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Thinking Christianly All Year (Part 1 of 2)

Truth for Life / Alistair Begg
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December 30, 2024 3:04 am

Thinking Christianly All Year (Part 1 of 2)

Truth for Life / Alistair Begg

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December 30, 2024 3:04 am

As 2024 draws to a close, many reflect on successes and disappointments to determine if it was a good year. On Truth For Life, Alistair Begg demonstrates how two simple words, “But God,” can change your perspective on the past and on what lies ahead.



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This listener-funded program features the clear, relevant Bible teaching of Alistair Begg. Today’s program and nearly 3,000 messages can be streamed and shared for free at tfl.org thanks to the generous giving from monthly donors called Truthpartners. Learn more about this Gospel-sharing team or become one today. Thanks for listening to Truth For Life!









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As 2024 comes to a close, maybe you're beginning to reflect on the successes and disappointments of the last twelve months, trying to determine if you had a good year or not.

Did the joys outweigh the sorrows? Today on Truth for Life, Alistair Begg considers how two simple words, but God, can completely change our perspective on the past and on what lies ahead. I found myself coming to the end of the years saying, How should I think properly about the new year?

Not just today or last night, although definitely about last night and today. But how should I think? And the answer, of course, is that I should think Christianly. I should think about everything as a Christian thinks.

Because, like many of you, I have affirmed the truths that we have said this morning, both in the creed and then, secondly, in the catechism. And I recognize also, as do you, that the things that we think about and the things that we believe matter entirely. In his book Spiritual Depression, Its Causes and Cure, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, who was first a medical doctor and then a theologian and a pastor, encourages the readers of that book to talk to themselves. And this is what he says, Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you're listening to yourself rather than talking to yourself?

It's a very helpful book. He talks about how, when you wake up in the morning, where do those thoughts come from? You didn't induce them, but they are there. And he says, If you're going simply to listen to yourself, there is no saying where you may end up. Therefore, let's talk to yourself. It's that kind of thing that's in my mind, and because of that, I want to tackle with you three but-God statements. Three but-God statements. And the first of these statements is here in Genesis chapter 50. You're familiar with it.

In fact, you're familiar with all of them. I make no apology for the familiarity. And you will find that in the conversation between Joseph and his brothers, Joseph said to them, verse 19, Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today.

So do not fear, I will provide for you and your little ones. And thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. But God meant it for good. Joseph, without question, came from what we would refer to as a dysfunctional family. He was spoiled by his father, and he was hated by his brothers. And in their cruel and evil actions, for which they were responsible, God was actually at work, in and through their evil, without being the initiator of it, raising Joseph to the very place that was necessary for the salvation of those not only of the family of Jacob but for more people besides.

And that's why he was able, then, to say, Don't fear. As for you, you meant it evil, but God meant it for good. If in those circumstances, when he was taken away, when he was thrown in the pit, when he was stripped naked and sold as a slave, when he was taken into the house of Potiphar and so on, if he had simply been saying to himself, when he ended up in the jail again, if he'd simply said, I wonder why this has happened to me, if he'd simply asked that question, he would never have had the perspective that is given to us in verse 20 of 50. You see, in short order, it was Joseph's dependence upon the providence of God that enabled him to live as he lived, that enabled him to endure trials without complaint, and enabled him, in his great elevation and in his encouragements, to receive them as with a humble heart. Now, it would be very easy just to stay with this one but God.

I can't do that. I need to move on. But let me commend to you, again, the reading of the story of Joseph. And along with that, as we think of providence, in the reading of Esther and in the reading also of Ruth, all of them will help us in that way. You see, God not only has created those which he has made, but by his divine energy he has preserved, as the Bible tells us, all who he has made, and he is directing all that comes to pass in the world to the end that he has appointed it. How will our confidence in God's providential dealings work out in our lives?

Well, that's a sermon on its own, but will it mean at least this? Gratitude for the benefits that we enjoy. Humility in any successes that we experience.

Security in the face of unfolding chaos. Forgiveness towards those who have injured us or wronged us. Whatever grudge, lack of forgiveness we may hold onto as a new year dawns, God forgive us for doing so. But if we do, are you feeling that way because somebody sold you into a pit, because somebody tried to remove your life from you, because you were in that predicament?

No, not for a moment. And not only forgiveness towards those who have wronged us, but freedom from worry about the future. You see, the doctrine of providence is mysterious. Calvin, who wrote of it a lot, said he wrote not by way of explanation but by way of confession.

It's a very important distinction. He was able to say, I understand this and I understand that, but I don't write concerning the mysterious work of God in providence by way of explanation but rather by way of confession. And in a commentary on Calvin's Institutes, David Cahoon makes this amazing statement. He says, This doctrine does not answer all our questions, but it enables us to live without answers until the time comes when we will live without questions. For then we will see him, and we will know him, even as we are known. So, that is the first book, God—the doctrine of providence providing a soft pillow for all who place their heads there.

