Truth For Life Program
Alistair Begg Devotional
C. H. Spurgeon Devotional
One-Year Bible Reading Plan
Paul exhorted believers to remember their preconverted lives. While it’s uncomfortable to be confronted by the gravity of your sinful condition, find out why it’s absolutely necessary. Listen to Truth For Life as Alistair Begg begins a study in Ephesians.
From the Sermon
The Blessing of Persecution
It is a truth self-evident to almost all of us that it is immensely important for people to like us. So it comes as a shock to learn that Jesus taught emphatically about the blessing we will come to know when others hate us, exclude us, and insult us “on account of the Son of Man.”
It’s because of our relationship with Jesus that such condemnation comes. In fact, Jesus described something that will be true of every believer: when we stand with Christ, we will be rejected by the world. Jesus develops this truth elsewhere in Scripture. For example, the night before He died, He reminded His followers that the world hated Him before it hated them and that, as His servants, they (and we) must expect the same persecution that our Lord experienced (John 15:18-20).
You may have experienced such persecution at school; maybe you took a stand for the Bible, and then you suddenly found yourself isolated from your peer group. You may have tasted the pain of being ostracized by a friendship group, or passed over for promotion at work, because you had explained to someone who Jesus is, why He died, and what that means. You may even know the pain of being spurned by members of your own family because of your faith. If you stand up and stand out for Christ, then ever so subtly and yet so very clearly the hatred begins to spill out, and the sense of scorn is nearly overwhelming.
There is nothing easy or enjoyable about being maligned or left out when we live in obedience to God. Indeed, there is great heartache that accompanies rejection. How, then, are we to find blessing and comfort in its midst?
We must cling to the truth Jesus speaks of here: that when we find ourselves on the receiving end of the world’s hatred as a response to our faithfulness to the Son of Man, nothing has gone wrong: we are, in fact, in a place to know blessing. In other words, this sort of mistreatment is tangible evidence of our genuine faith and relationship with the Lord. Furthermore, Jesus promises that if we acknowledge Him before men, He will also acknowledge us before His Father in heaven (Matthew 10:32).
The man or woman who leads a holy life—who is prepared to speak and obey God’s word with boldness and who refuses to seek the nonexistent middle way between an obedient life and a popular one—will eventually collide with the ungodly and incur the enmity of the world. How are you being called to risk rejection in order to speak of Christ or live for Christ? Do not lose heart! Instead, respond to slander against you or dislike of you on account of the gospel by rejoicing, “for behold, your reward is great in heaven.” The world has nothing to offer that comes close to comparing with that.
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?
Nebuchadnezzar's Golden Image
1King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits1 and its breadth six cubits. He set it up on uthe plain of Dura, in vthe province of Babylon. 2Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather wthe satraps, the prefects, and xthe governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 3Then wthe satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 4And the herald yproclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O zpeoples, nations, and languages, 5that when you hear the asound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you bare to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 6And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately cbe cast into a burning fiery furnace.” 7Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all zthe peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
The Fiery Furnace
8Therefore at that time certain dChaldeans ecame forward and maliciously accused the Jews. 9They declared2 to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! 10You, O king, fhave made a decree, that every man who ghears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, gshall fall down and worship the golden image. 11And whoever does not fall down and worship cshall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. 12There are certain Jews whom you have happointed over the affairs of vthe province of Babylon: iShadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, jpay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
13Then Nebuchadnezzar kin furious rage commanded that iShadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. 14Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? 15Now if you are ready when lyou hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good.3 But if you do not worship, cyou shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And mwho is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”
16iShadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17If this be so, nour God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.4 18But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
19Then Nebuchadnezzar was ofilled with fury, and the expression of his face pwas changed against iShadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. 20And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army qto bind iShadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. 21Then these men were qbound in their cloaks, their tunics,5 their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. 22Because the king's order was rurgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up sShadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 23And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell qbound into the burning fiery furnace.
24Then King Nebuchadnezzar was tastonished and rose up uin haste. He declared to his vcounselors, “Did we not cast three men wbound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” 25He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, xwalking in the midst of the fire, and they yare not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like za son of the gods.”
26Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, s“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the aMost High God, come out, and come here!” Then sShadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. 27And the bsatraps, the prefects, the governors, and vthe king's counselors gathered together and saw that cthe fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their dcloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. 28Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of sShadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who ehas sent his angel and fdelivered his servants, who gtrusted in him, and set aside6 the king's command, and yielded up their bodies rather than hserve and worship any god except their own God. 29Therefore iI make a decree: Any jpeople, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of sShadrach, Meshach, and Abednego kshall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.” 30Then the king promoted sShadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in lthe province of Babylon.
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.
Holy Anxiety
Do not sweep my soul away with sinners.
Fear made David pray like this, for something whispered, “Perhaps, after all, you may be swept away with sinners.” That fear springs mainly from holy anxiety, arising from the recollection of past sin. Even the pardoned man will inquire, “What if at the end my sins should be remembered, and I should be left out of the company of the saved?” He thinks about his present condition—so little grace, so little love, so little holiness; and looking forward to the future, he considers his weakness and the many temptations that surround him, and he fears that he may fall and become a prey to the enemy. A sense of sin and present evil and his prevailing corruptions compel him to pray, in fear and trembling, “Do not sweep my soul away with sinners.”
