Sacrifice of Joy - Part 2

Bryan Chapell: I want you to know that we are not living a performative Christianity. If I could just measure up, if I could just do enough, if I get my kids to behave well enough, then God will be pleased with me. I want you to know that he has said as your faith is not in your performance, but in Christ on your behalf, that when you say, "I'm just in awe of a God who cares that much for me," then your life begins to reflect the goodness that is the light of your salvation in everything. Past your weaknesses, past your corruptions, past your difficulties. When you actually are being motivated now not by fear of what other people think, not by fear of measuring up, but actually living in the awe and the wonder of a God who has been gracious to you through no merit of your own.
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 Philippians Chapter 2. Dr. Chapell illuminates this passage, which encourages believers to live sacrificially with joy. You can find this lesson and many others when you visit unlimitedgrace.com. And while you're there, look for the many resources from Pastor Bryan Chapell, including a collection of short Bible studies called "Seven Days to a More Joyful Life." As Dr. Chapell continues this series on joy from Philippians, these guided studies will help you encounter the joy that Jesus offers to you. A joy that leads to thanksgiving for our gracious Heavenly Father, who gives us second chances. Let's hear now from Dr. Bryan Chapell as he shares the second half of the lesson, "Sacrifice of Joy."
Bryan Chapell: The Lord planted a seed of blessing in our family some years ago in the form of a Sunday school panel of experienced parents. Parents who had already raised their children were giving some thoughts of how to help for those of us raising teens. Our children were in their middle teens at the time, and we were really struggling with one. One of those couples, not knowing how important were their words to us, simply made this observation. They said, "It's sometimes interesting how the child that you struggle most with in their teens is the one that you're so close to in their adult years. You've invested so much that when the adult years come, you're actually closer to that child." I feel some of that hope and comfort as I think of this passage that I would have to tell you just honestly is one of the passages in scripture that I have most wrestled with in life. And yet, having wrestled with it and seeing so much of what God intends to communicate, it's now one of the most precious to my heart. I love the idea of sharing this with you. Let me ask that you would stand as we would honor God's word and consider what the Apostle Paul says as he has just reminded us of God's great gift in Jesus and then follows with these words, Verse 12 of Philippians 2. "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ, I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Even if I'm to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise, you also should be glad and rejoice with me." Let's pray together. Father, would you pour gladness into our hearts even now? And yet, desire lives that are not full of fear but are like a child at rest in our Father's home. Not just when we're here at church, but at school and work, in homes that sometimes may be very troubled. That we have felt the settled rest of your Spirit in our hearts because of the love that Christ has shed abroad there. So grant us that we might worship you this day and in learning who you are, go through all of life without the fear that so often is so difficult for us. Grant us vision of Christ and his peace in our hearts we pray. In Jesus' name, Amen. "Do all things without grumbling or disputing." Now, listen, depending on what operating system you're working out of, you will hear those verses very differently. If you're in the operating system of fear, in which you're saying, "Alright, do all things without grumbling or disputing," you're thinking, "Well, what causes you to grumble?" Well, circumstances that upset you. And what causes you to dispute? Well, people that you're upset with. And so you can hear the apostle saying, "Alright, don't grumble and don't dispute. Alright? Don't be a grumbler and don't be prickly with other people. You just be a nice person." If we hear that, what we are hearing God say is, "You be nice and then you'll be okay with me." But what God is saying is, "No, I'm asking you to live out of awe." God, knowing you're not always a nice person. Sometimes you are ornery. I mean, not the people here, but other people out there somewhere. Some people are ornery, some people are prickly. And so he says, "Listen, what if you actually were able to say, 'God is at work in me. God is taking my weakness, my sin, my impatience, my lack of peace, my fears, and he's working past it'?" Then you have certain abilities like the world does not have, and you can actually honor this calling, as it were, to do all things without grumbling and disputing. And the consequence is, verse 15, "that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world." He's already declaring what you are. You're this evidence of Christ in the world. So that that power of Christ that is in you, if we can move the clouds away of being grumblers and being prickly with other people, that people begin to see this light of Christ shining through us. The light isn't in you because you failed to be grumpy. The light isn't in you because you're no longer prickly. The light is already in you. And as you're able to deal with people with the confidence and the peace that God is in you by his grace, not by your performance, that God is accomplishing things beyond your weakness, beyond your pitfalls, beyond the impatience that you experienced yesterday. God is still at work in you, both to will and do his good pleasure. That you begin to say, "I can begin to push away these clouds of my own grumpiness with people, of my prickliness with not getting my way." And what's happening then is Christ is beginning to show himself through. This is not about earning. This is about reflecting the radiance of the awe of Christ in you. And when that happens, it changes