Compassion vs. Condemnation

the following message by Alistair beg is made available by Truth For Life For more information visit us online at truth forlife.org I invite you to turn with me to the Gospel of Luke and to chapter 13 and to follow along I've been I should say Luke chapter 15 and to follow along as I read from here uh let me tell you what I plan to do I want to say a word or two from the text here somewhat briefly I then want to um give you some of the background to the influences on my own thinking in relationship to these things and um then perhaps some uh concluding comments for those of you who have just arrived and you say I don't have a clue what he's talking about well just ask someone next to you I'm sure somebody has some idea um and and if not become clear in the end Luke chapter 15 and uh we read now the tax collectors and sinners were all Drawing Near to hear him and the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled saying this man receives Sinners and eats with them so he told them this Parable what man of you having a hundred sheep if he has lost one of them does not leave the 99 in the open country and go after the one that is lost until he finds it and when he has found it he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing and when he comes home he calls together his friends and his neighbors saying to them Rejoice with me for I have found my sheep that was lost just so I tell you there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance or what woman has having 10 silver coins if she loses one coin does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it and when she's found it she calls together her friends and neighbors saying Rejoice with me for I found the coin that I had lost just so I tell you there is Joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents and he said there was a man who had two sons and the Young of them said to his father father give me the share of property that is coming to me and he divided his property between them not many days later the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country and there he squandered his property in Reckless living and when he had spent everything a severe famine arose in that country and he began to be in need so he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country who sent him into his fields to to feed pigs and he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate and no one gave him anything but when he came to himself he said how many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread but I perish here with Hunger I will arise and go to my father and I will say to him father I've sinned against heaven and before you I'm no longer worthy to be called your son treat me as one of your hired servants and he arose and came to his father but while he was still a long way off his father saw him and felt compassion and ran and embraced him and kissed him and the son said to him father I've sinned against heaven and before you I'm no longer worthy to be called your son but the father said to his servants bring quickly the best robe and put it on him and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet and bring the fattened calf and kill it and let us eat and celebrate for this my son was dead and is alive again he was lost and his found and they began to celebrate now his older son was in the field and as he came and Drew near to the house he heard music and dancing and he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant and he said to him your brother has come and your father has killed the fatten C have because he received him back safe and sound but he was angry and refused to go in his father came out and intreated him but he answered his father look these many years I've served you and I never disobeyed your command yet you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends but when this son of yours came who has devoured your property with Pro prostitutes you killed the fattened calf for him and he said to him son you're always with me and all that is mine is yours it was fitting to celebrate and be glad for this your brother was dead and is alive he was lost and is found amen a brief prayer together Our Father we thank you for the testimonies that we've just heard of your grace and your goodness the way in which you work mysteriously and wonderfully in the hearts and minds of men and women showing us who we are and showing us how much we need Jesus and then bringing us to that wonderful closing reality of faith in him we thank you that the heartbeat of you the father is for those who are to be added to your family and we thank thank you that as we read the Bible we don't have to stretch to find that application and so we pray that as we have these moments together now given the framework out of which uh we come to this evening we pray that the Holy Spirit Will preside over all of my words all of my thinking our thinking and that you will give to us a great sense of joy and Delight in the privilege that you've granted to us of seeking to see unbelief people become the committed followers of Jesus Christ and it's in jesus' name we pray amen all right the context is set in the opening two verses now that tax collectors and sinners were all Drawing Near to hear him and the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled and the reason for their complaint was this man receives Sinners and eats with them them and so he gives to us these uh three pictures first of having sheep all of them secure one lost seeking it the joy that follows it then this picture of uh either a necklace or whatever it might have been and the loss of one of these pieces and then all of the search for it and the joy that is represented in that is uh nothing compared to the Joy before the angels of God he says