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Evangelism: Dealing with Difficulties (Part 3 of 3)

Selected Scriptures
Program

Some claim that Christianity’s been proven false by science or that it’s a psychological crutch. Learn how to respond to these challenges with humility and sensitivity, and discover evangelism’s ultimate goal. That’s on Truth For Life with Alistair Begg.

From the Sermon

Evangelism: Dealing With Difficulties — Part Two

Selected Scriptures Sermon Includes Transcript 43:09 ID: 1523

To the Teaching!

To the Teaching!

To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.

We live in an age that is unique in many ways. We have technology at our fingertips that gives us access to information that would have remained out of reach decades ago. We can stay in touch with friends across the world, we can share our thoughts online at a whim, and we don’t need to wait until tomorrow to catch up on the headlines.

But we would be off base to assume that everything about our lives is historically unique. The Israelites to whom Isaiah prophesied over two and a half millennia ago may not have had 24/7 news and social media, but they were just as tempted as we are to be distracted by noisy and unhelpful voices. Isaiah reports that some Israelites wanted to “inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” and others wanted to “inquire of the dead on behalf of the living” (Isaiah 8:19).

We have this in common with the Israelites. We may not be consulting with
fortune-tellers and the dead (though such things remain popular even in our so-called rational scientific age), but we are by no means starved of sources of “truth” around us. The basic problem now, as then, is not the absence of good information and wise counsel. The problem is that we turn our ears and hearts to listen to lies.

Isaiah’s response to his original audience, then, is his response to us too: “To the teaching and to the testimony!” God has spoken, and it is His word that should be the dominant voice in our lives—the primary influence on how we think and act. If we give ourselves to unrelenting information and news, we should not be surprised when we face increased anxiety. If we spend loads of time scrolling online, we should not be surprised to find ourselves feeling more isolated than ever. If we look to the sages of our age for guidance, we should not be surprised to find ourselves going off track.

Do you give priority to God’s voice? Do you let His word hold pride of place among the voices you listen to? Or do you give Him an hour on Sunday and assume that will be enough to hold you over for a week? The Almighty God calls His people to allow their minds to be renewed, transformed by exposure to and meditation upon His holy word (Romans 12:2). The blessed person is not the one who knows the ins and outs of every news story or cultural crisis but the one whose “delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night” (Psalm 1:2).

What are you reading most, hearing most, and dwelling on most? Perhaps now is a time to recommit yourself “to the teaching”—to reading, meditating upon, and memorizing it—for the good and stability of your soul.

Questions for Thought

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading

The Transfiguration

28dNow about eight days after these sayings he took with him ePeter and John and James and fwent up on the mountain to pray. 29And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was galtered, and hhis clothing became dazzling white. 30And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, 31who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure,2 which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32Now Peter and those who were with him iwere heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake jthey saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 33And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three ktents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—lnot knowing what he said. 34As he was saying these things, ma cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35And ma voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, nmy Chosen One;3 olisten to him!”

Open in Bible
Footnotes
2 9:31 Greek exodus
3 9:35 Some manuscripts my Beloved

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotionals by Alistair Begg, published by The Good Book Company, thegoodbook.com. Used by Truth For Life with permission. Copyright © 2021, 2022, The Good Book Company.

A Picture of Beauty

A Picture of Beauty

You are the most handsome of the sons of men.

The entire person of Christ is like one diamond, and His life in every dimension leaves one lasting impression. He is altogether complete, not only in His various parts, but as a gracious all-glorious whole. His character is not a mass of bright colors mixed confusedly, nor a heap of precious stones laid carelessly on top of each other; He is a picture of beauty and a breastplate of glory. In Him, all the things of good repute are in their proper places and assist in adorning each other. Not one feature in His glorious person attracts attention at the expense of others; but He is perfectly and altogether lovely.

Oh, Jesus, Your power, Your grace, Your justice, Your tenderness, Your truth, Your majesty, and Your immutability combine to make a man, or rather a God-man, whom neither heaven nor earth has ever seen elsewhere. Your infancy, Your eternity, Your sufferings, Your triumphs, Your death, and Your immortality are all woven into one gorgeous tapestry, without seams or tears. You are music without discord; You are all things, and yet not diverse. As all the colors blend into one resplendent rainbow, so all the glories of heaven and earth meet in You and unite so perfectly that there is no one like You in all things; indeed, if all the virtues of the most excellent were bound in one bundle, they could not rival You, mirror of all perfection. You have been anointed with the holy oil, which Your God has reserved for You alone; and as for Your fragrance, it is the holy perfume that cannot be matched even with the chemist’s skill; each spice is fragrant, but the compound is divine.

