Unlimited Grace

Bryan Chapell: Ministry is happening as every single one of us in our homes, in our businesses, in our workplaces, in our education backgrounds, as all of us are doing what God calls us to do wherever we are called. If that's ministry, do you know what it means? There are no secondary callings.

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 4. In the continuation of this series in Ephesians, Dr. Chapell highlights how in all our different lives and spheres of influence, we share a common mission and calling.

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, The Same, Only Different.

Bryan Chapell: We are now returning to my favorite little big book in the Bible. Little because it's only six chapters, big because the themes are so expansive. Paul begins the book of Ephesians talking about the love of God the Father that began for you and me before the foundations of the earth were laid, an expansive and enduring love.

And about a son who came to give his life for those who were dead in their trespasses and sins. And then sent a spirit to invade, indwell the people of God so that they would be a temple rising up to give praise to God, but indwelt by a power that raised Jesus from the dead and would be responsible for ultimately filling the whole world with the knowledge and the glory of Jesus. It is a huge theme book.

And yet at the same time, at some point you have to ask, why all this grace? Where is this grace leading? Is it just about freedom from our past and freedom from our sin? What's all this grace about? Well, we're about to find out that it is not just freedom, but fuel, fuel for a calling that God gives us. I'm going to be straight with you. As you think about the calling that the apostle is about to describe and then is going to detail in the unfolding chapter of Ephesians, this is a steep road. This is strong medicine. This is going to take strong hearts who have been fueled by the grace of God.

So are you ready? Well, ready or not, here we go. Let's stand, Ephesians 4, as we honor the Word of God and read verses 1 through 16. The apostle writes, "I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it says, 'When he ascended on high, he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.'

In saying 'He ascended,' what does it mean but that he also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

So that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness and deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love."

I want you to see just a list of things that people in this church are involved in and think of why it is important that we have different gifts in the same way that God has called us. Here's just a list of urban ministries that people in this church are already participating in. If you go on beyond these particular urban ministries, you'll see even more different people serving in different ways as God has called us to many different types of professions.

If you see not only the urban ministries, there are those working with children, not just inside the church, but outside the church. Those who have special gifts of teaching the Bible to little ones. Not only are those ministries that this church has itself, we are participating with churches and mission services and needy and mercy services far beyond us.

Listen, sometimes I know that we think the job of the ministers, the holy people, is to do the work of the church. And yet what you begin to see here is God saying through his people, there is much for us to do. That last slide which is now passed was just reminding you, if you're thinking, how do I find out? How do I find out what God is calling me to do? You might just identify with us through the receptionist at gracepres.org. Find out what is God calling me to do?

Because what God is said again is no one is independent. All of us are part of a great purpose. God is using us for his glory. And as I've listed these different ministries, let me tell you one of the temptations is for those of you who are involved in various ministries to now be mad at me because I couldn't remember yours. So bear with me, maintain the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace, and think what God may be calling you to do.

On these slides as we were just trying to think, brainstorm, what are the various mercy ministries? What are the evangelism ministries that are going on right now through various ones of you in this church? Listen, I did not even mention the Sunday school teachers, the Bible study leaders, the nursery workers, the community group leaders, the Monday morning crew, the security and media and reception people, the sanctity of life volunteers, the divorce recovery volunteers, the women who are quilting. Have I mentioned your ministry yet?

We are all part of a great calling. And none of us can do this alone. All of us are meant to be part of what God has calling us to do because we're all the same with a great calling, but we're different with different gifts in different purposes. As we recognize that we are the same in the sense that we have the calling, you ready for the one last whiplash? I said you're the same and then I said you're different. Where do you think I'm going now? You're the same again.

You're the same in that with your differences, you are each vital to God's purposes. It's really the point that the apostle is making as he's kind of saying, yes, there are different kinds of people. Look at verse 12. Yes, God gave the apostles, the prophets, the shepherds, the teachers. Why? Verse 12. To equip the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ.

The temptation when we see God has given apostles and prophets and pastors and teachers and so forth is to say, oh, God has given a job to the holy people and not recognize that the saints are the ones that are all around you. To each of us, says the apostle, has God given these gifts. It is his purpose. Verse 7, look at it. Grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.

