Truth For Life Program
Alistair Begg Devotional
C. H. Spurgeon Devotional
One-Year Bible Reading Plan
In many cultures, it’s becoming increasingly popular to define truth according to what you think or believe in the moment. But find out what the Bible says is true—whether we believe it or not. That’s the focus on Truth For Life with Alistair Begg.
From the Sermon
The Mystery of Godliness
1 Timothy 3:14–16 Sermon • Includes Transcript • 40:02 • ID: 1968
Freed From Death’s Grip
The man possessed by demons in Mark 5 was utterly alone. He was alienated from his community and, in a very real sense, alienated from himself. He defined isolation. He was greatly in need of help.
We may think we are nothing like this man. After all, we go about clothed. We are able to reason. No one has tied us up. We are not possessed by demons. Yet this man serves as a sobering illustration of our spiritual condition. The Bible says that, by nature, we are all ruled by dark and sinister forces and are dead in our trespasses (Ephesians 2:1-3). Outside of Christ, we may as well be living among the tombs. Outside of Christ, we are the living dead.
This reality is what makes an encounter with Christ so dramatic. For each of us, salvation is an encounter between life and death, light and dark, the power of Christ and the power of evil. The gospel does not just give purpose to life. The gospel is life itself.
This reality is also what makes our transformation in Christ so painful. We should not pretend that surrendering to Christ is easy. When this man possessed by demons encountered Jesus, he seemed to know that Christ was the one who could set him free—but at the same time, he was afraid of what that change would mean. Sinclair Ferguson says, “No man yields to Jesus easily by nature. Tragically, like [this man], men often hold on to their bondage in evil rather than yield to the pain of transformation by Christ’s power and grace.”[1] It is painful to give up our little gods, painful to leave our dark captivity and emerge blinking into the light. But Jesus will allow no other gods before Him, for He will not allow any of His people to remain enslaved.
Only Jesus can cast out evil permanently. That is what this man experienced (Mark 5:15, 18-20), and that is what our lost friends and neighbors ultimately want. They don’t just need a religion or system to make them better people. When they’re honest, they know the problem lies primarily within them, not around them. Then they wonder, “Is there a power strong enough to conquer the evil within me?” There certainly is, and His name is Jesus—the one who went through His death in order to rescue us from ours!
Today, let God remind you of what you are apart from Christ: alienated, lonely, lost. And then ask Him to assure you of what you are in Christ: an ever-living recipient of His eternal mercy. By nature you are a sinner, and in Christ you are saved. The more you grasp this, the more humble and joyful you 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?
Jesus Heals a Man with a Demon
1uThey came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.1 2And when Jesus2 had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 3vHe lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. 5Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. 6And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and wfell down before him. 7And xcrying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, ySon of zthe Most High God? aI adjure you by God, do not torment me.” 8For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is bLegion, for we are many.” 10And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, 12and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” 13So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.
14The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 15And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed3 man, the one who had had cthe legion, sitting there, dclothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 16And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 17And ethey began to beg Jesus4 to depart from their region. 18As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and ftell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20And he went away and began to proclaim in gthe Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
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.
Do You Care Too Much?
Cast your burden on the Lord,
and he will sustain you.
Care, even when addressed to legitimate matters, if it is carried to excess, has in it the nature of sin. Again and again Jesus exhorted His followers to avoid anxious care. The apostles reiterated the call; and it is one that cannot be neglected without involving transgression: For the very essence of anxious care is imagining that we are wiser than God and putting ourselves in His place as if we could do for Him what He has undertaken to do for us. We attempt to think of things that we imagine Him forgetting; we work to take upon ourselves a heavy burden, as if He were unable or unwilling to take it for us.
Now this disobedience to His plain precept, this unbelief in His Word, this presumption that intrudes upon His province, is all sinful. But more than this, anxious care often leads to acts of sin. If we cannot calmly leave our affairs in God’s hand but attempt to carry our own burden, we will be tempted to use wrong means to help ourselves. This sin leads to a forsaking of God as our counselor and resorting instead to human wisdom. This is going to the broken well instead of to the fountain, a sin of which Israel was guilty in the past.
Anxiety makes us doubt God’s loving-kindness, and so our love to Him grows cold; we feel mistrust, and in this we grieve the Spirit of God, so that our prayers are hindered, our consistent example spoiled, and our life one of self-seeking. Such lack of confidence in God leads us to wander far from Him; but if through simple faith in His promise we cast each burden as it comes upon Him and are “not . . . anxious about anything”1 because He undertakes to care for us, it will keep us close to Him and strengthen us against temptation. “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”2
1) Philippians 4:6
2) Isaiah 26:3
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 May 26
Cities for the Levites
1The Lord spoke to Moses in sthe plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 2t“Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell in. And you shall give to the Levites pasturelands around the cities. 3The cities shall be theirs to dwell in, and their pasturelands shall be for their cattle and for their livestock and for all their beasts. 4The pasturelands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits1 all around. 5And you shall measure, outside the city, on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle. This shall belong to them as pastureland for their cities.
6“The cities that you give to the Levites shall be uthe six cities of refuge, where you shall permit the manslayer to flee, and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities. 7All the cities that you give to the Levites shall be vforty-eight, with their pasturelands. 8And as for the cities that you shall give wfrom the possession of the people of Israel, xfrom the larger tribes you shall take many, and from the smaller tribes you shall take few; each, in proportion to the inheritance that it inherits, shall give of its cities to the Levites.”
