After King David confessed his sin, God not only forgave him, but he also taught him. How do you learn somebody who's on a course?
Have you noticed that? You sit down on the plane, so what are you doing? I'm on a course. You go in the coffee shop.
What's that big book? I'm on a course. Everyone's on a course.
Don't feel left out. If you are a follower of Jesus, you are on a course. And here it is. Not a golf course. An instruction course. Look at the verbs. Instruct, teach, counsel, watch over. Now, let's look at this under four headings, or four words, concerning this instruction. Let's notice, first of all, that it is vital. It is vital instruction. And it is vital for three particular classes of person. Number one, it is vital for the beginner.
For the beginner. If anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation, the old is gone, the new has come. Now, if we were asked to explain how the evidence of transformation is revealed, we might mention all kinds of things. Interestingly, in the context in which verse 17 falls in 2 Corinthians 5, Paul is pointing out that the big change in the person who has been changed is in, essentially, the way they view things. The way they view things. Before a person comes to trust in Jesus, they take pride in what is seen, they live for themselves, and they regard Jesus from a worldly point of view. But when a person is in Christ and becomes a new creation, these three things are altered. And the believer has an altogether different view of Jesus, of other people, and of himself or herself. Now, unless we're able to go to the Bible, to the instruction manual, then we're never going to know that kind of thing. By nature, we viewed ourselves in one way, and by grace, we see ourselves completely differently. And when we begin the Christian journey, we're so unaware of who God is, we're really unaware of ourselves and what we're like, our vulnerability to temptation and to dangers.
We're just, frankly, a bunch of babies. And we need to be suckled by the milk of God's Word, as Peter says when he writes to his followers. The instruction, then, is vital, first of all, for the beginner. Secondly, it is vital for the confused. For the confused. You've probably heard somebody remark, Well, you really shouldn't pay much attention to me.
I only know enough to be dangerous. Actually, that phrase reminds me of our son on one occasion, when he had cut his hand open with a bottle, and he went for stitches somewhere here in the Shugrin Valley, and they had him lying on the bed, and he had to lay his hand flat on a little tray as the doctor came to him—as a young-looking doctor. And our son looked up as he came towards him, and he said to the doctor, Do you ever mess one of these up?
And quick as a flash, the doctor said, I never did one of these before. Well, we don't want that kind of thing when it comes to our discovery of the details of the Christian faith. The Bible acknowledges that we are foolish people. We are wayward. That's why verse 9, to which we'll never come this morning, is right there—"Do not be like the horse or mule."
It's a very straightforward statement, isn't it? I think many of us would be tempted to take verse 8 and annex it—"I will instruct you and teach you, and the way you should go I will counsel you and watch over you." I'm sure somebody can put a lovely melody line to that. You know, I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.
It's a nice, cozy thought, isn't it? Well, who's gonna write the tune for, Do not be like the horse or the mule, which you have no understanding? It's not a nice way to treat people, is it?
They say, Hey, excuse me, listen up, class! Cut the horsey stuff, cut the mule stuff, would you? Listen! That's what he's saying. Don't be like a horse or a mule. What are horses and mules like? We'll talk about that later.
I'm still researching it. But the fact is, they're not particularly rational. That's why you have to nudge them and squeeze them and bang them and hook them and whip them and do all those things. And we are, by nature, confused people. The Galatians were confused. That's why Paul writes to them. He says, Are you foolish Galatians?
Are you getting confused all over again? Paul writes to Timothy, and he tells him, You need to understand that there will be people in your congregation who are swayed by all kinds of evil desires. They will be always learning and never able to acknowledge the truth.
Do you get that? Always learning, never able to acknowledge the truth. That's one of the saddest aspects of pastoral ministry, incidentally.
To have people under your tutelage and your care who, by a certain point on the road, ought to be teachers, but they're not, and they constantly, like children, drift from one idea to another. And their great need is the instruction which God provides. I know that you think that all I do is read Pilgrim's Progress, because I mention it so much. He says it's the only book he's ever read, apart from the Bible.
But it's not true. But when I was reading this again, I remembered the interchange between Christian and ignorance towards the end of Pilgrim's Progress. And let me just give this to you as a little test, okay?
I'm not gonna hand—you don't have to hand in papers, but I want you to think about this. This is ignorance speaking now. And our thought is the vital nature of the instruction for the confused.
Now, none of you are confused, I'm sure. Not like ignorance. Let's see. Ignorance speaks. I believe that Christ died for sinners and that I shall be justified before God from the curse through his gracious acceptance of my obedience to the law.