We think that ministry is happening as I talk to you, as Pastor Carrie talks to you, as Pastor Greg talks to you. And you don't recognize that the way Paul is actually defining it at this point is the ministry happens as you go out into the world and live for Christ. That is ministry of the church. If we were to depend upon the few ordained pastors in this church to carry out the ministry of the church, we would be instantly handcuffed and limited. There's no way we could do everything that's to be done.

And so the understanding of the apostle is ministry is happening as every single one of us in our homes, in our businesses, in our workplaces, in our education backgrounds, as all of us are doing what God calls us to do wherever we are called. If that's ministry, do you know what it means? There are no secondary callings.

The holy people and the not holy people. I mean, the beauty of recognizing that God is saying each one who has gotten a gift is a saint here is we get away from that understanding that saints are just dead people who were holy a long time ago. We are the saints. We are those who are called to the purposes of God in this day and age. And that means wherever we walk, as we are doing the work of God with a mind that is saying, I am now living out the mind of Christ and being the face of Jesus to others, that wherever I am, I am walking on holy ground.

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 844-414-7223. That's 844-414-7223. And now, more from Bryan Chapell on today's Unlimited Grace.

Bryan Chapell: Some of you will know the book by Rosaria Butterfield called The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert. Rosaria Butterfield was in a same-sex relationship, a star professor in one of our nation's leading universities. Her specialty, this is not disrespectful, this is not meant to be funny, this is the technical specialty at Syracuse University of which she was in charge. She was in charge of Queer Theory.

Doing research on the rise of the religious right while at the same time giving keynote addresses at Harvard on gay and lesbian studies. As her study of the religious right, trying to find out why people who claim to be religious could be so hateful, her research actually took her into contact with a pastor of a small church in her area.

And as she began to ask questions about what Christians believe and why they act as they do, he began to invite her to meals in his house and with his family. For two years he answered her questions and sometimes her attacks without pressing her to make some change until ultimately she wrote, "I ultimately believed that this pastor actually believed that the Bible was true."

And then she believed it too. What was the consequence? She now had to turn her back on so many of the things that she had educated others in as well as herself become a professional in. But she writes now she was a member of the body of Christ and she recognizes as a member of the body of Christ, she had a calling.

She writes, "I came to the understanding that I could not possibly be a godly woman that God calls me to be if I don't even know how to be a woman. After praying fervently for God to show me how to live as a godly woman, I went through the church directory and picked out three women whose godliness and integrity really stood out to me. And I picked women who were very different from me, but would answer me honestly."

What did she do? She didn't go to the pastor. She went to those who were different from her but were gifted by God for the purpose of ministering to her. Just teaching her something as basic: what does it mean to be a woman in the church of Jesus Christ? Wasn't the pastor's job anymore. It was the job of the saints, regular people that God had put in her life to minister to her. She wrote they were different but they were vital. Like us, different but the same. Different but vital.

She did not know how much she was learning about the giftedness of Christ for all people. Sometime later after she had met with those three women, an LGBT graduate student of Rosaria tried to kill herself by setting herself on fire. The student was a lesbian who herself had been deeply depressed by what she felt was the betrayal of Rosaria for rejecting her lifestyle.

And yet in the midst of her depression and then her crisis, it was Rosaria that she signed on the hospital form could come to visit her and make life decisions for her. Rosaria described her reactions as she entered the ICU and began to deal with this student who had hated her because of the sense of betrayal and at the same time now was calling to her to make some decisions about her life.

Rosaria wrote, "I wondered why I was standing there. In that instant I realized this is God's work for me right now, right now. I am to demonstrate the love of Christ to my lesbian student. I was there because God picked me up and put me on my feet and said to me, 'Wipe the sleep out of your eyes and do something for this student.'" It was her calling in the moment.

And Rosaria said, "I put my hand on hers, plastic-covered hand against plastic sheet, and I asked her if I could pray for her. And she told me I could. And I prayed for God's mercy and peace and saving faith and she fell asleep while I prayed." Some of you may know that book and know that's just the beginning of a journey as Rosaria now had to be as patient and faithful with this one as others had been with her.

