Truth For Life Program
Alistair Begg Devotional
C. H. Spurgeon Devotional
One-Year Bible Reading Plan
Audio PlayerDisagreements arise in the local church just like they do in any organization or family. Some controversies can be beneficial, but others are divisive. Learn how to know the difference and to steer clear of danger, on Truth For Life with Alistair Begg.
From the Sermon
Zealous Expectation
The Christian experience is both wonderful and challenging.
We have received forgiveness. We’re adopted into God’s family. We enjoy a fellowship with one another that runs deeper than natural affinity. We possess a sure hope of heaven, which brings about eager anticipation. We have the Spirit, God Himself, dwelling within us. We are not removed, though, from the realities of life in this fallen world. We know frustration, we know heartache, we know disappointment, and we know groaning.
While we live here on earth, we have a little taste of heaven, but we are not there yet.
Christianity does not make us immune to decay or sin. We get sick, and our bodies fail. We continue to struggle with sin and encounter opposition to our faith. Indeed, as the Westminster theologians put it back in the 17th century, the Christian is involved in “a continual and irreconcilable war” against sin.[1]
It is possible to tie ourselves in all kinds of spiritual and theological knots over our ongoing battle with sin. We may wonder, “Why is it that I still disobey?” In those moments, you and I need to remember the “three tenses” of salvation, which summarize God’s work in the life of the Christian.
If we are hidden in Christ, then we have been saved from the penalty of sin. We have nothing to fear on the day of judgment because Jesus, by His death on the cross, bore our sins and faced punishment in our place. In the present tense, we are being saved from the power of sin. It’s an ongoing divine ministry; none of us will ever be sinless this side of heaven, but God is at work within us, enabling us to say no to what is wrong and yes to what is right. And finally, there will be a day, when Christ returns, when we will be saved from sin’s very presence.
Every so often we get a little taste of heaven that makes us long for what’s to come. This is why Paul says that we “groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for … the redemption of our bodies.” We should look forward to Christ’s return with zealous expectation!
As Christians, we go out into the world as citizens of heaven, living for the time being as strangers and foreigners. But we’re not going to have to live away from home forever. One day, Jesus will return—and when He does, He will take us to join Him, in our resurrected bodies, in His perfected kingdom. Today, do not live as though this is all there is. Lean forwards, for your best days are still to come. You are not there yet—but most assuredly you one day will be.
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 River of Life
1Then the angel1 showed me xthe river of ythe water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2through the middle of zthe street of the city; aalso, on either side of the river, bthe tree of life2 with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were cfor the healing of the nations. 3dNo longer will there be anything accursed, but ethe throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and fhis servants will worship him. 4gThey will see his face, and hhis name will be on their foreheads. 5And inight will be no more. They will need no light of lamp jor sun, for kthe Lord God will be their light, and lthey will reign forever and ever.
Jesus Is Coming
6And he said to me, m“These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of nthe spirits of the prophets, ohas sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”
7“And behold, pI am coming soon. qBlessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
8I, rJohn, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, sI fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, 9sbut he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those mwho keep the words of this book. Worship God.”
10And he said to me, t“Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. 11uLet the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”
12“Behold, vI am coming soon, wbringing my recompense with me, xto repay each one for what he has done. 13yI am the Alpha and the Omega, zthe first and the last, athe beginning and the end.”
14Blessed are those who bwash their robes,3 so that they may have the right to cthe tree of life and that dthey may enter the city by the gates. 15eOutside are fthe dogs gand sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
16h“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things ifor the churches. I am jthe root and kthe descendant of David, lthe bright morning star.”
17The Spirit and mthe Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And nlet the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the owater of life without price.
18I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: pif anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, 19and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in qthe tree of life and in rthe holy city, which are described in this book.
20He who testifies to these things says, “Surely sI am coming soon.” Amen. tCome, Lord Jesus!
21The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.4 Amen.
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.
It Is Time
It is the time to seek the Lord.
The month of April is said to derive its name from the Latin verb aperio, which means to open, because all the buds and blossoms are now opening, and we have arrived at the gates of the flowery season.
Reader, if you are not yet saved, may your heart, in keeping with the universal awakening of nature, be opened to receive the Lord. Every blossoming flower warns you that it is time to seek the Lord; do not be out of tune with nature, but let your heart bud and bloom with holy desires. If you tell me that the warm blood of youth leaps in your veins, then I entreat you, give your vigor to the Lord. It was my unspeakable happiness to be called in early youth, and I am thankful to the Lord every day for that. Salvation is priceless, let it come when it may, but oh, an early salvation has a double value in it.
