Proclaiming Boldly, Suffering Bravely

While an approach to Christianity that treats it as a soft option may sound attractive, it's certainly not scriptural. Truly biblical discipleship is muscular, demanding, and thoughtful. The apostle Paul made this clear to Timothy as he urged him to proclaim the Gospel boldly and to suffer for it bravely. In this conference message, Alistair Begg examines the three word pictures Paul used to clarify the believer's daily need for devotion, discipline, and diligence in the Christian life.

As Christopher Ash writes, "The word of God is the driving force that shapes authentic church life." If in our churches we wish to see discipleship in the pews, we have to have discipleship in the pulpit. With this conviction in view, Alistair Begg guides us through Paul's stirring words in 2 Timothy 4:1–8, examining the charge Paul gave to his pastoral protégé, the challenge Timothy faced, and the commitment the apostle urged upon him.

"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, 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.

One of the evidences of our having been adopted into God's family is that we pray. But what are we to actually pray about, and how? In Ephesians 3, Paul reveals his prayers for the Ephesian believers, providing a pattern for prayer that both encourages and challenges believers in all times. In this message, Alistair Begg examines Paul's entreaty, the generosity upon which it's based, and the glorious end toward which the apostle prays: that God will get all the glory He deserves.

As he reached the end of Romans 8, Paul presented a triumphant closing argument, grounding Christian assurance in God's decisive action in Christ. Because God did not spare His own Son, believers can be confident that nothing essential will be withheld from them. Every charge is silenced by Christ's death, resurrection, reign, and intercession, Alistair Begg explains. Though suffering and opposition remain real, they cannot sever believers from Christ's love. In all circumstances, Christians are "more than conquerors," fully secure in God's unbreakable redeeming love in Christ Jesus.

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 for doing "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.

Writing to the Christians of first-century Rome, the apostle Paul acknowledged that creation, believers, and even the Spirit Himself groan in hopeful anticipation of final renewal. Present suffering is real, Scripture affirms—but it is eclipsed by the promised glory to come. Alistair Begg traces the inseparable link between suffering and glory in God's redemptive purpose, reminding us that the Spirit sustains believers in weakness and that God is at work in all things for our ultimate good.

Genuine Christianity is not just a new set of beliefs or even a new pattern of behavior; it's a matter of new belonging. After declaring the glorious truth that there is "now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus," the apostle Paul called his Roman readers to live "not in the flesh but in the Spirit." In this message, Alistair Begg examines the reality and results of the Spirit's presence in the life of the believer as well as the responsibility that falls to those who are in Christ.

The seventeenth-century minister Thomas Jacomb once wrote of Romans 8, "From first to last, it is high gospel." 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 this message, Alistair Begg begins a short tour through its profound depths, helping us to grasp the solution to the predicament of sin, the necessity of being "in Christ," the relationship between freedom and the law, and the call to walk in newness of life by God's Spirit.