The Bible reminds us regularly that life is brief. Death is certain.
So how would you like to be remembered? What kind of legacy are you hoping you'll leave? On Truth for Life Weekend, Alastair Begg offers tips on how to live so that you'll be missed. We're continuing a study in the opening verses of 2 Timothy 4. What if they wrote our epitaph tonight?
What if we went in tomorrow morning's plain dealer? In the old bits. If there's one summary statement, what will it be and will it be harmful? Or will it be helpful? Come to the helpful side with me and I'll go through this quickly.
Helpful. Look at verse 5 of chapter 1. What a helpful legacy was left by Lois and Eunice. The grandmother and the mother Eunice. I can't tell you what a wonderful thing it is to have a godly heritage.
We shouldn't think for a moment that Lois and Eunice We're self-aware in relationship to this. The sincere faith which lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice. I can't imagine that the grandmother would come over to the house and say, Timothy, now here I am, your godly granny's here. Come along, Timothy, and I will expound to you the great wonders of things. Because, after all, I'm your godly granny.
No, I think she was just granny. And his mother, do you think his mother used to get up in the morning and say, Now come along, Timothy, I'm your godly mother, and I'm here to bestow my heritage upon you. No, she just did the laundry, she just sent him off to school, she just clipped him around the ear, she just did mother things. But down through the corridor of time, as people reflect on it and bring their photographs to recollection, say, You know what? This was tremendously helpful having this grandmother and having this mom.
And some of us haven't had that. We may have had it in a Sunday school teacher or in a Bible class leader or in someone who was influential like that, and that is our heritage. And their legacy is wonderful. Another thing that happened to me this past week that all fed like tributaries into the stream in which we are now. Swimming or drowning depending on your perspective.
was that a lady came to me at the end of one of the talks. And she said to me, You want to know who I am? But I Was your Sunday school teacher When you were a wee boy. Primary one. First grade.
Well, I said I I don't remember you and I don't remember your name, but I have known all of my life that there were two ladies who taught me in the room that was like underneath the platform because the platform was extremely high. And I said, you know, I only remember two things about that Sunday school. One is when the big man sat on the children's chairs. And he had no right sitting on these little collapsible chairs because he collapsed them in a way that they weren't supposed to collapse. He went down like a ton of bricks, and that's one of my vivid memories.
I remember. dashing over to help him. No, I don't. I remember just Killing myself laughing that this guy just went butt down on the floor. I thought it was one of the best things that had happened in the Sunday school for many a week.
Because I was really into that Sunday school. Whoa, yes. And I said, I remember that, and she. Smile benignly. And I said, and the other thing I remember.
Is that somehow or another you two ladies made clear to me One Sunday. And I don't know what day or what date it was, but you made clear to me the issues of the gospel. Because I said it was after your Sunday school class. that I went home to my dad and I asked him, How old do you have to be? To trust Christ.
And I said, the reason I asked my father that question. It's because of your instruction. in that class. She never knew that. And here she was.
came to listen to the Bible readings at Keswick. Given by some boy that never paid attention in her Sunday school class. How she must have marveled. And under God. I think she went away with a wee bit of a spring in her step.
Realizing that again on another Sunday morning, just like so many of you. Were these kids looking here, looking there, poking, pulling pigtails, doing everything, scribbling on the sheets, flicking coins, doing everything at all? She must have gone home and said, oh God, don't send me back under the platform again. Just take all those kids away from me. I can't stand it.
And who's to say how many other Men in their mid forties and girls in their mid forties. Are walking the path of faith as a result. of the legacy Be encouraged, grandmothers. We encourage moms. We encourage Sunday school teachers, kindergarten workers, junior choir teachers.
somewhere behind those vacant stairs. God does His work. What about Timothy himself, to whom the letter is written? When Paul writes to the Philippians in 2:20, he says of Timothy, I have no one else like him who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. He's my main man, he says.
That's him when I think of him, that's his legacy. You see, long after people have forgotten eloquence, And long after they have ceased to read, whatever cleverness any of us may have been able to commit to the printed page, long after cleverness and eloquence are gone, human kindness will live on in the lives of people. People remember kindness. And my sister will bear this out. But when our mother died And all the people sent the notes, you know, with Isaiah 40 on it, and Isaiah 26:3, and Philippians 4, and John 14:1 to 6, all of which was very, very helpful.
