Truth For Life Program
Alistair Begg Devotional
C. H. Spurgeon Devotional
One-Year Bible Reading Plan
Most people understand that Jesus Christ is the foundation of Christian faith. But more than that, find out why His life, death, resurrection, and ascension are the pivotal events of all human history! That’s our focus on Truth For Life with Alistair Begg.
From the Sermon
Grace for Every Failure
The New Testament mentions twice that the risen Christ appeared to Peter: once in this passage and again in 1 Corinthians 15:5. Why would Peter, of all people, receive such special treatment?
After all, not long before this event, Peter had failed his Master in His darkest hour. Just before Jesus was arrested, He told Peter that a trial lay ahead: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.” Peter responded, rather audaciously, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.” But Jesus knew Peter’s heart: “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me” (Luke 22:31-34).
As it turned out, Peter wasn’t as ready to face prison and death as he had imagined. We all know now, as did Jesus that very day, that Peter did indeed go on to deny his Lord three times. And afterward, when Peter recalled what Jesus had predicted and realized what he had done, he was reduced to tears (Matthew 26:75; Luke 22:62).
So why does the New Testament emphasize that the risen Lord Jesus appeared to Peter? Certainly not because Peter deserved it more than anybody else. But it’s fair to wonder if Jesus appeared to Peter because he needed it more than anybody else. Peter knew that he had blown it completely—and yet while Peter had denied Jesus, Jesus didn’t deny Peter. What mercy, what goodness, what kindness, what grace, what compassion, that Jesus still chose to go to the cross for His flawed disciple and then chose to make a special appearance to him!
We have stumbled. We have been deniers, deserters, staggerers. We know that we do not deserve for God to come to us. And yet as we go to God’s word and as we open our lives to its truth, it’s almost as though Jesus comes, sits right down beside us, and says, I’m here. I want to speak to you. I want to assure you. I want to forgive you. I want to send you out in My power.
Peter didn’t deserve the compassion he received from Jesus—and honestly, neither do we. Our failures show us time and time again that we are far from being worthy of God’s grace. But in His mercy, He is pleased to give it anyway—and then give some more. He’s just that kind of God. And you, like Peter, get to be His beloved disciple.
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?
Jesus and Peter
15When they had ufinished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, v“Simon, wson of John, xdo you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed ymy lambs.” 16He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, z“Tend ymy sheep.” 17He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him athe third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, byou know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed cmy sheep. 18dTruly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, eyou used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” 19(This he said to show fby what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, g“Follow me.”
Jesus and the Beloved Apostle
20Peter turned and saw hthe disciple whom Jesus loved following them, ithe one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” 21When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” 22Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain juntil kI come, what is that to you? lYou follow me!” 23So the saying spread abroad among mthe brothers2 that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”
24This is the disciple nwho is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and owe know pthat his testimony is true.
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.
Even in the Face of Mockery
All who see me mock me;
they make mouths at me; they wag their heads.
Mockery was a large factor in our Lord’s suffering. Judas mocked Him in the garden; the chief priests and scribes laughed Him to scorn; Herod set Him at nothing; the servants and the soldiers jeered at Him and brutally insulted Him; Pilate and his guards ridiculed His royalty; and on the tree all sorts of horrible jibes and hideous taunts were hurled at Him.
Ridicule is always hard to bear, but when we are in intense pain it is so heartless, so cruel, that it cuts us to the quick. Consider the Savior crucified, racked with anguish far beyond anything we can imagine, and then picture that motley multitude, all wagging their heads or making mouths in bitter contempt of the poor suffering victim! Surely there must have been something more in the Crucified One than they could see, or else such a great and mingled crowd would not have unanimously “honored” Him with such contempt. Was it not evil confessing, in the very moment of its greatest apparent triumph, that after all it could do no more than mock at that victorious goodness that was then reigning on the cross?
O Jesus, “despised and rejected by men,”1 how could You die for men who treated You so badly? Here is amazing love, love divine, love beyond degree. We despised You in our pre-converted days, and even since our new birth we have given the world a place in our hearts, and yet You bled to heal our wounds and died to give us life. O that we could set You on a glorious high throne in all men’s hearts! We would ring out Your praises over land and sea until men would universally adore you just as they once unanimously rejected You.
Your creatures wrong Thee, O sovereign Good!
You are not loved, because not understood:
This grieves me most, that vain pursuits beguile
Ungrateful men, regardless of Thy smile.
1) Isaiah 53:3
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 April 14
Unlawful Sexual Relations
1And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, qI am the Lord your God. 3rYou shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and syou shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. 4tYou shall follow my rules1 and keep my statutes and walk in them. qI am the Lord your God. 5tYou shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; uif a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.
6“None of you shall approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness. I am the Lord. 7vYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother, you shall not uncover her nakedness. 8wYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife; it is your father's nakedness. 9xYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, your father's daughter or your mother's daughter, whether brought up in the family or in another home. 10You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son's daughter or of your daughter's daughter, for their nakedness is your own nakedness. 11You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife's daughter, brought up in your father's family, since she is your sister. 12You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's sister; she is your father's relative. 13You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister, for she is your mother's relative. 14You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's brother, that is, you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt. 15yYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son's wife, you shall not uncover her nakedness. 16zYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother's wife; it is your brother's nakedness. 17You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, and you shall not take her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are relatives; it is depravity. 18And you shall not take a woman as a arival wife to her sister, uncovering her nakedness bwhile her sister is still alive.
