Truth For Life Blog

“Consider, Take Care, Exhort”: How to Stay Faithful in the Wilderness

TFL — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 04:59:59 GMT

In many ways, the journey of God’s people from Egypt to Canaan serves as a pattern and a picture of the Christian life. As Israel moved to its rest in the promised land, so the church moves toward its rest in heaven; and as they experienced temptation and declension in the wilderness, so do we.

The pressure surrounding God’s people in the wilderness was such that they were constantly looking back to Egypt—much to God’s displeasure. The writer to the Hebrews therefore warns us (borrowing the words of Psalm 95) not to do as they did: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion” (Heb. 3:7–8). We don’t want to look back, let alone go back, to Egypt; instead, we want to look forward and follow the example of those who have proceeded “firm to the end” (v. 14).

With this goal in view, Hebrews 3 offers us three directives. As we put each into practice, they will help us to keep moving toward the promised land and prevent us from turning our eyes back to Egypt.

“Consider Jesus”

First of all, Hebrews 3 directs us to “consider Jesus” (v. 1). Such consideration is more than a casual glance at Christ, an infrequent or careless hour or two a week given over to the things of God. In Puritan language, it means “centering down”—bringing all of life and thinking to bear on this one end. In the words of golf coach Harvey Penick, it is to “take dead aim.”¹

This is the same word that Jesus used when He told His disciples to “consider” the ravens and lilies (Luke 12:24, 27). He was saying to them, “I want you to look carefully, apply your mind to this, in such a way that, in understanding the significance of what is being taught, it may become a life-transforming principle for you.” In the same way, the writer to the Hebrews is urging the readers, and us, to fix our gaze on Christ, allowing the sight of Him to revolutionize everything else.

Consideration is more than a casual glance at Christ, an infrequent or careless hour or two a week given over to the things of God.

This is a practice with a number of benefits. We will gain great confidence as we remember the Lord’s faithfulness. We will remember our purpose and direction in life. We will be spared from the need to compare ourselves to others, knowing that it is before our own Lord that we stand or fall (Rom. 14:4). It will cure us of discouragement in the face of worldly disappointments as we remember the heavenly promises with joy.

To consider Jesus is to consider one who is to us an Apostle and a High Priest (Heb. 3:1). As Apostle, He represents God to us, and as High Priest, He represents us to God. He speaks from God to His people, and He represents His people to God. As the hymn writer puts it,

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea,
A Great High Priest whose name is Love,
Who ever lives and pleads for me.²

Take Care of Your Heart

In the wilderness, as Psalm 95 reminds us, the people hardened their hearts. In biblical language, the heart is the moral center of our being, the place where the issues of life are addressed. So the question of our heart’s orientation is essential.

It may be easy for us today to look at the wilderness wanderers and say, “My, my! Weren’t these people really dreadful?” But when we think realistically about ourselves, we have to admit that there’s a fair chance we would have been numbered among the hard-hearted rather than with the few who had faith. So Hebrews warns us, “Take care , brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God” (v. 12).

There’s a fair chance we would have been numbered among the hard-hearted rather than with the few who had faith. So Hebrews warns us, “Take care.”

A heart of unbelief is what prevented the generation in the wilderness from entering into the land of promise (v. 19). As their hearts increasingly hardened, they were increasingly unbelieving. And their unbelief was an indication of their disobedience. There are direct connections between the deaf ear, the hard heart, and the wandering life. Someone who professes faith in Jesus Christ while wandering from the track of obedience has a hard heart and a deaf ear and, without repentance, will fall away rather than staying firm to the end. Willful disobedience and Christian assurance never go hand in hand.

The great danger, then, is presumption and complacency. So the word to us is “Take care.” In other words, we’re to make sure, to pay careful attention, to jump to it—and not, through inattention, to fail to listen to God’s words—both of comfort and of warning.

Exhort One Another

Hebrews 3 finally directs us to “exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today’” (v. 13). It’s sometimes said that the devil’s favorite word is tomorrow. By contrast, the Christian is called to obedience today—in this instance, in embracing the responsibility we share for one another. We are “holy brothers” and sisters, made a family together in Christ through the “heavenly calling” we share (v. 1). It is only sensible, then, that we would watch out for and encourage one another.

This kind of concern for others doesn’t mean nosiness or interference. Rather, it involves thoughtfulness, care, and the recognition that no one lives to himself or dies to himself (Rom. 14:7). Our lives, we might say, are like coals in a fireplace. If you get the tongs, take one piece of coal, and lay it on the hearth, it will quickly begin to lose its heat and fade out. But if you take a piece of coal that has been isolated from all the others, dead and dark, and put it into the midst of the heat, it will light up again and mingle with the flame.

Our relationships with each other should be marked by a care and comfort that strengthens, so that when a crisis emerges, we’re able to hold firmly to the end.

Our relationships with each other should be marked by a care and comfort that strengthens, so that when a crisis emerges, we’re able to hold firmly to the end. As sin approaches us, exaggerating its appeal, exaggerating the satisfaction that it has to offer, we need to beware lest we are blinded by its attractive glow. We need to beware lest we close our minds to the reality of God’s retribution. And we need to be thankful that God has put others around us so that we might “consider,” in relationship to each other’s lives, “how to stir up one another to love and good works” (Heb. 10:24).

These are not matters of marginal importance. When we make the effort to consider Jesus, mind our hearts, and encourage each other, our hearts will be prevented from hardening, and many will be fortified to stay firm to the end and enter into the promise. It is by these means that we will avoid the fate of the wilderness wanderers. As one commentator has written of this generation, “What a long, long line of graves—the saddest in the world! They came out of the bondage of Egypt under faithful Moses … but they fell as corpses in the wilderness!”³ If we wish to avoid their fate, we would do well to embrace the helps offered to us by God’s hand, in God’s very Word.

This article was adapted from the sermon “Holding Firmly to the End — Part One” and “Holding Firmly to the End — Part Two” by Alistair Begg.

Harvey Penick, Harvey Penick’s Little Red Book: Lessons and Teachings from a Lifetime in Golf (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2012), 45–46. ↩︎
Charitie Lees Bancroft, “Before the Throne of God Above” (1863). ↩︎
R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of the Epistle to the Hebrews and the Epistle of James, Commentary on the New Testament (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1961), 123. ↩︎

Wallpaper: God Reigns

TFL — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 07:59:59 GMT

“God reigns over the nations;
God sits on his holy throne.
The princes of the peoples gather
as the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
he is highly exalted!”

Psalm 47:8–9

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4 Things Jesus Didn’t Come to Do

TFL — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 04:15:00 GMT

That Jesus Christ was a man who walked the earth some two thousand years ago is a well-established fact, affirmed even by secular historians. The significant question is not “Did He exist?” but “Who was He, and what did He do?”