Reader, if you have prayed this prayer, and if your character is correctly described in the Psalm from which it is taken, you need not be afraid that you will be swept away with sinners. Do you have the two virtues that David had—the outward walking in integrity and the inward trusting in the Lord? Are you resting upon Christ's sacrifice, and can you approach the altar of God with humble hope? If so, rest assured, you will never be swept away with sinners, for that calamity is impossible. At the judgment the command will be given, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”1
If, then, you are like God's people, you will be with God's people. You cannot be swept away with sinners, for you have been purchased at too high a price. Redeemed by the blood of Christ, you are His forever, and where He is, there His people must be. You are loved too much to be swept away with reprobates. Will one who is dear to Christ perish? Impossible! Hell cannot hold you! Heaven claims you! Trust in Christ, and do not fear!
1) Matthew 13:30
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 September 21
Hushai Saves David
1Moreover, Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue David tonight. 2I will come upon him while he is qweary and discouraged and throw him into a panic, and all the people who are with him will flee. rI will strike down only the king, 3and I will bring all the people back to you as a bride comes home to her husband. You seek the life of only one man,1 and all the people will be at peace.” 4And the advice seemed right in the eyes of Absalom and all the elders of Israel.
5Then Absalom said, “Call sHushai the Archite also, and let us hear what he has to say.” 6And when Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom said to him, “Thus has Ahithophel spoken; shall we do as he says? If not, you speak.” 7Then Hushai said to Absalom, “This time the counsel that Ahithophel has given is not good.” 8Hushai said, “You know that your father and his men are mighty men, and that they are enraged,2 tlike a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Besides, your father is expert in war; he will not spend the night with the people. 9Behold, even now he has hidden himself in one of the pits or in some other place. And as soon as some of the people fall3 at the first attack, whoever hears it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.’ 10Then even the valiant man, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will utterly umelt with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and that those who are with him are valiant men. 11But my counsel is that all Israel be gathered to you, vfrom Dan to Beersheba, was the sand by the sea for multitude, and that you go to battle in person. 12So we shall come upon him in some place where he is to be found, and we shall light upon him as the dew falls on the ground, and of him and all the men with him not one will be left. 13If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we shall drag it into the valley, until not even a pebble is to be found there.” 14And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” xFor the Lord had ordained4 to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the Lord might bring harm upon Absalom.
15yThen Hushai said to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, “Thus and so did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and so have I counseled. 16Now therefore send quickly and tell David, ‘Do not stay tonight at zthe fords of the wilderness, but by all means pass over, lest the king and all the people who are with him be aswallowed up.’” 17Now bJonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting at cEn-rogel. A female servant was to go and tell them, and they were to go and tell King David, for they were not to be seen entering the city. 18But a young man saw them and told Absalom. So both of them went away quickly and came to the house of a man at dBahurim, who had a well in his courtyard. And they went down into it. 19eAnd the woman took and spread a covering over the well's mouth and scattered grain on it, and nothing was known of it. 20When Absalom's servants came to the woman at the house, they said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” And the woman said to them, “They have gone over the brook5 of water.” And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.
21After they had gone, the men came up out of the well, and went and told King David. They said to David, f“Arise, and go quickly over the water, for thus and so has Ahithophel counseled against you.” 22Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and they crossed the Jordan. By daybreak not one was left who had not crossed the Jordan.
23When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey and went off home to ghis own city. He hset his house in order and ihanged himself, and he died and was buried in the tomb of his father.
24Then David came to jMahanaim. And Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel. 25Now Absalom had set kAmasa over the army instead of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra the Ishmaelite,6 who had married Abigal the daughter of lNahash, sister of Zeruiah, Joab's mother. 26And Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead.
27When David came to Mahanaim, mShobi the son of Nahash from nRabbah of the Ammonites, and oMachir the son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and pBarzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim, 28brought beds, basins, and earthen vessels, wheat, barley, flour, parched grain, beans and lentils,7 29honey and curds and sheep and cheese from the herd, for David and the people with him to eat, for they said, “The people are hungry and qweary and thirsty rin the wilderness.”
Paul Defends His Ministry
1iI, Paul, myself entreat you, by the jmeekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!— 2I beg of you kthat when I am present I may not have to show lboldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. 3For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4For the mweapons of nour warfare are not of the flesh but have odivine power pto destroy strongholds. 5We destroy arguments and qevery lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to robey Christ, 6sbeing ready to punish every disobedience, twhen your obedience is complete.
7uLook at what is before your eyes. vIf anyone is confident that he is Christ's, let him remind himself that just as whe is Christ's, xso also are we. 8For even if I boast a little too much of your authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed. 9I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters. 10For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but zhis bodily presence is weak, and ahis speech of no account.” 11Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present. 12Not that we dare to classify or bcompare ourselves with some of those who care commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are dwithout understanding.
