Truth For Life Program
Alistair Begg Devotional
C. H. Spurgeon Devotional
One-Year Bible Reading Plan
Audio PlayerWhy did God’s plan from all eternity have to involve the sacrifice of His Son? Examine the mystery of the cross as you prepare to celebrate Easter. Study along with Truth For Life as Alistair Begg considers Jesus’ sacrificial death from God’s perspective.
From the Sermon
God’s Providence in the Death of Jesus Christ
Acts 2:1–47, Acts 4:1–37 Sermon • Includes Transcript • 43:24 • ID: 3080
Audio PlayerDeath Is but a Doorway
Death confuses most of us. We fear it, and though we know it is inevitable, we would much rather not have to deal with it. We seek to isolate ourselves from its reality, turning the music up to drown out the ominous silence that accompanies it. Our denial is understandable; death is the hardest fact of life to face. Yet in our more sober moments, we realize that our lives are as precarious as a child’s sandcastle on the seashore: that sooner or later, the tide will come in and wash it all away.
As with all the issues it addresses, the Bible aims to reorient our perspective on death. Solomon, writing with the all-surpassing wisdom that God had granted him (see 1 Kings 3:5-12), said that death “is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.” Likewise, Moses tells us that “a heart of wisdom” comes from our contemplating our limited number of days on earth, which “end like a sigh” (Psalm 90:9, 12). This is why we learn more about reality at a funeral in a “house of mourning” than at a party in a “house of feasting.”
While it may be tempting to try to shy away from death, then, wisdom looks like accepting that we must face it head on. In fact, the key to learning how to live is to be found in learning how to die. We will never know the reason for our earthly pilgrimage until we’ve come face to face with the fact of death, for it is death that lies at the end of every path. Without considering our death, we’ll end up like the one whose tombstone reads, “Here lies a man who went out of the world without knowing why he came into it.” Such is the lot of so many who spend day after day after day separated from Christ, “having no hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12).
But if by faith God has made you alive together with Christ (Ephesians 2:5), then you have already passed from the domain of death to the land of the living. You can say with Paul, “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57). For you, death is no longer an end that you must dread but the doorway to “fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11). And with that perspective on your final day, you will be ready to make the most of this day, endeavoring in all that you do to glorify the Lord, who has Himself triumphed over death and who will lead you through it (1 Corinthians 10:31).
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?
The Contrast of Wisdom and Folly
1hA good name is better than precious ointment,
and ithe day of death than the day of birth.
2It is better to go to the house of mourning
than to go to the house of feasting,
for this is the end of all mankind,
and the living will jlay it to heart.
3Sorrow is better than laughter,
kfor by sadness of face the heart is made glad.
4The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
5It is lbetter for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise
than to hear the song of fools.
6mFor as the crackling of nthorns under a pot,
so is the laughter of the fools;
this also is vanity.1
7Surely ooppression drives the wise into madness,
and pa bribe corrupts the heart.
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.
His Great Agony
His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
The mental pressure arising from our Lord’s struggle with temptation so forced his frame to an unnatural excitement that his pores sent forth, as it were, great drops of blood, which fell down to the ground. This proves how tremendous must have been the weight of sin, that it was able to crush the Savior to this extent! This demonstrates the mighty power of His love.
It is a very helpful observation that the sap, which exudes from the tree without it being cut, is always the best. This precious camphor tree yielded sweet spices when it was wounded by the whips and pierced by the nails on the cross; but consider how it produces its best spice when there is no whip, no nail, no wound. This presents the voluntariness of Christ’s sufferings, since without a lance the blood flowed freely. No need to put on the leech or apply the knife; it flows spontaneously. No need for the rulers to cry, “Spring up, O well”; of itself it flows in crimson torrents.
When men suffer great pain of mind, the blood apparently rushes to the heart. The cheeks are pale; a fainting fit comes on; the blood has gone inward as if to nourish the inner man while passing through its trial. But look at Christ in His agony; he is so utterly oblivious of self that instead of His agony driving His blood to the heart to nourish Himself, it drives it outward falling to the ground. The agony of Christ, inasmuch as it pours Him out upon the ground, pictures the fullness of the offering that He made for men.
Can we fathom how intense the wrestling must have been through which he passed, and will we not hear its voice to us? “In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.”1 Behold the great Apostle and High Priest of our profession, and sweat even to blood rather than yield to the great tempter of your souls.
