Truth For Life Program
Alistair Begg Devotional
C. H. Spurgeon Devotional
One-Year Bible Reading Plan
God knows what’s perfect—and that’s what He wants for each of us. Often, though, the media promotes behavior that’s contrary to God’s design. On Truth For Life, Alistair Begg explains how good things can become perverted when used inappropriately.
From the Sermon
Warning against Adultery
Proverbs 5:1–23 Sermon • Includes Transcript • 46:36 • ID: 2282
Finding Happiness
Genuine happiness is to be found in following the pathway of obedience.
This is not the way the world sees it. In 21st-century Western culture, personal happiness and obedience to an authority are held to be mutually incompatible. But the Bible is clear: it is by obeying that we find ourselves “blessed.”
So how do we take this path?
The first step is simple: look intently into God’s word. The word James uses for “look,” parakupsas, is the same word used elsewhere to describe a looking that is not mere glance but rather a careful, considered focus (for example, 1 Peter 1:12; John 20:5, 11). To benefit from the Bible, we need to have a genuine desire to miss nothing of its truth and a genuine willingness to consider carefully what we are reading.
Second, make your study of the Bible one of steady perseverance rather than a burst of enthusiasm followed by chronic inertia. We are called to meditate on the law day and night (Psalm 1:2) and to keep returning to God’s word as our source of insight and understanding (Proverbs 2:1-5). As we do this we will notice, over time, that we are living more and more in line with God’s word and are more and more able to discern how God’s word applies in the situations we find ourselves in.
Third, act on what you read. If the word of God calls us to action but we give no expression to that, then it should be no surprise when we find ourselves disappointed and disheartened. Blessing is found not merely in reading God’s word but in living it. Ultimately, we are to respond obediently by doing what we have heard God say.
The formula that James gives is straightforward: Hearing plus doing equals blessing. We see this principle throughout the Bible, including in the very words of Christ Himself. After He had washed the disciples’ feet, Jesus turned to them and said, “If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them” (John 13:17). Knowledge, in other words, should lead to action, and the blessing is directly related to Spirit-empowered doing.
To help you look intently at what the Bible says, ask simple questions: What does this passage teach me about God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit? What does this passage teach me about myself and what sin to avoid, what promise to accept, or what command to obey? As you continue along the pathway of obedience through God’s enabling grace, the truth of His word will find a resting place in your heart and mind, and you will discover the freedom and blessing of a life lived God’s way in His world.
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 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.
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.
Mephibosheth’s Example
So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the king’s table. Now he was lame in both his feet.
Mephibosheth was not an attractive guest at the royal table; yet he had an open invitation because King David could see in his face the features of the beloved Jonathan. Like Mephibosheth, we may exclaim to the King of Glory, “What is Your servant, that You should show regard for a dead dog such as I?” But still the Lord invites us to share intimately with Him, because He sees in our countenances the remembrance of His dearly-beloved Jesus.
It is on account of Jesus that the Lord’s people are dear to God. Such is the love that the Father bears to His only begotten that for His sake He raises His lowly brothers and sisters from poverty and exile to enjoy the king’s court, noble rank, and royal provision. Their deformity shall not rob them of their privileges. Lameness is no bar to sonship; the disabled is as much the heir as if he could run like a gazelle.
Our ability to enter may be impaired but not our right of entry. A king’s table is a noble hiding-place for lame legs, and at the gospel feast we learn to rejoice in infirmities because the power of Christ rests upon us. Yet serious disability may spoil the journey of the best-loved saints. Here is one feasted by David, and yet so lame in both his feet that he could not go up with the king when he fled from the city and was therefore maligned and injured by his servant.
Saints whose faith is weak and whose knowledge is limited are great losers; they are exposed to many enemies and cannot follow the king wherever he goes. This disease is frequently the result of a fall. Bad nursing in their spiritual infancy often causes converts to fall into a despondency from which they never recover, and sin in other cases brings broken bones. Lord, help the lame to leap like the hart, and satisfy all Your people with the bread of Your table!
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 27
Marriage of Female Heirs
1The heads of the fathers' houses of the clan of the qpeople of Gilead the son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of the people of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the chiefs, the heads of the fathers' houses of the people of Israel. 2They said, r“The Lord commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the people of Israel, and smy lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. 3But if they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the people of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our fathers and added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry. So it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance. 4And when tthe jubilee of the people of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry, and their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”
5And Moses commanded the people of Israel according to the word of the Lord, saying, “The tribe of the people of Joseph uis right. 6This is what the Lord commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: ‘Let them marry whom they think best, vonly they shall marry within the clan of the tribe of their father. 7The inheritance of the people of Israel shall not be transferred from one tribe to another, for every one of the people of Israel wshall hold on to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. 8And xevery daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the people of Israel shall be wife to one of the clan of the tribe of her father, so that every one of the people of Israel may possess the inheritance of his fathers. 9So no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another, for each of the tribes of the people of Israel shall hold on to its own inheritance.’”
10The daughters of Zelophehad did as the Lord commanded Moses, 11yfor Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to sons of their father's brothers. 12They were married into the clans of the people of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father's clan.
13These are the commandments and the rules that the Lord commanded through Moses to the people of Israel zin the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.
Restore Us, O God
To the choirmaster: according to eLilies. A Testimony. Of fAsaph, a Psalm.
1Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead gJoseph like ha flock.
You who are ienthroned upon the cherubim, jshine forth.
2Before kEphraim and Benjamin and Manasseh,
lstir up your might
and mcome to save us!
olet your face shine, that we may be saved!
4O pLord God of hosts,
qhow long will you be angry with your people's prayers?
5You have fed them with rthe bread of tears
and given them tears to drink in full measure.
6sYou make us an object of contention for our sneighbors,
and our enemies laugh among themselves.
7nRestore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved!
8You brought ta vine out of Egypt;
you udrove out the nations and planted it.
9You vcleared the ground for it;
it took deep root and filled the land.
10The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches.
11It sent out its branches to wthe sea
and its shoots to wthe River.2
12Why then have you xbroken down its walls,
so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
13yThe boar from the forest ravages it,
and all that move in the field feed on it.
14Turn again, O God of hosts!
zLook down from heaven, and see;
have regard for this vine,
15the stock that your right hand planted,
and for the son whom you made strong for yourself.
16They have aburned it with fire; they have acut it down;
may they perish at bthe rebuke of your face!
17But clet your hand be on the man of your right hand,
the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!
18Then we shall not turn back from you;
dgive us life, and we will call upon your name!
19eRestore us, O Lord God of hosts!
Let your face shine, that we may be saved!
Judgment on Ephraim and Jerusalem
1Ah, the proud crown of ythe drunkards of Ephraim,
and the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
which is on the head of the rich valley of those overcome with wine!
2Behold, the Lord has zone who is mighty and strong;
like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest,
like aa storm of mighty, overflowing waters,
he casts down to the earth with his hand.
3bThe proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim
will be trodden underfoot;
4cand the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
which is on the head of the rich valley,
will be like da first-ripe fig1 before the summer:
when someone sees it, he swallows it
as soon as it is in his hand.
5eIn that day the Lord of hosts will be a crown of glory,2
and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people,
6and fa spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment,
and gstrength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.
7hThese also reel with wine
and istagger with strong drink;
the priest and jthe prophet reel with strong drink,
they are swallowed by3 wine,
they stagger with strong drink,
they reel in vision,
they stumble in giving judgment.
8For all tables are full of filthy vomit,
with no space left.
9k“To whom will he teach knowledge,
and to whom will he explain the message?
Those who are weaned from the milk,
those taken from the breast?
10For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
line upon line, line upon line,
here a little, there a little.”
11lFor by people of strange lips
and with a foreign tongue
the Lord will speak to this people,
12to whom he has said,
m“This is rest;
give rest to the weary;
and this is repose”;
yet they would not hear.
13And the word of the Lord will be to them
precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
line upon line, line upon line,
here a little, there a little,
nthat they may go, and fall backward,
and be broken, and snared, and taken.
A Cornerstone in Zion
14Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you oscoffers,
who rule this people in Jerusalem!
15Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
and with Sheol we have an agreement,
when the poverwhelming whip passes through
it will not come to us,
for we have made qlies our refuge,
and in falsehood we have taken shelter”;
16therefore thus says the Lord God,
r“Behold, I am the one who has laid4 as a foundation sin Zion,
a stone, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:
‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’
17And I will make justice tthe line,
and righteousness tthe plumb line;
and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
and waters will overwhelm the shelter.”
18Then uyour covenant with death will be annulled,
and your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through,
you will be beaten down by it.
19As often as it passes through it will take you;
vfor morning by morning it will pass through,
by day and by night;
and it will be wsheer terror to understand the message.
20For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on,
and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in.
21For the Lord will rise up xas on Mount Perazim;
yas in the Valley of zGibeon he will be roused;
to do his deed—strange is his deed!
and to work his work—alien is his work!
22Now therefore do not ascoff,
lest your bonds be made strong;
for I have heard ba decree of destruction
from the Lord God of hosts against the whole land.
23Give ear, and hear my voice;
give attention, and hear my speech.
24Does he who plows for sowing plow continually?
Does he continually open and harrow his ground?
25cWhen he has leveled its surface,
does he not scatter dill, sow cumin,
and put in wheat in rows
and barley in its proper place,
and emmer5 as the border?
26dFor he is rightly instructed;
his God teaches him.
27Dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin,
but dill is beaten out with a stick,
and cumin with a rod.
28Does one crush grain for bread?
No, he does not thresh it forever;6
when he drives his cart wheel over it
with his horses, he does not crush it.
29This also comes from the Lord of hosts;
he is ewonderful in counsel
and excellent in wisdom.
Greeting
1aThe elder to the elect lady and her children, bwhom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who cknow dthe truth, 2ebecause of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever:
3fGrace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son, in truth and love.
Walking in Truth and Love
4gI rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father. 5And now I ask you, dear lady—hnot as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—ithat we love one another. 6And jthis is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just kas you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. 7For lmany deceivers mhave gone out into the world, nthose who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8Watch yourselves, oso that you may not lose what we1 have worked for, but pmay win a full reward. 9Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, qdoes not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching qhas both the Father and the Son. 10If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, rdo not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, 11for whoever greets him stakes part in his wicked works.
Final Greetings
12tThough I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. uInstead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, vso that our joy may be complete.
13The children of your elect sister greet you.
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