Alistair Begg Sermon Review "Compassion vs Condemnation" - Response to "Trans-Wedding" Advice

Hello.

Alistair Begg’s Response to the Trans-Wedding Controversy

In this video, I'm going to be reviewing Alistair Begg's most recent sermon that he preached just this past Sunday night, where he gets into the whole, you know, scandal, I guess you could say, that has blown up where he gave advice to the Christian grandmother that she should attend her grandson's quote unquote, transgender wedding.

Alistair Begg, really, this is what disappoints me. Number one, he says he does not have to repent. He acts as if it's ridiculous to even think that he might have to. And then essentially he, at the very least, implies that his critics are just a bunch of Pharisees.

So if you disagree with Alistair Begg, if you've expressed your concern and disagreement online, even men like Justin Peters, myself, pretty much everybody is disagreeing with Alistair Begg on the internet.

But if you watch his sermon, it's at least, at the very least, implied that, yeah, we're just all a bunch of Pharisees. Yeah, that's basically what he said, but I'm going to show you the clips, the vital clips of the message that speak to the issue and I'm going to review it and let's get right into it.

The Prodigal Son and Why the Illustration Does Not Fit

First, he does start out with the whole text of the prodigal son. And that doesn't apply here because the prodigal son repented, the grandson and the people in these unions, which the marriage is a celebration of the union, they did not repent.

The prodigal son did. So I don't even think this text applies, but that's how he starts out. We're not going to play the whole sermon, but let's just listen to the first clip.

I answered in that way and I would not answer in any other way, no matter what anybody says on the internet as of the last 10 days. If that were the case, I would never…. If that were the case, I should never have said it in the first place if people want me to recant and to repent.

To repent?

I repent daily, because I say a lot of things that I shouldn't say. I mean, check with Sue, but the fact of the matter is, I'm not ready to repent over.

This.

I don't have to.

Accusations of Pharisees, Fundamentalists, and Legalists

Okay, so you can see Alistair Begg acts as if this is ridiculous. I mean, the idea that I would have to repent, I mean, you can see it in his face. I mean, that's just absurd. He says, I don't have to.

Well, the majority of the body of Christ believes that you do. So a lot of people are saying that this is just a prideful attitude. And listen, I don't want to accuse him, try to read his mind, read his heart and accuse him of things.

I'm doing these videos because I believe this potentially is a watershed moment in evangelical Bible-believing Christianity. If one of the most respected and conservative pastors comes out and says this, and his church practically gives him a standing ovation, I mean, something has happened and we didn't even realize it.

So I'm talking about this and doing several videos because I think it's that big of an.

Issue.

But yeah, Alistair Begg, you're going to see later on, he says, oh, this'll just blow over. I don't see how this can continue. I mean, he just doesn't think it's a big deal at all. And the idea that he would have to repent, yeah, I mean, that's ridiculous.

So not good, but let's play the next clip.

I've lived here for 40 years. And those who know me best know that when we talk theology, when we talk stuff, I've always said I am a little bit out of sync with the American evangelical world. For this reason, that I am the product of British evangelicalism, represented by John Stott, Martin Lloyd-Jones, Eric Alexander, Sinclair Ferguson, Derek Prime—I am a product of that.

I have never been a product of American fundamentalism. I come from a world in which it is possible for people to actually grasp the fact that there are nuances in things. Those of you who are lawyers understand this.

Everything is not so categorically clear that if you put one foot out of this box, you've got to be removed from the box forever.

Okay, so right there he took a swipe at American Christianity or American fundamentalism. Well, you know, fundamentalism. Who is a fundamentalist? Well, basically, his critics, he's labeling them as fundamentalists.

And you're going to see later on that he's going to imply that they're basically just a bunch of legalistic Pharisees. Let's listen to the next clip.

Pharisees actually is an Aramaic term for separatists. And the Pharisees were the religious exclusives of their day. Quotes, In their determination to conform strictly to the law, they held aloof from any and every contact which, in their view, might defile them.

