I Am Sending - Part 1

Bryan Chapell: Why would Jesus use such messed up people to be the proclaimers of the gospel? Could it possibly be that messed up people are better than dressed up people for proclaiming the gospel?
Guest (Male): So glad you joined us for today's Unlimited Grace, the audio broadcast ministry of pastor and author Brian Chapel. In today's episode, pastor Brian shares a lesson from John 20. Dr. Chapel investigates the account of Jesus coming to the disciples after his resurrection, sending them out to declare the gospel to the lost. You can find this lesson and many others when you visit unlimitedgrace.com. And while you're there, look for pastor Brian'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. Brian Chapel as he shares the lesson, I am sending.
Bryan Chapell: The selfie craze whereby you take your own self picture with your smartphone has has moved beyond just celebrities and presidents and grandparents who have discovered how to use this with their grandkids, right? The the craze has advanced so much that now they will sell the app that tell you how to control your image as you take your selfie. Have you seen that? You can get the app, take your picture and then select if you want your picture to show you less 5 lb or 10 lb or 15 lb. You can control your own self image. And of course, it's not just about pictures. There are now selfie obituaries. Have you read about that? Where people want to control their image even beyond their lives. Not just leave it to some junior reporter who are the ones assigned to write the obituaries. Not just leave it to some junior reporter what will be said to them after they're gone, but you actually write your obituary ahead of time, a selfie obit that allows you to control what other people may think of you after you're gone. Sally Soper is a a former magazine editor who is now actually doing a business of helping people write their selfie obituaries. And sometimes the selfie obituaries are are poignant. One person who struggled with addictions wrote, well, I have to stop now because I'm dead. Don't wait as long as I did. Some are humorous. Well, at least I don't have to use sunscreen anymore. Some are a little more um self-aggrandizing. There's a particular celebrity in Australia who discovered that a major Australian newspaper had pre-written his obit and it was only 30 words. And so he wrote his obituary with 300 words. The goal to control the image. Well, if somebody did not get the memo that you should control your image by writing your account well before you're gone, obviously the apostles did not get that memo. Think of it. I mean, they wrote these gospels and often the people who looked the worst in the gospels are the disciples of Jesus Christ. It it's plain again in this passage, right? I mean, Jesus has risen. He he's the victor. He's triumphed over the grave and and what are the disciples doing as we meet them on the day of the week of resurrection? They are hiding for fear of the Jews in a locked room. And a week later, we see them locked in a room hiding again. And yet Jesus comes to them and says, I am sending you with the message of the gospel. I mean, we it just creates in incredulous questions. I mean, why would Jesus use such messed up people to be the proclaimers of the gospel? Could it possibly be that messed up people are better than dressed up people for proclaiming the gospel? It does after all seem to be the pattern of the Bible. If you think of it, you recognize of course Jesus is using messed up people when he speaks to his disciples who are controlled by fear. The fear is obvious in verse 19 of chapter 20. On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came. I mean, the fear is obvious. They're locked away, we're told it's because of fear of the Jews, but it's not just obvious, it's offensive. He has risen from the dead. They should be saying, go tell it on the mountains. And instead, they're hiding in a locked room. And yet despite their fears, more surprising is Jesus's response. The very first words he says to them at the end of verse 19, those words are peace be with you. It's just a greeting. Even if you were in Israel today, you would hear an average Jewish person giving you the greeting of Shalom Aleichem, peace to you. But it's made special here by our recognizing what could have been in its place. Jesus comes to the disciples who are in hiding, though he is already risen from the dead, the tomb is empty, the women have reported his absence, and he could have simply said, what are you doing here? How dare you? But there is no blame, no shame, no recrimination. He just says, peace to you. And the reason for the peace is the presence that is also a blessing. Jesus comes and when he comes verse 20, we see this, when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. He shows them hands inside. If you were to look in Luke's gospel, you would recognize that even though the disciples had heard that he had risen, they weren't sure it was physical at all. They thought maybe he'd just become a ghost. And now when he shows them hands pierced, the side with the hole in it, he's saying, physically, really this is my flesh. This is my body. The reality is I am here, which means not only that I am present, but by work is done. The penalty of sin was death. When Jesus took upon himself the sin of the world, his penalty was death. But now if he is alive, that means his task was done. The penalty is paid. Jesus has made it right. The wrath of God was poured out upon him so that we would