This is the Truth Network. Welcome to Hope in the Morning. turning tragedies and tears into testimonies of hope. In John 14, 6, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
And in John 17, 17, he says, Sanctify them in truth. Your word is truth. Welcome to Hope in the Morning. I'm your host, Emily Curtis, and today we're talking about truth. And the impact that it has on how we live and how we view and face death.
Joining me today is Pastor Alastair Begg. Thank you for joining me today. Thank you, Emily. It's nice to have the chance to chat with you. Yeah, I think this is such an important topic because.
You know, not only are we all guaranteed to face hardships in life, but we are all guaranteed to face death, right? Whether it's the death of a loved one. earlier in life or our own death that comes.
So how important would you say is our theology, which for those that don't know is the study of God, the character of God, how important is our theology to the way that we live our lives?
Well, it's absolutely foundational because Any understanding of the world that doesn't actually begin with the opening phrase of the Bible. is is bereft in the beginning God.
So that we are immediately there: that God is the creator, the sustainer of life, that He's the one who providentially overrules the. events of life and that We're not cast around on a sea of chance. We're not held in the grip of Blind and deterministic forces, but we are actually being schooled in the realm of God's providence. And we come to that just by reading our Bibles. I mean, it's not that you can go to a particular page and it lays that out in a sort of didactic way.
But when we read the story of the Bible, we realize that this is the case. And that's why the Christian's view of the world is so radically different from the view of contemporary life, at least in Western thought. In fact, All that we have, all that we are, all that we do. Is ultimately framed by the fact that God is who He reveals Himself to be, and supremely, of course, in the Lord Jesus. You had mentioned that we get that understanding, obviously, of God's character through his word.
And it's one thing to open our Bibles and just read His Word, but how, like, what are some really basic tools for those of us that want to get deeper and know how do we study God's Word and really know His Word deeply?
Well, there are all kinds of aids and tools to affect us or to impact us as we come to the scriptures. But you know, the way I was taught as as a boy to read the Bible It really has never left me. And we used to, at school, be taught that when we read a passage of scripture, there were a number of questions that we should ask of the passage. For example, what do I learn here about God the Father? What do I learn here about God the Son?
What do I learn here about God the Holy Spirit?
Now, there may not be something in every passage that answers all those questions, but those questions should be asked.
So, for example, well, here I discover that if we, being earthly, know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more will our Heavenly Father give good things to them that ask Him?
So, I've learned something about God there, about His fatherly care. Also, I was told: make sure you ask questions like: Is there in this passage a sin to avoid? Is there a promise to trust? Is there an example to follow?
So that when I read the Bible, I wasn't just reading it in the hope that something would just jump up and hit me. But I was reading the Bible in a way that was, if you like, investigative. In the awareness of the fact that it is the work of the Spirit of God to illumine the mind, the heart of our understanding, so that not simply do I understand the way the sentence is constructed, but I understand that God has purposefully put things together in this way in order that the Spirit of God might do the work of God. Through the Word of God. And I suppose one of the simple things that I want to say to people is: just read your Bible.
I mean, just read your Bible. Yeah, there's tons of ways that you can supplement that.
Now, you can read Spurgeon, you can read John MacArthur, you can read a ton of stuff, you can read it all with a commentary. But Don't miss out on the possibility of making some wonderful discoveries for yourself just because you're coming humbly to the scriptures in the awareness that God. speaks Through His Word, by His Spirit. Yeah, I was going to ask you about that.
So when we talk about how God speaks through his Spirit in His Word to our hearts, that's obviously speaking to believers because we are the ones that have the Spirit of God. And you had also mentioned that verse, which I love as well, when it talks about how. You know, you being evil that knows how to give good things to your children, how much more so does a righteous God give us good things? But There are circumstances that we find ourselves in in life that they don't feel like good things. They don't feel like we are being given good gifts.
You know, when our spouse dies or our child becomes sick or we find out we have cancer, those don't feel like good gifts. And so, for the believer who is studying the Word of God, who has the Spirit of God within them, How can we root ourselves in the truth of God's character? In those moments when our hearts feel like we're not being given good things.
Well It's again, it's It's what we have come to know and believe about God and trust Him.
So for example, if we And I don't know if this analogy will work. But I remember, I have two daughters, both of whom are married and have children. And In in separate occasions With both girls I had occasion to to tell them that I could not encourage and support them in their choice Of a boyfriend.
Now, That then led to Uh tears. disappointment and to uh potential disaffection in the short term. But the only card that I was able to play was to say Emily, one of my daughters is Emily. Emily Do you know anyone else? in the entire world that loves you as much as I do.
apart from your mom. She'd have to say no. I say then, do you trust me unreservedly? She would say yes. And I then said, well, Why would I, who loves you to this extent, ever bring into your life something that would be detrimental to your well-being?