1) Hebrews 12:4
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 March 23
Moses Makes New Tablets
1The Lord said to Moses, w“Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, xand I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, ywhich you broke. 2Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me zon the top of the mountain. 3No aone shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain.” 4So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. 5The Lord bdescended in the cloud and stood with him there, and cproclaimed the name of the Lord. 6The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, d“The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and egracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast flove and faithfulness, 7gkeeping steadfast love for thousands,1 hforgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but iwho will by no means clear the guilty, jvisiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.” 8And Moses quickly kbowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. 9And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please llet the Lord go in the midst of us, for mit is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for nyour inheritance.”
The Covenant Renewed
10And he said, “Behold, oI am making a covenant. Before all your people pI will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord, for it is an qawesome thing that I will do with you.
11“Observe what I command you this day. Behold, rI will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 12sTake care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a tsnare in your midst. 13You shall utear down their altars and vbreak their pillars and cut down their wAsherim 14(for xyou shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), 15slest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they ywhore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and zyou are invited, you eat of his sacrifice, 16and you take of atheir daughters for your sons, and their daughters ywhore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods.
17b“You shall not make for yourself any gods of cast metal.
18c“You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in dthe month Abib, for in the month Abib you came out from Egypt. 19eAll that open the womb are mine, all your male2 livestock, the firstborn of cow and sheep. 20The ffirstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. And gnone shall appear before me empty-handed.
21h“Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. 22iYou shall observe the Feast of Weeks, the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year's end. 23jThree times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. 24For I will kcast out nations before you and lenlarge your borders; mno one shall covet your land, when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.
25n“You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, oor let the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover remain until the morning. 26pThe best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God. qYou shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.”
27And the Lord said to Moses, “Write these words, for in accordance with these words rI have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28sSo he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he twrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.3
The Shining Face of Moses
29When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with uthe two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face vshone because he had been talking with God.4 30Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face wshone, and they were afraid to come near him. 31But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. 32Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he xcommanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. 33And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a yveil over his face.
34Whenever Moses zwent in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, 35the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face was ashining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him.
Jesus Washes the Disciples' Feet
1Now nbefore othe Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that phis hour had come qto depart out of this world to the Father, rhaving loved shis own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2During supper, when tthe devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, 3Jesus, knowing uthat the Father had given all things into his hands, and that vhe had come from God and wwas going back to God, 4rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, xtied it around his waist. 5Then he ypoured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” 7zJesus answered him, “What I am doing ayou do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” 8bPeter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, c“If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” 9Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, dexcept for his feet,1 but is completely clean. And eyou2 are clean, fbut not every one of you.” 11gFor he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
12When he had washed their feet and hput on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, i“Do you understand what I have done to you? 13jYou call me kTeacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, lyou also ought to wash one another's feet. 15For I have given you an example, mthat you also should do just as I have done to you. 16Truly, truly, I say to you, na servant3 is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17If you know these things, oblessed are you if you do them. 18pI am not speaking of all of you; I know qwhom I have chosen. But rthe Scripture will be fulfilled,4 s‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ 19tI am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. 20Truly, truly, I say to you, uwhoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”
One of You Will Betray Me
21After saying these things, vJesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, w“Truly, truly, I say to you, xone of you will betray me.” 22yThe disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. 23zOne of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table aat Jesus' side,5 24so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus6 of whom he was speaking. 25bSo that disciple, cleaning back against Jesus, said to him, “Lord, who is it?” 26Jesus answered, d“It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread ewhen I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the morsel, fhe gave it to Judas, gthe son of Simon Iscariot. 27Then after he had taken the morsel, hSatan entered into him. Jesus said to him, i“What you are going to do, do quickly.” 28Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. 29Some thought that, jbecause Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need kfor the feast,” or that he should lgive something to the poor. 30So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. mAnd it was night.
A New Commandment
31When he had gone out, Jesus said, n“Now is the Son of Man glorified, and oGod is glorified in him. 32If God is glorified in him, pGod will also glorify him in himself, and qglorify him at once. 33Little children, ryet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just sas I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ 34tA new commandment uI give to you, vthat you love one another: wjust as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35xBy this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Jesus Foretells Peter's Denial
36Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” yJesus answered him, “Where I am going zyou cannot follow me now, abut you will follow afterward.” 37bPeter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, cthe rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.