This entailed an avoidance not only of Gentiles, not only of Hellenized Jews, whom they regarded as liberals, but of the common people as well, who through ignorance of the law no doubt broke it, and as lawbreakers were unclean.

The superior and scornful attitude which the Pharisees adopted towards the common people appears several times in the Gospels, including right here in chapter 15. The Phariseic doctrine of holiness of separation from the world, he says, was a perverted doctrine.

The motivation to keep yourself pure and holy is a right motivation. But it was perverted by the way in which they applied it. Instead of seeking to be holy in thought and word and deed, while retaining relationships of love and care with all men, they withdrew from social contact with sinners and despised those who didn't follow suit.

They basically became a holy club. And they, in the process, became harsh and censorious. And it is that which Jesus is taking on when he tells these stories and when he gives these parables. If that's the Pharisees' attitude, what is the attitude of Jesus?

Well, the attitude of Jesus is totally at variance with that of the Pharisees themselves. They were scandalized by his free and easy fraternization with these people. You can't do that! You can't go there!

That's why it begins. All the publicans and sinners who said, We gotta go meet Jesus! And the Pharisees were grumbling, Can you believe this thing? He goes to the house of publicans and sinners. He meets with sinners.

Okay, so there it is. The not-so-subtle hint or accusation that my critics are like the Pharisees. Now, he talked about the Pharisees and their extreme separation. Here's the problem with that. Nobody is saying, Don't love the grandson.

Nobody is saying, Don't minister to these people. Nobody is saying, Don't take them out to eat. I mean, Jesus ate with sinners, right? Nobody's saying, Don't do that. All we're saying is don't attend the ceremony.

That's literally all we're saying. You shouldn't attend the ceremony because it is a celebration of what God calls sin. That's all we're saying. Okay. We're not in the Pharisees were the enemies of God.

I mean, they were the enemies. They killed Jesus. So to imply that your critics are Pharisees, I mean, it's outrageous. But in Alistair, in the sermon, he really, and I don't know if he doesn't understand the criticism or if he's intentionally trying to muddy the water.

I'm not sure. But he seems to be saying that, Oh, my critics are saying that we're not allowed to even, you know, be in their presence or that, that they, they're saying I'm gay affirming, or, you know, they're saying we shouldn't minister to these people.

Nobody's saying that, that I know of. I'm certainly not saying that, but just as far as a separation, because, you know, he brought up the issue of the fundamentalists. Apparently they're the bad guys.

They're the Pharisees. You know, you're, you're a Pharisee. I mean, I will just read Psalm chapter one, verse one, blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners.

That's still in the Bible. So you have to balance that with the desire to evangelize the lost and wanting to see them saved and loving your enemy, which I don't regard these people as an enemy, but are they an enemy to the faith?

I mean, but again, nobody is saying don't minister to them. We're literally just saying, don't go to the wedding, but apparently he seems to think that makes you a Pharisee. Very disappointed. That's the thing that makes me most upset and disappointed with Alistair Begg.

Let's play the next clip.

“Storm in a Teacup,” Trolls, and the Weakness of the Argument

Hopefully, this whole thing will just… the storm in the teacup will… eventually the teacup will fall over. There's only so many things you can…. I don't know how you can keep this going, actually. The reason that I haven't responded to any of the things in a personal way is because there's nothing that I can really add that I think would make anybody believe me anymore.

I think I can make it worse if I say more things, and it's bad enough as it is. And just one other thought, and I expect people to… how do they decide which bit they're going to troll through the.

Social media, which bits they want to pick up? Okay, so in that clip, Alistair Begg, he now called his critics, they're trolls. This story, by the way, was broken by Ray from the Evangelical Dark Web.

So that YouTube channel, Evangelical Dark Web, Ray, saw this statement by Alistair Begg in a podcast from late last year, and he did a video on it, and that led to all of this. And Alistair Begg seems to be accusing maybe Ray or all of us, oh, we're just a bunch of trolls.

