Truth For Life Program
Alistair Begg Devotional
C. H. Spurgeon Devotional
One-Year Bible Reading Plan
Evangelism: Dealing with Difficulties (Part 1 of 3)
Selected ScripturesA common barrier to sharing our faith is the fear that we won’t have all the answers to possible questions. Study along with Truth For Life as Alistair Begg shares some tips for dealing with difficulties that often arise when we tell others about Jesus.
From the Sermon
Evangelism: Dealing With Difficulties — Part One
Selected Scriptures Sermon • Includes Transcript • 27:29 • ID: 1519
Leaning in to God’s Word
Every so often someone might ask, “What have you been leaning against?” As I look at my clothes, it becomes clear by the residue left behind that I have in fact been leaning against something—something that has left a mark. And I resolve at that moment to be far more careful in the future about what I choose to lean on.
Spiritually, we must also be careful about what we’re leaning against. Just as we may become inadvertently dirty by leaning against a chalkboard, we are also prone to becoming morally polluted by “leaning against” sin. We should not be unaware of the evil that is so prevalent around us—and in us. It is all too easy to sin with our eyes and minds, realizing only when it is too late that the sin has left its mark.
Our attitude toward sin in the week will affect how we listen to God’s word preached to us on a Sunday. Moral filth is a barrier to listening to and profiting from the Bible. The way in which we come to the preaching of the word is so vitally important. Some of us come to God’s word covered in the clay of compromise with the world’s wickedness and filth, or marked with the stains of willful disobedience. We simply cannot act with such instability and still expect that we will receive anything from the Lord (James 1:7-8). When the word is preached Sunday after Sunday and some people in the congregation grow and mature while others do not, it speaks to the soil, not the seed.
Notice that James doesn’t tell us merely to pray about this filthiness but to get rid of it. How? By the enabling power of God by His Spirit through the word. As the psalmist wrote, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word” (Psalm 119:9). The Bible acts as a purifying instrument. Day after day, committed to walking away from sin that we have all too often been leaning upon, we are to “receive with meekness the implanted word.” We may not understand everything, but we humbly accept and act upon what we do understand.
As you meekly receive God’s word, you are saved—today, tomorrow, for all eternity. His word saves you from the silent spiritual killer of hypocrisy. His word reminds you that He has saved you from sin’s penalty through the death of His Son. His word assures you that you are being saved from sin’s power and can choose righteousness instead.
What are you leaning against? Are there sins that the world around you accepts and promotes but which you need to walk away from? Come before God’s word today. Lean on His Spirit to be restored and revived. Receive His word, and rejoice that it has the power to cleanse!
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?
Temptations to Sin
42k“Whoever causes one of lthese little ones who believe in me to sin,7 mit would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. 43nAnd if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to ohell,8 to pthe unquenchable fire.9 45qAnd if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into ohell. 47rAnd if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into shell, 48‘where ttheir worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ 49For everyone will be salted with fire.10 50vSalt is good, wbut if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? xHave salt in yourselves, and ybe at peace with one another.”
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.
The Spirit’s Blessings
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.
The blessings of today would be rich if all of us were filled with the Holy Spirit. It would be impossible to overestimate the consequences of this sacred filling of the soul. Life, comfort, light, purity, power, peace, and many other precious blessings are inseparable from the Spirit’s gracious presence.
- As sacred oil, He anoints the head of the believer, setting him apart to the priesthood of saints and giving him grace to execute his office properly.
- As the only truly purifying water He cleanses us from the power of sin and sets us apart to holiness, enabling us to desire and then to do what pleases the Lord.
- As the light, He revealed Himself to us in our darkness, and now He reveals the Lord Jesus to us and in us and guides us in the way of righteousness. Enlightened by His pure celestial ray, we are no longer in darkness but light in the Lord.
- As fire, He purges us from dross and sets our consecrated nature ablaze. He is the sacrificial flame by which we are enabled to offer our whole souls as a living sacrifice unto God.
- As heavenly dew, He removes our barrenness and fertilizes our lives. How we long for Him to come upon us from above at this early hour! Such morning dew would be a sweet beginning to the day.
