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Alistair Begg Devotional
C. H. Spurgeon Devotional
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Audio PlayerWhat would others identify as the defining characteristics of your family and lifestyle? Study along with us on Truth For Life as Alistair Begg explores this question and takes a closer look at how family life should display Christian love.
From the Sermon
Family Ministry
1 Corinthians 16:15–18 Sermon • Includes Transcript • 46:39 • ID: 1809
A Choice to Make
As Jesus was crucified upon the cross, a sign was inscribed and erected over Him, proclaiming Him to be “the King of the Jews.” While this sign was meant as a taunt, it declared a truth for all to witness: Jesus was and is indeed King! Yet it also should prompt us to ask ourselves: Do I really live as though Jesus is King of my life?
Scripture tells us that the sign was written in three languages—Aramaic, the language of most first-century Jews in and around Jerusalem; Latin, the official language of the Roman Empire; and Greek, the popular language of commerce and culture (John 19:20). In these three languages, witnesses from all across the known world were able to read that Jesus was King. Upon reading the sign, the whole world had to make their choice about who Jesus was to them.
We see a microcosm of that world—and ours—in the range of characters throughout the story of Jesus’ death. In Pilate, we see the proud, indecisive, calculating politician. In the soldiers nailing Christ to His cross, we see those focused on carrying out routine business. In those who mocked the Lord, we see people whose only interaction with the divine is to sneer at Him. In the crowd of passive onlookers, we see those who have no interest at all in eternal matters. But then, amid the darkness, on a neighboring cross we see a desperate and dying thief look to the Savior for hope—and find it. And in Jesus’ nearby family and friends, we see sorrowful but faithful followers standing by Christ and His claims—and witnessing His burial in a tomb that would soon be empty.
All these people saw the sign: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. All of them saw the man on the cross beneath it. Whether hateful or hopeful, all beheld this historic event, and all had to reconcile it and the personhood of Christ with their own lives. As the sign hung proclaiming Christ’s kingship, Jesus hung proclaiming the most powerful love the world has known.
The question remains: What are we to do with this love? Each of us can find a face in the crowd with which we identify, be it one of the proud, the passive, or the faithful. All of us are confronted with the life-changing person of Jesus Christ.
How do the cross and the empty tomb affect your relationships, your work, your purpose, or your identity? If Jesus reigns over you, His death and resurrection change everything about the way you live and the meaning of your life. There is hope for eternity and purpose for today in looking at this man and agreeing with that sign. “Jesus is King”—of the Jews and the Gentiles, of the entire world, and of your life and mine.
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?
32pTwo others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33qAnd when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, pone on his right and one on his left. 34And Jesus said, “Father, rforgive them, sfor they know not what they do.”2 And they cast lots tto divide his garments. 35And uthe people stood by, watching, vbut wthe rulers xscoffed at him, saying, y“He saved others; zlet him save himself, aif he is bthe Christ of God, chis Chosen One!” 36The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and doffering him sour wine 37and saying, e“If you are fthe King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38gThere was also an inscription over him,3 “This is fthe King of the Jews.”
39hOne of the criminals who were hanged irailed at him,4 saying, “Are you not jthe Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42And he said, “Jesus, remember me kwhen you come into your kingdom.” 43And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in lparadise.”
The Death of Jesus
44mIt was now about the sixth hour,5 and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour,6 45while the sun's light failed. And nthe curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46Then Jesus, ocalling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, pinto your hands I qcommit my spirit!” And having said this rhe breathed his last. 47Now swhen the centurion saw what had taken place, the praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!” 48And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home ubeating their breasts. 49And all vhis acquaintances and wthe women who had followed him from Galilee xstood at a distance watching these things.
Jesus Is Buried
50yNow there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, 51who had not consented to their decision and action; and he zwas looking for the kingdom of God. 52This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and alaid him in a tomb cut in stone, bwhere no one had ever yet been laid. 54It was the day of cPreparation, and the Sabbath was beginning.7 55dThe women ewho had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. 56Then they returned and fprepared spices and ointments.