History has produced all kinds of mistaken answers to these questions. Some are bizarre, some are blasphemous, and some continue to be a temptation as God’s people seek to understand and explain who Jesus is.

Jesus Himself told us what He came to do—and what He didn’t. Among His explanations of who He is are at least four negative statements explaining reasons He did not come. In the midst of a climate that wants to make all kinds of claims about Jesus and His mission, it’s worthwhile to know what He said His purpose wasn’t so we can rightly understand—and be transformed by—what it was.

Christ Did Not Come to Abolish the Law

We can begin by noting that according to His own words, Jesus did not come in revolt against the law of Moses. He says in Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets.”

Jesus was firm that the Old Testament Scriptures were and remained true. To be a biblical Christian is to be a whole-Bible Christian.

There can be little doubt that Jesus was revolutionary in His impact—but to try and explain His coming in terms of some revolutionary objective is to miss the point altogether. Many people, following an antiestablishment trend, want to dress Jesus up as a kind of first-century Che Guevara, overthrowing the old ways. “But,” Jesus said essentially to the Jews of His day in the Sermon on the Mount, “if you want to try and explain My life and ministry away in terms of revolution or abolition, it cannot be done.”

Jesus did confront the rigmaroles of the Pharisees, but that was with respect to their disobedience: “For the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God” (Matt. 15:6). Yet Jesus was firm that the Old Testament Scriptures were and remained true. To be a biblical Christian is to be a whole-Bible Christian.

Christ Did Not Come for the Religious Establishment

At the same time, we can say with certainty that Jesus did not come to join or to prop up the religious establishment of His day. If there was one thing that infuriated the religious leaders about Jesus of Nazareth, it was simply this: Instead of gracing them with His presence, He seemed to go out of His way to hang with the “wrong” crowd. In response to their protests, He told them, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matt. 9:13).

The religious establishment in our world today is still annoyed by Jesus of Nazareth, because Jesus actually believes the things He said. Therefore, He is an embarrassment in churches that do not believe the things He said. Jesus was and is an embarrassment to those who believe that the reason He came was in order to call good people, kind people, happy people, fulfilled people, religious people into His little domain so that they could all have a lovely little holy huddle together.

It’s a problem, too, for those who think they’re okay without Him. The notion has swept North America and is increasingly sweeping Western culture that it is imperative to say to everyone, “Listen: You’re okay just the way you are.” A generation of children is growing up with that as their constant refrain. But—without being cruel or dehumanizing in any way—we must affirm that Jesus did not come to call those who are “okay.” He came to call those who know they’re not alright—the strays, the beggars, the duds.

Those who believe themselves to be righteous, to be spiritually safe without Jesus Christ, have no part in Jesus Christ at all. To the individual who has it buttoned-down, and they’re all fine in every way, the message of Jesus falls on deaf ears. But those who know they’re sick may find the message of healing in Christ. Those who know they’re dead may be made alive in Christ. Those who know they’re held in the grip of some habit may be set free by Jesus Christ. The youngster who is looking out on life, and it all seems bland and pale and ineffectual, may find reality and peace and purpose in Jesus Christ.

Christ Did Not Come to Build an Empire

Next, we must acknowledge that Jesus Christ did not come to build a worldly empire. In contrast to the rulers of the gentiles, who “lord it over” others (Matt. 20:25; Mark 10:42), Jesus says, “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45).

The corridors of power today, as in Jesus’ day, are filled with people who believe that greatness is determined by how many others they control. At Melos, the besieging Athenian army told the Melians, “The strong do what they can, and the weak suffer what they must.” That notion of power still pervades the thinking of many. But Jesus reverses the established ideas of greatness and rank by coming not to take but to give. Greatness in His kingdom is not to be discovered in reducing others to our service but in reducing ourselves to others’ service.

John the apostle had prompted this statement from Jesus when he and his brother asked for powerful positions of authority in Jesus’ kingdom (Mark 10:35–37). John had been thinking in a worldly way. But by the time he wrote his first epistle, he understood it right: “He laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers” (1 John 3:16).

Christ Did Not Come to Judge… Yet

Finally, we can find comfort in the fact that at His first coming, Jesus Christ did not come to judge. He says, “If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world” (John 12:47).

Some have decided that in the incarnation, Jesus Christ came as though on a great white horse with a double-edged sword, and He just went around smacking people into oblivion. But although Jesus possessed perfect knowledge of sin and righteousness and what is in human hearts (John 2:24–25), He clarified that His aim was not to condemn but to offer the gift of new life.

The purpose of Jesus’ coming was not to bring down a hammer of judgment on the world but to offer salvation.

There is something paradoxical in this, because by His very coming, Jesus introduces judgment to the world. When men and women reject Christ, they judge themselves. And Jesus understood that, saying, “Whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:18).

Judgment is thus a consequence of Jesus’ coming. And Jesus will judge the world when He comes again (Acts 10:42; 17:3). Yet the purpose of Jesus’ coming was not to bring down a hammer of judgment on the world but to offer salvation. And the tenor of God’s people ought to be consistent: “Jesus came to save. Believe in Him and be saved!”

Christ Came to Save

Why did Jesus come? In His own words He tells us, “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). He didn’t come to throw out the law, nor to prop up the religious have-it-alls, nor to lord it over others, nor to judge. He came to turn people from their sin and to Himself, and so to save them.

Whatever purposes men and women want to lay on His back, we need to understand Jesus as He has revealed himself to be. He is not the Revolutionary, not the Religious Man, not the Empire Builder, and not yet the Judge. He is, as both the Samaritan converts in John 4 and the apostle John himself both came to realize, “the Savior of the world” (John 4:42; 1 John 4:14).

This article was adapted from the sermon “Why Did Christ Come? — Part One” by Alistair Begg.

Union with Christ: The Blessings of Being in Him

TFL — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 05:00:00 GMT

Throughout the New Testament, believers are often described as being “in Christ.” In fact, the apostle Paul uses this term, or a variant of it, over eighty times throughout his letters. Yet our union with Christ is a defining reality of the Christian life that is often overlooked or misunderstood.

In the book Union with Christ: The Blessings of Being in Him, Sinclair Ferguson examines key passages in the New Testament to help us understand what it means to be in Christ and how this new identity can reshape every aspect of life for a believer. He explains, “We need to know who we are, to understand the nature of our new identity in Christ; then it will logically and necessarily follow how we should live.”

If you’re familiar with Sinclair Ferguson, you know he often writes about what it means to know and love the triune God. This book is no different. It will introduce you to the concept of a union with Christ and how understanding the truth of being “in Him” can transform the way you live with the joy, purpose, and assurance that the Gospel brings. He explains that knowing who you are in Christ is key to understanding your identity and enjoying the blessings of salvation.

This book will remind you that being a Christian is not just about following Jesus or believing His Word; it’s also about being united with Him. And this union is the source of every spiritual blessing we receive as believers. Because we are united with Christ, we are never alone, never abandoned, and never without hope.