over a sinner who repents and then he moves on to give to us this story of the two sons and clearly uh the end of this um chapter which begins in verse 25 with the record of the older son is Jesus making sure that the Pharisees do not miss the application of what he's saying that people would be able to hear this and they would be able to say well I see myself in this uh I once was lost but now I'm found I once was blind but now I see but perhaps other people listening would not make those applications at all and there are two sons who are lost in this chapter one is lost far away and the other one is lost close up and I want just to point three things out concerning this older son his acknowledgement of his brother's return is at best a grudging acknowledgment and three observations the first is this uh the discovery that this man hated to make the discovery that he hated to make um he discovers as we're told in the text that there was music and there was dancing and the celebration was already in place he he then dispatches in verse 26 one of the servants uh to go and investigate in fact he asks the servant what is it that's going on with all of this celebration and of course the servant tells him your brother has come and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound the expectation I think would be at least on the part of the servant that this would be a source of real Joy for this brother that uh he would understand that um his brother had been gone had been lost to him and lost to the family in many ways and now he was back but the reaction of the elder brother is certainly not celebration and we're told that he was angry and he refused to go in he could not celebrate the fact that his brother had come back and that his father had been prepared to accept him so the discovery that he hated to make is also Then followed by the sympathy that he failed to express uh he sent a servant to find out what was going on he could easily have gone himself couldn't he but he didn't want to be contaminated I think by the situation as it was unfolding he sends a servant the father doesn't send the servant back by way of response but the father comes back himself that of course is an important principle isn't it that the father came out and entreated him he came out and implored him he came out and beseeched him the perspective of the father is a yearning for both of his sons he rejoices that one has returned but he's concerned because he has another one actually in his own backyard that doesn't understand the reality of that which the other boy has discovered and what Jesus is making clear here is the fact that God is a seeking God that God is seeking those who are far from him whether they're a long way away or whether they're actually close up and the father goes out to both of them you will notice in the story of the other boy he decides he's coming back to his father he's prepared his speech I will say to him I've sinned against heaven and in your sight I'm no longer worthy to be called your son and he arose and came to his father but then the very next phrase is so wonderful isn't it but when he was still a great way off his father saw him how did his father see him when he was a great way off because he was looking for him why was he looking for him because the heart of the father yearned for his boy there's no difference here why does he go out and entreat him why does he go out and implore him because he Longs for him and the absence you see of forgiveness in on the part of the older brother reveals something it reveals that he doesn't understand the nature of forgiveness that he doesn't understand what it means to actually be forgiven and as a result of that he doesn't have the capacity to forgive others who need the Forgiveness now if if I can cross reference the the book which gave rise to the response to the grandmother which gave rise to the interview about the book there's logic in me parlaying to here because what I'm saying is unless unless someone understands the Forgiveness of God and how we are so in the wrong with God whether you're a religious Pharisee or whether you're a lost cause a drug addicted crazy person the same grace of God is what Woos us and wins us and brings us to himself if we do not understand the nature of our predicament then we never understand the reality of our forgiveness and in this book that's what I'm actually saying and because we're working from the sermon on the plane and we are understanding the fact that Jesus well let me just quote it the proof that we understand how we have been loved by God says Jesus is to love our enemies the kind of love that is only possible as God enables Us by the Holy Spirit love your neighbor as yourself when the category of neighbor includes everyone you meet including your enemies to do so is a supernatural action and it is an act action that is proof of our Salvation this is supposed to be an uncomfortable challenge quote it is certainly un very uncomfortable to me that's what I'm saying in the book here is how I think through what it would mean for me to live out Jesus command myself I think of people who are behaving in a way that rejects God and his ways now what you need to know is that when I'm w in this I am actually dealing with the circumstances that were in Our Minds when we studied Romans chapter 1 the reality of the finger in the face of God that is represented in those who have turned their backs on God even to the point of their own sexuality being turned upside down so when I write the line uh I think of people who are behaving in a way that rejects God that is a comprehensive reality but this is what is in my mind who reject God and his ways that undermines What God Says glues societies and families together what glues societies and families together the