13But we will not boast ebeyond limits, but will fboast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us, gto reach even to you. 14For we are not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach you. hFor we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ. 15We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others. But our hope is that ias your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be jgreatly enlarged, 16so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in another's area of influence. 17“Let kthe one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 18For it is lnot the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one mwhom the Lord commends.
The Siege of Jerusalem
1lIn the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 2m“Son of man, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. 3And nutter a parable to othe rebellious house and say to them, Thus says the Lord God:
“Set on pthe pot, set it on;
pour in water also;
4put in it the pieces of meat,
all the good pieces, qthe thigh and the shoulder;
fill it with choice bones.
5Take the choicest one of the flock;
pile the logs1 under it;
boil it well;
seethe also its bones in it.
6“Therefore thus says the Lord God: rWoe to the bloody city, to pthe pot whose corrosion is in it, and whose corrosion has not gone out of it! Take out of it piece after piece, without making any choice.2 7For the blood she has shed is in her midst; she put it on sthe bare rock; tshe did not pour it out on the ground to cover it with dust. 8To rouse my wrath, to take vengeance, I have set on the bare rock the blood she has shed, that it may not be covered. 9Therefore thus says the Lord God: Woe to the bloody city! uI also will make the pile great. 10Heap on the logs, kindle the fire, boil the meat well, mix in the spices,3 and let the bones be burned up. 11Then set it empty upon the coals, that it may become hot, and its copper may burn, vthat its uncleanness may be melted in it, its corrosion consumed. 12wShe has wearied herself with toil;4 its abundant corrosion does not go out of it. Into the fire with its corrosion! 13On account of your unclean lewdness, because I would have cleansed you and you were not cleansed from your uncleanness, xyou shall not be cleansed anymore till yI have satisfied my fury upon you. 14zI am the Lord. I have spoken; it shall come to pass; I will do it. I will not go back; aI will not spare; bI will not relent; caccording to your ways and your deeds you will be judged, declares the Lord God.”
Ezekiel's Wife Dies
15The word of the Lord came to me: 16d“Son of man, behold, I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you at a stroke; yet you shall not mourn or weep, nor shall your tears run down. 17Sigh, but not aloud; make no mourning for the dead. eBind on your turban, and fput your shoes on your feet; do not cover your lips, gnor eat the bread of men.” 18So I spoke to the people in the morning, and hat evening my wife died. And on the next morning I did ias I was commanded.
19And jthe people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things mean for us, that you are acting thus?” 20Then I said to them, “The word of the Lord came to me: 21‘Say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: kBehold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and the yearning of your soul, and lyour sons and your daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword. 22And myou shall do as I have done; myou shall not cover your lips, gnor eat the bread of men. 23mYour turbans shall be on your heads and your shoes on your feet; you shall not mourn or weep, but nyou shall rot away in your iniquities and groan to one another. 24Thus shall Ezekiel be to you oa sign; maccording to all that he has done you shall do. When this comes, then pyou will know that I am the Lord God.’
25“As for you, qson of man, surely on the day when I take from them rtheir stronghold, their joy and glory, the delight of their eyes and their soul's desire, and also their sons and daughters, 26son that day a fugitive will come to you to report to you the news. 27On that day your mouth twill be opened to the fugitive, and you shall speak and be no longer mute. uSo you will be a sign to them, and vthey will know that I am the Lord.”
Give the King Your Justice
Of qSolomon.
1Give the king your rjustice, O God,
and your righteousness to the royal son!
2May he sjudge your people with righteousness,
and your poor with justice!
3Let the mountains bear tprosperity for the people,
and the hills, in righteousness!
4May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
give deliverance to the children of the needy,
and crush the oppressor!
5May they fear you1 while uthe sun endures,
and as long as the moon, vthroughout all generations!
6May he be like wrain that falls on xthe mown grass,
like yshowers that water the earth!
7In his days may zthe righteous flourish,
and apeace abound, till the moon be no more!
8May he have dominion from bsea to sea,
and from bthe River2 to the cends of the earth!
9May desert tribes dbow down before him,
and his enemies elick the dust!
10May the kings of fTarshish and of gthe coastlands
render him htribute;
may the kings of iSheba and jSeba
bring gifts!
11May all kings kfall down before him,
all nations serve him!
12For he delivers lthe needy when he calls,
the poor and him who has no helper.
13He has pity on the weak and the needy,
and saves the lives of the needy.
14From oppression and violence he redeems their life,
and mprecious is their blood in his sight.
15Long may he live;
may ngold of Sheba be given to him!
May prayer be made ofor him continually,
and blessings invoked for him all the day!
16May there be abundance of grain in the land;
on the tops of the mountains may it wave;
may its fruit be like Lebanon;
and may people pblossom in the cities
like the qgrass of the field!
17rMay his name endure forever,
his fame continue as long as the sun!
sMay people be blessed in him,
tall nations call him blessed!
18uBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
who alone does vwondrous things.
19Blessed be his wglorious name forever;
may xthe whole earth be filled with his glory!
yAmen and Amen!
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