Sinclair writes about the book, “I hope … that these pages will help build an increased sense of the privilege of belonging to Jesus Christ and being united to Him. For that can be life-transforming.”

Request your copy of Union with Christ: The Blessings of Being in Him with a donation to Truth For Life today.

Wallpaper: Like His Son

TFL — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 07:59:59 GMT

“In the experience of suffering we learn that God is prepared to go to any lengths to make us like His Son.”
—Alistair Begg

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Has the Church Forgotten How to Wait?

TFL — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 04:30:00 GMT

How do we explain the apparent weakness of the church in much of the Western world today? One answer is the absence of waiting.

Consider ancient Israel. In the low-down condition of the Jewish people’s exile to Babylonia, it wouldn’t have been surprising if they had said, “God has forsaken us. He will not help us here.” To such people, the reminder came from Isaiah: This is God we’re talking about!

Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the LORD,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles.
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

God, Isaiah tells us, doesn’t “faint or grow weary.” Of course He can’t! And when we are weary, we ought not to project that feeling onto God, because “He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.” But here’s the rub: The grace comes to those “who wait for the LORD.”

Waiting here means resting in the assurance that the promises that God has made He will fulfill. For the people in exile, it was the promises of God that would allow them to keep their chin up and their feet moving. And it’s much the same for those of us today who are “strangers and exiles on the earth” (Heb. 11:13).

When a young man writes (or, these days, more likely texts) a young woman in the hope of winning and keeping her affection, he is hoping, yes—but he is also waiting. He is waiting in the expectation that the current undesirable circumstance of separation and singleness will come to a triumphant end. In a similar way, it is often the expectation of the fulfillment of God’s promises that is meant to keep us going.

Waiting means resting in the assurance that the promises that God has made He will fulfill.

Our churches today need to understand that God is worth the wait. We can wait upon Him, trust Him, rest on Him, and say in sincerity and conviction, “You can have the totality of me. I’ll go wherever You want me to go. I’ll stay there for as long as You tell me to stay. I’ll do whatever You want me to do. And as I do so, I forsake every idol that I have raised up that stands between me and You.”

Amid troubling and trying circumstances, we ought not to assume that God has lost interest in us. The exiles in Babylon could remember the covenants God had made with Israel in years past. Today, we ought to remember that the awesome God has stepped down into time in the person of Jesus Christ and given Himself for us—so “how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32).

If we will wait, God will keep us all the way to the end and through the end—because He’s promised to do so. And God keeps the promises He makes. We can trust Him.

This article was adapted from the sermon “‘Behold Your God!’ — Part Two” by Alistair Begg.

Wallpaper: Establish You

TFL — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 07:59:59 GMT

“After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”
1 Peter 5:10

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Every Jot and Tittle: Christ’s View of Scripture

TFL — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 04:59:59 GMT

During the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, Her Majesty received a Bible as representatives of the Church of England spoke these words:

Our gracious Queen: To keep your Majesty ever mindful of the law and the Gospel of God as the Rule for the whole life and government of Christian Princes, we present you with this Book, the most valuable thing that this world affords. Here is Wisdom; this is the royal Law; these are the lively Oracles of God.

This incredible testimony to the truth in the halls of power echoes what Jesus declared on a mountainside some two thousand years before: “Truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished” (Matt. 5:18). Jesus clearly believed not only in the importance of the Bible but also in its absolute, surpassing, and lasting truth—that it contains the “lively Oracles of God,” not to be superseded with the passage of time.

So, as followers after Jesus, what are we to do with this book that He so clearly and highly valued? In an age when people strive to make their own “truth,” it’s an important question—and we will do well to begin by considering what Jesus and His disciples did with it first.

What Did Jesus Do with the Bible?

In those words on the mountainside, Jesus provided us with a very straightforward and clear statement of His own view of Scripture: He said that the Old Testament—the Bible that He knew and taught—is absolutely trustworthy, even down to the smallest detail, the smallest stroke of the smallest letter.

Now, it is one thing for someone to make a declaration like that. It is another to bear out that conviction in everyday life. Yet that is what we see that Jesus did. In the wilderness, He answered the devil with Scripture. (See, for example, Luke 4:1–13.) At the synagogue in Nazareth, He declared His own ministry to be a fulfillment of Scripture (Luke 4:14–21). In the upper room, He saw His looming death in light of the Scriptures (Matt. 26:24; Mark 14:21). In other words, the Lord Jesus Himself used His Bible to decipher the providences of God in His own life.

Jesus said that the Old Testament is absolutely trustworthy, even down to the smallest detail, the smallest stroke of the smallest letter.

After His resurrection, too, Jesus was insistent and consistent in pointing to the Scriptures. On the road to Emmaus, speaking to the two disciples, Jesus “interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). Later those disciples reflected not that Jesus’ appearance or manner had encouraged them but that their hearts burned within them as He opened up the Scriptures (v. 32). Jesus soon stood among the Eleven, reminding them how He had told them, “Everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” And on that occasion, “he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” (vv. 44–45).

The confidence of heaven, in other words, resides in the Scriptures. And surely no follower of Jesus could possibly have a lesser view of Scriptures than Jesus Himself.

What Did the Apostles Do with the Bible?

Given what Jesus had taught them, it’s no surprise to find that the apostles themselves were confident in the authority and truthfulness of the Scriptures as well. Peter wrote in his second letter that “no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (1:20–21). Similarly, Paul asserts that the Scriptures have their origin in God when he writes, “All Scripture is breathed out by God” (2 Tim. 3:16).

When Paul wrote that to Timothy, he wasn’t telling him something new so much as reminding him of something critical. Timothy was living in a challenging time, made all the more challenging by the anticipation that his mentor, Paul, would not be with him much longer. Yet it wasn’t Paul’s presence, love, or wisdom that Timothy’s life and ministry would stand or fall on; it was the Word of God, revealed in the Scriptures—utterly reliable, divinely inspired, and entirely sufficient for the task. If Timothy were to lose confidence in the truth, power, and relevance of Scripture, then there would be nothing for him to pass to faithful men who would then in turn be enabled to teach others also (2 Tim. 2:2). If he were to lose confidence in this, then there would be nobody who would be “complete” and “equipped” through the Scriptures (2 Tim. 3:17). The Word of God was, and is, vital!

H. G. C. Moule has written that the church, at the time of this transition from Paul’s generation to Timothy’s, “trembled, humanly speaking, on the verge of annihilation.”¹ There was no guarantee that it was going to make the jump from the apostolic to the postapostolic church. That’s why it was so important that the ministry of the Gospel be founded not on the personalities of the apostles but on the unchanging trustworthiness of the Word of God.

What Should We Do with the Bible?

The question for us today is not only “What did Jesus do with the Bible?” and “What did the apostles do with the Bible?” but “What will we do?”