How's that sound? False? Good. One person said false. There's about twelve hundred in here. We don't know where we are with the rest. Or, says ignorance, Christ makes my duties that are religious, acceptable to his Father, by virtue of his merits, and so shall I be justified. Christian responds, Let me give an answer to this confession of thy faith. Number one, thou believest with a fantastical faith, for this faith is nowhere described in the Bible. Two, thou believest with a false faith, because it taketh justification from the personal righteousness of Christ and applies it to thy own. Thirdly, this faith maketh not Christ a justifier of thy person, but of thy actions, and of thy person for thy action's sake, which is false. Therefore, fourthly, this faith is deceitful, even such as will leave thee under the wrath in the day of God Almighty.
But I wouldn't be at all surprised if, on first reading, if I didn't set you up by letting you know that this was Mr. Ignorance's statement, that some of us might have had to think a great deal to see what is possibly wrong with this statement. After all, it begins so well, and it seems to make much of Jesus. And, of course, what it does is it underlines the absolute necessity of this instruction for those who are confused. And we dare not be confused about what it means to be put in a right standing with God not on the basis of any of our actions but on the basis entirely of what he has done—not on the basis of our keeping of the law but of his keeping of the law and of the fact that he was the sacrifice for our sins, because we are by nature lawbreakers. In essence, what Bunyan is addressing there is the idea that justification includes both the work of Christ and our good actions. And it doesn't, according to the Bible. It is all in what Christ has done.
All of our actions—it is faith alone that saves, but the faith that saves is not alone, because the faith is accompanied by actions, but those actions do not contribute to our acceptance with God. It's hard, you know, to say these things over and over again, as we do here on the pastoral team, and listen to some of you talk, or receive your emails, or the suggested conferences that we might attend as pastors, or the books that you have found so very helpful, to shake my head and say, Can it possibly be that these people who by this time ought to be teachers remain so confused? And thirdly, it is vital instruction for the forgetful. For the forgetful. You say, Well, I'm not confused, and I hope you aren't. I'm not suggesting that everybody is.
The potential is there, but most of us are forgetful, aren't we? That's why the Bible tells us again and again to remember. Remember Jesus Christ, Paul says to Timothy. Who could ever forget that? Remember Lot's wife, who looked back and turned back. Remember your Creator in the days of your youth. Indeed, the ministry of teaching and preaching is essentially a ministry of reminder.
Peter makes it clear when he says, I intend always to remind you of these things, even though you know them and are doing them, so that after my departure you may be able to recall all of this. Well, let's move on. We've spent too long on that.
I'm sorry. This instruction is vital. Secondly, this instruction is practical.
It is practical. It is not merely theoretical. God is not content for us to be loaded up with information, to have big heads, as it were—just gargantuan craniums stashed with phraseology and information. What do you know about what the Bible has to say about the doctrine of X?
And out it comes. And someone else, and the fact of the matter is that the information is given to us in order that it may be worked into the warp and woof of our lives. So, for example, a young man is going through his life, and he's seeking to be a follower of Jesus. He's trusted in Christ, and the heaviness has been replaced by this great happiness in finding the will and the way of God. And he's wrestling with the question of purity, and he reads in the instruction manual, and the instruction manual says that you're to live in purity. And as he is buffeted and challenged both by temptations from within and without, he finds himself saying, But how in the world am I supposed to do that? And he goes back into the instruction manual, and he finds the answer—that there is not simply the doctrine, but there is also the precept. Psalm 119.9. How will a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.
Here is the demand, here is the imperative, and here is the indicative. Vance Havner, the old Southern preacher, I heard just a couple of times before he died, after I arrived in this country. I always loved to hear him preaching on Moody.
He had that great voice, that great—and he used to say, Sin will keep you from this book, or this book will keep you from sin. Have you noticed? Neglect this, and it's much easier to sin. It's much easier to deviate. It's much easier to wander. It's much easier to play fast and loose with whatever's out there.
But when we have a steady daily diet and input of the instruction manual, it changes things. That's why we say to you, Did you go through there and get the New Testament in a year? Did you buy one? Do you have one?
Do you want one? How can we help you make sure that this instruction is intensely practical for you? I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. In the way you should go. Remember, Solomon says in Proverbs, there is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is death. And the way that we should go is different from the way that seems right to people. And that's what makes it so tremendously exhilarating and very often dreadfully challenging to go out into the thoroughfare of life and say that we're going this way, that we're going to go God's way, because God's way is perfect. And men and women say, But that's not the way most of us are going. Of course it isn't. And that's why the psalmist says, Teach me your way, O LORD.
Now, we must draw this to a close. How does this work itself out in life? Well, take any doctrine you want. Take, for example, the doctrine of creation. Here we have the instruction of God's Word about creation. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. That's the instruction. So we start from that point.
How does that work itself out? Well, it changes the way in which we view, for example, the elderly. It has a radical impact in the way in which we view the information coming from Great Britain that is suggesting that malformed babies, after birth, should be killed. It changes the way we view the elderly in our society and moves us from the realm of sheer pragmatism into wrestling with the consequences of this doctrine, this instruction that God made man in his own image, and therefore the image of man is to be protected and cared for because of who God is. Or, if we take the doctrine of Jesus, second person of the Trinity, the lordship of Christ—Jesus is Lord—the incarnation, it changes everything.
