Approved by God

Seize the day is a popular phrase that means live life to the fullest. Today on Truth for Life Weekend, Alistair Begg echoes this sentiment, but with an eye on the spiritual legacy we're establishing as well.

Will yours be helpful or harmful? This is another lesson for life that Alistair originally delivered to a college audience. He's titled today's message approved by God. Matthew 15. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. This of course is a verse that has been known to me. It was given to me when I was 15 years of age and moved from Scotland down to live in England and the Bible class that I was attending at that time gave to me a Bible and in it the inscribed the verse 2 Timothy 2 15 in the King James Version, study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. By the time I was reading Jim Elliot's diaries and journals, I realized that he said while a student here at Wheaton that he was studying ultimately for his AUG. Namely, that he was studying to be approved unto God.

We recognize how important approval is, the approval of our parents and our peers and certainly the approval of our professors as we seek to fulfill the requirements that we are given. But ultimately, as we live our lives, the approval for which we look, which is actually eternal in its dimensions, is the approval of God himself. And the words that are given by Paul to Timothy, who is his young lieutenant as it were in the faith, are the words of an older man now who, as you will note in chapter 4 and verse 6, describes his life as being at the end.

I'm already being poured out, he said, like a drink offering and the time has come for my departure. The word there is analusus. It's the word that you would use of weighing anchor, to head for home. It is the word that you would use for striking camp, to head for your permanent home.

It is the word that would have been used at that time to describe what you do when you send them back out into the pasture where they may rest for the remainder of the time. This is proved by God is one with which we can all relate. So let's then think in the remaining moments that we have about what it's going to mean for us to be approved by God.

And I want to think particularly about it in these terms. Our lives, we might describe as being like an artist's canvas. And on that canvas, we paint every day we live our lives. We're painting something. We're adding something to the picture. And eventually, we will leave behind, as it were, a picture which others will reflect upon and review, and the highlights of our lives and the things that have made us who we are and the contributions that we have made will remain for others to consider.

And today, we're painting. Oh, it may seem for some of us, perhaps freshmen, that all of the notion of the end is something we really don't want to think about. Because it all seems so far away. And I certainly don't want to be melancholy.

This is not some kind of morbid interest in bones. Rather, it's simply a call to take seriously the privilege and opportunity of time itself and the reality that each of us is leaving a legacy. None of us knows when there will be the last time for every journey. What will we leave behind? What if they wrote our obituary today?

What would they say? All of us are leaving legacies. Some of them will be helpful. Others of them will be harmful. Now, for your homework, what I'd like you to do is this. Go through 2 Timothy and think in terms of the legacies that people have left and mark the names of those who have left a harmful legacy and the names of those who have left a helpful legacy.

And let me give you a little bit of a start. For example, under harmful, you can immediately enter phygelus and hermogenes. Now, that is in verse 15 of chapter 1. You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including phygelus and hermogenes.

So, pretty tough, huh? Two lines or one line in the Bible, and it's a bad line. What a legacy. Or what about Demas in verse 10 of chapter 4?

Demas has deserted me. Or what about Alexander in verse 14? Alexander the metal worker did me a great deal of harm.

So when people look up, as it were, at the wall, and they see the picture of Alexander the metal worker, immediately they say, Alexander the metal worker did the apostle Paul a great deal of harm. That's his legacy. And all of us are leaving a legacy in the immediacy. Every time you walk out of a room, you leave a legacy. Oh, it's not a legacy in the strictest term. You didn't leave money behind, or you didn't leave paintings behind, or something like that. I mean in terms of leaving behind a deposit that is either for good or ill. You either walk out of the room and you leave a fragrance behind, or you walk out of a room and people are glad you took the stink with you, quite honestly.

And I'm not telling you in physical terms. That's why when you read gravestones, it's very helpful. You say, well, I've never really read gravestones. Well, you should.

It's a good time. And indeed, Ecclesiastes tells us that it's better to go to the house of mourning than to a house of fools. Because in the house of mourning, when the bell tolls, it registers. And there are wonderful gravestones. Let me just give you one to whet your appetite for your new career of gravestone reading. In Scotland, interred… interred… buried… I just didn't need to do that here. This is sweet and sorry. But anyway, interred, beneath this kirk-gerd stain, stone, lies stingy Jimmy Wyatt, who died one morning just at ten and saved at dinner by it. Okay? So, he was stingy in his life, and he is stingy in his death, and everyone who walks through the gavro said, there's old stingy Jimmy again.

We're all doing that. To this point, harmful, like this group, or helpful, like this group? For example, verse five of chapter one, Lois and Eunice. What a wonderful legacy they left.

I long to see you. I've been reminded of your sincere faith, a faith which lived first in your grandmother, Lois, and in your mother, Eunice. In other words, here are people who had invested their lives in their children and in their grandchildren, and some of us this morning are a product of that kind of legacy, and we bless God for it.