On the Sabbath they rested gaccording to the commandment.
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.
Lifted Up
Be their shepherd and carry them forever.
God's people need to be carried. They are very heavy by nature. They have no wings, or if they have, they are like the dove of old that lay among the pots; and they need divine grace to make them rise up on wings covered with silver and with feathers of yellow gold. By nature sparks fly upward, but the sinful souls of men fall downward.
O Lord, "carry them forever"! David himself said, "To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul,"1 and here he feels the necessity that other men's souls should be lifted up as well as his own. When you ask for this blessing, do not forget to seek it for others also.
There are three ways in which God's people require to be carried or lifted up. They require to be lifted up in character. Lift them up, Lord; do not allow Your people to be like the rest of the world! The world lies in the wicked one; lift them out of it! The world's people are looking for silver and gold, seeking their own pleasures and the gratification of their lusts; but, Lord, carry Your people up beyond all this; keep them from being "muck-rakers," as John Bunyan calls the man who was always scraping for gold! Set their hearts upon their risen Lord and the heavenly heritage!
Moreover, believers need to be carried in conflict. In the battle, if they seem to fall, Lord, be pleased to give them the victory. If the foot of the enemy is upon their necks for a moment, help them to grasp the sword of the Spirit and eventually to win the battle. Lord, lift up Your children's spirits in the day of conflict; do not let them sit in the dust, mourning forever. Do not allow the adversary to disturb their peace and make them fret; but if they have been, like Hannah, persecuted, let them sing of the mercy of a delivering God.
We may also ask our Lord to carry them at the last! Lift them up by taking them home; carry their bodies from the tomb, and raise their souls to Your eternal kingdom in glory.
1) Psalm 25:1
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 15
The Lord Is Holy
1And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, tYou shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. 3uEvery one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and vyou shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God. 4wDo not turn to idols xor make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the Lord your God.
5y“When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, you shall offer it so zthat you may be accepted. 6It shall be eaten the same day you offer it or on the day after, and anything left over until the third day shall be burned up with fire. 7If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is atainted; it will not be accepted, 8and everyone who eats it shall bbear his iniquity, because che has profaned what is holy to the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from his people.
Love Your Neighbor as Yourself
9d“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. 10And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.
11e“You shall not steal; fyou shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another. 12gYou shall not swear by my name falsely, and so hprofane the name of your God: I am the Lord.
13i“You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. jThe wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning. 14kYou shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall lfear your God: I am the Lord.
15m“You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. 16nYou shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not ostand up against the life1 of your neighbor: I am the Lord.
17p“You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but qyou shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you rincur sin because of him. 18sYou shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but tyou shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
You Shall Keep My Statutes
19u“You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. vYou shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material.
20“If a man lies sexually with a woman who is a slave, assigned to another man and not yet ransomed or given her freedom, a distinction shall be made. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free; 21but whe shall bring his compensation to the Lord, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, a ram for a guilt offering. 22And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the Lord for his sin that he has committed, and he shall be forgiven for the sin that he has committed.
23“When you come into the land and plant any kind of tree for food, then you shall regard its fruit as forbidden.2 Three years it shall be forbidden to you; it must not be eaten. 24And in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord. 25But in the fifth year you may eat of its fruit, to increase its yield for you: I am the Lord your God.
26x“You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it. yYou shall not interpret omens or ztell fortunes. 27aYou shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard. 28You shall not make any bcuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord.
29c“Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, lest the land fall into prostitution and the land become full of depravity. 30dYou shall keep my Sabbaths and ereverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.
31f“Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.
32g“You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall hfear your God: I am the Lord.
33i“When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34jYou shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and kyou shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
35l“You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measures of length or weight or quantity. 36mYou shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin:3 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 37And nyou shall observe all my statutes and all my rules, and do them: I am the Lord.”
Psalm 23
The Lord Is My Shepherd
A Psalm of David.