Young men and women, since you may die before you reach your prime, “It is the time to seek the Lord.” You who feel the first signs of decay, quicken your pace: That chest pain, that biopsy report, are warnings that you must not trifle with; with you it is definitely time to seek the Lord. Did I observe a little gray, a little thinning in your hair? Years are flying by, and death is drawing nearer by the day; let each return of spring arouse you to set your house in order.
Dear reader, if you are now advanced in years, let me entreat and implore you to delay no longer. There is a day of grace for you now—be thankful for that—but it is a limited season and grows shorter every time the clock ticks. Here in the silence of your room, on this first night of another month, I speak to you as best I can by paper and ink, and from my inmost soul, as God’s servant, I lay before you this warning, “It is the time to seek the Lord.” Do not make light of this; it may be your last call from destruction, the final syllable from the lip of grace.
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 1
Laws for Sin Offerings
1And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, uIf anyone sins unintentionally1 in any of the Lord's commandments vabout things not to be done, and does any one of them, 3if it is the anointed priest who wsins, thus bringing guilt on the people, then he shall offer for the sin that he has committed xa bull from the herd without blemish to the Lord for a sin offering. 4He shall bring the bull to the yentrance of the tent of meeting before the Lord and lay his hand on the head of the bull and kill the bull before the Lord. 5And the anointed priest zshall take some of the blood of the bull and bring it into the tent of meeting, 6and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and zsprinkle part of the blood seven times before the Lord in front of the veil of the sanctuary. 7And the priest ashall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense before the Lord that is in the tent of meeting, and ball the rest of the blood of the bull he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 8And all the fat of the bull of the sin offering he shall remove from it, cthe fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails 9dand the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins and the long lobe of the liver that he shall remove with the kidneys 10(just as these are taken from the ox of the sacrifice of the peace offerings); and the priest shall burn them on the altar of burnt offering. 11But ethe skin of the bull and all its flesh, with its head, its legs, its entrails, and its dung— 12all the rest of the bull—he shall carry foutside the camp to a clean place, to the ash heap, and shall gburn it up on a fire of wood. On the ash heap it shall be burned up.
13h“If the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally2 and ithe thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they do any one of the things that by the Lord's commandments ought not to be done, and they realize their guilt,3 14jwhen the sin which they have committed becomes known, the assembly shall offer a bull from the herd for a sin offering and bring it in front of the tent of meeting. 15And the elders of the congregation kshall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the Lord, and the bull shall be killed before the Lord. 16Then lthe anointed priest shall bring some of the blood of the bull into the tent of meeting, 17and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord in front of the veil. 18And he shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is in the tent of meeting before the Lord, and the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 19And all its fat he shall take from it and burn on the altar. 20Thus shall he do with the bull. As he did mwith the bull of the sin offering, so shall he do with this. nAnd the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven. 21And he shall carry the bull foutside the camp and burn it up as he burned the first bull; it is the sin offering for the assembly.
22“When a leader sins, odoing unintentionally any one of all the things that by the commandments of the Lord his God ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt, 23or pthe sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a goat, a male without blemish, 24and qshall lay his hand on the head of the goat and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before the Lord; it is a sin offering. 25rThen the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering. 26And all its fat he shall burn on the altar, like sthe fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings. So tthe priest shall make atonement for him for his sin, and he shall be forgiven.
27“If uanyone of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any one of the things that by the Lord's commandments ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt, 28vor the sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has committed. 29wAnd he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and kill the sin offering in the place of burnt offering. 30And the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 31And xall its fat he shall remove, yas the fat is removed from the peace offerings, and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a zpleasing aroma to the Lord. aAnd the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven.
32“If he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring ba female without blemish 33wand lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and kill it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering. 34Then the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 35And all its fat he shall remove cas the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings, and the priest shall burn it on the altar, on top of the Lord's food offerings. dAnd the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin which he has committed, and he shall be forgiven.
Psalm 1
Book One
The Way of the Righteous and the Wicked
1Blessed is the man1
who awalks not in bthe counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in cthe way of sinners,
nor dsits in ethe seat of fscoffers;
2but his gdelight is in the law2 of the Lord,
and on his hlaw he meditates day and night.
3He is like ia tree
planted by jstreams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its kleaf does not wither.
lIn all that he does, he prospers.
4The wicked are not so,
but are like mchaff that the wind drives away.
5Therefore the wicked nwill not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in othe congregation of the righteous;
6for the Lord pknows qthe way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
Psalm 2
The Reign of the Lord's Anointed
and the peoples plot in vain?