What most of us in our youthfulness fail to understand is that we are actually in the process already of leaving a legacy for others who will come behind us, and each of us today has those for whom we are immensely thankful. If you look at verse 16, you have Onesiphorus. At least, I imagine that that is what his name is, although I had the dreadful thought, not a particularly biblical thought, that perhaps this man, his name, spoke to one of his characteristics, and that was when somebody said to him, would you like a drink of Coke? He used to say, just one sip, and his name was actually Horace, and he became known as Onesiphorus.

You see that? So that's his legacy right there. That is totally ridiculous, and I'm sorry for mentioning it, but anyway, I think most of you will have a difficulty now forgetting this particular gentleman, Onesiphorus, but look at Onesiphorus. He often refreshed me. He wasn't ashamed of my chains. He searched hard for me until he found me.

In other words, he was an all-round good guy. When he said he looked for you, he really looked for you. When he said he'd be there, he was really there. When he said he'd call, he would really call. If he said he'd write, he'd really write.

You could rely upon him. That's his legacy, or what about Timothy himself, to whom he writes as his young man? There's no one else like him, he says to the Philippians, who will take a genuine interest in your welfare. He exhorts Timothy.

I want you to correct, and I want you to rebuke, and I want you to encourage. Or, for example, in chapter 4 and verse 11, what about Luke, the doctor? Only Luke is with me.

That's the sentence. Only Luke is with me. There's no indication that Luke was a great evangelist, not a sterling Bible teacher. But rather, the thing that Luke has left behind is fidelity, it's loyalty, it's integrity, it's humility. Do you know that eloquence, human eloquence, and mental cleverness will very quickly be forgotten? Kindness is long remembered. Kindness is long remembered. I can guarantee you that very few of you will remember where you actually fitted in the academic pecking order. Most of you will actually want to forget. But very few of you will remember those things about your friends.

Oh, it may strike you immediately in the first test that comes back, or whatever else it is, and there will always be one or two who excel, and we will remember them for that. But by and large, out of a large student body like this, let me tell you the things that will be remembered. It will be things like kindness, gentleness, honesty, integrity, love, joviality, peace in the midst of trauma, genuine expressions of concern.

And then you can go on and do the rest for yourself. Helpful or harmful? What about our legacy? How, then, are we going to live in order that we might be approved by God, and as a result of knowing his approval, be eminently helpful to those around us? Number one, determine to live so as to be missed for the best things.

Determine to live so as to be missed for the best things. Paul says to Timothy 4.7, I've fought the good fight, I've finished the race, I've kept the faith. What a wonderful legacy. I met a gentleman for breakfast this morning.

We're probably the same age. And we looked at one another as we parted, and we said, And what shall we pray for one another? And as we stood on the corner of the street in Wheaton, we said, Let's pray for one another that will finish strong. Let's just pray for one another that will finish, that we won't throw ourselves down in the grass, for it's a relay race. Indeed, it's a cross-country race that lasts for all of our lives and has implications into eternity. And we don't want it to be bursts of enthusiasm, followed by periods of chronic inertia.

We don't want it to be such that we're known for little spurts every now and then, but most of the time we can be found languishing around somewhere behind the stands, unwilling to take off our tracksuit and get back in the race. When you and I understand that there are others who are waiting in that box, however large it is in the 440 or the 400 meters, who are waiting in that box and have just actually now begun to make their run so that they may time it exactly so that you may place into their hands that which another previously has placed into yours, then you realize you don't live to yourself and you don't die to yourself. It's not up to you whether you're going to be a solid Christian or not.

You want God's approval? Then make it your determined aim to be missed, if we're to be missed for the best things. That the gap that is left behind by our absence, because we take a semester out, or because of something that takes us away from here, or in the end of our days, as death takes us, that we will be missed for kind words, and for good deeds, and for short notes, and for good laughs. I can guarantee that if my death were now, my children would not be reciting my sermons.

Because the things that have marked them in the silent, ongoing issues of life will not actually have been these formal things. So determined to live so as to be missed for the best things. Secondly, do not underestimate the impact of a solitary life lived to God's glory.

Do not underestimate the impact of a solitary life lived to God's glory. The devil is essentially two bullets in his gun, one to give you a fat head, and when you have a fat head and you're an egotist, you will be useless to God and a genuine nuisance to everyone around you. Or, the other bullet he fires is to give you a pinhead, and to so discourage you and disillusion you that you believe that you can bring nothing to the table, that you can offer nothing at all.

And in both cases, he has completely neutralized us. That's why the Bible says, let no one among you think of himself more highly than he ought, but let everyone think of himself with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith that God has given you. So you can say, with the Anglican minister of years ago, perhaps even a bishop, I am only one, but I am one. What I can do, I ought to do. And what I ought to do, by God's grace, I will do.

Do not sell yourself short. Don't underestimate the impact of a solitary life lived to God's glory. Thirdly, if you're going to be remembered as one of the crowd, make sure it's the right crowd. And the distinction there is between verse 16 and verse 19 of chapter four, where he says, at my first offense, no one came to my support, everyone deserted me. That's not the crowd you want to be in. No, the crowd you want to be in is in verse 19, Priscilla, Aquila, Erastus, Onesiphorus, Trophimus, Eubulus, Pudens, who obviously love desserts, Linus, Claudia, and the brothers, and so on. So if you're going to be remembered as one of the crowd, make sure it's the right crowd.