1The Lord is my dshepherd; I shall not ewant.
2He makes me lie down in green fpastures.
He leads me beside still waters.1
3He grestores my soul.
He hleads me in ipaths of righteousness2
for his jname's sake.
4Even though I kwalk through the valley of lthe shadow of death,3
I will mfear no evil,
for nyou are with me;
your orod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5You pprepare a table before me
in qthe presence of my enemies;
you ranoint my head with oil;
my scup overflows.
6Surely4 goodness and mercy5 shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall tdwell6 in the house of the Lord
Psalm 24
The King of Glory
A Psalm of David.
1vThe earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof,1
the world and those who dwell therein,
2for he has wfounded it upon xthe seas
and established it upon the rivers.
3yWho shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his zholy place?
4aHe who has bclean hands and ca pure heart,
who does not dlift up his soul to ewhat is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
5He will receive fblessing from the Lord
and grighteousness from hthe God of his salvation.
6Such is ithe generation of those who seek him,
who jseek the face of the God of Jacob.2 Selah
7kLift up your heads, O gates!
And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
that lthe King of glory may come in.
8Who is this King of glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty,
the Lord, mmighty in battle!
9Lift up your heads, O gates!
And lift them up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
10Who is this King of glory?
nThe Lord of hosts,
he is the King of glory! Selah
The Vanity of Self-Indulgence
1I xsaid in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity.1 2I ysaid of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” 3I zsearched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on afolly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life. 4I made great works. I bbuilt houses and planted cvineyards for myself. 5I made myself dgardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. 6I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. 7I bought male and female slaves, and had eslaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of fherds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. 8I also gathered for myself silver and ggold and the treasure of hkings and iprovinces. I got jsingers, both men and women, and many kconcubines,2 the delight of the sons of man.
9So I became great and lsurpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my lwisdom remained with me. 10And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart mfound pleasure in all my toil, and this was my nreward for all my toil. 11Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was ovanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing pto be gained under the sun.
The Vanity of Living Wisely
12qSo I turned to consider rwisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only swhat has already been done. 13Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness. 14tThe wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the usame event happens to all of them. 15Then I said in my heart, v“What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. 16For of the wise as of the fool there is wno enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. xHow the wise dies just like the fool! 17So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for oall is vanity and a striving after wind.
The Vanity of Toil
18I hated yall my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must zleave it to the man who will come after me, 19and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. 20So I aturned about and gave my heart up to despair bover all the toil of my labors under the sun, 21because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. 22What has a man from call the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? 23For dall his days are full of sorrow, and his ework is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.
24fThere is nothing better for a person than that he should geat and drink and find enjoyment3 in his toil. This also, I saw, is hfrom the hand of God, 25for apart from him4 who can eat or who can have enjoyment? 26For to the one who pleases him iGod has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given ethe business of gathering and collecting, jonly to give to one who pleases God. kThis also is vanity and a striving after wind.
Some Will Depart from the Faith
1Now xthe Spirit expressly says that yin later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to zdeceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2through the insincerity of aliars whose consciences are seared, 3bwho forbid marriage and crequire abstinence from foods dthat God created eto be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4For feverything created by God is good, and gnothing is to be rejected if it is ereceived with thanksgiving, 5for it is made holy hby the word of God and prayer.
A Good Servant of Christ Jesus
6iIf you put these things before the brothers,1 you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have jfollowed. 7Have nothing to do with irreverent, ksilly myths. Rather ltrain yourself for godliness; 8for while mbodily training is of some value, godliness nis of value in every way, as oit holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 9The saying is ptrustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. 10For to this end we toil and strive,2 because we have our hope set on the living God, qwho is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.
11Command and teach rthese things. 12sLet no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers tan example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. 13Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. 14uDo not neglect the gift you have, which was given you vby prophecy when the council of elders wlaid their hands on you. 15Practice these things, immerse yourself in them,3 so that xall may see your progress. 16yKeep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save zboth yourself and ayour hearers.
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