As Timothy carried on the work, so must we. We no longer have prophets. We don’t have the Lord Jesus physically present with us as He was with His disciples. As John Murray puts it, “Scripture in its total extent, according to the conception entertained by our Lord and his apostles, is the only revelation of the mind and will of God available to us. … It is the only extant revelatory Word of God.”²

The Bible is not like any other book.

Of course, its po wer lies not only in conveyin g information but also in its spiritual effectiveness: It is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and fo r training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” ( 2 Tim. 3:16–17). It is possible to be formally committed to the fact that the Word of God is living and authoritative without being ourselves arrested by it, summoned into its presence, and bowing in reverence before the one to whom it points.

The Bible is not like any other book. We don’t merely sit down with it, get a cup of tea, and say, “Now, I’m going to see if I can understand this book.” No, we address ourselves to it, and somewhere along the line, it suddenly becomes apparent to us: “This book understands me!” We realize that its words make demands on us and call us to a life in Christ that we cannot manufacture for ourselves.

In the 1950s, James S. Stewart, addressing students and faculty at Yale Divinity School, warned them about embracing a view of Scripture that was “theologically vague and harmlessly accommodating.”³ That warning has gone unheeded in many quarters of the church today. Christians are prepared to revise the Scriptures when it comes to marriage, worship, and all sorts of other matters, because to bend to the culture is easier in the moment than to bow the knee to God revealed in His Word.

The pulpits of our nations require men convinced that the Word of God does the work of God by the Spirit of God and who will serve the next generation by expounding, proclaiming, applying, living, and loving the Bible that Jesus loved, that spoke of Him. The Bible that was so important to Jesus and His apostles can be no less important to His people today.

This article was adapted from the sermon “Not One Jot or Tittle” by Alistair Begg.

H. C. G. Moule, The Second Epistle to Timothy (London: Religious Tract Society, 1906), 18. ↩︎
“The Finality and Sufficiency of Scripture,” in Collected Writings of John Murray, vol. 1, The Claims of Truth (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1976), 19. ↩︎
James S. Stewart, A Faith to Proclaim (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1953), 16. ↩︎

Wallpaper: State of the Believer

TFL — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 08:00:00 GMT

“How different will be the state of the believer in heaven from what it is here! Here he is born to toil and suffer weariness, but in the land of the immortal, fatigue is never known.”
—C. H. Spurgeon

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Something Is Happening Among Young People!

TFL — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 05:00:01 GMT

Young people are turning to Jesus! Gen Z, those ages 14–29, are becoming followers of Jesus in large numbers across the US. We see exciting growth, particularly among young men. The same trend is playing out for millennials.

Barna, State of the Church 2025

Gen Z and Millennials Fuel the Turn to Jesus

According to Barna, a research group that conducts studies about culture and faith, their State of the Church 2025 initiative shows a groundswell of commitment to Jesus over the last four years. Among the biggest drivers of the Jesus resurgence are younger generations—particularly Gen Z and millennials. Since the pandemic, millennials and Gen Z have shown significant increases in commitment to following Christ.

At Truth For Life, we’re excited to pursue opportunities to bring our teaching to young people hungry for truth they can trust!

Your Monthly Partnership Will Have an Impact

One-time gifts make an important impact in the moment; however, your monthly partnership will provide the sustaining income to support Truth For Life’s ongoing Gospel outreach along with new teaching formats that reach young audiences.

Most recently, we’ve introduced short-feature teaching clips from Alistair that young people can easily access on their phones while scrolling on Instagram or YouTube. Check them out.

If you share our passion to nurture faith in Jesus in the next generation, will you come alongside us as a Truthpartner?

Yes, I’ll Become a Monthly Partner

Alistair Begg on God's Spirit Moving in Our World

TFL — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 05:00:01 GMT

Dear Friend,

Who would have thought about reaching the world through Cleveland, Ohio! Honestly, when the church approached me about coming to Cleveland, I needed an atlas to discover its location. In the early days, it was not uncommon for people to suggest that if we were to move to a “media centre” like New York, Los Angeles, or Atlanta, our impact for the Gospel would be exponentially greater. Resisting such temptations, we stayed put, believing that there is no ideal place to serve God except the place where He sets you down.

Now, more than three decades on, we are amazed and humbled to discover the international reach that God has entrusted to us at Truth For Life. Two days ago, while speaking at a church in Dallas, I met a Korean family, and the husband has been translating our sermons into Korean and sending them to people there via social media.

In the last month, I have been corresponding with a pastor in New Zealand who emailed me to let me know that he’s been listening to the program for some time—and often while cutting his grass! When he invited me to visit and preach at his church, I replied that I thought he was inviting me to cut his grass. Subsequently, he acknowledged that the thought had crossed his mind!

From Australia, the Philippines, India, and the UK, the shared notion is of “something stirring” in our world. I remember in the ’60s we would sing,

All over the world the Spirit is moving,
All over the world, as the prophets said it would be;
All over the world there’s a mighty revelation
Of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.

Jesus told us that the fields are white for harvest and that we should pray that the Lord of the harvest would send out more laborers. Just this week I was reacquainted with a young man who had spent a year with us at Parkside. He, along with his wife and children, are heading to Cambodia in a few weeks to proclaim Jesus as resurrected Lord and Savior.

Zelda, a listener in South Africa, wrote to let us know that “many of us here are fed by the teaching daily.” She explained that she passes the messages on to a friend in Beirut, who is strengthened by them.

Isn’t it wonderful to see how the Word of God crosses all kinds of boundaries and barriers and accomplishes the purpose He intends? He is able to do far more abundantly than all we can ask or even imagine.

Last Sunday, a young man preparing for pastoral ministry asked me for my advice. I reminded him of 2 Timothy 2:15, which was a key verse in the life of Jim Elliot, who was martyred. The hymn that he and his friends sang before engaging with the native population of Ecuador contained the lines “Strong in Thy strength, safe in Thy keeping tender, we rest on Thee, and in Thy name we go.” As we play the part God has given each of us, it is vital that we understand the blessings that are ours on account of our union with Christ. And when we are weary and downcast, we are assured of Christ’s comfort. Our book offers this month underscore these thoughts.

As we press on in this remarkable adventure, the consistent monthly giving from Truthpartners makes the reach of our teaching described in this letter possible. May I warmly ask you to join us as a fellow laborer in the Lord’s harvest by coming alongside us in this upholding way? We will never know this side of eternity the lives that will be reached and changed by the power of the Gospel.

I continue to be humbled and blessed by meeting many of you as I travel. Let us venture on to know the Lord!

With my love in the Lord Jesus,

Alistair

Come, You Weary: Enjoy Christ’s Comfort

TFL — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 04:30:00 GMT

Jesus extends many comforting invitations throughout Scripture, but one of the most tender and hope-filled for believers is found in Matthew 11:28: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” The book Come, You Weary: Enjoy Christ’s Comfort lovingly unpacks this invitation, reminding weary Christians that true rest is found not in striving harder but in coming to Christ.

