I am Praying - Part 1

Bryan Chapell: The reason that it is so precious and powerful that he prays for us is that he was God. And when he prays for us now, he prays with an understanding of earth and eternity. And what comes about as a consequence of this God who loves us enough praying for us, the one who can make all of the difference is the difference that he makes is constructing earth and eternity in ways that are best for us. It was his purpose.
Guest (Male): So glad you joined us for today's Unlimited Grace, the audio broadcast ministry of pastor and author Brian Chapell. In today's episode, pastor Brian shares a lesson from John 16. Dr. Chapell shares the profound truth that Jesus prays for his people. 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 Chapell as he shares the lesson I am praying.
Bryan Chapell: It's been several years, but I can still remember the occasion when I was invited with a number of other pastors in our town and Christian workers to be part of a very long receiving line that was welcoming the president of the United States as he was coming to our town. And uh as he came, he was running a little bit late, so he was in a bit of a hurry. The real purpose for coming to our town was a fundraiser, but it was a good photo op to meet with a lot of church people. And so he kind of hurried down the line, but as he was hurrying down the line, shaking hands, it was apparent also that he was looking quite harried. We were at war. And the minds of everyone were on the possible terrorism that might still come. And so as the president got to me and hurriedly shook my hand, I just said to him, Mr. President, we pray for you. He was hurrying, so he kind of went on and took a step or two until it registered what I had said. And then he stopped in his tracks and turned back. And I confessed my first thought was, I wonder what he thinks I said and whether you can be arrested for that. Instead, he turned back to me and looked me in the eye and he said, Thank you for praying for me. That means everything to me. He walked on down the rest of the line and then as his handlers tried to kind of rush him on out the room to the fundraiser, instead he turned to the front of the room and spoke to all of us. He said, I know that you're worried about me. But he said, I have lots of energy and I can sleep at night because I know that the people of this nation are praying for me. Well, it was really a wonderful thought. It reflected a bit on something Kathy and I have experienced in these last weeks of as so many of you have told us how you are praying for us. At the same time, I recognized while the president was saying thank you for the people of the nation praying for him that there was an even greater spiritual reality that God assures us of in his word. It was not merely that the people of the nation might pray for a president, but that the king of the universe might do the same. After all, what this passage is telling us is that Jesus prays for his people. I know it is a simple truth, but when we are in crisis or trial or stress, it is easy to forget and it will mean absolutely everything to encourage, comfort, and strengthen us to remember this very simple truth. Jesus is praying for you. What difference does that make? We begin to perceive the difference as we just consider the opening words of John chapter 17. When Jesus had spoken the words at the Last Supper, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come to glorify your son that the son may glorify you. In those words are reminder to all of us that the difference it makes to us that Jesus prays for us is that he can make a difference. He is after all God. When Jesus says in this particular portion of scripture, Father, you must recognize that this is the culmination of a of a controversy that has been building in the Gospel of John. You may remember it began much earlier when in the fifth chapter, Jesus identified himself as the Son of God, and the Jewish leaders wanted to stone him immediately because they said by claiming to be the Son of God, he made himself equal with God. In in that culture, with the rules of primogenitor and and family inheritance, to claim to be the son of God is meant that you had the rights and the privileges and the stature of your father. And for Jesus to claim to be the son of God was to give himself equal status with God. But now it's not just status that's on display. Previously, he taught us and his disciples to pray saying, Our Father, but now it's much more intimate and personal. He lifts his eyes to heaven and he just says, Father. As the closer he gets to the cross, the closer are his expressions of affection for his father. It's remarkable statement of of his equality with God and the intimacy of their relationship. And the intimacy of that relationship is expressed not only in the reality of him having equality with God, but the authority that he has been given by the Father. Do you remember verse two? The son wants to glorify the Father verse two, since you have given him authority over all flesh. Again, it is the culmination of a controversy. Do you remember from the very opening words of the Gospel of John? In the beginning was the word. And the word was with God, and the word was God. Without him was not anything made that was made. Not only is Jesus giving himself the status of God, the claim there early in John is that Jesus is the actual creator. As we see again on display, the economy of the Trinity where the father wills, the son performs, and the Holy Spirit is the instrument. Here is Jesus himself saying that he has bent given authority over all flesh that God the Father has given to Jesus the ability to bring creation into being. And for that reason, he continues to have authority over all that