I don't think any of us remember any of the notes or anything about them. I'll tell you what we do remember. We do remember the lady from around the corner who kept coming back with another pile of freshly completed laundry. And when I think of her, What a legacy. Don't fall into this trap of thinking, you know, the key to success in the Christian life is being a teacher is being a front person is being a notorious person.
Just think about your body, think about your renal function, think about your neurological function, think about the double circulatory system of the heart. How much of that is out for public display? None. How vital is it? Crucial.
And all the stuff we fiddle with this morning before we came here is irrelevant in comparison to those hidden functions. Oh, thank God for the hidden heroes of the church. The looks Now, our time is gone. I need to come just to the final thought, but you'll notice that Mark is there and he's helpful. And Tichicus is there and he's helpful.
And the crowd is there at the end between verse 19 and 21. Priscilla and Aquila and Onisiferus and Erastus and Trophimus and Eubulus and Puddens. Love the name Puddins, don't you? Whether that was a guy that was really fond of dessert or not, I do not know. Uh but nevertheless he's there.
Might have been a lady called Pudence. Um It's a great name, Putin's. You can tell I've really done a lot of in-depth study on this, can't you? Yeah, so I'm really digging deep into the material.
Well There, we have some with a harmful legacy, some with a helpful legacy. The question is: what about you and me? How are we going to establish this? Number one, determined to live so as to be missed. determined to live so as to be missed.
like to be missed For the right things. To be missed for the right things. Don't let us be missed at meetings because the meetings go so well without us. People are going, that was a great meeting tonight. Seemed to go very smoothly.
I don't know what the difference was. Ha ha ha ha ha ha. Oh yes I do. He wasn't here. She wasn't here.
You don't want to. Have people look up cantankerous in the dictionary and your face comes up beside it. Be missed, live us to be missed. Be missed for kind words, for good deeds, for short notes, for quick telephone calls, for good laughs. Be remembered for humor.
Happiness. Doeth good like a medicine. Fill your portfolio with this stuff. Who in the world cares about the size of the house then? Cubic capacity of the engine of the car, the stock options, glory, almost, whatnot, all of that's going in a garage sale.
But what will live on in the minds of our kids and our grandkids? Kind words, good deeds, short notes, quick calls, good laughs. Don't be seduced. into putting all of your treasure. in the wrong place.
and pass to your children a treasure trove. Which is harmful. Not helpful. Secondly, do not underestimate the impact of a solitary life lived to God's glory. A solitary life lived to God's glory.
Don't let the evil one come and say to you, well, nobody really knows you, and you're not really significant, and what you're doing and where you're going is largely irrelevant, and nobody really cares, and so on. Tell old Smutty Face to go back where he belongs. And say with the words of the Anglican bishop, as I do regularly, well, Lord. I may not be very much, but I am one. And I can't do everything, but I can do something.
And what I can do, I ought to do, and what I ought to do, I will do. I'm reading at the moment the book that the children gave me for Father's Day. Uh the the biography of uh Jack Nicholas, I'm on page But just for your interest, you know, three hundred and thirty-nine. And um There's a wonderful statement in here. concerning Barbara Nicholas.
Whom I met just once at St. Andrew's golf course, and she seemed a nice lady that day, too. But this is what A chap. A journalist says of this girl, Barbara Nicholas. Lee Neal had surgery once in Miami.
Who drove her down and back twice? Barbara Nicholas. Lee Neal once broke our arm in four places. Who drove her to the hospital? Barbara Nicholas.
When young Jackie was four, he cut off half his finger in an ice crusher. Who saved the finger by not panicking and getting him to the doctor so it could be sewn back on? Barbara necklace. When Bruce Fleischer's wife was in the hospital recovering from surgery, Barbara Nicholas drove down to Miami regularly with home-cooked meals. When her great friend from Columbus, Janice Savik, was dying of cancer, she entrusted Barbara Nicholas to give everyone their marching orders before passing on.
When Laura Norman needed someone to lean on when her husband, Greg, was getting ripped in the press, she sought the advice of Barbara Nicholas. And speaking of her help and her influence within the home and her support of Jack Nicholas, it's a wonderful, tremendous illustration. She says, if I can't fix it, We call a repairman. Right after we got married, I asked Jack to put up a cup rack for me. Mind you, it was three screws.