From that we move from comfort to challenge. And I invite you to turn to Luke and to chapter 12, the context in which Jesus tells this parable, and it's one of about thirty-five parables that Jesus has given us that are recorded in the Scriptures. The context, as you will see, is an approach by someone in the crowd asking for Jesus to intervene on his behalf and on a matter of inheritance. I'm not getting what I should get.

Could you please get into this for me and speak on my behalf? Jesus says, No, I'm not going to do that. No, that's not why I came.

I didn't come here to make those kind of judgment calls. But then he said to them, But I have a warning for you. Take care and be on your guard against all covetousness. For one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. Covetousness is just idolatry.

It is a form of finding our desires in something other than God. What is actually our default desire, the thing we long for, will ultimately be the focus of our worship, will be our God, if you like, with a small g. So he issues that warning, and then to bring it home, he tells this story. He tells this parable. There was a man—he was a rich man, that's okay. He was a rich man, and he'd had a bumper year. His crops were overflowing. He was successful. That's not a problem either. We're told that the reason for his success is on account of the fact that the land of the rich man had produced plentifully.

All right? He hadn't come up with a great idea for IT. He hadn't done something that could be attributed ultimately to his initiative and his ingenuity—which, of course, would be another matter for consideration under God's care.

Leave that aside for the moment. But rather, it was the land that had produced plentifully. Now, anybody listening to the parable says, Well, of course, one can plant and another can water, but only God can make things grow. So look what has happened here. God has provided in abundance through what the man has done by way of the sowing of his crops and so on. And the people who were listening to the story would be aware of the fact that that was something for which to be thankful to God.

And yet what happens? Well, he thought to himself, What shall I do? For I have nowhere to store my crops. Apparently, he had no plan for profit-sharing. He wasn't particularly interested in distribution strategy. And clearly, he wasn't particularly interested in simply adding to what he had.

Notice what the text says. No, he says, I'm not just going to add another little bit here. I'm going to tear the whole operation down. This is an amazing opportunity. This is a chance for me to just build it up again. Everyone in the community will be able to say, My, my, what a year he's had! What an amazing job he has done! No, I'll be able to do this.

This is absolutely tremendous. I'll tear down my barns, I'll build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain, all my goods, all my everything. And I will talk to myself. You say, Well, you just started this morning telling us we're supposed to talk to ourselves. Yes, we are, said Lloyd-Jones, but we're supposed to talk sense to ourselves. We're supposed to talk truth to ourselves. He talks to himself.

He talks nonsense to himself. And I will say to my soul, the epicenter of my existence, soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years. You've got it covered now. This takes care of the future. There's no more need for industry and endeavor.

You can relax. My grain, my goods, many years. He thought he could control everything, but he couldn't control his lifespan. His thinking was shortsighted. This man never saw beyond himself, and he never saw beyond this world. Never saw beyond himself, never saw beyond this world. He forgot about God, and he ignored the reality of death.

He acts as if he is immortal, and he fails to recognize that he is accountable. Now, I know some of you are involved in business and in accounting and in planning and in estate planning. Do you want to know the biggest mistake anyone ever makes in estate planning?

It is this. Not preparing to meet God. I have a will. You have a will.

There are eventualities that are represented in it. But the great reality is that it will only be read, because I have gone to meet God. And you will meet God. But God said, fool, he thought he had forever. Tonight your soul will be required of you. Remember Jesus said, What profit shall it be for a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul? The timing thing is important.

I think that's why it's on my mind on the first. There's an old story—I think I've learned it first in a Berkeley commentary years ago—where the devil is being approached by some of his subordinate devils, if you like, and they're going to go out to do their evil business and to dissuade people from trusting in God. And the first devil comes, the apprentice comes, and he says, You know, I'm going to go, and I'm going to tell people that there is no God. And the devil says, That will never work, because everyone knows there is a God. Romans chapter 1.

Creation. Conscience. The second fellow comes and says, Well, I'm going to go and tell people that there is no judgment. And the devil says, And that won't work either, because the conscience of every man and woman knows that they are accountable to someone other than themselves and ultimately to God. And the third fellow said, I will go and tell them there is no hurry.

There is no hurry. And the devil says, Go, and you will do amazing damage. Here we are, the first of the year. Are you going to sit in response to the truth of the Bible and say, Well, I've got another whole year in front of me? But God said tonight. That brings me to the third, but God, which takes us back to Romans chapter 5, and you will have already identified where it's to be found. Verse 8, But God shows his love for us. In a while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

You know, that question is a good question. If you were to die tonight and God were to say, Why should I let you into my heaven? What would you say? What would I say? Would I plead philanthropy or morality? I did a really good job.