So he really has no biblical argument, right? The passages about Jesus eating with sinners, hey, we're okay with that. Again, just saying don't attend the ceremony. Or the prodigal son, well, that doesn't apply because he repented, this grandson didn't.

The biblical arguments he's using are weak at best, so now he's having to resort to basically attacking his critics. I am not calling Alistair Begg names, okay? But he is calling his critics Pharisees, legalists, trolls, okay?

They're a bunch of trolls. How come they picked up on this, but they didn't pick up on that other thing where I preached against... Well, nobody's saying that you're not preaching against homosexuality.

We all recognize Alistair Begg has preached several sermons against homosexuality. That's not the issue. The issue is the advice. But again, he's resorting to name-calling trolls, Pharisees, and yeah, that's, again, very disappointing.

Let's play some more. I've got to go down.

On the side of one or the other. I'll go down on this side. I'll go down on the side of compassion with people actually accusing me of just weakness rather than go down on the side of condemnation, which closes any doors of opportunity for future engagement with those who know exactly what we believe about the Bible and about Jesus and about so on.

Okay. And the thing I didn't address,.

He said, this thing will all blow over, this tempest in a teapot. The teapot will just blow over. I don't know if that's true or not. He said, I don't see how this can keep going. Well, time will tell.

Like I said, in a previous video, Alistair Begg is set to speak at this year's Shepherd's Conference in a little over a month at Grace Community Church with Pastor John MacArthur. And it's going to come up again in a month, either way, I think.

But just to comment on those statements, Alistair Begg, he said, if I have to come down on one side or the other, I'm going to just be seen, I'll be seen as weak. That's fine. But I will not condemn these people.

Here's the thing, they're already condemned. Everyone born into this world is already condemned. Okay. We are all under sin. We are all born dead in trespasses and sin. Ephesians chapter two, verse one, all have sinned and have come short of the glory of God.

Romans chapter three, verse 23. If you read John chapter three, verses 16 through 18 or 16 through 20, you'll see that people are already condemned, but they need to believe in Jesus. And if you go to this ceremony, you know, you can say that you oppose quote unquote gay marriage.

You can say, well, I don't agree with that stuff. But if you go to the ceremony, your actions speak louder than words, your actions are saying something different that you actually affirm it. He said, no, I don't.

They need to see that clear dividing line that I will not participate in this one. If you want to go out to eat tomorrow, fine. I'll minister to you. I love you. I'll reach out to you, but I just won't do this one thing.

So we're not condemning anybody. They're already condemned. Like I said, all of humanity is already condemned. And if a person does not place their trust, if they don't repent and place their faith in Jesus and believe that he died on the cross for their sin, that God loved the world so much that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

If they don't understand that, then everybody is going to end up lost. A person must repent and believe the gospel and you compromising and saying one thing with your words and a different thing with your action.

You're not doing them any favors. That is not biblical love. Paul said in first Corinthians 13 verse six, love does not rejoice in iniquity. It rejoices.

In the truth. Let's play the last clip. It was my personal opinion as I sensed what was best, as I learned about the individual and specific situation.

That's as good as I can say. I hope that will be helpful to you. Okay. So there you saw it. His church clearly supports him, agrees with him, and that's surprising, but very disappointing. So in conclusion, I think this is a watershed moment.

This potentially is historic. That's why I've talked about it so much. That's why I'm reviewing this sermon. I think this is a turning point. I'm not condemning Alistair Begg. I continue to pray for him and hope that he repents.

But if modern Bible believing, evangelical, conservative evangelical Christianity, Alistair Begg is considered a conservative. If we go in this direction, where now you can attend trans weddings and buy the couple of this, this is something's happened.

This wouldn't have ever took place 30 years ago. Something has happened. And if this is the direction the church is going, we're in big trouble. So my name's Michael Grant. Thanks for watching. Continue to pray for everyone involved.

And until next time, may the Lord be with you. Have a great day.