It came home to me this week when I was involved in a little interview with one of the local television channels here. And in the course of the interview, the gentleman pressed me routinely on the exclusive claims of Jesus—what he asked me about all the billions of people that have never heard of Jesus. What about all the comparative religions of the world? What do you have to say about that? What are you saying? Are you actually saying, Alistair, that Jesus is the only Savior? Now, there's one thing when your next-door neighbor asks you that question.
It's another thing when they've got you absolutely under a television camera, and you know the answer is going to go out to the whole of the Cleveland area. So what did I say? I'm not gonna tell you.
No, I will tell you. What I said was, I have no option but to affirm this fact. Jesus is the only Savior, because Jesus is the only one qualified to save. He is the only incarnate one. He is the only one who bore our sins. He is the only one who was raised from the dead.
He is the only God-man. Therefore, we are shut up to that. Well, then, what are you going to do? I said, we're going to go out into all the world, and we're going to tell as many people as we possibly can about this glorious, wonderful news that is as wide as the ocean and is as vast as the sands of the sea, and the company that God is putting together will involve people from every tribe and nation and people and language and tongue throughout the whole universe.
Now, how do we get to that? Only from the Bible. If Jesus is Lord, we have no freedom to believe anything other than what Jesus himself taught.
If Jesus is Lord, we have no freedom to behave in any other way than the way in which he said we must behave. So the instruction, vital as it is, is intensely practical. That's why Jesus said, There was a wise man, and he built a house, and he built it on solid foundations, and it didn't fall down when the storm hit. There was a foolish man, and he built a house, and he built it on the sand, and it collapsed when the storm hit. And he said, The one whose house stood is the picture of the man who hears my words and puts them into practice. But the collapsed house is the picture of the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice. I can only but imagine that his brother James listened very carefully to him on that day, because by the time James writes his letter, it is absolutely packed with practical information. And it is clear to James that this instruction that is provided for us changes everything—the way we conduct business, the way we handle money, the way we treat our employees, the way we view social standing. And this classic question is there for us.
What good is it if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? It would be like memorizing recipes, but never cooking meals, and certainly never sharing them with anyone who is hungry. This instruction is vital. It is practical.
Thirdly, I knew the word I had wrong. It is watchful. We can't come to that. And then, finally, of course, it is rational. But we'll come back to this. Father, thank you that we have a Bible that we can go away and read this stuff and check to see if it ties in with our research. We pray, Lord, for you to accomplish your purposes as a result of our study now and later. We thank you that you don't cry to us at arm's length, as it were, but that you've come right down and in beside us in the person of your Son Jesus. So, take me by your hand today and teach me, Lord, and lead the way, and let my words and life convey, that, Father, your love is faithful. Now, may the grace and the mercy and the peace from God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit be our portion now and forevermore.
Amen. Alistair Begg with a great reminder today of just how practical God's Word is. You're listening to Truth for Life. As Alistair explained today, Bible reading is essential for each one of us. If you don't have a Bible, you can access one right now on the Truth for Life mobile app.
Just click the Bible icon you see on the bottom toolbar, or you can purchase a soft cover edition of the Bible for just two dollars at truthforlife.org slash store. And if you're looking for a way to focus your thoughts on Jesus in the weeks leading up to Easter, we want to recommend to you a book titled An Ocean of Grace. This is a six-week devotional that includes daily meditations and prayers written by well-known Christians. These are authors from the past, people like Martin Luther and Charles Spurgeon. What we love about this devotional is the inspiration it offers from faithful believers who have lived throughout the centuries. Request your copy of An Ocean of Grace when you donate. Visit truthforlife.org slash donate.
Click the book image in the app or call 888-588-7884. Now here's Alistair with information about an exciting opportunity. Well thanks, Bob. You know, if you have yet to book your summer vacation plans, I have a suggestion. Why not join us as we take an adventure cruise to Alaska? At the end of August and into the beginning of September, I've been invited to be the Bible teacher on that occasion and it would be really fantastic to meet a number of you there. The views are spectacular, they tell me, and I'm sure everything about it will be super. What matters most to me is that I have the opportunity to greet many of you that I only know by name, and we're going to just enjoy not only the splendor of God's creation but the wonder of God's revelation to us in his word.
So there's more details to be found elsewhere. Bob can give you the website, the phone number, etc., but I hope you'll think about coming. And you can learn more and book your ticket for the cruise when you go to deeperfaithcruise.com or call 855-565-5519. Take note of that number again. It's 855-565-5519. I'm Bob Lapine. Thanks for listening. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life where the Learning is for Living.
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