19c“You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness while she is in her menstrual uncleanness. 20dAnd you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor's wife and so make yourself unclean with her. 21You shall not give any of your children to eoffer them2 to fMolech, and so gprofane the name of your God: I am the Lord. 22hYou shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. 23iAnd you shall not lie with any animal and so make yourself unclean with it, neither shall any woman give herself to an animal to lie with it: it is jperversion.
24k“Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, lfor by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, 25and the mland became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land nvomited out its inhabitants. 26But oyou shall keep my statutes and my rules and do none of these abominations, either the pnative or the stranger who sojourns among you 27(for the people of the land, who were before you, did all of these abominations, so that the land became unclean), 28lest the land vomit you out when you make it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. 29For everyone who does any of these abominations, the persons who do them shall be cut off from among their people. 30qSo keep my charge never to practice rany of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them: sI am the Lord your God.”
Why Have You Forsaken Me?
To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.
1uMy God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so vfar from saving me, from the words of my wgroaning?
2O my God, I cry by xday, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest.
3Yet you are yholy,
zenthroned on athe praises1 of Israel.
4In you our fathers trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
5To you they bcried and were rescued;
in you they ctrusted and were not put to shame.
6But I am da worm and not a man,
escorned by mankind and fdespised by the people.
7All who see me gmock me;
they make mouths at me; they hwag their heads;
8i“He trusts in the Lord; let him jdeliver him;
let him rescue him, for he kdelights in him!”
9Yet you are he who ltook me from the womb;
you made me trust you at my mother's breasts.
10On you was I cast from my birth,
and from mmy mother's womb you have been my God.
11Be not nfar from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is onone to help.
12Many bulls encompass me;
pstrong bulls of qBashan surround me;
13they ropen wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.
14I am spoured out like water,
and all my bones are tout of joint;
it is melted within my breast;
15my strength is wdried up like a potsherd,
and my xtongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.
16For ydogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers zencircles me;
they have apierced my hands and feet2—
17I can count all my bones—
they bstare and gloat over me;
18cthey divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
19But you, O Lord, ndo not be far off!
O you my help, dcome quickly to my aid!
20Deliver my soul from the sword,
my precious life from the power of ethe dog!
21Save me from fthe mouth of the lion!
You have rescued3 me from the horns of gthe wild oxen!
22hI will tell of your name to my ibrothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23You who jfear the Lord, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, kglorify him,
and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24For he has not despised or abhorred
the affliction of lthe afflicted,
and he has not mhidden his face from him,
but has heard, when he ncried to him.
25From you comes my praise in the great ocongregation;
my pvows I will qperform before those who fear him.
26rThe afflicted4 shall seat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the Lord!
May your hearts tlive forever!
27All uthe ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the Lord,
and all vthe families of the nations
shall worship before you.
28For wkingship belongs to the Lord,
and he rules over the nations.
29All xthe prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
before him shall ybow all who go down to the dust,
even the one who could not zkeep himself alive.
30Posterity shall serve him;
it shall be told of the Lord to the coming ageneration;
31they shall bcome and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet cunborn,
that he has done it.
All Is Vanity
1The words of athe Preacher,1 the son of David, bking in Jerusalem.
2cVanity2 of vanities, says athe Preacher,
cvanity of vanities! dAll is vanity.
3eWhat fdoes man gain by all the toil
at which he toils under the sun?
4A generation goes, and a generation comes,
but gthe earth remains forever.
5hThe sun rises, and the sun goes down,
and hastens3 to the place where it rises.
6iThe wind blows to the south
and goes around to the north;
around and around goes the wind,
and on its circuits the wind returns.
7All jstreams run to the sea,
but the sea is not full;
to the place where the streams flow,
there they flow again.
8All things are full of weariness;
a man cannot utter it;
kthe eye is not satisfied with seeing,
nor the ear filled with hearing.
9lWhat has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.
10Is there a thing of which it is said,
“See, this is new”?
It has been malready
in the ages before us.
11There is no nremembrance of former things,4
nor will there be any remembrance
of later things5 yet to be
among those who come after.
The Vanity of Wisdom
12I othe Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13And I papplied my heart6 to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy qbusiness that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 14I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is rvanity7 and a striving after wind.8
15sWhat is crooked cannot be made straight,
and what is lacking cannot be counted.
16I said in my heart, “I have acquired great twisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” 17And I uapplied my heart to know wisdom and to know vmadness and folly. I perceived that this also is but ra striving after wind.
18For win much wisdom is much vexation,
and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.
Qualifications for Overseers
1The saying is vtrustworthy: If anyone aspires to wthe office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2Therefore xan overseer1 must be above reproach, ythe husband of one wife,2 zsober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, ahospitable, bable to teach, 3not a drunkard, not violent but cgentle, not quarrelsome, dnot a lover of money. 4He must manage his own household well, with all dignity ekeeping his children submissive, 5for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for wGod's church? 6He must not be a recent convert, or he may fbecome puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7Moreover, he must be well thought of by goutsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into ha snare of the devil.
Qualifications for Deacons
8iDeacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued,3 jnot addicted to much wine, knot greedy for dishonest gain. 9They must lhold the mystery of the faith with ma clear conscience. 10And nlet them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. 11oTheir wives likewise4 must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, pfaithful in all things. 12Let deacons each be qthe husband of one wife, qmanaging their children and their own households well. 13For rthose who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.
The Mystery of Godliness
14I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, 15if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. 16Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:
sHe5 was manifested in the flesh,
tseen by angels,
uproclaimed among the nations,
vbelieved on in the world,
wtaken up in glory.
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