The Proverbs of Solomon
1cThe proverbs of Solomon.
dA wise son makes a glad father,
ebut a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.
2fTreasures gained by wickedness do not profit,
gbut righteousness delivers from death.
3hThe Lord does not let the righteous go hungry,
ibut he thwarts the craving of the wicked.
4A slack hand jcauses poverty,
kbut the hand of the diligent makes rich.
5He who lgathers in summer is a prudent son,
but he who sleeps in harvest is ma son who brings shame.
6Blessings are on the head of the righteous,
but nthe mouth of the wicked conceals violence.1
7oThe memory of the righteous is a blessing,
but pthe name of the wicked will rot.
8qThe wise of heart will receive commandments,
but a babbling fool will come to ruin.
9rWhoever walks in integrity walks securely,
but he who makes his ways crooked swill be found out.
10Whoever twinks the eye causes trouble,
and a babbling fool will come to ruin.
11uThe mouth of the righteous is va fountain of life,
but the mouth of the wicked nconceals violence.
12Hatred stirs up strife,
but wlove covers all offenses.
13On the lips of him who has understanding, wisdom is found,
but xa rod is for the back of him who ylacks sense.
14The wise zlay up knowledge,
but athe mouth of a fool brings ruin near.
15bA rich man's wealth is his strong city;
the poverty of the poor is their ruin.
16The wage of the righteous leads cto life,
the gain of the wicked to sin.
17Whoever heeds instruction is on dthe path to life,
but he who rejects reproof leads others astray.
18The one who conceals hatred has lying lips,
and whoever utters slander is a fool.
19eWhen words are many, transgression is not lacking,
fbut whoever restrains his lips is prudent.
20The tongue of the righteous is gchoice silver;
the heart of the wicked is of little worth.
21The lips of the righteous feed many,
but fools die for hlack of sense.
22iThe blessing of the Lord makes rich,
and he adds no sorrow with it.2
23Doing wrong is jlike a joke to a fool,
but kwisdom is pleasure to a man of understanding.
24lWhat the wicked dreads mwill come upon him,
but nthe desire of the righteous will be granted.
25When othe tempest passes, the wicked is no more,
but pthe righteous is established forever.
26Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes,
so is the sluggard to those who send him.
27qThe fear of the Lord prolongs life,
rbut the years of the wicked will be short.
28sThe hope of the righteous brings joy,
tbut the expectation of the wicked will perish.
29uThe way of the Lord is a stronghold to the blameless,
but destruction to evildoers.
30vThe righteous will never be removed,
but wthe wicked will not dwell in the land.
31xThe mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom,
but the perverse tongue will be cut off.
32The lips of the righteous yknow what is acceptable,
but the mouth of the wicked, zwhat is perverse.
The Mystery of the Gospel Revealed
1For this reason I, Paul, oa prisoner of Christ Jesus pon behalf of you Gentiles— 2assuming that you have heard of qthe stewardship of rGod's grace that was given to me for you, 3show the mystery was made known to me tby revelation, uas I have written briefly. 4vWhen you read this, you can perceive my insight into wthe mystery of Christ, 5which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6This mystery is1 that the Gentiles are xfellow heirs, ymembers of the same body, and zpartakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
7aOf this gospel I was made ba minister according to the gift of cGod's grace, which was given me dby the working of his power. 8To me, ethough I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, fto preach to the Gentiles the gunsearchable hriches of Christ, 9and ito bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery jhidden for ages in2 God, kwho created all things, 10so that through the church the manifold lwisdom of God mmight now be made known to nthe rulers and authorities oin the heavenly places. 11This was paccording to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12in whom we have qboldness and raccess with sconfidence through our tfaith in him. 13So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering ufor you, vwhich is your glory.
Prayer for Spiritual Strength
14For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15from whom wevery family3 in heaven and on earth is named, 16that according to xthe riches of his glory yhe may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit zin your inner being, 17aso that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being brooted and cgrounded in love, 18may have strength to dcomprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and eheight and depth, 19and to know the love of Christ fthat surpasses knowledge, that gyou may be filled with all hthe fullness of God.
20iNow to jhim who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, kaccording to the power at work within us, 21lto him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Get the Program, Devotional, and Bible Reading Plan delivered daily right to your inbox.