From The Archives

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The seventeenth-century minister Thomas Jacomb once wrote of Romans 8, “From first to last, it is high gospel.”[1] Beginning with “no condemnation” and ending with the assurance that nothing can separate us from God’s love, it is one of the most magisterial and encouraging chapters in all of Scripture. In his message “No Condemnation in Christ,”  Alistair Begg begins a short tour through its profound depths, helping us to grasp the solution to the predicament of sin, the relationship between freedom and the law, the call to walk in newness of life by God’s Spirit—and, in this excerpt, the significance of being “in Christ”:

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“What’s it like to work just one day a week?” While many pastors find themselves on the receiving end of such questions, the reality is that as Gospel workers, pastors know their jobs are never really finished. As Alistair Begg notes in his sermon “Pastoral Responsibilities,” Paul’s instructions to his protégé Timothy make clear that the church is always in need of pastors who will study God’s Word diligently so they can remind their congregations of the essentials of the faith and present themselves to God as ones approved:

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Having urged his readers to contend for the faith and learn from the past, Jude used the closing section of his letter to call them to remembrance, perseverance, and mercy. As Alistair Begg reminds us in the sermon “Keeping and Remembering,” while our salvation is grounded in the work of Christ, the evidence of our salvation is in our continuance. Looking to the Puritan writer William Jenkyn for guidance, Alistair points out three practical ways we can follow Jude’s instruction to “keep yourselves in the love of God” (v. 21):

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When Jude wrote to the Christians of his day, he wanted to focus on their common salvation—but instead, he found it necessary to urge them to “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.” In the sermon “A Call to Contend,” Alistair Begg surveys the warm greeting, necessary appeal, and chilling reminder in this neglected letter’s opening verses. While church history makes clear that periods of declension are inevitable, Jude’s careful, protective tone reminds us to resist the urge to turn contending into contentiousness:

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The sin of jealousy is often tolerated in Christian circles—but our lenience doesn’t make it any less serious. The Bible is clear: Jealousy is a grave matter. In a talk given to seminary students called “Regarding Jealousy,” Alistair Begg surveys jealousy’s consequences, which can only be overcome as we acknowledge our transgression before God and keep our eyes fixed on Christ:

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In Mark 14, we read that as the time for Jesus’ crucifixion drew near, a woman came to Him and anointed His head with an alabaster flask of precious oil. While this heartfelt act of worship provoked the disciples’ disapproval, Jesus celebrated her extravagant devotion. In the sermon “‘A Beautiful Thing,’” Alistair Begg surveys the woman’s action, the disciples’ reaction, and Jesus’ commendation, helping us to see that the only true pathway to lasting honor is to honor Christ:

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As he drew his first epistle to a close, the apostle Peter turned his focus to the elders of the churches to which he wrote, urging them to lead their people with godliness. Elders and pastors are shepherds over God’s flock, Alistair Begg reminds us—ones who should lead by example, cultivating humility, entrusting God with their anxieties, preparing to face adversity, and resting in the security of God’s grace. In “Standing Firm in the Grace of God,” Alistair helps to understand what true, godly humility looks like:

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In the fourth chapter of his first epistle, in light of all that he’d written up to that point, Peter continued to unpack how the reality of Christ’s sacrifice should shape the day-to-day of the Christian life. Living under the shadow of the cross, Alistair Begg explains, means thinking properly, living differently, and being prepared to face abuse—even as we keep our eyes fixed on the end:

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