This encouraging book offers a needed reset for tired, burdened hearts, directing readers away from self-reliance and toward the compassionate heart of Jesus. Readers will learn that Christ does not grow impatient with His struggling people. Instead, He welcomes weary sinners with mercy, tenderness, and grace. The brief, one-to-two-page readings will direct you to rediscover the beauty of Christ’s character and the comfort of His presence.

As you meditate on these reflections, you’ll be encouraged to lean on Christ’s promises, cast your burdens on Him, and rest in His finished work of salvation.

Whether you’re walking through a season of suffering, battling doubt, or simply feeling spiritually exhausted, Come, You Weary offers refreshment and renewed confidence in the Savior’s unfailing love. Even in times of joy and blessing, this book will deepen your appreciation for Christ’s constant companionship and care.

Come, You Weary is a book you’ll want to keep close at hand and revisit often. It also makes a thoughtful gift for a friend or loved one facing discouragement or difficulty. Its message is both simple and profound: Christ welcomes the weary.

Request your copy of Come, You Weary: Enjoy Christ’s Comfort when you give to Truth For Life today.

Is Your Trial of Christ a Farce or a Fair Hearing?

TFL — Wed, 27 May 2026 05:00:00 GMT

As Mark’s account of Jesus’ arrest and trial progresses, we reach the point where Christ is brought before the Jewish council: “They led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together” (Mark 14:53). With the climax of Mark’s Gospel approaching, the situation has gone sour. Arrested in the garden, Jesus is bound and on His way to His trial—before men who have been looking for an opportunity to kill Him. (See, for example, Mark 3:6.) It would seem that Jesus and His disciples have pretty well had their day in the sun.

By nature, men and women are opposed to the story of Jesus of Nazareth.

The immediate outcome has been predetermined: “The chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death” (v. 55). Verdict and sentence are ready at hand; the only thing missing is the charge. No one is trying to discover if Jesus is really the person He claimed to be. No one is investigating whether He has done good or evil. The council is simply marshalling the evidence that will allow them to kill this person whom they hate because His good works put them to shame. Yet, we read, even their false witnesses could not agree (vv. 57–59)!

By nature, men and women are opposed to the story of Jesus of Nazareth—even today—because it is offensive to our pride. It’s offensive intellectually, challenging our preconceptions by asking us to believe that this person who lived so long ago is actually the Savior of the world. We find ourselves saying, “You can’t possibly ask me to believe this!” And it is offensive to us morally, because Jesus pronounces on our morality. To a self-help culture, He comes with the message that we are helpless and hopeless and unable to fix ourselves.

Because of these spiritual realities, our position as twenty-first-century men and women is not all that different from that of the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. As we consider this poignant scene, we need to ask ourselves: Are we seriously willing to give the Messiah of God a fair hearing?

The Silence

One element of the story that may jump out to us is Jesus’ silence in the face of His accusers. When the false witnesses fail, the high priest jumps in: “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” But Jesus, we read, “remained silent and made no answer” (vv. 60–61).

Perhaps this silence confuses us. But why should Jesus put an answer to false and contradictory charges? Why should He cast His pearls before swine (Matt. 7:6)? Jesus had all the time in the world for those who were least, last, and left out, who were longing, who were clear, who knew their need. Yet He had very little time for religious hypocrisy and arrogance.

While God in His mercy may cater to intellectual integrity, He will not pander to intellectual arrogance.

There is a lesson for us in this silence of Jesus: While God in His mercy may cater to intellectual integrity, He will not pander to intellectual arrogance. He does not disclose Himself to the proud; He “gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5). Jesus says, “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it” (Mark 10:15)—that is, trusting, believing, loving.

The Declaration

The high priest, unsatisfied, then cuts to the chase: “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” (v. 61). This is the fundamental question about Jesus that we all need to answer. If He is not, then He was merely a man. If He claimed to be and was not, then He was a liar or a lunatic. If He really is, then we must bow before Him.

In contrast to the treachery and to the hypocrisy of those who’ve come to accuse Him, Jesus here has a clarity and an authority to His words, drawing on imagery from the messianic predictions of the Old Testament: “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven” (v. 62; cf. Ps. 110:1; Dan. 7:13).

The reports of the presence of the risen Jesus of Nazareth will be so extensive and the conviction in the hearts of the witnesses so deep that the word will be unstoppable.

Jesus does not leave the council without evidence. The religious leaders had asked for a sign, and He had promised them “the sign of the prophet Jonah” (Matt. 12:39)—that He would rise again from the dead after three days. They think they will put Him to an ignominious death, they will bury Him in a Palestinian tomb, and it will be over. The reality, however, is that His death will be for the sins of the world and to win the forgiveness of sinners and that God will raise Him from the dead in triumph. This is exactly what Jesus came to accomplish.

Eventually, the religious leaders will be confronted by the fact that in the period of time immediately following the resurrection, the reports of the presence of the risen Jesus of Nazareth will be so extensive and the conviction in the hearts of the witnesses so deep that the word will be unstoppable. Jesus Himself will have ascended and clothed His people with power as they prepare for Him to come again. Ultimately, all the world will see Him return in glory, and they will rejoice in their love or rue their rejection of Him.

The Verdict

The high priest then does a little drama for everybody present: We read that he “tore his garments” (v. 63). The tearing of clothes was an expression of grief—but, as one commentator notes, here “it had become strangely warped into a sign of savage joy at a wicked purpose well-nigh accomplished.”¹

Just as His followers had “all left him” (v. 50), so now His accusers all agree: “What further witnesses do we need?” Yet what an irony this proves to be! The only good witness—and the only one who has told the truth—is Jesus Himself. And so by His own words the council that had set out from the beginning to condemn Him does so.

The only good witness—and the only one who has told the truth—is Jesus Himself.

As readers of the Gospel more than two thousand years on, we are confronted by a similar question as those first-century religious leaders: What will our verdict be? Will we give Jesus a fair hearing? Or, like the council, will we despise Him—and share in their surprise and horror on the day of His return?

There is no more important question we can ask. And if we are going to ask it, we cannot make the question a farce as the religious leaders did. We owe Jesus a fair hearing—and we only stand to benefit by giving one.

This article was adapted from the sermons “Jesus Condemned to Death — Part One” and “Jesus Condemned to Death — Part Two” by Alistair Begg.