2The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his tAnointed, saying,
3“Let us uburst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”
4He who vsits in the heavens wlaughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
5Then he will speak to them in his xwrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
6“As for me, I have yset my King
7I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, b“You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
8Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and cthe ends of the earth your possession.
9You shall dbreak2 them with ea rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like fa potter's vessel.”
10Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his lwrath is quickly kindled.
mBlessed are all who take refuge in him.
1aBetter is a poor person who bwalks in his integrity
than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool.
2Desire1 without knowledge is not good,
and whoever cmakes haste with his feet misses his way.
3When a man's folly dbrings his way to ruin,
his heart erages against the Lord.
4fWealth brings many new friends,
fbut a poor man is deserted by his friend.
5gA false witness will not go unpunished,
and he who hbreathes out lies will not escape.
6Many seek the favor of a generous man,2
and everyone is a friend to a man who gives igifts.
7jAll a poor man's brothers hate him;
khow much more do his friends go far from him!
He pursues them with words, but does not have them.3
8lWhoever gets sense loves his own soul;
he who keeps understanding will mdiscover good.
9gA false witness will not go unpunished,
and he who hbreathes out lies will perish.
10nIt is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury,
much less for oa slave to rule over princes.
11pGood sense makes one slow to anger,
and it is his glory to overlook an offense.
12A king's wrath is like qthe growling of a lion,
but his rfavor is like sdew on the grass.
13tA foolish son is ruin to his father,
and ua wife's quarreling is va continual dripping of rain.
14wHouse and wealth are inherited from fathers,
but a prudent wife is xfrom the Lord.
15ySlothfulness casts into za deep sleep,
and aan idle person will suffer hunger.
16Whoever bkeeps the commandment keeps his life;
he who despises his ways will die.
17cWhoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord,
and he dwill repay him for his edeed.
18fDiscipline your son, for there is hope;
do not set your heart on gputting him to death.
19A man of great wrath will pay the penalty,
for if you deliver him, you will only have to do it again.
20Listen to advice and accept instruction,
that you may gain wisdom in hthe future.
21iMany are the plans in the mind of a man,
but jit is the purpose of the Lord kthat will stand.
22What is desired in a man is steadfast love,
and a poor man is better than a liar.
23The fear of the Lord lleads to life,
and whoever has it rests msatisfied;
he will nnot be visited by harm.
24oThe sluggard buries his hand in pthe dish
and will not even bring it back to his mouth.
25qStrike ra scoffer, and the simple will slearn prudence;
treprove a man of understanding, and he will gain knowledge.
26He who does violence to his father and chases away his mother
is ua son who brings shame and reproach.
27Cease to hear instruction, my son,
vand you will stray from the words of knowledge.
28A worthless witness mocks at justice,
and the mouth of the wicked wdevours iniquity.
29Condemnation is ready for rscoffers,
and xbeating for the backs of fools.
1For I want you to know yhow great a wstruggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, 2that ztheir hearts may be encouraged, being aknit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of bGod's mystery, which is Christ, 3cin whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4I say this in order dthat no one may delude you with plausible arguments. 5For ethough I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your fgood order and gthe firmness of your faith in Christ.
Alive in Christ
6hTherefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7irooted and jbuilt up in him and kestablished in the faith, just las you were taught, abounding min thanksgiving.
8See to it that no one takes you captive by nphilosophy and oempty deceit, according to phuman tradition, according to the qelemental spirits1 of the world, and not according to Christ. 9For rin him the whole fullness of deity dwells sbodily, 10and tyou have been filled in him, who is uthe head of all rule and authority. 11In him also vyou were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by wputting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12xhaving been buried with him in baptism, in which yyou were also raised with him through faith in zthe powerful working of God, zwho raised him from the dead. 13aAnd you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God bmade alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14by ccanceling dthe record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15wHe disarmed the rulers and authorities2 and eput them to open shame, by ftriumphing over them in him.3
Let No One Disqualify You
16Therefore let no one gpass judgment on you hin questions of food and drink, or with regard to ia festival or ja new moon or a Sabbath. 17kThese are a shadow of the things to come, but lthe substance belongs to Christ. 18Let no one mdisqualify you, ninsisting on asceticism and worship of angels, ogoing on in detail about visions,4 ppuffed up without reason by qhis sensuous mind, 19and rnot sholding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.
20If with Christ tyou died to the uelemental spirits of the world, vwhy, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21w“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22(xreferring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to yhuman precepts and teachings? 23These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in zpromoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are aof no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
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