how you approach life. I'm not saying this is easy. Not at all. I think of the words of a young man in my office this week when he would be able to say, "I just had the worst day of my career. I was taken off supervision of one of the major projects of my company and told that in the light of this new initiative, I'm going to be reporting to one of my peers." Or others who have heard, "Due to company cutbacks, I have to drop two pay grades to stay employed." Or any of us who begin to say, "I'm just tired of hearing about I need to serve others in worship practice or an outreach practice or whatever this church is going to be doing next. I want me to be served. Tired of those other people." And to recognize that what God is saying is all that is in some measure totally understandable. But the way in which you deal with the fact that perhaps the company or a peer has shunted you aside, if you actually believe that the King of the universe is indwelling you and saying, "I am working all things together for good." The way in which I am doing that is I am indwelling you among other things, so that in you, as you are working out the implications of your salvation, I am accomplishing my perfect will and purpose in you and through you. I begin to say, "But Lord, don't you understand how mad I am? Lord, don't you understand how disappointed I am? Lord, don't you understand how impatient I am with being asked to do things I don't like doing?" The Lord says, "I do understand that. But here is the promise, that you can be a child of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation." When that happens, you begin to shine as lights in the world. I was reading this past week the biography of Abigail Morewood, the ballerina. She writes of what it means to be a Christian serving God with joy, despite what she identifies as the pressures of perfection. She writes, "It is hard to be a ballerina in a competitive troupe with contracts lasting only 35 weeks because the assumption is your skills and your muscles will only last a brief time. So we will only give you a contract for 35 weeks, resulting in intense competition, cutthroat politicking, and immoral escapism among the many dancers in the troupe." She says this: "Each day is grueling, and the opportunity to be a star not on stage but shining with the light of Christ in a crooked and twisted generation." So even though the contracts only last 35 weeks, she has been in that troupe for seven years as a ballerina, long outlasting the normal expectation of one in that profession. And she writes what actually drives her. She has had in those seven years a weekly Bible study for the other dancers and says this, "That enables them to share their brokenness and struggle that the stage would never allow. Because the Savior welcomes them in their brokenness, they begin to understand how his glory can shine beyond their darkness. And mine too." Because by sharing the gospel with them, even I learn that when perfection fails, which it ultimately will, I worship a Savior who will not fail. I love it. We fall down. We lay our crowns at the feet of Jesus. I'm just in awe. He knows my failures. He knows my weaknesses. He knows I am grumpy. He knows I am ornery. He knows I am prickly. He knows I struggle so much with the hard things that happen with the people that have treated this way and that way. He knows it all, and he will not fail me. And so I just say, "God, I'm in awe of you."
Guest (Male): You're listening to Unlimited Grace, the audio broadcast ministry of pastor and author Bryan Chapell. Raising children to love the Lord can sometimes feel like a daunting task. The physical, mental, and emotional energy needed to engage with a child can also lead to feelings of inadequacy and doubt for parents. How then can you effectively talk with children about Jesus or demonstrate to them his love? Written by Pastor Bryan and his wife Kathy, "Anyway and Always" is a heartwarming children's book designed to help explain the love of Christ to a child. The Chapells present the promise of the covenant fulfilled by Christ in a personal and meaningful way for young children to understand. Page after page of beautiful illustrations complement Bryan and Kathy's captivating storytelling. Whether you read this as a bedtime story or share it around the family dinner table, this book is sure to become a favorite of children and parents alike. You can request your copy of "Anyway and Always" when you go online to 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: The words that Paul talks about in verse 16 are how do you get past the brokenness. He says, "Hold fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ, I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain." Now, I'm just going to be honest with you. If you're saying, "I want to live purposely now. What's going to help me?" You can hear those words from a fear operating system and say, "Alright, that means I need to hold fast to the word of life. I need to read my Bible more. That way God will approve me." I need to give him a few verses as a bribe now so he'll be nice to me. And so I read my Bible, I go to church, I do the good behavior things so that God won't hurt me. Or you can perceive it as the words say, "Hold fast to the word of life," as though in the crisis, when the clouds come, when the difficulties come, and you're trying to claim that peace of your own salvation that God has secured. You have to keep being reminded of it in the midst of the events of the world that will eclipse what the word has promised. So the apostle says, "Hold fast to the word of life." And that's not measuring up, it's not earning, it's claiming the wonder of the goodness that God tells us about in his word. I think of those years that Kathy and I were struggling with a particular child. And just plain talk here, when there's that kind of deep tension in your family day after day after day, it can just drive couples apart. Clearly it can do that. But it can do something else if you say, "God put you, my wife, into my life so that we could support one another and cling to one another and pray with each other." What you begin to understand is nobody is saying to