Oh, sacred symmetry! oh, rare connection
Of many perfects, to make one perfection!
Oh, heavenly music, where all parts do meet
In one sweet strain, to make one perfect sweet!

Devotional material is taken from Morning and Evening, written by C. H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg. Copyright © 2003, Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.org. Used by Truth For Life with written permission.

Daily Bible Reading for June 21

Deuteronomy 26, Psalm 117, Psalm 118, Isaiah 53, Matthew 1

Offerings of Firstfruits and Tithes

1“When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance and have taken possession of it and live in it, 2wyou shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from your land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall xgo to the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name to dwell there. 3And you shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, ‘I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come into the land ythat the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.’ 4Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God.

5“And you shall make response before the Lord your God, ‘A zwandering Aramean was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, afew in number, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. 6And bthe Egyptians treated us harshly and humiliated us and laid on us hard labor. 7Then cwe cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. 8And dthe Lord brought us out of Egypt ewith a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror,1 with signs and wonders. 9And he brought us into this place and gave us this land, fa land flowing with milk and honey. 10And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O Lord, have given me.’ And you shall set it down before the Lord your God and worship before the Lord your God. 11And gyou shall rejoice in all the good that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you.

12“When you have finished paying all hthe tithe of your produce in the third year, which is ithe year of tithing, giving it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your towns and be filled, 13then you shall say before the Lord your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion out of my house, and moreover, I have given it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all your commandment that you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your commandments, jnor have I forgotten them. 14kI have not eaten of the tithe while I was mourning, or removed any of it while I was unclean, or offered any of it lto the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the Lord my God. I have done according to all that you have commanded me. 15mLook down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel and the ground that you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.’

16“This day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and rules. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul. 17nYou have declared today that the Lord is your God, and that you will walk in his ways, and keep his statutes and his commandments and his rules, and will obey his voice. 18And the Lord has declared today that you are oa people for his treasured possession, as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments, 19and that he will set you in praise and in fame and in honor phigh above all nations qthat he has made, and that you shall be ra people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised.”

Open in Bible
Footnotes
1 26:8 Hebrew with great terror

Psalm 117

The Lord's Faithfulness Endures Forever

1cPraise the Lord, all nations!

Extol him, all peoples!

2For dgreat is his steadfast love toward us,

and ethe faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.

bPraise the Lord!

Psalm 118

His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

1fOh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

for his steadfast love endures forever!

2gLet Israel say,

“His steadfast love endures forever.”

3gLet the house of Aaron say,

“His steadfast love endures forever.”

4gLet those who fear the Lord say,

“His steadfast love endures forever.”

5hOut of my distress I icalled on the Lord;

the Lord answered me and set me jfree.

6kThe Lord is on my side; lI will not fear.

What can man do to me?

7mThe Lord is on my side as my helper;

I shall nlook in triumph on those who hate me.

8oIt is better to take refuge in the Lord

pthan to trust in man.

9It is better to take refuge in the Lord

pthan to trust in princes.

10qAll nations surrounded me;

in the name of the Lord I cut them off!

11They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;

in the name of the Lord I cut them off!

12rThey surrounded me like bees;

they went out like sa fire among thorns;

in the name of the Lord I cut them off!

13I was tpushed hard,1 so that I was falling,

but the Lord helped me.

14The Lord is my strength and my song;

uhe has become my salvation.

15Glad songs of salvation

are in the tents of the righteous:

v“The right hand of the Lord wdoes valiantly,

16the right hand of the Lord exalts,

the right hand of the Lord wdoes valiantly!”

17xI shall not die, but I shall live,

and yrecount the deeds of the Lord.

18The Lord has zdisciplined me severely,

but he has not given me over to death.

19aOpen to me the gates of righteousness,

that I may enter through them

and give thanks to the Lord.

20This is the gate of the Lord;

bthe righteous shall enter through it.