Cities of Refuge
9And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, yWhen you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11zthen you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there. 12The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment. 13And the cities that you give shall be your asix cities of refuge. 14bYou shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge. 15These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and cfor the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills any person without intent may flee there.
16d“But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. 17And if he struck him down with a stone tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. 18Or if he struck him down with a wooden tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. 19eThe avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death. 20And if he pushed him out of hatred or hurled something at him, flying in wait, so that he died, 21or in enmity struck him down with his hand, so that he died, then he who struck the blow shall be put to death. He is a murderer. eThe avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.
22“But if he pushed him suddenly without enmity, or hurled anything on him gwithout lying in wait 23or used a stone that could cause death, and without seeing him dropped it on him, so that he died, though he was not his enemy and did not seek his harm, 24then hthe congregation shall judge between the manslayer and ethe avenger of blood, in accordance with these rules. 25And the congregation shall rescue the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he had fled, and he shall live in it iuntil the death of the high priest jwho was anointed with the holy oil. 26But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the boundaries of his city of refuge to which he fled, 27and ethe avenger of blood finds him outside the boundaries of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood. 28For he must remain in his city of refuge iuntil the death of the high priest, but after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession. 29And these things shall be for ka statute and rule for you throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.
30“If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the levidence of witnesses. But no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness. 31Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death. 32And you shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest. 33You shall not mpollute the land in which you live, for blood mpollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except nby the blood of the one who shed it. 34oYou shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, pfor I the Lord dwell in the midst of the people of Israel.”
How Long, O Lord?
A Psalm of yAsaph.
1O God, zthe nations have come into your ainheritance;
they have defiled your bholy temple;
they have claid Jerusalem in ruins.
2They have given dthe bodies of your servants
to the birds of the heavens for food,
the flesh of your efaithful to fthe beasts of the earth.
3They have poured out their blood like water
all around Jerusalem,
and there was gno one to bury them.
4We have become ha taunt to our neighbors,
hmocked and derided by those around us.
5iHow long, O Lord? Will you be angry jforever?
Will your kjealousy lburn like fire?
6mPour out your anger on the nations
that ndo not know you,
and on the kingdoms
that odo not call upon your name!
7For they have devoured Jacob
and laid waste his habitation.
8pDo not remember against us qour former iniquities;1
let your compassion come speedily to meet us,
for we are rbrought very low.
9sHelp us, O God of our salvation,
for the glory of your name;
deliver us, and tatone for our sins,
for your uname's sake!
10vWhy should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Let wthe avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants
be known among the nations before our eyes!
11Let xthe groans of the prisoners come before you;
according to your great power, preserve those ydoomed to die!
12Return zsevenfold into the alap of our neighbors
the btaunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord!
13But we your people, the csheep of your pasture,
will dgive thanks to you forever;
from generation to generation we will recount your praise.
The Redemption of Israel
1In that day the Lord with his hard and great and strong dsword will punish eLeviathan the fleeing serpent, eLeviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay fthe dragon that is in the sea.
2In that day,
g“A pleasant vineyard,1 hsing of it!
3I, the Lord, am its keeper;
every moment I water it.
Lest anyone punish it,
I keep it night and day;
4I have no wrath.
iWould that I had thorns and briers to battle!
I would march against them,
I would burn them up together.
5Or let them lay hold of my protection,
let them make peace with me,
let them make peace with me.”
6jIn days to come2 Jacob shall take root,
Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots
and fill the whole world with fruit.
7kHas he struck them las he struck those who struck them?
Or have they been slain mas their slayers were slain?
8nMeasure by measure,3 by exile you contended with them;
ohe removed them with his fierce breath4 in the day of the east wind.
9Therefore by this pthe guilt of Jacob will be atoned for,
and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin:5
qwhen he makes all the stones of the altars
like chalkstones crushed to pieces,
no rAsherim or incense altars will remain standing.
10sFor the fortified city is solitary,
a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness;
there the calf grazes;
there it lies down and strips its branches.
11When its boughs are dry, they are broken;
women come and make a fire of them.
tFor this is a people without discernment;
therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them;
he who formed them will show them no favor.
12In that day ufrom the river Euphrates6 to the Brook of Egypt the Lord will thresh out the grain, and you will be gleaned one by one, O people of Israel. 13And in that day va great trumpet will be blown, wand those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt xwill come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
Overcoming the World
1kEveryone who believes that lJesus is the Christ has been born of God, and meveryone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2nBy this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3For othis is the love of God, that we pkeep his commandments. And qhis commandments are not burdensome. 4For reveryone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—sour faith. 5Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes tthat Jesus is the Son of God?
Testimony Concerning the Son of God
6This is he who came uby water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And vthe Spirit is the one who testifies, because wthe Spirit is the truth. 7For there are three that testify: 8the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. 9xIf we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God ythat he has borne concerning his Son. 10Whoever believes in the Son of God zhas the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God ahas made him a liar, bbecause he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. 11And this is the testimony, that God gave us ceternal life, and dthis life is in his Son. 12eWhoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
That You May Know
13I write fthese things to you who gbelieve in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. 14And this is hthe confidence that we have toward him, that iif we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
16If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and jGod1 will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. kThere is sin that leads to death; lI do not say that one should pray for that. 17mAll wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.
18We know that neveryone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but ohe who was born of God pprotects him, and the evil one does not touch him.
19We know that we are from God, and qthe whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
20And we know that the Son of God has come and rhas given us understanding, so that we may know shim who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and teternal life. 21Little children, ukeep yourselves from idols.
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