R. A. Cole, The Gospel According to St. Mark: An Introduction and Commentary, The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1961), 230. ↩︎

Wallpaper: God Gives the Growth

TFL — Mon, 25 May 2026 05:00:00 GMT

“Neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”
1 Corinthians 3:7

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Lessons in the Jesus Way of Evangelism

TFL — Wed, 20 May 2026 04:59:59 GMT

Whatever framework we may put around it, whatever skills we may bring to it, the great need of our time, and any time, is for ordinary men and women to share with other ordinary men and women the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ. The key to the expansion of the church lies in the active witness of the whole church. People with human fears and human failings—but filled with the Holy Spirit!—should go gossiping the Gospel wherever they are.

But if we state the necessity of evangelism plainly, some who are shy by nature will immediately shut their ears. “I just don’t have the right personality to be able to share the Gospel this way,” they may say. So we want to be careful not to canonize a particular way of expressing ourselves—whether loquacious water-cooler conversation or street-corner preaching. The quiet, too, can speak to others about the most important part of their life.

If we want to understand what personal evangelism looks like in practice, we can look to the conversation that Jesus had with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4—a conversation that began with a simple request but ended, as John tells us, with the woman wondering, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” (29). This passage contains several lessons that will help us understand how to speak truthfully and boldly about the Gospel in our ordinary lives.

Jesus Began Naturally

First of all, we should notice that Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman began naturally: “A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink’” (v. 7).

Some people treat evangelism like a compartment of their spiritual life—something that you go out and do, perhaps by approaching someone on a street corner and sharing the Four Spiritual Laws. Certainly, there is benefit to this way of doing things; but it also tends to mitigate against the reality that we ought to be—and in some sense are—sharing our faith all the time, either for good or for ill, with words and without them.

The truth is that wherever we are and whatever we’re doing, we can proclaim the Gospel. Every conversation and every encounter is an opportunity, somewhere along the line, to bring something of Christ to people. And indeed, we ought to look to every encounter not in terms of “doing it” to somebody but as an opportunity to bring from our hearts the things that are most important to us.

Wherever we are and whatever we’re doing, we can proclaim the Gospel.

Now, that doesn’t mean that we should feel pressure to leverage any comment and every circumstance into an excuse to pull out an evangelistic elevator pitch. In our zeal to communicate the whole counsel of God in the first three minutes, we tend to repel instead of attracting. What it does mean is that when the Gospel is at the center of your life and not at the periphery, the occasions to speak of it, whether in passing or in full, will be manifold, because there will be no part of your life that it does not touch. It may even begin with something as grounded and simple as asking, “Can I have a drink of water?”

Jesus Respected the Individual

Following Jesus’ question, the woman immediately addressed the elephant in the room. It was not normal for a Jewish man to speak to a Samaritan woman in this way—and so she asked, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (v. 9).

Jesus, first of all, cared about her. Despite her position in society, despite her immoral life, He cared enough about her to speak to her with respect and to offer her the message of life. Like anyone we may speak to, she was a person—someone made in the image of God, someone important to God, not just someone to witness to.

Many who are zealous for evangelism treat people less like people and more like marks.

It’s a sad reality that many who are zealous for evangelism treat people less like people and more like marks. They become opportunities to meet a quota rather than to show the love of Christ to a human being. They become a tick on a chart, a notch on the spine of a Bible. And the people who are treated this way will know it.

So not only is it important to recognize that anyone may hear and believe the Gospel, but also, it’s critical to speak to people with compassion and with real interest. We do a great disservice to our witness when we are simply lying in wait to deliver our spiel. We need to learn to start where people are and to address them where they are, presenting Christ as a friend to sinners, not the subject of a theological or polemical lecture. They don’t need our sales pitch. They need to know we care.

Jesus Developed Interest

Thirdly, we see that the Lord Jesus developed the woman’s interest. It was intriguing enough that this man had addressed her in the first place. But then He told her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” This absolutely kept the conversation going!

We needn’t be so coy as Jesus is here (although we might be, if circumstances call for it!). One way to develop interest is simply to show it. Interest in another person’s life, hobbies, opinions, and so on often lends itself to reciprocative questions. “What are you up to this weekend?” inevitably precedes “Well, what are you up to this weekend?” And then there is the opportunity, for example, to share something of what the Lord’s Day will mean to you.

Jesus Confronted the Real Issue

Jesus, however, didn’t let the conversation remain at the level of banter. By verse 16, He begins to confront the real issues of her life: “Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call your husband, and come here.’” Suddenly, the conversation is on a whole different plane.

We are not divine as Jesus was. We have neither the deep insight into human personality that He did nor His supernatural knowledge of circumstances. Yet many of us have been given a gift of discernment that allows us to look into and beyond a situation and speak prudently to a person’s life.

When it comes to this point in the conversation, there are a number of factors to weigh: How well do we know this person? Will we have an opportunity to speak to them again? Are we ready and able to say what we need to from a motive of love? And are we sure of the facts about which we’re going to speak?

Many of us have been given a gift of discernment that allows us to look into and beyond a situation and speak prudently to a person’s life.

There is a difference between, on the one hand, the “train ride conversation” you may have with a stranger on a fifteen-minute commute, where getting to the point may be prudent, and, on the other hand, the frequent talks you might have with a neighbor or longstanding friend over years, where there is opportunity to lay layer upon layer—bearing in mind always that today could always be the last opportunity you have to speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15).

Jesus Is Prepared for the Diversion

In response to Jesus’ request, the Samaritan woman attempted to divert from her own life by touching the proverbial third rail: the question of the proper place to worship, over which the Jews and Samaritans vigorously disagreed. “Our fathers,” she said, “worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship” (v. 20). Yet, as with so many of the questions put to Jesus throughout His ministry, Jesus was able to turn the conversation and address the real issue: not where to worship but how and whom (vv. 23, 25).

In our own witnessing, we’re liable to get questions about Adam and Eve, marriage laws, space aliens—all of which will lead into a tangle of meaningless argument. In such a moment, it is vital to know what the ultimate issues are and not let people off the hook. If the questions are genuine, then perhaps a genuine answer is called for. But if, as is sometimes the case, they are a diversion, then we ought to be ready to bring it back to the personal: “I wonder why you raise that? What bearing do you think that has on the question of sin and the need for forgiveness?”

At the same time, we should resist the temptation to be the Bible Answer Man , instead persisting in presenting the plain Word of God. Apologetics have their place, no doubt. But we need to know that place. If we are too quick to the draw, we are liable to make ourselves a nuisance and the Gospel ridiculous. As Spurgeon often said, the Word does not need us to defend it. It is like a lion. We need merely to release it from its cage—to declare, as Christ Himself did, the plain and life-transforming reality of Jesus as the Messiah who was to come (v. 26).

Jesus Teaches His Disciples

When the disciples returned from their errand to find Jesus speaking to the Samaritan woman, they were (characteristically) clueless. They didn’t understand what He had been doing, nor why—and they were too timid to ask (v. 27).

But in His mercy, Jesus did not crush His followers’ spirits, lambast them, or make them feel stupid. No, He taught them gently and kindly. Speaking of the people who were about to hear the word, He said, “Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest” (v. 35).