reality of conjugal love in a heterosexual monogamous marriage that produces children they reject God they reject his ways they do it publicly and they do it in a fashion that makes it absolutely clear that they have no interest in it while quotes mocking Christians as bigots that's the context naturally I do not like them quote but I am called to the supernatural work of loving them not ignoring them not avoiding them but actively seeking to bless them I am not called to walk on past them like the religious leaders in the parable of the Good Samaritan no I am called to be like the Sam Samaritan who is the classic illustration of loving and lending and doing good without a calculator and without the expectation of a payback now that is then the context when a grandmother phones me up in tears and Gravely concerned for the circumstances in relationship to one of our grandchildren I'm not quoting the book to her I'm only responding to her she wrote a long letter it sat on my desk for a long time this happens to us all as pastors all the time and on that occasion when I listened to her talk my great concern was for her and for her relationship with her granddaughter I wasn't thinking about the nature of the circumstances in that moment of time all I was thinking about was how can I help this grandmother not to lose her granddaughter who is already publicly turned her back on God and her back on God's design and in every other way and in the course of that conversation I said you know one of the ways in which to catch your granddaughter off guard is actually do the opposite of what she expects you to do what does she expect you to do avoid her stay away from her don't get contaminated by the situation I said well isn't that interesting so what would happen if you actually went well that gave great pause and I said but you should talk to your husband you got a work out your own salvation with fear and trembling those were all the caveats that went around the conversation but then I said well I think you should go and why don't you give her a gift well how would I ever know that I would set the cat among the pigeons because after all it was a personal conversation between myself and somebody that I've never met in my entire life and it was born out of the kind of conviction that I was personally re Reckoning with with myself I don't like this I'm opposed to this I do not endorse this I have no interest in this but this is my granddaughter now it's that context then that gave rise to that now I got to come back to the text because that was a deviation the discovery that he hated to make the sympathy that he failed to express you see what the problem is with this guy is that he use himself as the modal son he actually passes himself off in that way but he thinks he's the model son but he's living in the father's house like a slave that's his terminology I've never disobeyed your commands I've been serving you you see the Pharisees were committed to slavish outward obedience while inwardly they were estranged from God and they said to one another if only we can make sure that we don't get ourselves contaminated by any of that then surely we'll be in a perfect position but look at the way the fellow operates and Jesus is telling this story and the awareness of the fact that it is these religious leaders who are opposed to him who will eventually kill him in verse 29 I never dis obeyed you you never gave me a goat no I I didn't get what I deserved but this your son can't even bring him to say my brother this your son actually this son of yours who has devoured your property with prostitutes who said anything about prostitutes Pharisees often complain loudly of sins they would be quite interested in committing themselves be very very careful when you hear your pastor or your teacher whoever it is lambasting a certain area of life especially in the realm of morality time and time again you will discover that that loud protestation actually sadly tragically proved to be a very thin smoke screen for what was actually going on in the hearts of these people the last thing by way of observation is that there is in this a necessity that he refused to accept he refused to accept the necessity of what had happened the father says to him son you're always with me all that as mine as yours it was fitting it was necessary I think in the NIV or the King James version it was necessary to celebrate and be glad this isn't just something that I I dreamt up on the Fly no you see the son the religious person unchanged by Grace is always dealing in rewards am I doing well enough am I accepted well enough so either they become horribly arrogant because they think they're doing so well or they become thoroughly depressed because they know they're not doing well at all I didn't get the rewards I didn't get the things that I deserve that's essentially what he's saying and this son well he doesn't understand Grace he doesn't understand it at all the younger son had a song to sing that the older son knew nothing about in tenderness he sought me weary and and sick with sin and on his shoulder brought me back to his home again while angels in his presence sang until the courts of Heaven rang oh the love that sought me oh the blood that bought me all the grace that brought me to your fold to the Sheepfold wondrous grace that brought me to the fold in that conversation with that grandmother I was concerned about the well-being of their relationship more than anything else hence my counsel don't misunderstand that in any way at all if I was in the receiving end of another question about another situation from another person in another time I may answer absolutely differently but in in that case I answered in that way and I would not answer in any other way no matter what anybody says on the