45 minutes and a few choice words later, his shirt was ringing wet, and he still didn't have the screws in. And it goes on to talk. About the influence of her solitary life.
Now, I don't know where she is in relationship to faith. I'm not using it in that respect. Just talking about the impact of unseen people. In the same way, Bobby Jones, nobody knows the name of Bobby Jones unless you're into golf. Bobby Jones dies, and Nicholas, reflecting on the death of Bobby Jones, with whom he had sat ever since he had won as an amateur in the early days of his career, he says, I wondered how my own life might have differed without Bobby Jones' inspiration and friendship during my early years, and decided I would surely have been a lesser golfer and probably a lesser man.
Why? Because of the legacy left by a solitary life. Determined to live so as to be missed. Don't underestimate the impact of a solitary life. Live to God's glory particularly.
Then ultimately, if you're going to be remembered as one of the crowd, make sure it's the right crowd. Say, well, I don't think my name will be isolated from the group. That's okay. But make sure it's in the right group. Make sure it's not in verse 16.
No one came to my support. Make sure it's in verses 19 to 21 with Linus and Claudia and Pudens and the rest. And finally, In prospect of leaving a legacy, determine that with God's help you will seize the day. Because we never know when we've just made our final deposit. into the legacy.
that we're leaving. Behind. Can I tell you just one final story? Because it's all again in this confluence of these past few days. Twenty-three years ago, I spoke at a conference for missionary candidates and missionaries With the Overseas Missionary Fellowship, it took place in Pitt Loughry in Scotland.
And The folks who were there were a fairly High-level group of individuals in the sense that they were well educated, many of them were medics, and quite a number of them were theological students. And they asked me to speak on mission in the last days. And I, in my foolhardiness and youthfulness, determined that what I would do is I would expound 2 Peter, which has three chapters, and there were three talks.
So I figured I'll do one chapter at a time. The first of which was to begin around 9:30 on the Friday evening after everyone had worked or studied for a full day, dragged themselves to Pitlockery, had a meal. and then sat down in rows and waited for this fellow to stand up behind the box. I was totally overawed by the prospect of it. I was in my room in the center by myself.
And I felt very much then the way I used to feel before physics and chemistry exams. Along the lines of God, if I was going to die young, this would be a very good time to. To exercise your providential overruling, because if I go into this thing, the Lord only knows what's going to happen to me.
So that's exactly how I was feeling. I don't say that for a fact. That is truly how I was feeling. But I had to go. There was no option.
The bell tolled and the tale had to be told. And so I stood up and I started at the beginning of 2 Peter 1. And I wasn't into it before three or four minutes. I couldn't get any saliva in my mouth. I didn't know what I was on about.
I kept saying, I'm sure you know more about this than I do, and what Peter is trying to say is this, and we'll find it. And oh, oh, and there was a man sitting on the front row with greying temples, navy blazer. Uh gray Flannels, black shoes, you know, the kind of standard package, and he just never took his eyes off me, just looked at me the whole time. And when I dribble to a conclusion, I said a brief prayer and then I shot off. And as I shot off, he shot beside me.
I'd never seen him before in my life. And as I went away, I was conscious of an arm around my waist. This man put an arm around my waist and he started to walk with me. And he didn't let me go my own direction. He spun me around and he took me behind the bookstall.
And he trapped me in the corner of a cabinet that opened up and made into a bookstall. And I didn't know what he was going to do. I had no clue what was about to happen to me, but I didn't think it was going to be very good. And I can't go into all of it now, for our time is gone, but essentially, this is what he said to me. He said, I felt That I had to do what I'm about to do.
I don't make a habit of doing this. He said, you should know that. And he said, There was one thing you said in your sermon tonight that really lifted my spirits and was a great encouragement to me when you mentioned the idea of making an abundant entrance into heaven. He said, That was good. He said, but that was about all that was good.
Let me tell you this. He said, Peter wasn't trying to say anything, he was saying it. You're trying to say it. And don't be so deferential to the people out there. Who cares if they know more than you?
