Unlimited Grace

Guest (Male): God has declared a day by which he will judge the world in righteousness, and he has appointed a man to make the judgment. And he is assured of who that man is by raising him from the dead. And because of this, he calls all men everywhere to repent, that they would not face the judgment.

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 5. Dr. Chapell asks a question: does Jesus only help those who seek him?

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, Leaping For Joy.

Bryan Chapell: In previous weeks, as we've been looking at the life of Jesus unfolding by his meeting various persons, there's been a common pattern. While the circle keeps expanding of the people that he will deal with—remember family, friends, faith leaders, half-race related persons, and finally an enemy—the common denominator of all of those persons is they have asked for help.

In every case, they have come to Jesus saying, "Can you tell us something more? Can you help us in some way?" The question today is: is that all? Are those the only people that Jesus will help—those who in some measure come seeking him? Is that all?

John 5, verses 1 through 18. After this, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed.

One man was there who'd been an invalid for 38 years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be healed?" The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me."

Jesus said to him, "Get up, take your bed and walk." And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed."

But he answered them, "The man who healed me, that man said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'" They asked him, "Who is the man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?" Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn as there was a crowd in the place.

Afterwards, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "See, you are well. Sin no more that nothing worse may happen to you." The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.

But Jesus answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I am working." This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. Let's pray together.

Heavenly Father, the blessing of seeing your Son in the word inspired by the Holy Spirit is understanding how broad is his reach, how wide the door that he throws to those who would seek after him. But now we even begin to understand that he would be seeking those who do not seek him nor even recognize him, so great is his grace.

There may be even such persons here this day, Father, who are not seeking him, but by his Spirit he is seeking them this day. Would you so work with your Spirit and word to open hearts to you? We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

You're well aware that there's a debate going on, and verse 16 talks about it. The Jews were persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. But verse 17, Jesus answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I am working." There were all these rules for the Sabbath observance, and yet Jesus is saying, "No, listen, these things that you are establishing are actually hurting my Father's purposes. He has been working up until now, and I am going to keep working as he was."

In which case, he is saying he is Lord of the Sabbath. It doesn't rule over him; he rules over it. But what was the purpose of the Sabbath? The name itself means rest. He came to give people rest. What did he give this man in the account rest from? 38 years of racing to the pool. Get there, get there, get there. It's absolute futility.

And he is serving a religion that is futility as well, telling him if you just keep certain rules that everything will be okay with God. And he's saying, "How many rules? When's that going to end?" It's all futility. And Jesus says instead, "I come to give you rest. I am Lord of the Sabbath. It is not meant to rule you; you are to be at rest."

If you have a life in which you are experiencing futility, you know the wonder of that mercy. I have a friend, a pastor, who was recently written a letter by a couple in his church, and they talked about some of the futility that they were experiencing. They said this: "Pastor, this year marked a decade of hard work and perseverance that has culminated in the fulfillment of lifelong dreams and goals."

"However, this year also marked our individual struggles over issues of health and mortality and heartbreak and loss. We have reflected on the past not with exuberance, but with an all-encompassing weariness from the seemingly voracious chronic problems of life that daily eat away at our heart and soul. At the very depth of what we've experienced, we woke up one day and said, 'It's too much. Too much heartbreak, too much sadness. We have to make a change. We can't keep going down this futile path.'"

And that is what Jesus is saying: "I have come to give you rest. Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." If there is a day that we should feel the weight of that, it ought to be this day in which we are celebrating veterans who have given life and service for the sake of this nation, and 22 of whom—22 of whom—will take their lives today and every day if the pattern completes itself as it's happened this last year. 22 veterans a day in this nation will take their lives.

Haunted by demons of the past, difficulties of the present, frustrations about the future. I don't know it all. I've not lived the life to in any way complain or point finger. I will just tell you, there is no greater evidence of people who know absolute futility and are saying, "Can't I find some relief from this?" And when Jesus says, "I am Lord of the Sabbath," he is saying, "Will you come and get some rest?"

It shakes me to recognize I know there are people listening to me right now who are questioning whether their lives should continue, who are facing such a degree of futility that they are questioning right now whether anything I'm saying is true, anything in this world is worth holding onto. And I say to you what Jesus is saying with a heart that is so big that even if you're not reaching out to him, he is speaking to you.

He is saying, "I am coming to give you rest." It's not your making yourself right with me. It's not qualifying. It's now somehow getting the approval of the world. You can have the love of God eternal and forgiveness and acceptance regardless of the past or the present, and you can have some rest. Because he's Lord of the Sabbath, and he came to give you rest.

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 percent of Americans identified as Christian. 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 844-4-GRACE. That's 844-414-7223. And now, more from Bryan Chapell on today's Unlimited Grace.

Bryan Chapell: He's Lord of the Sabbath, and he came to give you rest. It may be hard to understand, and so that is why the Apostle presses on to new territory he's not been in yet in this passage, to tell us that we should be grateful not just because of a wonderful merciful order of grace, not even because of a merciful rest from the difficulties of this world.

