Matt Chandler - Ethnic Harmony

Good morning! If you have a Bible, I would love for you to turn to that passage. We’re going to dive into it, so whether you’re at home or here in the room, if you have it on your device, try not to look at anything else while snapping, tweeting, or whatever it is you do with your device. I would encourage you to focus on the Scriptures. Right now, in your mind and heart, just commit to hanging in there.

What I plan on doing today is gently tiptoeing into enemy-occupied territory, punching the devil in his mouth, and then making my escape. In order to do that, though, you must be aware that certain things will start happening in the room. I’m not referring to someone screeching or anything like that, though that would be awesome! We could drive that thing out. I’m talking about touching on sacred matters to the enemy. In doing so, anything within us that might not be aligned will start to bubble up. So, I’m just asking you to hang in there with me.

As I mentioned in the introduction, on February 7th, we will begin a 12-week study through the book of Revelation. I’m excited about that study! Keep in mind that 12 weeks means it’s a survey—we’re going to fly over it. It’s not a line-by-line exposition because Revelation is apocalyptic literature. What I mean by that is it’s very challenging to go line by line; you need to capture the whole story and show the complete picture of what John saw in order to unpack it.

There’s been something stirring within me as I’ve studied Revelation in preparation for preaching it to you in two weeks on February 7th. The first thing is observing the people of God during that time who received this book. I don’t know if you know this, but Revelation wasn’t ultimately written for you; it was written for the people who lived on earth at that time. They received that letter and read it because, follow me, it was for them. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t have much to say to us, but it was specifically for them. As I dug into the historicity of that and examined how God was working among the people of God in the first century under such horrific persecution, my heart began to stir, and I started to say these kinds of sentences to you: «We were built for this moment!»

With all the anger, frustration, sadness, and despair around us, this is our time. This is when the church is the church; this is when the light of Christ shines most brightly. Everyone you know is observing the same disorienting and frustrating events you are, and if we’re honest, it can even be enraging. Have you felt any of those emotions lately? And think about those who don’t have the love of Christ within them, right?

This is our moment if we choose to step into it. I have this sense of great expectation—what a fantastic opportunity lies right in front of us! However, here’s my warning: it will be dangerous to get there. To shine brightly, you will have to navigate the darkness yourself. And I’m not saying that the Holy Spirit isn’t with us; He absolutely is. However, we need to be serious about addressing any darkness that may remain within us.

I’m going to stick a little closer to my notes today because I’ve worked hard to be careful in getting us to the place we want to be. We will have to confront disorientation, disappointment, and heartbreak, but what a privilege it will be to arrive at our generational destiny together! Do you know what I mean by generational destiny? The church has never had the privilege of choosing the era in which she operates, but our current era has specific challenges that are affecting both the world and the church.

What I mean is that God is accomplishing something in our day for what lies ahead. Maybe nothing lies behind us; perhaps Christ has returned, rendering our concerns for our children and grandchildren moot. But if He hasn’t returned, He is preparing them alongside us. Our role may be simply to push the ball forward so that our children and grandchildren can experience a fuller picture of the beauty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the world they will inherit.

The horizon looks tough, doesn’t it? With that said, I believe that as we look at the world, we can see it becoming what it is meant to be. We discussed the idea of plausibility structures; it’s crucial for us to stay grounded in this concept. A plausibility structure is just what seems right to you. If you have a sort of intuition or feel drawn to certain facts, you will likely affirm that those things are true.