- As the dove, with wings of peaceful love He broods over His Church and over the souls of believers, and as a Comforter He dispels the cares and doubts that spoil the peace of His beloved. He descends upon the chosen as He did upon Christ at His baptism and bears witness to their sonship by working in them a filial spirit by which they cry, “Abba, Father.”
- As the wind, He brings the breath of life to men; blowing where He wills, He performs the quickening operations by which the spiritual creation is animated and sustained.
Would to God that we might feel His presence this day and every day.
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 June 19
Laws Concerning Divorce
1“When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and ehe writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house, 2and if she goes and becomes another man's wife, 3and the latter man hates her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter man dies, who took her to be his wife, 4then fher former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination before the Lord. And you shall not bring sin upon the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance.
Miscellaneous Laws
5g“When a man is newly married, he shall not go out with the army or be liable for any other public duty. He shall be free at home one year hto be happy with his wife1 whom he has taken.
6“No one shall take a mill or an upper millstone in pledge, for that would be taking a life in pledge.
7i“If a man is found stealing one of his brothers of the people of Israel, and if he jtreats him as a slave or sells him, then that thief shall die. kSo you shall purge the evil from your midst.
8“Take care, in la case of leprous2 disease, to be very careful to do according to all that the Levitical priests shall direct you. As I commanded them, so you shall be careful to do. 9Remember what the Lord your God did to mMiriam non the way as you came out of Egypt.
10“When you make your neighbor a loan of any sort, you shall not go into his house to collect his pledge. 11You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you make the loan shall bring the pledge out to you. 12And if he is a poor man, you shall not sleep in his pledge. 13oYou shall restore to him the pledge as the sun sets, that he may sleep in his cloak and pbless you. And qit shall be righteousness for you before the Lord your God.
14“You shall not roppress a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns. 15sYou shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets (for he is poor and counts on it), tlest he cry against you to the Lord, and you be guilty of sin.
16u“Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin.
17v“You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, wor take a widow's garment in pledge, 18but xyou shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this.
19y“When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, zthat the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. 21When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. 22xYou shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this.
Psalm 114
Tremble at the Presence of the Lord
1When pIsrael went out from Egypt,
the house of Jacob from qa people of strange language,
2Judah became his rsanctuary,
Israel his dominion.
3sThe sea looked and fled;
tJordan turned back.
4uThe mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.
5What vails you, O sea, that you flee?
O Jordan, that you turn back?
6O mountains, that you skip like rams?
O hills, like lambs?
7wTremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8who turns xthe rock into ya pool of water,
zthe flint into a spring of water.
Psalm 115
To Your Name Give Glory
1aNot to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
bfor the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
2Why should the nations say,
c“Where is their God?”
3dOur God is in the heavens;
ehe does all that he pleases.
4fTheir idols are silver and gold,
gthe work of human hands.
5They have mouths, hbut do not speak;
eyes, but do not see.
6They have ears, but do not hear;
noses, but do not smell.
7They have hands, but do not feel;
feet, but do not walk;
and they do not make a sound in their throat.
8iThose who make them become like them;
so do all who trust in them.
9O jIsrael,1 ktrust in the Lord!
He is their lhelp and their shield.
10O jhouse of Aaron, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and mtheir shield.
11You nwho fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.
12The Lord has remembered us; he will bless us;
he will bless othe house of Israel;
he will bless othe house of Aaron;
13he will pbless those who fear the Lord,
qboth the small and the great.
14May the Lord rgive you increase,
you and your children!
15May syou be blessed by the Lord,
twho made heaven and earth!
16The heavens are the Lord's heavens,
but the earth he has given to the children of man.
17uThe dead do not praise the Lord,
nor do any who go down into vsilence.
18But wwe will bless the Lord
from this time forth and forevermore.
xPraise the Lord!
The Lord's Comfort for Zion
1d“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
you who seek the Lord:
look to the rock from which you were hewn,
and to the quarry from which you were dug.
2Look to Abraham your father
and to Sarah who bore you;
for ehe was but one when I called him,
that I might bless him and multiply him.
3For the Lord fcomforts Zion;
he comforts all her waste places
and makes her wilderness like gEden,
her desert like hthe garden of the Lord;
ijoy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the voice of song.