Now, it is, and the only way that you can play that card is if she knows you, loves you, and trusts you.
So the real foundation is. growing in grace and in a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, because There are three things that we that are that that the church has always Always known for. Number one, worship, number two, evangelism, and number three, suffering. Suffering. That those elements are always present when you read the unfolding story.
And so. Part of our journey is In reading the Bible, And realizing that the historical situation that I'm pondering, whether it is, let's say, the story of Job, because we're talking about suffering. Is there not only to tell me about this particular man and his friends who Often didn't give the very best advice, but but to prepare me for the thought. That it's going to be very unlikely that I will be able to make my way entirely through my life without coming up against. Um uh some of the circumstances that caused me to wonder Just what God is doing and why God is doing it.
Now, again, unless I have come. to trust God That he really does work for good all things in our life according to his purposes. When that is tested, Then, well, I have to allow it to be tested. I mean, Psalm 13, where the psalmist says, How long will you forget me, O Lord? Forever?
How long must I have sorrow in my heart all the day? That's not a fabrication, that's a reality. And what the psalmist now is doing is he's taking what he knows about God. And what he is experiencing in his circumstances, and he's wrestling with that. Yeah.
That is not an unusual encounter, as you know, in the Psalms or even in the unfolding story of God's dealings with his people. Um I am fascinated by Joseph. You know, because all we have of him at the end is you intended it for evil, but God intended it for good. But wow, that that's a grand finale to a life that Faced. Unbelievable trials and difficulties.
Yeah. It reminds me. Yeah, go ahead. I was going to say real quick. It reminds me what you were just saying, too, about in Romans 5, which is what our pastor has been covering recently, you know, talking about how.
Are our tribulations that we can exult in our tribulations knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance and perseverance, proven character, and proven character, hope. And hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts. And one of the things I think is so different, and I would love to hear you talk about this, is the hope that we have. As believers is very different than than how the world uses the word hope, because it is It's a sure thing. It's not something that we're just hoping, you know, to use the word again.
It's not something that we're just hoping happens. It's a sure thing. And scripture talks about how we have. We have hope as an anchor. For our souls.
Why, in your pastoral experience and opinion, why do our souls need an anchor? And how does Jesus Christ serve effectively as that anchor for us? Yeah. Well, the same grace that reconciles us to God. antagonizes us to the evil one.
That Um We're involved, as the Westminster Confession of Faith puts it, in a continual and irreconcilable war. That we fight Against the world, we fight against the flesh, we fight against the devil. We do so from the victory side, as in Christ He has triumphed, and any triumph we have is in Him and through Him. But nevertheless, we face these things. And so we're like the disciples.
I mean, It's staggering to me, although it shouldn't be. that the disciples on that boat with Jesus asleep with his head on a cushion. decide to wake him up. to inform him. that they were all about to drown.
So they're now going to wake up the creator of the universe to tell him what was happening. And Jesus has to stand up and say to them, Hey, Peace be still. And then they marveled and they said, What manner of man is this? That even the winds and the waves obey him? I don't think you get to what manner of man is this, that even the winds and the waves obey him, until you've been in the storm and you realize that he is able to calm the storm.
That tears are real tears, that sadness is deep sadness, that in Jesus there is someone who is touched with the feelings of our infirmities in a way that we cannot even understand. And sometimes I have to say, I'm going to have to let my heart Catch up to my head.
So that So that in flight terms, so that I'm flying the instruments. I'm flying entirely off the glass in front of me, irrespective of how I feel and what's going on all around outside of me. And I think if we get that wrong, and we want to lead with our hearts and then try and find The theological underpinnings that are necessary for us. You know, we'll get there in the end. But that's again why it is important that we have Okay.
Come to deep-seated convictions. in the daylight So that when it all goes to darkness, We now hold on. We read in the Bible, for example, the name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run into it and are safe.
So we read that and say, okay, I get that. I don't know just exactly how that will all work. And then all of a sudden Um your loved one dies. All of a sudden, my mother dies at the age of 46 of a massive heart attack out of nowhere.
Okay, so I believe that the name of the Lord is a strong tower. But I'm brokenhearted. And I can't imagine life without my mother. And I don't imagine that my father can live that way either.
So what do I have to do? I gotta run to a rock that is higher than myself. And that is where born again, as you're saying, Emily, to a living hope. It's not a hope that something may be an eventuality, but it is a reality that is before us, that is to be discovered. As embraced.
