Begg - Made for his pleasure: ten benchmarks of a vital faith

1996 by ALISTAIR BEGG

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Excerpts in chapter 3 from Massacre in Rhodesia are from Newsweek, July 3, 1978, 1978, Newsweek, Inc. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Scripture quotations marked TLB are taken from The Living Bible copyright 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked PHILLIPS are from The New Testament in Modern English by J.B. Phillips copyright 1960, 1972 J. B. Phillips. Administered by The Archbishops Council of the Church of England. Used by Permission.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Scripture quotations marked NRSV are taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989, the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version.

The use of selected references from various versions of the Bible in this publication does not necessarily imply publisher endorsement of the versions in their entirety.

Edited by Anne Scherich and Kevin Emmert

Interior design: Ragont Design

Cover design: Greg Jackson, ThinkPen Design

Cover photo by Levi Bare on Unsplash

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Begg, Alistair, author.

Title: Made for his pleasure : ten benchmarks of a vital faith / Alistair Begg; forewords by John MacArthur Jr. and R.C. Sproul.

Description: Chicago : Moody Publishers, 2018. | Previously published: c1996. | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018013318 (print) | LCCN 2018026025 (ebook) | ISBN 9780802496713 (ebook) | ISBN 9780802418272

Subjects: LCSH: Christian life. | Begg, Alistair.

Classification: LCC BV4501.3 (ebook) | LCC BV4501.3 .B4354 2018 (print) | DDC 248.4--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018013318

ISBN 978-0-8024-1827-2

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To the memory of my mother and father

Other Books by Alistair Begg

The Hand of God
Lasting Love
On Being a Pastor
Pathway to Freedom
Preaching for Gods Glory

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T he apostle Paul wrote, Therefore we also have as our ambition to be pleasing to Him (2 Cor. 5:9 NASB; italics added).

Ambition can be motivated by the love of what is truly honorable. The Greeks tended to see ambition in a noble way. To them it was philo temeomaito love honorand referred to someone striving for noble goals.

Paul was so ambitious it is fair to say he was driven by his ambition to the degree that absolutely nothing could successfully stand in the way. He is a model for all believers of unstoppable ambition of the noblest kind.

What made his ambition stand out as noble and honorable against the typical wickedness of most ambition was that it was selfless. His driving ambition was to be pleasing to Him. He lived for the Lords pleasure and to teach others to do the same:

Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. (1 Thess. 4:12)

The devoted apostle commands us all to find out what pleases the Lord (Eph. 5:10), and to please him in every way (Col. 1:10).

In light of such urgency in the matter of noble ambition to please God, you should rejoice in the treasure you are holding in your hands, because its richness will provide a clear path to follow, which will lead you to that monumental face-to-face meeting with the Lord Jesus Christ where, your ambition fulfilled, you will find out that all the time it was God Himself working in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen (Heb. 13:21).

The truths in this feast Alistair has set before us are eternal, but the table setting and arrangement are exhilaratingly fresh, captivating, and warmly personal. Because pleasing Him is our own ambition, the sine qua non, only the foolish would resist the great help to fulfill this ambition this book will provide.

Deep thanks, Alistair,

JOHN MACARTHUR
Grace Community Church
Sun Valley, California

I n the flow of history, sometimes undercurrents emerge that are hardly noticeable. Like raindrops that accumulate and form rivulets, and rivulets that become streams, and streams rivers that empty into oceans, these tiny movements can swell into great things. Who knows how great movements begin? They transcend the plans and machinations of men, being prompted and guided by the invisible hand of Providence.

Such was the nail that posted ninety-five theses on a church door in Wittenberg. Today such a small current is gathering strength. It is alive and pulsating, like a heart pumping fresh blood into the body of Christ. It has the look and feel of historic English and American Puritanism. It is bringing new life. It is arousing interest and focus upon the glory of God, a theme that is manifest in all true revivals of church history. For want of a better label, let me call this movement