Jesus has entrusted the message of the gospel with every believer, and He's given each of us unique gifts as well. The scriptures teach that we are to use our gifts to make the most of every opportunity we have to share the gospel with others. And with that said, today on Truth for Life, Alastair Begg, cautions the overzealous Christian activist. He's looking at Luke chapter 19, and we're beginning with verse 11. The man whose abundance is so plainly obvious.
is displaying to the world That what he has is as a result of him investing that which he's been given. The man who made no use of the opportunity loses the little that he has.
Now, the question, of course, with which the commentators wrestle is: well, this wicked servant, is he descriptive of a true believer or is he not?
Well, I couldn't say with confidence either way, I don't think. At best, I think we can see in this individual The kind of individual whose prospect of reaching heaven is described in 1 Corinthians chapter 3. And as unpalatable as it is to many of our minds, the fact of the matter is that the way we are living our lives and the way we are investing our lives and the way we are using that which has been entrusted to us has some eternal ramifications. As you're about to see one servant receive ten cities, another servant receive five cities, you and I will be rewarded according to our endeavors in Christ. It's not just a matter of happenstance.
It's not that everybody's in for the same and we're all getting the same deal. No, we're not. Nobody in eternity will be disappointed with what they get, but everyone in eternity will not get the same. And some will reach heaven. As through the flames.
And at best, this wicked servant is such an individual. At worst, And it may be safest to describe him in these terms. At worst, what you have here is a merely nominal Christian.
Someone who is Christian in name alone. And he is not a believer. At all. In some twenty-five years now of pastoral ministry. One of the saddest things along the journey.
It is to see men and women who have neglected the opportunities given to them. in the gospel. who have become unfaithful in the Lord's service. And as a result of neglect and unfaithfulness, they've become spiritually impoverished. And as a result of having become spiritually impoverished, the opportunities that they once had at an earlier point on the journey seem to be dissipating.
And the prospect that they face is this: that they will appear in the judgment before God poor and naked when He comes. And you look at them and you say, There's a couple. that has missed Out. They have missed out. Because what they were entrusted with They have either never fully understood Or they have determined.
that they would simply wrap it in a blanket. And enjoy it. by themselves.
So we dare not find ourselves numbered with the rebels. Secondly, we shudder at the thought of being in the category marked wicked servants. And finally, We want to live in such a way As to hear Christ say to us what the nobleman said to these first two servants, namely, well done, good, and faithful servant. In this story, we are reminded that there are two mistakes that people habitually make. about going to heaven.
The first mistake is to think that you can get there by good works. Most of us here, of course, would say, oh, no, no, you can't. We know because we already did the parable, the story of the tax collector and the publican and the Pharisee. And the publican went down to his house justified, not on the basis of anything he had done, but only on the basis of God's grace alone. Wonderful.
So clearly, mistake number one is not something that we may be wrestling with.
Well then we should pay attention to mistake number two. Mistake number one is to think that you can get to heaven by good works. Mistake number two is to think that you can get to heaven without good works. Can you get to heaven without good works? No.
Ephesians 2. For by grace you have been saved. And that through faith, not of yourselves. It's the gift of God. not of works lest any one should boast.
You have not been saved by good works, but you have been saved. Four good works. What right do any of us have to claim? that the gospel has been entrusted to our custody. without the evidence in our lives of the good works which God has foreordained for us to do.
Mistake number one. You can get to heaven by good works. No, you can't. Mistake number two: you can get to heaven without good works. No, you can't.
Because our works are the evidence. Not of a salvation earned. but of a salvation Given?
So here in life's significance, you see. When the gospel is entrusted to the life of an individual, and it doesn't matter what your job is. Because all of those things ultimately serve this purpose. That having been entrusted with the good news. Our goal then is to do all that we do to the glory of God.
And in order that, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:19, we might, in identifying with men and women at their particular points of need, win as many. as possible.
So tonight My dear friend, your significance is in this: that once in Christ, all of your days and all of your deeds may be good for someone. And good. for something. Because we are assured that our labor in the Lord is not in vain. When Richard Baxter, from whom I quoted this morning, confronted the listeners of his day with this matter, he put it in these stirring terms.
Listen to this carefully. Oh, he says, if you have the hearts of Christians. or of man in you. Let them yearn towards your poor, ignorant, ungodly neighbors. Alas, there is but a step.
Betwixt them and death and hell. Many hundred diseases are waiting ready to seize on them. And if they die unregenerate, they are lost forever. Have you hearts of rock? That cannot pity men in such a case as this?
If you believe not the word of God and the danger of sinners, Why are you Christians yourselves? If you do believe it, why do you not bestir yourself to the helping of others? Do you not care who is damned?
So you'll be saved. If so, you have sufficient cause to pity yourselves, for it is a frame of spirit utterly inconsistent with grace. In other words, it's the wicked servant's approach. Dost thou live close by them? Or meet them in the streets.
Or work with them, or travel with them, or sit and talk with them, and say nothing to them of their souls or the life to come. If their houses were on fire, Thou wouldst run and help them. And will thou not help them? When their souls are almost At the fire of hell. I say that makes the point pretty graphically, don't you?