internet as of the last 10 days if that were the case I would never if that were the case I would never I should never have said it in the first place if people want to me to recant and to repent to repent I I I Repent daily because I say a lot of things that I shouldn't say I mean check with Sue but the fact of the matter is I'm not ready to repent over this I don't have to now let me say something that would be a little explosive I've lived here for 40 years and those who know me best know that when we talk theology when we talk stuff I I've always said I am a little bit out of sync with the American Evangelical world for this reason that I am the product of British evangelicalism represented by John St Martin Lloyd Jones Eric Alexander siner Ferguson Derek Prime I am a product of that I have never been a product of American fundamentalism I come from a world in which it is possible for people to actually grasp the fact that there are nuances in things those of you who are lawyers under understand this Everything Is Not So categorically clear that if you put one food out of this box you got to be removed from the box forever and so I went back to prove to myself that that really is the case and I dug out a book that I've had since I was in my 20s uh Christ the controversialist by John St and in that book he is tackling the challenges of living in the world uh without being um capitulating to the thoughts of the world and chapter 7 and I'm sure this is going to sell a lot of these books John is now in heaven and it won't matter to him but uh chapter 7 is is on responsibility colon withdrawal or involvement so he writes an entire chapter on this question how in the world do we manage uh to live in this way way and he he outlines it by first of all identifying the attitude of the Pharisee and he points out and I'm not here to give you the whole book but he points out that when after the Babylonian captivity uh the the the people were repatriated the Exiles came back and they were absolutely determined that they would not be sucked into the Vortex that was represented in the the context to which they had returned and they were committed to Holiness and they knew that God required them to be holy but what they forgot was that the Holiness was first of all a Holiness of heart and mind and thought some of them then decided Well we can go fairly close to the environment in which we're living and that is true not only then you can read it in Nehemiah we're reading there at the moment in in mcshain and you can see that happening the question of marriage and so on As Time continues and the Jews are living for example in the context of Greece uh of Alexander the Great and so on the infiltration of the culture into Judaism was such that there were two branches that emerged from it one branch were The hellenists Who who said I think that we can engage with the culture and uh in doing so they surrendered some of their convictions on the other side of the hellenists were the hassans or the hasadim the hasadim are present in contemporary America and some of you are friends who are part of that you meet them at the airport and so on and the hasadim said no under no circumstances are we going to get involved D in any of this stuff Pharisees actually is an AR Aramaic term for separatists and the Pharisees were the religious exclusives of their day quotes in their determination to conform strictly to the law they held aloof from any and every contact which in their view might defile them this entailed an avoidance not only of Gentiles not only of Helen Jews whom they regarded as liberals but of the common people as well who through ignorance of the law no doubt broke it and as law breaker Breakers were unclean the superior and scornful attitude which the Pharisees adopted towards the Common People appears several times in the gospels including right here in chapter 15 The Pharisee do of Holiness of separation from the world he says was a perverted Doctrine the motivation to keep yourself pure and holy is a right motivation but it was perverted by the way in which they applied it instead of seeking to be holy in thought and word and deed while retaining relationships of love and care with all men they withdrew from social contact with Sinners and despise those who didn't follow suit they basically became a holy Club and they in the process became harsh and censorious and it is that which Jesus is taking on when he tells these stories and when he gives these par Parables if that's the fares attitude what is the attitude of Jesus well the attitude of Jesus is totally at variance with that of the Pharisees themselves they were scandalized by his free and easy Friz with these people you can't do that you can't go there that's why it begins all the the publicans and sinners who said we got to go meet Jesus and the Pharisees were grumbling can you believe this thing he goes to the house of publicans and sinners he meets with Sinners barus a blind guy even the disciples said I'll be quiet bmus and he has to turn to his boys and he says hey don't say that to bmus go call bartmus and he gives bartmus his sight one of the six things which a rabbi was not permitted to do was to converse with a woman in public that was a sure indication that you were off base that's why when his disciples came back after they'd gone away for the food when you read that as in the present context you say and they were surprised that he was talking with a woman why would you be surprised that he's talking about the woman because rabbis don't talk to women the strictest hasadim wouldn't even be seen talking to their own wives in public that's how tight they wanted to draw the circle the Pharisees would gather up their robes and righteous horror at the possibility of even coming within breathing space of a