So, even in the words of committal at the gravesite, in sure and certain hope. To the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ. And people come away from the grave and say, well, how can it be a hope that is sure and certain? That's the distinction that you were mentioning. Yeah.
But until first, I've laid hold of that and lived it out. It may appear like And it will actually be A realm of spiritual geography that we have not necessarily entered into experientially. Yeah, well, when we come back, we're going to talk about how anchoring ourselves in the truth of who Christ is helps us in the way that we approach death. And our own death, and the death of loved ones.
So, join us again in a moment on Hope in the Morning. Do you have a heart to comfort the hurting? Do you want to show the world that through Jesus Christ we can have hope in all circumstances?
Well, then we welcome you to visit hopeinthemorning.org and see how you can join us in these ministry endeavors. May you be encouraged by who our God is as you continue this episode of Hope in the Morning. To learn more, visit us at hopeinthemorning.org. John 13, 35 says, By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. Do you know how to best love and serve your hurting brother or sister in Christ?
Listen to Hope in the Morning and be equipped to offer the hope of Jesus to every hurting heart. To learn more or partner with our ministry, visit us at hopeinthemorning.org. What do you say when a loved one faces deep loss? How do you recover joy when you find yourself in the valley of despair? Learn from honest testimonies of trials and tears, and be encouraged that in Jesus there is hope.
Hope in the morning. Visit hopeinthemorning.org for grief resources or to make a donation in your loved one's honor. Welcome back to Hope in the Morning. I am joined today with Pastor Alistair Begg, and we are talking about truth for life and for death. And we were talking about how important it is to anchor ourselves in the truth of God's character and the truth of his word when things are going well in life, that we know the character of God so that when we face the storms, we are equipped to utilize him as our anchor.
So we are not tossed to and fro. With all of the uncertainties that life can throw us.
So, Pastor Beg, thank you again for joining us today. It's my privilege to talk with you, and it's quite challenging to talk and think about these things because. Although they might be, in one sense, at arm's length to you and I, just in this context. Um they're they're not at arm's length to many of the people that will be listening to this podcast. Yeah, and that's you know, one of the things that we really want to do here on Hope in the Morning is we want to be able to have the hard conversations.
We want to be able to talk, especially with pastors that are wiser than myself, wiser than those that are often listening. We want answers to these questions that really do weigh heavy on our hearts. For people that are not in Christ, and honestly, even sometimes for people that are in Christ, there can be a fear of death. that they have as a pastor How would you speak to that? How can somebody who maybe has just been diagnosed with a terminal illness How can they face that sentence of death with hope still.
Well, uh first, I mean to to pick up on what you're saying. The I I ha I've got I've got circumstances like that just now in A pastoral ministry as an extension of who I am and what I'm doing. And I think of one individual who has just received a similar diagnosis who is actually without God and without hope in the world. That he wouldn't define himself in that way, but he is that way, because that's what the Bible says is true of men and women by nature. that by nature We don't know God, and we don't have a hope that is found in God.
So, in talking with Him, His response is very superficial. It's seeking to, essentially, it's an understandable sense of denial. it holds on to the possibility that in the next five years, there may be a very spectacular cure for this circumstance. But it's evading the fact Type It would appear that you don't have five years. And therefore, Um the hard thing is to is to be prepared I think to say to somebody, what is your end game here in this situation?
What is your plan? I mean, I think of another man, a Jewish fellow that I knew years ago, and I went to see him. He was diagnosed with a Brain cancer, and it was terminal. And I asked him in a large company: what's your How are you dealing with this? What's your plan?
He said, I don't have a plan. I said, well, then can I come and talk to you about a plan? He said, yeah, but I don't want anybody else to be here when you come. And I remember I went back to visit him in his home, and his wife and one of his daughters were present. And he said, Would you mind going out shopping or something?
Because I want to talk to Alistair on my own. And in that context, I explained to him Who Jesus is, that he is the Messiah, He's the resurrected Messiah, He's the only one who has triumphed over death, and He has promised that as we are embraced in His love and in His grace, so although we will walk down that pathway, the eventuality is life rather than death. And that then becomes the, I mean, that's the story: Jesus is either the resurrection and the life, or He isn't. I mean, there's no two ways about it. Nobody else is making the claim, Buddha didn't.
Krishna didn't, Muhammad hasn't. Nobody's making the claim.
So we're able to say to people: well, in a crass way, Tell me about your other options here. I mean, here's the one who makes this declaration, and he's the one who says, come to me. Come to me. If you're heavy laden, I'll give you rest. Take my, and so on.