We dare not. be numbered amongst the rebels. We shudder at the thought. Of being caught up in the category marked wicked servant. Our earnest desire is that we might be included.
In the well done. Good and faithful servant. which comes from Christ.
So some of us are sitting there going, okay, I have the message clear. Let me out of here. Get this service over, I'm out. Tracts in my hand. I'll buttonhole everyone I see now for the next little while.
I know what I'm supposed to do. I'll get on and do it. Just tell me what it is. Point me in the right direction. I'll go.
I got it clear now. It's about everything I do. I'm going to be a doer now. I'm going to be an activist now. I've understood the parable of the miners.
I never knew it before. I'm out there. I'm ready to go. He pummed me up. We're ready to go.
I have a final word for you. just to pull the carpet immediately out from underneath you. And here's the word. Relax. Relax.
Because this address today. is dangerous for the Christian act. activist. Every time we read and study a portion of the Bible. There is an ever-present danger that we respond to it in such a way As to fail to balance the emphasis of that passage.
With the counteracting emphases of the totality of biblical revelation. In other words, if you fasten on something, Which is true. And elevate it to a point of emphasis which is not given to it in the totality of Scripture. And what you end up doing is making an error of what is true. And particularly when this comes to the matter of activity for Christ.
It needs to be balanced equally. with the emphasis of our resting In Christ. You remember in Mark chapter 3, it says that, and Jesus called the 12 to be with him. I've always loved that. He called the 12, Mark 3:14, I think it is.
He called the twelve to be with him. The call of Christ to the individual is to be with Him. It is for Christ to be in us. It is for us to be in Christ. And yet we're bombarded by all kinds of materials on discipleship.
They're through in the bookstore. They're not all bad. It's not an unbiblical truth that they affirm. But the fact of the matter is, it appears like a poisonous snake, you know. especially to those of us who are energetic and well organized.
We know that we didn't come to Christ as a result of being energetic and well organized. We know that we were brought to Christ as a result of his amazing grace. But somehow or another we've developed a mindset That we keep ourselves in Christ. as a result of being energetic and well organized. That we keep our tally high.
on account of our ability to get out and do. And when we take the emphasis of the doing of our Christian lives. And absent it from the emphasis of the scripture on the being of our Christian lives. Then we make a mockery. of that which we propound.
There isn't much that I have read concerning this that has been of help to me at all. But last year I received a manuscript from a friend in the UK, from a publishing company in the UK, and they asked me if I would like write just a line that could perhaps be included on the fly leaf of the book. When I read it, it was very short. It has now come out at ninety-three pages. I find them to be some of the most challenging and riveting pages that I've read in a long, long time.
My comment, which has eventually emerged on the book, which arrived this week, simply reads: Only read if you're prepared to be challenged. And changed. I've been keenly awaiting the arrival of this book because I'm beginning to wonder to myself, I wonder if it's really as good as I remembered it. Because I remembered it as being profoundly helpful and amazingly influential in this respect. And so I want to read it.
In conclusion now. Not the whole book, you'll be pleased to know. But a little bit. The heart of legalism is an attitude as follows. I can make myself acceptable to God.
By what I do. Of course. Very few of us would ever say that we're legalistic. But it is the practical approach to the Christian life That is all too commonly pressed upon us in our churches and fellowships. even though it is never articulated as such.
The approach has a rationale which goes something like this. As far as my conversion was concerned, that was a matter of God's grace. We aren't saved by anything that we have done. In fact, we could do nothing to merit forgiveness even if we were given all the Sundays that there will ever be. But then Once saved, It's a different matter.
Now we can. No, we must Do these things. Which we can. To ensure our continuing acceptability to God. We were initially accepted by God on the basis of his love for us.
But now, being capable of doing good, We must maintain our acceptability by keeping the good works tally high. In slightly more theological language, we were justified by God's grace through faith in Christ, but practically speaking, we think and act as if we're sanctified by pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps. We thus come to God in worship and service and discipleship. on the basis of our works for God, And not on the basis of God's abiding work for us in Christ. This is subtle.
Thus, we set sail on a vast swamp of troubles. Acceptance becomes a matter of performance appraisal. Therefore, Assurance goes right out of the window. How can we ever know that we have done well enough? Or else, assurance becomes the expression of our arrogance and pride because we actually think that we have done well enough.
Jesus' amazing invitation in Matthew 11, 28, which should be such a relief to us, becomes an impossible burden. It's as if Jesus said, Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you a treadmill. Discipleship becomes a specialized course in the University of Legalistic Living. You listening to this? This is so subtle that a whole congregation, a whole church's orientation can go completely south by missing this.
That's why I'm telling you, this is a profoundly influential little book. What does this kind of approach bring to being a disciple of Christ look like in practice. First, It becomes task-oriented. rather than relationship-oriented. The tasks we undertake for God in that corner of existence known as Christian service.
become more important than the quality of our relationship and fellowship with Him. I've got to do that Sunday school thing. Yes, but do you walk with Christ? Do you talk with Christ? I've got to be present for that event.