is earthly. And still that is not the end of the expression of his divinity. For he goes on to say not only does he have this authority over the flesh, the end of verse two, he is also been given the right to give eternal life to all whom the Father has given him. He has been commissioned not only to deal with the matters of earth, but with the matters of eternity. Even the right to give eternal life to all that the Father gives to him. What does that eternal life mean? There's probably no better expression of that in all the Bible than in verse three of John 17. When we talk about eternal life, we we somehow, you know, move to kind of expressions of angels and wings and clouds and harps. But Jesus says something much more specific that is the nature of eternal life. Verse three. And this is eternal life that they, that is those the Father has given him, that they know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. Now, a number of you have studied the scriptures before and you know that that word know is a special word. It doesn't just mean that there would be people who would intellectually know about God. This biblical understanding of knowing another means to know their thoughts and feelings, to share heart to heart. You know, occasionally the same word is used in the Bible to talk about sexual intimacy as Adam knew his wife and she conceived and bare a son. But it's it's not just about that kind of a relationship. It is about knowing someone so much that their thoughts, their concerns, their priorities would be your own. And when Jesus says he now has authority to give eternal life that he's actually been commissioned by the Father to grant it to those the Father has given him, he is saying, I have been commissioned to bring more people into the eternal family that as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist as the heavenly eternal family. So Jesus has been commissioned to tell more people in such a way that they would know that they would be in relationship with God the Father and with the Son, which means that they would be precious to God. It's what the apostle Paul says, you who are once far away had been brought near. And now you are not only citizens, but members of God's household. That's who we are. Treasured, precious to God. All that Jesus is saying thus for is who he really is. He is one who is equal with God, has the authority of God and has the affection of God because he is God. And while that may not be news to you, have to recognize it's actually the power of understanding why it is so important that Jesus prays for us. Because if he's God, he can make a difference.
Guest (Male): You're listening to Unlimited Grace, the audio broadcast ministry of pastor and author Brian 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 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 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 Brian Chapell on today's Unlimited Grace.
Bryan Chapell: We struggle at times to think of Jesus being God. We know he came in human form. We recognize that he just in this chapter is steps away from the cross in which he will be crucified and will die. But the fact that he took on human form and offered himself in sacrifice never means that he failed to be God. I've related to some of you before that when I began preaching, I was actually still a student in seminary and was asked to pastor a little rural church in southern Illinois. And I would drive over in Sundays and I knew so little about preaching that I thought what preaching involved was taking my notes from the theology class, putting them in a pulpit, and just regurgitating what my professors were saying. Now, I know sometimes you think I still do that, but I don't. And I can remember one particular Sunday that I was preaching on Philippians two where it talks about Jesus as though being equal with God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing. Emptying himself of heavenly glory, taking on the form of a man and becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. And and I I took such care to say to the people in that in that church which by the way on Easter we had about 25 people come. That was that was you know that was the highlight you know of of our experience there. I I can just remember being so zealous and and and inspired about saying you have to understand that when Jesus emptied himself, he was still God. He was still God. I pounded he was still God. And I know people went home and at lunch that day they said, I wonder what the pastor is so worked up about today, you know. A few weeks later, we had our uh we had our mission conference. And we're about to have the global impact conference here next month, but we had our mission conference there. And to our little church in southern Illinois, we invited Paul and Carol in London. The Londons had been long-term missionaries in a very arid part of Africa. But when Carol in got sick, they had to go to New York City. That's where they ministered to Africans who were living in New York City. But they came to our mission conference. And as Paul opened up his Bible and announced what he would be preaching on, he said, Today I want to be preaching on Philippians chapter two. And I thought, oh no, we just covered that. All my people will be bored because I've told them exactly what that passage means already. As he was explaining what that passage meant, Paul just talked about his experience a little bit. He said, You know, when when Carol and I were in desert parts of Africa, the people there dug wells to get water because there was no standing water anywhere, but it it's not a well like you're thinking of where you dig a hole and you lower a bucket and you take the water out. He said they they dug deep slit wells into the