That the appeal of Jesus is so beautiful, so loving, so tender, so kind that we want to offer that to folks and encourage them. Because we're all so earthbound. I'm not a great fan of death. I don't know about you. I mean, I'm not.
I'm not. You know, I i it I don't always sing the songs the way they're written. you know, it w where uh one of the songs we I think it says, uh I will not Um I I will not fear the the the final night or whatever it is. I I I s I I actually sing uh I sometimes fear the final night. I mean the Death is the last enemy to be destroyed.
So the So I think I'm more afraid of a kind of superficial triumphalism when it comes to Christians talking about death than I am afraid of somebody trying to gut it out. and get to a realistic heart warming.
soul serving gut-wrenching solution where The the where they They they they just cry out to God, you know. Help me. Yeah. You know, I've noticed I've now, you know, been beside the deathbed of a few loved ones and. I've noticed that with some, and in talking to some pastors, this is not necessarily an unusual thing with believers, but.
With some, I think we struggle with, although we know in our heads what the truth is, what Scripture says, that it's through grace alone, through Christ alone. But in our humanity, we still want to throw in those works. We still want to feel like there's something we're doing to earn our salvation. And I think that that is just part of our flesh. But I think that becomes part of our fear because at the end of life, There's this fear of what if I didn't do enough?
What if I didn't get it right? And Being able to rest in the trust, even like you said with your daughter. The trust of the love that God has for us, the trust that His sacrifice really has covered over our sins fully. I think It becomes a real struggle at times. You know, it's kind of the last war in our flesh to not.
Depend on ourselves, but to depend on Christ. And, you know, with the last couple of minutes that we have left, I wanted to talk also about the fact that it's so important that we are in a good church because. We will face trials, just like you said. It's inevitable. We will face trials.
We will face death. How do people know if they're in a good church or not? Yeah. Well, they know they're in a good church if um It is Um If the worship begins with God and His glory, rather than men and women and their need. the trajectory of the entire experience is Godward.
rather than manward. That's the first thing. That the scriptures are not only the foundation and framework for all that takes place. But they are also the the manna for the soul, they're the food for the soul, that the people are nourished by the word the word of God itself. I I think that They know they're in the right place when The pastor is saying to them again and again, It you know, it is the word of God.
that does the work of God. by the Spirit of God. in the people of God. And So their expectation is that that that God has gifted the pastor Two unfold the word of God which is truth. the work of the Spirit is to bring that home.
So that and what what does that mean?
Well, it means that when I hear uh somebody saying, you know, let let Let your gentleness be known to all. The Spirit of God says to me, And you need to work on that lope, Alistair. Or when it says, you know, whatsoever things are pure, holy, good report, think on these things. And the Spirit of God says, I'm not sure that that novel that you suggested the other day is actually in that proviso.
So that so that the it's it's but I wouldn't want to overstate that either, as if I'm hearing voices in my head all the time. But but what I mean is that The scriptures are inspired by the Spirit of God, and the scriptures are illuminated by the Spirit of God.
So that the eyes of our understanding is opened.
So where it is obviously orthodox in terms of Christian doctrine, where it is warm, not on account of superficiality, but on account of genuine fellowship, where our souls are being fed. and where our opportunities for service are there for us. Because in that We need each other in that environment, not only in the days of trouble, but definitely in the days of trouble. Yeah, absolutely. And you have a ministry, Truth for Life, which is actually where we kind of got the little bit of play on words for the title of today's topic.
But Truth for Life offers a lot of resources that can help people know God's word and be immersed. in truth. find truth for life and the different resources that you offer. Just go, just go, just punch in truth for life. And on in your Uh the the uh The There's an app, which is a free app, that if they download that app, then it pretty well.
opens them into everything and uh Yeah, I'd encourage them to do that if they would like to. Yeah, and you guys have very graciously sent Hope in the Morning some copies of one of your 365-day devotionals from Truth and Life.
So, if you are listening to this podcast or watching this on YouTube and you're interested in having one of those devotionals, you can reach out to Hope in the Morning as well. And we would love to send you one of those just to encourage you to really be grounded in the truth so that you can faith. whatever trials you have, but that you can live every single day with this glorious hope that we have inside of us, that we don't have to live a life in fear. We can live a life filled with truth and with hope. Pastor Begg, thank you so much for joining us today on Hope in the Morning.
Thank you, Emily. It's my privilege. Ah. Hope in the Morning is a non-profit ministry that seeks to encourage the hurting. Equip those who walk beside them, and evangelize the lost with the hope of Jesus Christ.
to partner with our ministry or to make a donation in your loved one's honor. Please visit hopeinthemorning.org. Your donation helps keep these stories of hope on the air and helps tangibly meet the needs of the hurting.