4j“Give attention to me, my people,
and give ear to me, my nation;
kfor a law1 will go out from me,
and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.
5lMy righteousness draws near,
my salvation has gone out,
and my arms will judge the peoples;
mthe coastlands hope for me,
and for my arm they wait.
6nLift up your eyes to the heavens,
and look at the earth beneath;
ofor the heavens vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment,
and they who dwell in it will die in like manner;2
pbut my salvation will be forever,
and my righteousness will never be dismayed.
7q“Listen to me, you who know righteousness,
the people rin whose heart is my law;
sfear not the reproach of man,
nor be dismayed at their revilings.
8tFor the moth will eat them up like a garment,
and the worm will eat them like wool,
pbut my righteousness will be forever,
and my salvation to all generations.”
9uAwake, awake, vput on strength,
O warm of the Lord;
awake, xas in days of old,
the generations of long ago.
Was it not you who cut yRahab in pieces,
who pierced zthe dragon?
10aWas it not you who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep,
who made the depths of the sea a way
for the redeemed to pass over?
11bAnd the ransomed of the Lord shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
12“I, I am he cwho comforts you;
who are you that you are afraid of dman who dies,
of the son of man who is made elike grass,
13and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker,
fwho stretched out the heavens
and glaid the foundations of the earth,
and you fear continually all the day
because of the wrath of hthe oppressor,
when he sets himself to destroy?
And where is the wrath of hthe oppressor?
14iHe who is bowed down shall speedily be released;
he shall not die and go down jto the pit,
neither shall his bread be lacking.
15I am the Lord your God,
kwho stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
the Lord of hosts is his name.
16lAnd I have put my words in your mouth
mand covered you in the shadow of my hand,
and olaying the foundations of the earth,
and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”
17pWake yourself, wake yourself,
stand up, O Jerusalem,
qyou who have drunk from the hand of the Lord
the cup of his wrath,
who have drunk to the dregs
the bowl, rthe cup of staggering.
18sThere is none to guide her
among all the sons she has borne;
there is none to take her by the hand
among all the sons she has brought up.
19tThese two things have happened to you—
who will console you?—
devastation and destruction, famine and sword;
who will comfort you?4
20uYour sons have fainted;
they lie at the head of every street
they are full of the wrath of the Lord,
the rebuke of your God.
21xTherefore hear this, you who are afflicted,
who are drunk, but not with wine:
22Thus says your Lord, the Lord,
your God ywho pleads the cause of his people:
“Behold, I have taken from your hand rthe cup of staggering;
the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more;
23zand I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,
awho have said to you,
‘Bow down, that we may pass over’;
and byou have made your back like the ground
and like the street for them to pass over.”
The New Heaven and the New Earth
1Then I saw ya new heaven and a new earth, for zthe first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2And I saw athe holy city, bnew Jerusalem, ccoming down out of heaven from God, dprepared eas a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, fthe dwelling place1 of God is with man. He will gdwell with them, and they will be his people,2 and God himself will be with them as their God.3 4hHe will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and ideath shall be no more, jneither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
5And khe who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I lam making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for mthese words are trustworthy and true.” 6And he said to me, n“It is done! oI am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. pTo the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7qThe one who conquers will have this heritage, and rI will be his God and she will be my son. 8tBut as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, utheir portion will be in vthe lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is wthe second death.”
The New Jerusalem
9Then came xone of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of ythe seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you zthe Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10And ahe carried me away in the Spirit to ba great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11chaving the glory of God, dits radiance elike a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12It had a great, high wall, fwith twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— 13on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14And the wall of the city had twelve gfoundations, and hon them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15And the one who spoke with me ihad a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia.4 Its length and width and height are equal. 17He also measured its wall, 144 cubits5 by jhuman measurement, which is also kan angel's measurement. 18The wall was built of ljasper, while the city was pure gold, like lclear glass. 19mThe foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and nthe street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
22And oI saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23And the city phas no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for qthe glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24By its light rwill the nations walk, and the kings of the earth swill bring their glory into it, 25and tits gates will never be shut by day—and uthere will be no night there. 26They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27But vnothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's wbook of life.
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