bear it no more. And the evidence that the wrath is done, the sin paid for is Jesus is here. He is present. And that's why the disciples are glad. He gives them peace. He gives them his presence. And then something more that we don't understand entirely. Verse 21, Jesus said to them, peace be with you. As the father has sent me, even so I am sending you. Now again the peace comes. This is the second time. It will happen three times in the passage, but with this peace comes purpose. As the father has sent me, so I am sending you. You haven't disqualified yourselves. You have betrayed me. You have abandoned me. You're locked away in hiding and yet I still have a purpose for you. It's an amazing statement for people who are such a mess, who have failed so awfully that Jesus would kind of lift them up not only with the peace of his presence, but the peace of saying, I still got a job for you to do. As the father has sent me, I'm sending you. Now how has the father sent him and and what is he sending them to do? To understand that you must know that where Jesus is speaking here, he's actually quoting himself. In John chapter 17, I ask you to turn there in your Bibles. In John 17 and verse 18 in that that high priestly prayer, that long prayer that was at the end of the Lord's Supper just before Jesus goes to the cross, he actually in prayer uses these words. In speaking to the father in John 17 18, Jesus says, father as you sent me into the world, so I have sent these, these apostles into the world. And for their sake, I consecrate myself that they may also be sanctified in truth. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word. Jesus in the high priestly prayer says, God as you have sent me into the world to be consecrated for the truth that you are making people right, sanctified, holy by me as I consecrate myself in death upon a cross. So I am giving them the word that they will take that word to others that they may believe. Father, I'm giving them the gospel that you have given me that people will be made right with God by the work of a redeemer who will die in their behalf. If they believe in him, they are made right with God. Now Jesus appears to the apostles after the resurrection and he says, I'm sending you as the father has sent me to do what? To declare the gospel that people are made right with God through the work of Jesus Christ. Now you need that information to be able to deal with the very difficult verse that's back in John chapter 20. And I want to take you there back in John 20 and verse 23. In verse 23, just after Jesus has said, I am I'm sending you as I was sent. We read these words, verse 23. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them. If you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld. Now what does that mean? That that the disciples have the ability to forgive sin? I mean, after all Jesus himself through the ministry to others says, only God can forgive sin. In what way are are disciples made able to forgive sin? Is it because they are disciples that that they have some special right to forgive or to withhold forgiveness? Or is this perhaps the ministry of the church down the road that the disciples are establishing the church that has the right to forgive or not to forgive sin? I must tell you, I don't happen to think this church has that right. Do you? Fallible human people that we have the right to forgive or withhold What What could Jesus mean except that he has just said, father I am sending these into the world to declare the gospel that people are made right through faith in Jesus Christ, the the sacrifice that I have made for sin, not what they do, not their performance, not not their goodness, but my goodness in their behalf. In that sense, Jesus is establishing a line of truth. And he is saying to his disciples, listen, you tell people they have to be on one side or another of truth. And the truth is they are made right with me by faith in me, not by faith in themselves. So that even you and I have the right to say to people, listen, do you believe that Jesus Christ is your only hope of salvation? That you are made right with God not by your goodness, but by faith in his sacrifice on your behalf. Because I tell you if you are not on the side of truth, what Jesus said? Jesus said those who believe in me have eternal life, and those who do not believe in me are condemned already. I don't say that on my authority. I don't have the right personally to grant or withhold forgiveness, but I have the right to speak truth. If you do not believe that Jesus is your hope of salvation, then you do not have the forgiveness of God. If you believe that Jesus has made a way for you, that you're not banking on on your goodness, on your efforts, then you have forgiveness of your sin now and forever. I tell you with the authority of Christ who sends me and everyone of you who believes in him to say the same thing. We are not granting or withholding forgiveness based upon our authority. We are simply declaring what Christ has said. There is a side of truth. And you friend must be on the side of truth that says Jesus is my hope or you don't have hope.
Guest (Male): You're listening to Unlimited Grace, the audio broadcast ministry of pastor and author Brian Chapel.
Guest (Male): It may seem hard for younger Christians to believe, but people over 50 were raised during an era when 90% 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. Brian Chapel 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 Brian Chapel on today's Unlimited Grace.