That's obvious. If you go with the crows, you're sure to be shot. And fourthly and finally, determine that with God's help, you will seize the day, because we never know when we've just made our final deposit in the legacy we're leaving. Let me finish with these couple of thoughts. In fact, perhaps these three statements from people who have impacted my life and continue to. I've already mentioned Elliot, and you know his quote, so let's just reiterate it again.

It seems only appropriate. He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. Never did he realize when he wrote that somewhere around here that he would pay the ultimate price. But because he had determined that what he was studying for was God's approval, he was ready when the time came.

In the same vein, C.T. Studd, who was the son of a very wealthy family who played cricket for Cambridge and for England, God lay a hold upon his life. God lay a hold upon his life. He sets out to take the name of Christ around the world.

And if you go to the worldwide evangelization crusade headquarters in Buckinghamshire, in Bulstrode, you will find there a number of artifacts that are in various glass cases. It's not particularly impressive, but I found it profoundly moving. And there you will find one of his great statements.

If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice that I could ever make for him could ever be too great. There is an inherent logic in that statement. And then finally, to the Scotsman who dies in China as a schoolteacher, to Eric Liddell, invited by the Edinburgh Evening Standard to explain why it was that he had been so successful in the 400 meters when, in approaching the 1924 Olympics in Paris, he had planned to run in the 100 meters and hadn't trained for the 400 meters.

It's a dramatic thing when you think about it, even after all this time. I think it is an impossible feat today. I don't think there is any sprinter who runs the 100 meters who could make the transition to the 400 meters within a week and actually run to Olympic gold.

But he did. And they asked him, when he came back to Edinburgh, can you explain your strategy for running the 200 meters? And he said, I ran the first 200 as fast as I could, and then, with God's help, I ran the second 200 even faster.

Do you know what one of the great temptations is in Christian living? It's to reach your cruising altitude. You know when he says, ladies and gentlemen, we're now cruising. And everybody sort of goes, hey, you know, peanuts time.

Pass me the magazine, you know. And that initial is over. And it's like, hmm. I meet a lot of people, and that's exactly where they are.

Just, hmm. So you ran the first 200. You're ready to run the second 200 even faster. You're prepared to get away at the end of these couple of days just by yourself somewhere. Say, Lord Jesus, I want to thank you for bringing me here. I want to thank you for all the opportunities that I've enjoyed so far and are before me. And as I try and assimilate all the things that we've been thinking about in these days, it's really clear, I want to do my best to know your approval on my life. And I want to remind myself that there's only one life, and it will soon be past. And only what's done for Jesus will last.

You're listening to Truth for Life Weekend with Alistair Begg. Alistair returns in just a moment with a closing prayer. Today's message makes it clear that it is important to be mindful of the legacy we're establishing. The legacy we'll be leaving so that we'll be missed for the best things. It's our prayer at Truth for Life that every listener will leave behind a rich legacy of faith. That's why our mission is to teach the Bible with clarity and relevance every single day. We do this trusting that God will use the teaching of his word to bring unbelievers to saving faith, to build up believers in their own faith, and encourage local churches to remain loyal to Christ to the very end. I'm excited to let you know Alistair has released a brand new book that will help you understand how to live out your faith. It's titled The Christian Manifesto, and in this book Alistair examines what Jesus taught in Luke chapter 6, which is sometimes known as the sermon on the plane. Alistair writes, here's a manifesto for the Christian life straight from the lips of Jesus as he gathered both his followers and those who are thinking about becoming followers on a level place on a plane.

He taught them one of his most famous sermons. This is a manifesto that is not oriented toward the political arena but toward the relational and individual one. In the book Alistair walks you through the teachings of Jesus and what it looks like to adopt this manifesto as your own.

You can learn more about the book The Christian Manifesto on our website at truthforlife.org. Now here is Alistair. Father, for the privilege of these days with these dear students here and the faculty members, I thank you for every kindness I've been shown, for the immense privilege of having this pulpit, and I pray now your attendant blessing on this student body, that you will save those who teach from error and from pride, and that you will grant to them a genuine sense of dependence upon you as they underpin every discipline by the overarching truth of your word. For every student that they may give themselves wholeheartedly to the task of being a student, to the privilege of friendship, to the opportunities of sport and relaxation, that you will raise up from among this company today fantastic young ladies and strong and useful young men, and grant that since we recognize that to one degree or another we are leaving a legacy behind, that we may be those individuals who are helpful rather than a hindrance. So we commit our day to you and all of our days to you, thanking you for the extent of your love in the Lord Jesus Christ, into whose care and keeping we commit one another now in his precious name. Amen. I'm Bob Lapine. Thanks for listening this weekend. Are you more of a warrior than a warrior? Next weekend we'll learn the biblical solution for your fear. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life, where the Learning is for Living.