prostitute and she comes and breaks a flask over his feet this guy cannot be who he says he is if he was really the son of God he wouldn't be doing this loved ones phariseeism is alive and well in all of our hearts we have to guard against it the motivation for purity and Holiness of life and circumspection and so on is absolutely unquestionable the real challenge comes when we are confronted by issues that don't just fit our clean little categories what distinguished Jesus from the Pharisees quote start was in a word Grace the Divine initiative which for seeks and then saves the Lost Sinner he says of the older brother he represents those to whom religion is a matter of Merit and it's just reward and to whom the concept of Grace is unjust even immoral he knew nothing of the guilt which no human Merit can expunge nothing of the Divine offer of an unmerited forgiveness nothing of heavenly Joy over penitent sinners he was harsh sour self-righteous and pitiless While others made marry he himself stayed away and he soed in brief he was a Pharisee and of the Pharisees osim could write theirs was not a gospel to the lost they had nothing to say to Sinners Christ's fraternization with outcasts was interpreted by by the Pharisees as an inexcusable compromise with sin they did not see it for what it really was an expression of the Divine Divine compassion uh toward sinners now the challenge in this and I'm going to wrap this up because time goes the challenge for me in this is I just assume and I I'm not going to assume it anymore I assume that people are able to put two and two together and get four not five or seven or nine or whatever it is so for example um in the last days when this thing began um my daughter said to me dad you were way ahead of this game a long time ago when alen degenerous came out and you preached those sermons on the gay debate I mean you've been so clear about this for all of your ministry what is this about I said hone I don't I don't really know what it's about but yeah that's right and most recently in dealing with Romans chapter 1 so I assume that anybody who picks this up goes oh wait a minute whatever whatever he's on about there there's no reason for alarm because after all listen to what he said and this is what I said in Romans 1 talking about this very issue quotes so here's the challenge how do you do this in other words how do you how do you express the love of Jesus and and do so in a way that doesn't just compromise everything how do you honor God obey his word and treat your neighbors and your friends and your family members who have decided to go down this wrong path some people have decided the way to handle it is by admonition so you just simply stand up and keep telling them this is terrible this is terrible this is terrible some people have decided Well we just won't say anything at all just let it go who cares you know it's a big world people do different things neither is a possibility for a Bible believing Christian we are to treat with honor those who view us with hatred Now understand that this Grand child was an enemy of the Gospel an enemy really in the Family Circle by D of her lifestyle an enemy and Jesus says you Al love your enemies now we can disagree over whether I gave that grandmother good advice or not not everybody on the Pastoral team thinks I gave very good advice and as I said you know on another occasion with a different person and a different context the advice may be very different but at least let's acknowledge the fact that what we're doing is we're wrestling with Biblical principle and when principle for let's say Holiness of life comes up against the principle of love for your enemy how are you how are you going to put that together you got a problem with the grandmother showing up sitting on the front row in a context that she absolutely despises and sitting on our lap nicely wrapped with beautiful paper and a bow around it is her gift the gift of a Bible for a granddaughter she knows has no interest in the Bible but because she believes that the entrance of God's word brings light she is prepared to trust the Holy Spirit to do the work what happens to homosexual people in my experience quotes is that they are either reviled or they are affirmed the Christian has to say we will not treat you in either of those ways we cannot revive you but we cannot affirm you and the reason that we can't revile you is the same reason why we can't affirm you because of the Bible because of God's love because of his grace uh because of his goodness maybe I'll just give you a couple of comments there are one or two good ones and um not not many though and my friends and family have been saving me from from the the most strident of them I'm great I'm grateful for that um I this you know that was that was a different one hang on don't worry we'll be there I just came from somebody to Jeff to me from South Africa uh please pass on this short message to Pastor beg following the criticism he's received over his statement concerning Christians attending a gay marriage thank you Pastor Beg For Your Balanced Christian approach to what is such a difficult topic for Christians to deal with you're clear on the fact that homosexuality is not God approved but you've shown wisdom and compassion as you show how Christians who have made their position clear on this matter can still be a light to those who live in darkness I am one who agrees with your big biblical view as to the sinfulness of these things and have myself been wrestling with how to advise people who have family members who are in gay relationships Etc without compromising our Christian position in on sin I'm sorry that you've had such a negative reaction from others in our Christian family who have a more Hardline attitude and seemingly misunderstood your