical understanding of what knowledge is. It's to have a relationship. It's to understand that regardless of what we have to walk through, whatever the brokenness, whatever the darkness, that eternal life means we go through it with God. That He's with us going through it.

And that's not just waiting out there sometime to occur, that by believing in Jesus, believing He has authority and His word is to help us, that right now, we walk through whatever difficulty we have with Jesus. With God Himself being with us. Listen, it is a fallen world. It is a difficult world. And God is not saying, "Right now I will fix everything." No, listen.

Other people need to be saved and brought out of the darkness of this world. There needs to be the testimony of those who in their brokenness, in their hurt, in their darkness, are saying, "I still know the light that shines, that gives me hope, that will ultimately make all things right, but for right now, He walks with me."

And I have hope because I know no matter what I must face, He walks with me right now. And that means heaven begins right now, regardless of what you have to face. And the converse is also true. That's why John will actually describe hell in the present tense: "Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God," he doesn't say "will come upon him." He says "the wrath of God remains on him."

As though it's already on you. Well, what would that wrath of God look like? It would look like you were walking through the darkness without God. That you're just on your own. That all the hurt and all the pain and all the darkness, that you're just on your own. And that's hell right now.

And that's what the Bible is saying you don't have to go through. That while we live in this broken and fallen world until Christ returns, what God is saying is, "I'll be with you. I'll walk you through it. I'll be with you." And this we know, if God is with us, if Jesus is with us, we can bear anything if we know He's with us. And that's what He's promising.

The eternal one with eternal truth is promising us His eternal presence, and that's why heaven starts right now. And if you don't know that, if you don't have God through what you're going through, then the pain is hell right now. Hard things mean being realistic. And I don't know that I read anything more realistic recently than the account of Rick and Kay Warren.

Remember Rick Warren, the Purpose Driven Life author and pastor? Easter of this year, Rick Warren in seventeen services, some preached personally and some by video, Rick Warren preached to fifty thousand people this Easter. His book, Purpose Driven Life, has sold thirty-six million copies. All before his son, just a few months ago, took his own life.

A son suffering with mental illness since he was a little child ultimately took his own life. And when the interviewer, secular, from People Magazine, did the interview of the Warrens, the interviewer was bold enough to ask the question: "How do you deal with God not miraculously healing your son?" And Rick Warren, wonderful words, said these:

He said, "You come to surrender. You say this to yourself, 'I would rather walk with God and not have my questions answered than have my questions answered and not walk with God.'" If what we profoundly believe is that at least a little taste of heaven is starting right now, then we have to walk through life in the brokenness and the darkness and sometimes the curveballs that are coming right at us and say, "I don't understand this. I can't explain this. I don't have all my questions answered, but this I know: God's with me in this.

And He's going to be eternally with me regardless of what I have to face, and that's how I can stand up under it. Because I know God is with me. He showed me that when He sent Jesus to be with me and by His Holy Spirit in my heart forever." And I would rather believe that than have all my questions answered and not have God walk with me.

Some of you know exactly what I'm talking about. You don't have all your questions answered. But this is the one from above who comes with eternal truth to tell you about eternal life, what He says: it won't all be fixed now, it's a fallen world, but I will be with you and I will come again to make it all right, but until that day, I'll be with you. Apart from that is just hell. He would not have you know that hell, but know the heaven that starts right now of walking with you through it all you must walk, that His light would shine through you.

Guest (Male): That's Pastor Bryan Chapell, and you've been listening to Unlimited Grace. If you would like to hear more from Dr. Chapell, you can find a collection of valuable resources at unlimitedgrace.com. 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.