Yes, but is He the lover of your soul? I have to make sure that I'm doing this. That's my accretion. Secondly, The energy is all the wrong way around. Instead of being motivated by love, we become motivated by the wrong sort of fear.
I was afraid of you. Akin to insecurity. Christian work becomes draining instead of joy giving. The reward for doing work well is uneasily hoped for instead of the work. being its own reward.
Those who are in full-time Christian work, salaried Christians, among whom I was included most recently, easily overwork. afraid of failing to reach the standard. We behave like those who are driven rather than those who are called. And thirdly, we develop in our task-oriented subculture a hectic life that is split three ways. The life of Christian work.
The life of secular work. and family life. Rarely do the demands of each coincide to build us up in our faith. Usually they form a kind of spiritual Bermuda triangle in which our Christian being disappears off the radar screen. Fearing that we might not make the grade in all departments, we ricochet off the incessant demands of each.
Sincerely, Conscientious, promising Christians suffer the most. In this Christian world, Discipleship becomes one of those words that makes anyone who has an ounce of normality still functioning within them groan. Rightly so. Keen. bright-eyed.
I've got my act together. Successful Christians are good at it. But it makes them intimidating or nauseating, unpleasant to live or work with. The rest of us, particularly if we're putting a bit of weight on already, will probably fail. On this line, discipleship is not life.
It's an added extra, like the turbocharger unit put in the engines of cars that most of us. would enjoy. It is being in Christ that rescues us from this swamp of legalistic discipleship. First, You can rest in Christ. In fact, you must rest in Christ.
Of course, his burden feels light to us. It is his burden. And though we now carry it with him, he doesn't need our help. It's rather like a fell tree being carried by an elephant and a flea. Overworked Christians can relax.
and take a day off. Second, you can come to God without insecurity and with precisely the kind of confidence and boldness that He has told us He wants to see. The fruits of security in Christ, who is our sanctification, and the new and living way into the presence of God. And thirdly, we avoid the compartmentalized life in which God is only really interested in the religious compartments. All life is embraced and redeemed by God.
I'm in Christ in the office, taking the kids to school, waiting in the doctor's surgery, at the supermarket, putting the business plan together, going on holiday, signing off with depression, joining the Bible study. Your whole life is in Him and for Him, not just the religious bits. Music, the visual arts, the imagination, windsurfing, cooking, volleyball. Basket weaving. Though possibly not mud wrestling.
Your whole life is discipleship in Him and for Him. And most crucially, in all these aspects of your life. In your whole discipleship. Listen. Your communion with Him.
becomes more important. than your operational efficiency. Jesus Christ gave his disciples remarkably little to do. In the sun, I live my whole life also as a son or daughter of the Father, not as an operative in a deity's factory. Which means, of course, that when I fail, I fail him who loves me, which makes it more heartful.
And praise God more hopeful. Because I don't face the sack.
Well, I'm just telling you this tonight. Lest in my preaching Out of a desire to be zealous in calling you as I call myself. Out of the realm of laziness and wickedness and passivity and inactivity. That I fall foul. Of being more interested.
in the operational efficiency of Parkside Church. And your operational efficiency in it. Then your communion. your walk your relationship. With the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is our being in Christ. That is the foundation of all our going for Christ. Therefore, As you review our study of today, I hope you'll keep this little P.S. In mind. Listening to Truth for Life with Alistair Begg.
Alistair returns shortly to close today's program.
Well, today's message wraps up our study in this volume of Luke's Gospel. I hope you benefited from our time looking at the Gospel of Luke, and if you missed any of the messages, you can catch up online. In fact, although we just wrapped up volume 10, you can watch or listen to the complete study of the Gospel of Luke from start to finish. This study and all of Alistair's teaching can be streamed for free on our mobile app, or on our website at truthforlife. org.
And if you'd prefer to own the complete series, you can purchase it on a USB for just five dollars in our online store at truthforlife. org slash store. or call us at eight eight eight five eight eight seven eight eight four.
Now, while you're on our website, let me remind you: if you lead a local church ministry or a Bible study, You should check out the newest release of our Four Pastors and Churches feature. There, you will find free and at-cost teaching that you can use for your Bible studies or to help with your evangelism efforts. And there's an encouraging six-lecture series from Alistair. that pastures can work through at their own pace. You'll find the For Pastors and Churches feature at truthforlife.org slash churches.
Now here is Alastair to close with prayer. God our Father grant then That the words of my mouth and the thoughts of our hearts may be found acceptable in your sight. For you, O Lord, are our strength and our Redeemer. And we pray in Christ's name as we bring to you our lives afresh and our offerings this night. Amen.
I'm Bob LePine. Thanks for joining us today. Tomorrow we'll begin a series called Life in the Spirit, where we'll learn what it means to be a Christian. and will find out how genuine faith should impact our day-to-day lives. I hope you can join us.
The Bible teaching of Alastair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life. Where the Learning is for Living.