me, "Bryan, in order for God to approve you, you need to cling to your wife." I'm saying, "I want to cling to my wife." Our prayer life has never been better. And in some measure, we've never been closer than when the Lord was saying to us, "Listen, here are these challenges now, here are these difficulties, even the tension in your own family that you would never have wanted. Hold fast to the word of life." Here is God's wondrous provision for you, reminding you of his grace, reminding you of his power, of his sovereign work in your heart, his sovereign work in your life. So that when fear is about to take over and the stress is about to eclipse all things, you say, "Oh, I remember again. It's awe of what he's done in my heart and life. He's preserved my eternity." And now in reverence and awe, where I'm tempted to run away, to get angry, to get mad, to take things in my hands, I fall down. I lay my crowns at the feet of Jesus. When I cling to life that way that's in his word, I'm not earning his affection. I'm simply clinging to the testimony of his heart for me that's already in place. That gives me strength and it gives me hope and it gives me peace, and it's driving out the fear that otherwise are bringing out the worst aspects of my character and life. The difficulty of doing that, the apostle is well confessing even in verse 17 because he's saying, "You hold fast to this even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith." Because we are Western modern Christians, we no longer get the image. I mean, you know that Paul is in prison and he doesn't know if he's going to come out alive. And so he says, "Even if I'm being poured as a drink offering for your faith, I'm rejoicing and I'm glad." Do you recognize what that was about? In the Old Testament when you would bring your animal sacrifice as this mark of the atonement that ultimately Christ would provide by his sacrifice, it wasn't just the animal that was put upon the altar. But as the animal was being offered, as that smoke was going up to God, you would take a flask or a cup of wine and it would be poured out upon the altar. The heat of the altar would just vaporize it. As if to say, "Here is the prayer going up to God. And now it's nothing that I bring anymore. God has, as it were, received the emptiness of my offering, but it has become praise to him." Now Paul is saying, "Even if I in my life am going to be vaporized in the eyes of man, I'm glad and I rejoice because I believe God is at work in me, both to will and to do his good pleasure." That sense of reverence and awe for what God is accomplishing through the apostle becomes his willingness to say at the end of verse 17, "So I'm glad and I rejoice with you all. Likewise, you also should be glad and rejoice with me." One, because I believe that my labor is not in vain, that's what he says at the end of verse 16. Because my labor is not in vain, my joy is not insane. Even if I'm to be poured out as a drink offering, vaporized for your sake, God's going to use that eternally. He's in me working out his good pleasure for all eternity of the people that he puts in my life. And for that reason, I bow down, I lay my crowns at the feet of Jesus. Don't labor in vain. I'm even glad to know that whatever I'm offering, he's going to use for his purposes. For that reason, I rejoice. It gives me confidence and peace even in the face of my greatest challenges. Awe drives out fear. That God knows the worst about me and is still pleased to work in me for his good pleasure all things that he intends. I want you to know that. I want you to know that we are not living a performative Christianity. If I could just measure up, if I could just do enough, if I get my kids to behave well enough, then God will be pleased with me. I want you to know that he has said as your faith is not in your performance, but in Christ on your behalf, that when you say, "I'm just in awe of a God who cares that much for me," then your life begins to reflect the goodness that is the light of your salvation in everything. Past your weaknesses, past your corruptions, past your difficulties. When you actually are being motivated now not by fear of what other people think, not by fear of measuring up, but actually living in the awe and the wonder of a God who has been gracious to you through no merit of your own. And says, "I'm going to use you. Doesn't make any difference." I think of those old accounts of Rembrandt, the great artist who we don't usually remember actually had apprentices preparing most of the paintings that we now call great. You say, "Well, why did he get the credit?" Because the apprentice would get the painting even to a very fine level, but always Rembrandt had the genius to come along and with just a few brushstrokes, just a few additions, would take what was good and make it absolutely brilliant. Sometimes the apprentices would say, "Well, what good is it, what I do, since you're the one who has to perfect it?" And Rembrandt's answer always was, "Believe me, I treasure your work and I will use it. Trust me." It's what God's saying to us. "God, this is all I got to bring. You know my past, you know my brokenness, you know how I struggle every day now." He says, "But bring me your work. Work out your salvation with reverence and awe." God says, "I'll use it. You trust me. Work out your salvation with reverence and awe, for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work his good pleasure." Wow. What a God. I wish I could shine for him. You can. Bring your work and he will use it. Trust him. Not because it's your work, because it's his working through you. Praise God. We fall down. We lay our crowns at the feet of Jesus, and he will make it glorious.
Guest (Male): That's Pastor Bryan Chapell. And you've been listening to Unlimited Grace. If you've missed anything that you'd like to hear once again, just visit unlimitedgrace.com. And when you do so, you can sign up for Pastor Bryan's daily devotional sent right to your inbox. While you're there, also be sure to request a copy of the book from Dr. Bryan Chapell and his wife Kathy called "Anyway and Always." We'll send you a copy 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.