Like the woman, we need the living water Jesus provides. Like the disciples, we need our priorities realigned. We ought to become like the Lord Jesus: chiefly concerned with doing the Father’s will (v. 34), bringing the Father glory, and looking forward to a day when He will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matt. 25:21, 23) as we seek to share the good news with our friends, neighbors, and loved ones.

This article was adapted from the sermons “A Lesson in Personal Evangelism — Part One” and “A Lesson in Personal Evangelism — Part Two” by Alistair Begg.

Wallpaper: Grow in Grace

TFL — Mon, 18 May 2026 05:00:00 GMT

“It is impossible to grow in grace as God intends neglecting the Word of God.”
—Alistair Begg

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How to Teach Kids Theology: Deep Truths for Growing Faith

TFL — Sat, 16 May 2026 05:00:00 GMT

Helping children understand big truths about God doesn’t have to be complicated—and it doesn’t have to wait until they’re older. How to Teach Kids Theology: Deep Truths for Growing Faith is a thoughtful and practical guidebook designed to equip parents, grandparents, ministry leaders, and teachers with a framework for introducing rich biblical doctrine in ways children can truly grasp. Rather than avoiding “deep” topics, this book embraces them, showing how to explore who God is with young children all the way up to college students.

What sets this book apart is its clarity, intentionality, and flexibility. Each lesson is presented in a way that’s adaptable, whether you’re teaching the very young or leading a discussion with young adults. It takes foundational theological concepts—like God’s character, salvation, and the nature of Scripture—and breaks them down into simple, engaging conversations. Each chapter is structured to help parents, teachers, or youth group leaders communicate truth with confidence, offering definitions, discussion prompts, and real-life application. It’s not just about imparting information. It’s about fostering a lasting faith that grows over time.

If you’ve ever wondered how to move beyond surface-level Bible stories and into meaningful spiritual formation, this book is an excellent place to start. Applying the instruction in How to Teach Kids Theology will enable you to help children of all ages build a strong, Christ-centered foundation that will guide them for years to come.

Request your copy of How to Teach Kids Theology when you donate to Truth For Life today.

Rooting Out the Weed of Bitterness

TFL — Wed, 13 May 2026 05:00:00 GMT

There’s an old Sunday school chorus that goes like this:

Root them out, get them gone,
All the little rabbits in the fields of corn!
Envy, jealousy, malice, and pride,
They must never in your heart abide.

While its poetry may be marginal at best, the song’s imagery is potent—and the message is remarkably timeless and practical: For all of us, there are weeds in our hearts that need to be rooted out and pests that need to be gotten rid of.

One of the chief among these pesky intruders, the Scriptures tell us, is bitterness. Paul says in Ephesians 4:30–31, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.” And in another potent image, the book of Hebrews tells us, “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no ‘root of bitterness’ springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled” (12:15).

It’s quite the thought that bitterness not only grieves the Spirit but also calls in question the reality of our profession of faith. Yet the warnings are clear and dire, and they justify the characterization of bitterness as an insatiable pest and an overpowering weed, stealing away and choking out the fruit that God intends for us.

Identifying the Weed

If we picture bitterness as a weed that sprouts in the heart, then we can imagine ourselves identifying it by its three leaves.

First, we may identify the weed of bitterness by the habit of opposition. A bitter heart is a grumbling heart, and grumblers express themselves through anger, resentment, dissatisfaction, and, ultimately, opposition to much of the benign work that goes on around them. If someone says “black,” they say “white.” If someone says “plain,” they say “plaid.” If someone says “go,” they say “stop.” In the wilderness wanderings recorded in the books of Exodus and Numbers, the people grumbled and opposed Moses because they didn’t trust him—and, more importantly, they didn’t trust God, who chose and called him. Far from merely rebuking Moses when he sinned, they opposed him and rebelled at every opportunity. Those with embittered hearts will consistently do likewise.

Second, we may identify the weed of bitterness by the presence of unbelief. The bitter heart displays an unwillingness to take God at His word. It takes Proverbs 3:5—“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding”—and turns it on its head: It doesn’t believe that God seeks our good or that He is ultimately in control.

There is no alienation in the Christian life such as may be compared to that which emerges from a bitter heart.

Third, we may identify the weed of bitterness by the presence of disenchantment. Unwittingly, unwillingly even, those in whose hearts the bitter weed has taken root find the taste of every joy that God gives to be spoiled. Songs no longer emerge from the heart but only come from the tongue. Handshakes end at the wrist. The Scriptures die on the printed page.

Tragically, we find that, like most weeds, bitterness spreads further the longer it is tolerated and crowds out the crop. And it also isolates: The only company the bitter want to keep are those who share their disenchantment. Indeed, few who have successfully fended off the bitter root will want to keep company with the griping, complaining crowd! There is no alienation in the Christian life such as may be compared to that which emerges from a bitter heart.

Tearing Up the Root

What, then, of the weed’s root? If we want to pull bitterness up and prevent its return, where do we need to lay our hands?

First of all, we need to root out jealousy from our hearts. It is hard to say just how many churches have been rendered useless by jealousies that emerged because someone thought they should be in a certain place that they weren’t or that they deserved something they didn’t get. King Saul, for instance—perhaps the great biblical example of an embittered soul—became hostile when the women of Israel sang, “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” He inferred wrongly, “What more can he have but the kingdom?” (1 Sam. 18:7–8).

Second, we need to root out our disobedience against God’s Word. Often, when we find bitterness in ourselves, we won’t have to look far to discover that we’ve rebelled against a clear dictate of Scripture—something that is absolutely crystal clear, yet we refused to do it, and we knew it to be so. Saul’s declension began with those acts of disobedience and folly that precipitated God’s rejection (1 Sam. 13:13–14; 15:17–19). We will not rebel against God’s Word without resenting, at least in some small measure, the Word and the one who gave it.

Where you find bitterness, you will find strife.

Third, we need to root out suspicion from our hearts. Saul’s bitterness was shot through with suspicion. When Saul became jealous of David, he “eyed David from that day on” (1 Sam. 18:9). Suspicious people hunt for hidden agendas and look for malice behind every word and deed. They will have no shortage of resentments to embitter them, since they are skilled at finding them wherever they look.

Fourth, we need to root out strife from our relationships. Saul, again, had no shortage of conflict with David. Where you find bitterness, you will find strife; and where you find strife, you will find bitterness.

Fifth, we need to beware how we respond to our circumstances. Hebrews 12:11 tells us that God may discipline us through hard circumstances, which “seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (emphasis added). In other words, two people may go through the same circumstances (indeed, Saul and David both faced threats to themselves and their kingdoms), but one will bow under the wonder of God’s discipline while the other will resent it. As the old rhyme goes, “Two men looked out from prison bars; one saw mud, the other stars.”