Each gifted differently for the calling of Christ until all fills all and the body of Christ would be built up in love for the purposes to which he has called it. If you think that's just something that doesn't apply to us, you have to recognize what the apostle is doing in this passage. In verse 13, he's reminding us that this is being given to all of us so that the whole church rises up in maturity.

In verses 14 and 15 so that this maturity results in people holding each other accountable in doctrine and walk of life so that ultimately what is happening is each party is doing its work so that the love of Christ is expansive. That's verse 16 at the end. Look at that. When each part is working properly, it makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

I know you may think this is just something from deep past or how do I say this, extreme cases like Rosaria's. But what I want you to believe because it's actually happening is God is using this church, your lives, your testimony, your calling to reach other people. It's not happening somewhere else. It's what God is doing as he always does when faithful people do their part, then the body does far more than any could do independently.

A young man in Australia who had listened to the podcast of this church and recommitted his heart and life to the purposes of Christ. Do you remember that? He actually won the World Architecture Competition for the home that he designed to put on a rejected lot in an urban environment as a testimony of his faith. He wanted to show that God redeems the rejected even in the architecture of that particular home in which he now lives.

You may remember that same young man having won the world architecture award was approached with lots of opportunities including a billion-dollar contract. Do you remember this? A billion-dollar contract to renovate a particular portion of a major city in Australia. And he turned down the contract. Do you remember why?

Because the architecture was being designed to funnel everybody into a casino. The whole city was being constructed to benefit a certain number of people who owned the casinos. And he said, "I can't do that even for a billion dollars." Now, some of you know just a couple of weeks ago I was back in Australia and I was ministering to pastors there. And when Casey heard that I was coming, he wrote me again. And I'm going to read this to you a little bit. It's long, but I ask you just to listen to think about what God may be calling you to think about.

He says, "Bryan, Beck and I are feeling that God is stirring us with a great desire to live his grace in all of life, particularly in our own profession. When we won the World Architecture Award we prayed that God would use it for his glory. And in September, that's just this past September, our house was published in the Architecture Australia Journal which is sent to every registered Australian architect. And in there we were excited to see a section of the article identifying our faith in Jesus Christ as the reason that we built this house to show the redemption of the rejected.

Shortly after that article was published, a Chinese architectural publication also contacted us. We saw this as an opportunity to respond with our views on architecture and the gospel. To our surprise, the final draft allowed us to praise God because it had included references to our faith in Christ and his redeeming work as the basis for our architectural design.

The same week as the final draft came from the Chinese publication, we were contacted by Qatar. That's a Middle Eastern nation. We were contacted by Qatar TV to film our house and to interview us, a program that is shown throughout the Muslim nations of the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, and Syria. We were able to speak of the gospel message of what is broken being lovingly restored through Jesus Christ.

And then he says, 'I almost fell off my seat when my interviewer asked me directly to explain our faith further and we were able to reflect on Christ's work which is alive in us and which we are demonstrating by the way in which we have built this house to show the nature of the gospel. God redeems the rejected.'

Now these words, thank you Bryan and Kathy and all Grace Presbyterian Church for your encouragement in Christ Jesus. I praise God for you. I pray God that he would continue to work in us that we would believe that whether you're a student or a business person, that whether you're an educator or an artist, that God is saying, 'Fill all in all. I can do so much more than you ever imagined.'

God is using those of us in every walk of life. Nurses, doctors, you show people what the gospel is ethically and by virtue. Moms and dads and grandparents, you show another generation what it means to live with integrity and virtue and nobility before the Lord. Those of you in marriages that are strained and struggling, you show young people who are wondering can I ever know a marriage that's holy as the Bible describes, that it's possible and that God redeems the broken and he restores the rejected and every piece of our life is part of communicating the glory and the wonder of what God is doing.

What you and I really have to do is ask ourselves a question. Do you believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ? That the resurrected Lord is alive and by his spirit is here and he indwells you and he indwells me and for that reason every single one of us is a part of the purpose of Jesus Christ until all fills all."

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. 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. 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.