21I thank you that cyou have answered me

uand have become my salvation.

22dThe stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone.2

23This is the Lord's doing;

it is marvelous in our eyes.

24This is the day that the Lord has made;

let us rejoice and be glad in it.

25Save us, we pray, O Lord!

O Lord, we pray, give us success!

26eBlessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

We fbless you from the house of the Lord.

27The Lord is God,

and he has made ghis light to shine upon us.

Bind the festal sacrifice with cords,

up to hthe horns of the altar!

28You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;

you are my God; I will iextol you.

29jOh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

for his steadfast love endures forever!

Open in Bible
Footnotes
1 118:13 Hebrew You (that is, the enemy) pushed me hard
2 118:22 Hebrew the head of the corner

1gWho has believed what he has heard from us?1

And to whom has hthe arm of the Lord been revealed?

2For he grew up before him like a young plant,

iand like a root out of dry ground;

jhe had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

and no beauty that we should desire him.

3kHe was despised and rejected2 by men,

a man of sorrows3 and acquainted with4 grief;5

and as one from whom men hide their faces6

he was despised, and lwe esteemed him not.

4mSurely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

nsmitten by God, and afflicted.

5oBut he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

pand with his wounds we are healed.

6qAll we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned—every one—to his own way;

rand the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

7He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

syet he opened not his mouth;

tlike a ulamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he opened not his mouth.

8By oppression and judgment he was taken away;

and as for his generation, vwho considered

that he was cut off out of the land of the living,

stricken for the transgression of my people?

9And they made his grave with the wicked

wand with a rich man in his death,

although xhe had done no violence,

and there was no deceit in his mouth.

10Yet yit was the will of the Lord to crush him;

he has put him to grief;7

zwhen his soul makes8 an offering for guilt,

he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;

athe will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

11Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see9 and be satisfied;

by his knowledge shall bthe righteous one, my servant,

cmake many to be accounted righteous,

dand he shall bear their iniquities.

12eTherefore I will divide him a portion with the many,10

fand he shall divide the spoil with the strong,11

because he poured out his soul to death

and was numbered with the transgressors;

gyet he bore the sin of many,

and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Open in Bible
Footnotes
1 53:1 Or Who has believed what we have heard?
2 53:3 Or forsaken
3 53:3 Or pains; also verse 4
4 53:3 Or and knowing
5 53:3 Or sickness; also verse 4
6 53:3 Or as one who hides his face from us
7 53:10 Or he has made him sick
8 53:10 Or when you make his soul
9 53:11 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll he shall see light
10 53:12 Or with the great
11 53:12 Or with the numerous

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

1aThe book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, bthe son of David, cthe son of Abraham.

2dAbraham was the father of Isaac, and eIsaac the father of Jacob, and fJacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3and gJudah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram,1 4and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5and Salmon the father of Boaz by hRahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6and iJesse the father of David the king.

And jDavid was the father of Solomon by kthe wife of Uriah, 7and lSolomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph,2 8and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, mand Joram the father of Uzziah, 9and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos,3 and Amos the father of Josiah, 11and nJosiah the father of oJechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

12And after the deportation to Babylon: pJechoniah was the father of qShealtiel,4 and rShealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, 14and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, 15and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, 16and Jacob the father of sJoseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.

17So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to tthe Christ fourteen generations.

The Birth of Jesus Christ

18Now the birth of uJesus Christ5 took place in this way. vWhen his mother Mary had been betrothed6 to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child wfrom the Holy Spirit. 19And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling xto put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20But as he considered these things, behold, yan angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She will bear a son, and zyou shall call his name Jesus, afor he will save his people from their sins.” 22bAll this took place cto fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

23d“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall call his name eImmanuel”

(which means, God fwith us). 24When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And ghe called his name Jesus.

Open in Bible
Footnotes
1 1:3 Greek Aram; also verse 4
2 1:7 Asaph is probably an alternate spelling of Asa; some manuscripts Asa; also verse 8
3 1:10 Amos is probably an alternate spelling of Amon; some manuscripts Amon; twice in this verse
4 1:12 Greek Salathiel; twice in this verse
5 1:18 Some manuscripts of the Christ
6 1:18 That is, legally pledged to be married
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.

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