The Weedkiller

Any and all of these things can take root and spread the weed of bitterness among God’s people. We must stand ready to prevent their incursion into our hearts and fellowships. But how? We need a weedkiller.

The best way to deal with bitterness is by cultivating its opposite: grateful forgiveness—namely, in recognition of the great debt from which we ourselves have been forgiven. If God can not only put up with us but also love us, sinful as we are; if God can forgive all our sins, past, present, and future; if God can overlook our faults and weaknesses for the sake of Jesus, then what possible right do we have to resent the faults of others? (See Matt. 18:21–35.)

The best way to deal with bitterness is by cultivating its opposite: grateful forgiveness.

Jesus was an innocent man—the only one who ever truly had a right to be bitter because of how He was treated. Yet His cry from the cross was “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). We can also choose forgiveness—not by repressing our anger at the wrong done but by recognizing that all the sin against us, as well as our own against others, has been dealt with at the cross of Jesus Christ.

Forgiveness is not a glandular condition, not an emotional effulgence. We choose to forgive people. Every time we are wronged, we either forgive, or we don’t. And when we don’t, bitterness will take root.

There is no cure for bitterness like the Gospel of Christ—which is exactly why we should fear that we may be outside of the Gospel if we find that root of bitterness within us. But when we have known Christ’s forgiveness, we will find in it the motive and the power to put on our gloves, grab our tools, get down on our knees, and tend our garden.

This article was adapted from the sermon “Bitterness” by Alistair Begg.

Wallpaper: The Heart of Man

TFL — Mon, 11 May 2026 05:00:00 GMT

“The heart of man plans his way,
but the Lord establishes his steps.”
Proverbs 16:9

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Every Hand, One Work: Interdependence in Action

TFL — Wed, 06 May 2026 05:00:00 GMT

When Nehemiah came to Jerusalem in the fifth century BC to help rebuild the then-ruined city, he exhorted the people, “Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision” (Neh. 2:17). Whatever discussion may have ensued isn’t recorded for us, but the people’s conclusion is plain and clear: “They said, ‘Let us rise up and build,’” and “they strengthened their hands for the good work” (v. 18). Chapter 3 of Nehemiah then goes on to catalogue the names of those who answered the call and the places where they served side by side along the whole wall of Jerusalem, from the priests at the Sheep Gate (v. 1) to Hallohesh and his daughters beside the Tower of Ovens (vv. 11–12) all the way around to the goldsmiths and the merchants beside the Sheep Gate again (v. 32).

This catalogue is in many ways matter-of-fact. Nevertheless, it is part of God’s Word, and it is there for our instruction. Among the many lessons we can draw from it is that in the work of God’s people, the principle of interdependence is key. A project of this magnitude could never have been seriously entertained without the mobilization of the entire community, connected with one another, dependent upon one another.

What would it look like for a church to have the kind of interdependence that the people of Israel displayed here? At least three elements are critical.

Taking Responsibility

First, interdependence involves every individual taking responsibility for something. If you had gone about Jerusalem in the days of rebuilding and asked, “Who are you, and where do you work?” one would have been able to say, “I’m Hassenaah, and I work at the Fish Gate,” and another, “I’m Shallum, and I work at the Fountain Gate.” If someone answered, “I don’t know,” you could safely assume they either had not grasped the purpose of the project or had no interest in being involved.

Indeed, in this case especially, the success of the project depended on each party taking responsibility. A wall around a whole city except for one part would still leave the city vulnerable. Jerusalem needed a completed wall, and so all the people needed to take responsibility for their sections.

About the church, Paul reminds us that “the body does not consist of one member but of many” (1 Cor. 12:14). God’s people are seeking to be a city on a hill (Matt. 5:14), proclaiming the Gospel to the world—but one man or woman cannot do it by themselves. God gives gifts to the church to build the church up (Eph. 4:15–16), and each member must take responsibility for the task God has granted.

Setting Aside Disagreements

Interdependence also means setting aside personal disagreements. Building the church is not like building with bricks that all come out of a machine, each exactly the same size. As someone has said, it’s more like building with bananas:¹ some are green, some are mushy, and none of them really fit together neatly.

Not all in Jerusalem were at peace with one another. In fact, at one point, Nehemiah had to intervene in a conflict between poorer farmers and wealthier leaders who were extracting interest from them—likely on loans taken to hold them over while they contributed to the construction of the wall. Nehemiah acted to resolve the injustice and end the dispute (Neh. 5:1–13).

Interdependence will mean operating with one another on the basis of God’s love. A church that reflects the character of Christ will seek to honor God “by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” Doing so will mean striving to follow Paul’s instructions: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves” (Phil 2:2–3).

Keeping the Purpose in View

Finally, true interdependence will require keeping the purpose in view. Every group along Jerusalem’s wall had an objective, and that was to meet the next group and, together, form an encircling wall. But it could easily have been possible for one group to get so focused on its little part of the project that it forgot what the people as a whole were aiming for.

You can imagine them: “What a quaint little corner we have! Why don’t we build a deck off the wall here?” Maybe someone else says, “We can get some figs from this grove nearby and sell jam off the deck!” Before they know where they are, they’ve lost sight of their real purpose.

In a church, similar things can happen. A preacher, for instance, may grow so consumed with preaching that he loses his sense of the church’s other ministries; then he will be a nuisance, drawing attention to himself and resources to his interests. The woman who runs the bunco night can start to think that the church was established for the sake of bunco. And so we do well to remember that the church doesn’t exist to rearrange the furniture so that everyone inside can feel comfy. It exists to glorify God and to fill the earth with His glory by proclaiming the Gospel where God has set us down. We ought to ask ourselves, “Am I building up the church for God’s glory, or am I building my own personal deck?”

The story is told that when Christopher Wren was building St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, an overseer was making the rounds inspecting the construction. He came upon one worker and asked, “What are you doing?” He said, “I am helping to carve out the loft for the organ.” He came to another and asked, “And what are you doing?” He said, “I am laying the mosaic on the floor.” And so it went until finally, he came to a fellow, away in obscurity, raising up dust and beating with a hammer and chisel on a big block of apparently inconsequential stone. “And young man, what are you doing?” the overseer asked. The young man looked up at him and said, “I am helping Sir Christopher Wren build St. Paul’s Cathedral.” He wasn’t just there with his stone and his little chisel, doing his own little project. He understood that he was part of the whole.

In the church, we don’t each work on our own little projects. We work together for God’s glory, and we depend on one another as we do. God has given us one another so that together we might work toward the goal of making His name known. And by God’s grace, enabled by His Spirit, we can do just that, hand in hand.

This article was adapted from the sermon “Hard-Pressed but Not Crushed — Part One” by Alistair Begg.

Derek Copley and Nancy Copley, Building with Bananas: People Problems in the Church (Exeter: Paternoster, 1978). ↩︎

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