Bryan Chapell: There is a side of truth. And you friend must be on the side of truth that says Jesus is my hope or you don't have hope. Now that's tough to hear and sometimes tough to say. And so that is why it's so important that we hear verse 22 right between verse 21 and 23. There we read this. And when Jesus had said this, that he is sending people into the world to do what he's commanded them to do, when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit. Now at at one measure, you recognize that what Jesus is doing is he's recreating the creation of humanity itself. Do you remember there when God made Adam out of the dust of the ground and we read that he breathed into his nostrils to breathe the life into him, the breath of God. And now Jesus says to his disciples, I'm sending you to do a job and he breathes on them and he says, receive the Holy Spirit, which means there there's to be a life force of Christ himself by his Spirit that is enabling them to do what is beyond them. After all that role of the Holy Spirit, Jesus said before he went to the cross was to glorify Christ that this Spirit would come upon his disciples in such a way that they could testify of him in power. And they will need that power if they are truly to say there is a side of truth. And you must be on that side. And I do not tell you on my authority or on my power, but I tell you what is truth so the Holy Spirit might apply it to your hearts. And I need to remember that and you need to know that that we when we go and speak the gospel, we are not on our own, but the Holy Spirit is working by and with his word in the hearts of others that they might see and receive the truth. And I desperately need to remember that. As I was in high school, one of my very good friends was a football hero. I was a debate nerd. He was a football hero. And though he was a friend, he was not a believer, not a Christian. And he did not live in any way like a Christian. As I began to minister, I ministered in the same town where the two of I two of us had grown up and gone to high school. And so we knew each other and began to raise families in parallel. My oldest son, his oldest son same grade, same age, went to school together. But there were great differences between our children. My son healthy, strong, able. His son sweet-spirited, wonderful, but diagnosed in kindergarten with a progressive and terminal brain tumor. As our two sons grew together and in grade school, Robbie, the other son lost his ability to walk. As they they got into early grades of high school, though my son remained strong and able, Robbie lost his ability to see. And then a little bit later as the tumor advanced, he lost the ability to formulate his thoughts and to talk. One day my son called his mom from school. And Colin said to his mother, mom, there has been a miracle today. Today for the first time since we were in kindergarten, Robbie can walk. And Robbie can see and Robbie can talk because today Robbie went to be with the Lord. As beautiful as it was to know that Robbie was a dear Christian, I must tell you I have never dreaded a phone call more than calling his father. The man that I had known for so many years. I called knowing he was a man sometimes with a sharp temper, knowing he was a personality that was often kind of brazen and strong. And I didn't know how he would react on the phone. And I called to say, Bill, I'm so sorry. And his response was, Brian, this is the greatest day of my life. My son is whole. For the first time since he was a child, he is with Jesus and I am filled with joy for my son. And I must tell you that my first thought was, you know, I am really a great preacher. Was that my first thought? I thought praise God for the Holy Spirit who can take a heart that is hard, a heart that questions, a heart that is fought and somehow melded into the beautiful understanding of the gospel so that it is rejoicing in the truth of the word of God that you can lose a child and still believe that that Christ who suffered for you is is your advocate in heaven for your own child and your child is whole and you'll see him again and you can rejoice in the worst day of your life because it's the best thing forever for your child. What what an amazing power of the Holy Spirit and Jesus to his disciples says, I'm going to send you into the world, but before I send you, I want you to know I'm going to breathe upon you the Holy Spirit so that you are not on your own. If you speak my truth, reminding people that there is a side of things that is real, that is true, you have to put your faith in Christ for an eternity of blessing or else you don't have it. That the Spirit truly grants power beyond our own. And I desperately need to remember that in all kinds of moments. Sometimes we doubt, don't we? Not not just the truth of the word, but but the power. Is it Is it there really? And perhaps that's the reason that after this great commissioning of the disciples with the authority and power of the Holy Spirit, we somehow get the account of doubting Thomas. I mean, we need it there to deal with our own humanity. After all what Jesus is saying here is not just that he's going to use people as those sent who are such a mess because of their fear. He he apparently is willing even to come and to use people who are a mess because of their doubts.
Guest (Male): That's pastor Brian Chapel 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 Brian. 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.