We begin to understand the degree and the power of that when we recognize he also talks about a merciful warning. What if you don't have this rest? Then what? Interesting words that Jesus says in verse 14. Afterwards, when Jesus finds this invalid man in the temple, he said to him, "See, you're well. Sin no more that nothing worse may happen to you."

Well goodness, he's been an invalid for 38 years. How much worse can it get? Verse 25 tells you how much worse it can get. Jesus is speaking and later after he has been persecuted by Jewish authorities, he says, "Truly, truly I say to you, an hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live."

"For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself, and he has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment."

There will be another day when Jesus will say, "Get up." He will say it to the entire world, and he will say it to those who are alive and those who are already in their graves. There is coming a day of resurrection, and Jesus has the power of life in himself. He's proven it here to say, "Get up." But he will even speak to people like this man who is evidenced in this particular account.

Because he's an invalid, we give him lots of sympathy. But there is a path he is going down for which we should take deep warning. We got just a little sense of his character in verse 7. Do you remember after Jesus asked the question, "Do you want to be healed?" The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred."

No, that wasn't the question. Do you want to be healed? And what he does is he begins to blame other people for his condition. The blame will continue. Verse 10: the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It's the Sabbath. It's not lawful for you to take up your bed." But he answered them, "The man who healed me, that man said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.' Hey, it's not my fault. I'm just doing what I was told."

Now the Jewish authorities say, "Who told you?" Well, when it's asked the first time, he says, "I don't know." But he knows whoever is breaking the Sabbath is in trouble, right? Because he's in trouble. And so he pushes the trouble away by saying, "I don't know who it was." Then what happens? Verse 14: he's in the temple.

Jesus says go and sin no more. And at that point, the man who has been healed learns who Jesus is. What does he do in verse 15? He goes and tattles. No, it's not tattling. It's betrayal. "It's that Jesus. He's the one." Which Jesus is that? Verse 18: Jesus, remember, was breaking the Sabbath. This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

The betrayal of this man is not just against his healer, not even just against the Lord of the Sabbath. Ultimately, this betrayal is against the Lord. John has not said this yet in his gospel. Thus far, he has made every transgression, every expression of the wrath of God, basically dealing as one's sin against oneself. You keep yourself in darkness, you keep yourself in pain. You do this against yourself if you maintain this pattern of living apart from God.

But now he says something different. It is a just universe created by a righteous God, and when you turn against him in sin, you betray God. And God says he will judge such sin. You know what you and I say? We see this man healed and then betraying Jesus, and we say, "How dare he?" Really? How dare we? That's the point. That his betrayal resulted in Jesus being pursued to death, but my sin and your sin put him upon the cross as well.

It's our sin, and that is why Jesus calls every man everywhere to repent. It's what Paul said years later: "God has declared a day by which he will judge the world in righteousness, and he has appointed a man to make the judgment. And he is assured of who that man is by raising him from the dead. And because of this, he calls all men everywhere to repent, that they would not face the judgment."

What is the final thing that is our great reason for gratitude? To understand that God loved us enough to warn us. Listen, if he did not love you, he would not warn you. And so what God has done is he has told you, "Here is a path. It's a path of grace, it's a path of rest." But to turn apart from that is not just to do damage to you. It is ultimately to transgress a holy God, his standards, and the righteousness of God must be satisfied.

Therefore, we are called to repent, to look at lives that are not right before God and recognize that awareness is God himself reaching into our hearts and saying, "You must turn to me." It's what I call you to now. God himself puts before you the awareness of what you must know. He is not saying you have to be capable, but he is saying you must respond to the reach. You must get up.

You must understand there are consequences of judgment that God has put before people in great integrity as well as love for you. And having put the consequences out there, he says to you and to me, "Don't go there. Repent and seek the one who loves us by acknowledging your need of him." I call you to it now. Get up. Do you want to be healthy? Do you want to be healed? Don't say no.

Let the Holy Spirit work in your heart even right now. What are you pursuing that is apart from him? Turn away from it. Repent of your sin and rest in Jesus, knowing that he will take your sin upon him on the cross, and you will be able to get up from this place healed of your sin forever and never facing the judgment—never—because he has made you whole.

Hi, friend. This is Pastor Bryan again. Today, we've considered how the Bible encourages us to trust our Savior. And if you find yourself in a situation today where you need to trust Jesus more with what's going on in your life, then I want to pray for you. Would you join me in prayer?

Heavenly Father, as we begin to grasp the power and the love of Jesus' passion for us, we reach toward him, and we know that's what you want. You want us to turn to our Savior with the confidence that he can and will hold us through all of life's trials and for eternity. So when we see how Jesus gave his life in order to save sinners like us, we love him, we turn to him, we trust him.

Help us to do that right now, even if our circumstances are tough and our sins are great. Help us to believe that no matter how great is the difficulty or how heavy is our baggage, how deep may be our shame, there really is hope for each of us when we trust in Jesus. Your Son has your heart and your power.

So we ask that your Son, Heavenly Father—this Jesus Christ that we're turning to—would pardon our sin, help us to live for you, and hold us for eternity. That's a big prayer, but his grace is big enough. And so we ask that you would apply it to our lives as you know is best. For then we will be truly blessed. And so we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

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. When you visit the site, you will find today's message and many others from Pastor Bryan. 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.