ground, scores maybe 100 ft more into the ground. Little narrow shafts that had slits on each side of the shaft going down into the well. Because what would happen is the men of the tribe would actually walk down into the well. And at the bottom, they would take cloths and they would wipe the walls of the well, the condensation and seepage off the wall and then ring it into animal skins because that's all the water there was. He said one day there was a there was a man, a large and very strong man who went down into the well, into the darkness. But after he had gathered up his skin full of water and was coming back up, one of the slits gave way. And as it gave way, he fell to the bottom of the well, broke a leg. And now they had to get him out. But no one in the tribe knew how to do that. Who was strong enough? Who was able to go down and get this great man out of the darkness? Until finally the chief came to the well. And learning that one of the members of his tribe was in the darkness, he took off his headdress. He took off his royal robe. And he went down down down into the well. Picked up the man that was hurt and carried him back to the light. Now, Paul London said to my people, now folks, when that great chief took off his headdress and his robe and went down into the well, did he stop being the chief? What did they say? No. He was still the chief even without the glory. And then he said, and folks, when Jesus came down into this dark world to rescue you and me and he took off his heavenly glory, did he stop being God? What's the answer? No. He was still God. Now, I have to tell you that the end of that sermon, I had the misfortune of standing next to Paul London as people left the church that day. And one person after another said why pastor London, that was the most wonderful sermon, why I never understood that passage until you What does Jesus want you to understand? The reason that it is so precious and powerful that he prays for us is that he was God. And when he prays for us now, he prays with an understanding of earth and eternity. And what comes about as a consequence of this God who loves us enough praying for us, the one who can make all of the difference is the difference that he makes is constructing earth and eternity in ways that are best for us. It was his purpose. Because you see, he he is not just able to make a difference. He was sent to make a difference. It's what he reminds us of in verse two. Speaking to the father, Jesus says, Father, you sent him. You have given him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. What difference would that make? It's what he began to explain right at the end of verse one. He said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your son that the son may glorify you. The reason that that Jesus would come is he was commissioned to bring glory to the Father. But how would he do that? The hour has come, he said. You've heard that language before, haven't you, in the book of John? What does it mean that the hour has come? You may remember way back in John chapter two at the wedding feast of Cana, Jesus' mother came to him and said, We're out of wine. And Jesus said, why are you asking me? My what? My my hour has not yet come. Which means don't ask me to display the glory yet because it's not time yet for the consequences of that display to occur. It happens again in John seven. The the scribes and the Pharisees, now that Jesus has claimed to be the son of God, send others to arrest him. And yet we're told in John seven, they could not arrest him because his hour had not yet come. But then you get to John 12. Just before Jesus washes his disciples' feet and this Last Supper begins, and we read this word. Jesus declared to his disciple, my hour has come. For unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it cannot bear fruit. What does it mean that the hour has come? The hour has come to die. But curiously enough, that death is to bring glory to the Father. Jesus is asking God saying, the hour has come. Now, glorify your son. Now, wait. The hour coming means he is to die in sacrifice, but that is to bring glory to Jesus in such a way that it ultimately will bring glory to the Father. How does sacrifice bring glory first to Jesus and then to God the Father? I think one of the best expressions that I have read recently is what happened in the life of a priest named Maximilian Kolbe in February of 1941. He had sheltered over 2,000 Jews from the Nazis in Poland and then was found out. So he was sent to Auschwitz. In Auschwitz, despite all the deprivations and all the harm that was done to so many, he continued to seek to pastor others. But then came the day when a man escaped from Auschwitz. And to make an example and to keep it from happening again, the commandant said now, 10 must die by torture and by starvation so that no one will try it again. 10 were chosen. One man who was chosen had a family and began to weep that he was going to leave a family without any care. At that point, Kolbe stepped forward and said to the commandant, he has a family. I have none. Put me in his place. For more than two weeks, the torture and the starvation went on. Each day Kolbe leading the others in prayer and hymns to encourage them as they faced their eternity. Finally, he was the only one left alive. And because the Nazis had tired of the starvation, they put him to death by lethal injection. But it was glory. It was absolute glory. That one would be willing to die for another. It is what Jesus has told us about his own life and his own glory. Not that he would die for one, but that he would die for the sins of the world.
Guest (Male): That's pastor Brian 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. 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.