I certainly, towards the end, I really cleaned up good. No, the only answer is the answer here in chapter 5 and in verse 8. There is no reason, Almighty God, save for the fact that Christ died for the ungodly. Newton used to write hymns out of his sermons on January 1. And in January 1, 1773, he preached from Chronicles, in the great statement made by David, But who am I, O God, that you have done all these things for me? How amazing that you would care for me, provide for me, do these things for me, given all of my checkered past and everything. And so he introduced, two hundred and fifty years ago today, amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. In the Library of Congress, apparently they have over three thousand recordings done by different people over many years of this hymn.

How do we account for its lasting value? Well, for some, it's just a tune played by Scottish bagpipers, which should be left alone, really. But for others, it's an expression of the reality of this but-God dimension. But God, looking down upon me, loved me, gave his Son for me, wooed me, won me. When I was deaf to his voice, the Spirit gave me life, the secret work of the Spirit of God. My mom gave me a Bible, a lady next door gave me a book, somebody invited me to a Bible study, I heard a sermon, whatever it might be, and I could always hear the external voice.

I could see it in the page, I could hear it in the sound of words. But then your Spirit gave me life. I had no ears to hear your voice. You see, that's what I always say to you. Today, if you hear his voice, his voice, do not harden your hearts.

I assume you can hear my voice unless you have earplugs in. His voice. That was what Newton gave to his congregation.

The Wall Street Journal—and with this I'm going to draw to a close—the Wall Street Journal, in its Saturday essay, had, for the new year, figuring out what matters most. And it provided us with five strategies to help us think more clearly about things. And the first of the five strategies was, quotes, Try a thought experiment. Try a thought experiment. I said, Well, there you go. You see? Try thinking. Try thinking. How do you think Christianly?

How do I think about what the Wall Street Journal wrote down here? And the thought experiment was, you know, simple stuff like, Imagine that your house is burning down. What do you go back in for? Do you go for your dog first? Do you go for your laptop? Presumably, you take your wife or your husband out with you, but what do you go back for? What matters most?

And then they just applied it along those lines. There's no mention, really, of eternal values, because there won't be. Only the Bible calls us to that. And in the course of the article, the writer says, you know, most people are just muddling through life with only a vague idea of what matters most and why it even matters. Just muddling through life.

I got enough. You know, one of the phrases that has become so contemporary that it answers the question of paying eighty-five dollars for an Uber ride or committing adultery. People say, It is what it is. It is what it is. It's a shrug. It's bravado.

It is what it is. And that is is addressed by the prevailing love of God, who comes to seek us out. The diagnosis of our world is that we are, you know, dysfunctional, we have neuroses, we have incapacities. But don't worry, help is on the way. I have found help in no one and in nothing else, save in the help that is found in the third but God. But God, rich in mercy, Ephesians 2, has raised us up with Christ.

I wonder, is that your story this morning? But God meant it for good, a soft pillow, the doctrine of providence. But God said full, a severe warning, the doctrine of judgment. But God shows his love towards us, a song of salvation. You're listening to Truth for Life, that is, Alistair Begg encouraging us to seriously consider the vital and eternal doctrines of God's providence, his judgment, and salvation. These biblical values shape our mission at Truth for Life, which is to teach the Bible with clarity and relevance so that unbelievers will come to faith, believers will be established in their faith, and local churches will be strengthened.

And here's Alistair to share a little more about this. Thank you, Bob. And here we are, closing in on the very last day of 2024, on the threshold of 30 years in ministry, 30 years of the faithfulness of God and of your faithfulness. And I hope you know how grateful we are for the support which brings the teaching of the Bible to a global audience, one that's actually larger than we can measure.

As we end this year, as we go into 2025, we do so trusting God and with a great sense of anticipation. The resources that are needed in order to meet these huge goals comes from those who listen. And so if you've yet to contact us to support us in this way as the year ends, Bob will tell you how. It is easy and secure to donate online at truthforlife.org slash donate. Any amount you give helps bring the gospel message through Truth for Life to others. We can also accept your donation over the phone.

Our number is 888-588-7884. And if you'd rather mail your year-end donation, be sure it's postmarked before tomorrow, December 31st. Mail it to truthforlife at P.O.

Box 398000, Cleveland, Ohio 44139. And however you choose to make a year-end donation, be sure to ask for your copy of the book Every Moment Holy Volume 3. The book is our way of saying thanks. This third volume presents more than 120 prayers to cover everyday events and draw you closer to God throughout the day. Thanks for studying the Bible with us. Tomorrow, Alistair wraps up 2024 by drawing our focus away from ourselves and pointing us to God's glory. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life, where the Learning is for Living.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-12-30 06:40:09 / 2024-12-30 06:48:11 / 8

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