They probably do. But you don't have to say that. And you don't have to defer to these folks. He says, Don't you understand that whether you have sirloin steak or filet mignon or a pound of mince? And mince is Scottish or English.
For chopped Hamburger, you know, and the fatty kind, you know, not the kind of beautiful stuff. He says, whether you've got a pound of mince or a sirloin steak, Get up and deliver it. Because you're not there by accident, you are there by God's appointment.
So don't let me ever hear you doing this again, young man. And by the way, he said. I believe that one day You will speak before thousands. And I believe that God has asked me to say what I have now said to you.
Now, let us pray. And we prayed. And I went back to my room and I wept. I wept for the hash that I made of the talk. I wept for the fact that this man said what he said to me, and my pride was wounded.
I went more for the fact that he must care about me somehow, although he didn't know me from a hole in the ground. Otherwise, he would never have done this and be so faithful because the wounds of a friend are faithful. And there's hardly a time when I move into a new context, and many times on a Sunday when I can see David Patterson's face saying, Go on, son, you're not up there by accident, you're up there by appointment. Mincer steak, mincer steak, what is it? Thursday morning, Keswick Convention, thousands of people sitting out there.
From a human perspective hanging on your every word. Trying your best to get through the material, feeling again all kinds of feelings, not most of which stir your ego. Coming to the end of it and saying to myself, Now I'm going to go through that door, and before they open their eyes, I'll be gone because I don't ever want to see anybody after this. Incidentally, for those of you who think that I finished my sermon, so I'm going out going, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. That doesn't happen.
I don't remember one in a thousand that I feel like that. I feel like I merge with the pavement.
So I said, I'm going to make a dive out of that door, grab the umbrella, grab the galoshes, which I needed. Swans were swimming through people's tents. And I'm going to make a B line for my car. And I came through the door, down the thing. down the two steps.
And into the arms of a gray-haired man with a weather-beaten face, wearing a royal blue kagul, shorts, and tennis shoes. And this big bear hug grabbed me, and as he pulled me to himself, I heard the voice say, Was it steak? Or was it mints? And I And I said as I looked over his shoulder, I said, David, I don't know. And he's still not looking at me, his head's over here.
He says, Son. I told you. It doesn't matter. Until the day I die. I will revere his legacy.
You have people like that. We all do. You are leaving. A legacy. Make sure it's helpful.
Not harmful. You're listening to Truth for Life Weekend with Alistair Begg. He'll return shortly to close today's program. You know, when we think about leaving a legacy that glorifies God, we want to live and lead like Jesus. But the paradoxes in his teaching can present a challenge, as believers were called to be patient and yet urgent.
confident. But humble. Theologically driven, but at the same time practically wise. It's not easy finding a balance. And in a new book called Both and Ministry, Living and Leading Like Jesus, Pastor Gary Miller navigates through the often opposing characteristics needed for us to lead like Jesus.
This book will help you examine your approach to leadership from both swings of the pendulum. For example, being both people-centered and organizationally-minded, leading from the front and seeking to serve others, prioritizing godliness while prioritizing effectiveness, being what Gary calls a both and leader. It's no small endeavor. Gary wrote this book to help you better understand your natural leadership tendencies so you can work toward a more balanced approach. In fact, at the end of each chapter, he gives a scale to help you identify your strengths and weaknesses.
Find out more about the book Both and Ministry: Living and Leading Like Jesus, when you visit our website at truthforlife.org.
Now here is Alastair with the closing prayer. God, out of all of the abundance of these words, we pray that we might hear your voice. That your word might fill us. That your love might constrain us. Forgive us for the times when, by our attitudes and our actions, We've painted real ugly stuff on the canvas of our lives.
And thank you. That you the master artist are able to take The brush in your hand. And not only do touch-up that is superficial. But transform the portrait. Oh God, we need this.
Help us then so to live. Not a legacy. may linger. that the fragrance Maybe sweet. That our lives, whether short or long, will count for you rather than against you.
And that our children and our children's children might arise. and call you blessed. For Jesus' sake we ask it. Amen. Thanks for studying the Bible with us.
Next weekend, we'll begin a study in the book of Titus and learn the importance of practicing what we preach. I hope you can join us. The Bible teaching of Alastair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life. Where the Learning is for Living.