position of compassion and see it as compromise I don't believe you've compromised your position at all but have tried to show love and compassion as a fellow Pastor who was a true prodigal son it was only the Saving Grace and compassion of Christ that saved me and the love of Christian parents who prayed for me over 12 years their compassion was not compromised I knew that they did not approve of my sin ful lifestyle living with a woman but they continue to love me and to uphold me their compassion is what I now see in your advice now be encouraged and then perhaps just one other um if I can if I can't find it from Brother this begins forgive my intrusion you probably need my encouragement less than I need to offer it but I feel compelled to say I love you and thank God for you for your ministry your integrity and your conviction I can more easily walk with a friend who wrestles with how to show faithfulness and Grace in a broken world even though he arrive at a different conclusion than my own you get it I can can walk with a brother who's wrestling with how to show faithfulness and Grace in a broken world even if his conclusion is different from my own I can do that easier than I can keep company with those who don't even feel the tension and easily criticize a brother over a legitimate difference of opinion and then he goes on to uh say something gracious I wrote back to him I said brother if there's any benefit in finding myself in this storm in a teacup it must surely be in discovering that I have friends your intrusion is most welcome and given that you've taken time on this your very special weekend to encourage me is evidence of a selfless generosity of spirit that few of us can match I value your friendship and send my love to you and um so hopefully uh this whole thing will just uh the storm in the teacup will eventually the teup will fall over there's only so many things you can uh I don't know how you can keep this going actually the reason that I haven't responded to any of the things in a personal way is because I there's nothing that I can really add that I think would be uh that would make anybody believe me anymore I think I can make it worse if I say more things and as bad enough as it is and just one other thought and I expect people to how do they decide which bit they're going to troll through the social media which bits they want to pick up where were they when when when I was speaking at the Christian College on the west coast and I had a lesbian walk out and they they shut the whole thing down and walked out and the campus went into chaos for a week you know why because I was explaining Ephesians chapter 5 and I made the most unbelievable mistake of saying the only place for sexual relationships is within a heterosexual monogamous relationship between one man and one woman for life amen and at that they stood up and walked out well why didn't somebody catch that one for me but you know what I'm glad they didn't and I'll tell you why because if I've got to go down on the side of one or the other I'll go down on this side I'll go down on the sight of compassion with people actually accusing me of just weakness rather than go down on the site of condemnation which closes any doors of opportunity for futural engagement with those who know exactly what we believe about the Bible and about Jesus and about so on so you know I I hope that this is helpful I I think as long as you understand that my response to one grandmother whom I have never met um was not in any way a blanket recommendation to all Christians to attend lgbtq weddings they was nothing to do with that at all if I was misguided in any way it was I allowed my grandfatherly hat to uh take over it was my personal opinion as I sensed what was best as I learned about the individual and specific situation that's as good as I can say I hope that will be helpful to you we don't clap usually so just as I pray I want to read these words if I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but have not love I'm a noisy gong or a clanging symbol and if I have prophetic powers and understand all Mysteries and all knowledge and if I have all Faith so as to remove mountains but have not love I'm nothing if I give away all I have and if I deliver up my body to be burned but have not love I gain nothing love is patient and kind love does not envy or boast it is not arrogant or rude it does not insist on its own way it is not irritable or resentful it does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth love bears all things believes all things hopes all things endures all things so now faith hope and love abide these three by the greatest of these is love here in his love writes John not that we loved God but that he loved us and send his son to be the propitiation for our sins and so may the love of God and the blessing of the Lord Jesus Christ and The Fellowship of the Holy Spirit fill our hearts AR fresh unite our lives in the grip of the Gospel and enable us to reach out to an aimless and Confused generation with a story that there is a Sheepfold and a Shepherd who has actually given his life in order that we who by Nature are like sheep without a Shepherd may be brought into his safety partners with your blessing Lord watch over and between us in these days and uh Grant that uh every opportunity that we have to speak the truth in love we may seize and we ask it commanding one another to your keeping in Christ's name amen this message was brought to you from Truth For Life where the learning Is For Living to learn more about Truth For Life with Alis beg visit us online at truthforlife.org

Channel: Alistair Begg

Views: 117,789

Keywords: Culture, Legalism, Prodigal Son

Id: t2bmFuA40T4

Length: 46min 59sec (2819 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 29 2024