Truth For Life Program
Alistair Begg Devotional
C. H. Spurgeon Devotional
One-Year Bible Reading Plan
“Carpe diem!” is a phrase used to urge someone to make the most of the present time with little thought for the future. Find out how knowing God changes how believers live now and consider what lies ahead. Join us on Truth For Life with Alistair Begg.
From the Sermon
The Goodness of God — Part One
Nehemiah 9:6–15 Sermon • Includes Transcript • 43:46 • ID: 1739
The Law of Love
The last time you said you loved someone or something, what did you mean?
In our age, we often equate love with a certain emotional experience. People declare “love” based on how they feel. It’s no surprise, then, that the idea of acting lovingly out of a sense of duty sounds strange to our ears. Surely if an action is dutiful, it cannot be done out of love?
The book of James offers quite a different view of the relationship between love and duty. When James wants to summarize the law of God, he does so with the words “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The law, in other words, is fulfilled by love. We must therefore make it a priority to understand what love is and what it is not.
James does not mean that the law is fulfilled when we feel a certain way about our neighbors. Anyone who has read James—or much of the Bible at all, for that matter—knows this cannot be the case. For one thing, the Ten Commandments, which are the heart of the Old Testament law, say very little about how we ought to feel but quite a lot about what we ought to do. The commands against murder, adultery, lying, and stealing are aimed at our actions. And laws like these, says James, can be summarized as “Love your neighbor.” How do we love our neighbor, then? By doing the right thing.
Consider also the significance of James’ phrase “as yourself.” How often do any of us feel really great about ourselves and find ourselves truly and wholly lovely? Rarely, I would guess. And yet, despite how we feel about ourselves, we most likely see to it that we are cared for. Our love for others ought to be in this way as well. The absence of emotional intensity does not excuse us from obedience.
This does not mean that the right response is to be content with a cold heart as long as we are gritting our teeth and doing the right thing. We should want our affections toward others to match our actions, and we ought to pray toward that end. But we should also understand the role our emotions play in our love. Emotions make a great servant but a poor master. They can serve us in doing the right things, but they cannot be our guide for what we should and shouldn’t do. Indeed, sometimes it is only once we have decided to act in love that our feelings catch up. Pray today, then, for your affections to be pleasing to God, and for you to fulfill His royal law as you act in love toward your neighbors by obeying Him.
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?
8If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, i“You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9But if you jshow partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point khas become guilty of all of it. 11For he who said, l“Do not commit adultery,” also said, l“Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under mthe law of liberty. 13For njudgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
Faith Without Works Is Dead
14What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith obut does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15pIf a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16qand one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good2 is that? 17So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
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.
A Question to Consider
The church in your house.
Is there a church in this house? Are parents, children, and friends all members of it, or are some still unconverted? Let us pause here and let the question go round: Am I a member of the church in this house?
The father’s heart would leap for joy, and the mother’s eyes would fill with holy tears if from the eldest to the youngest all were saved! Let us pray for this great mercy until the Lord shall grant it to us.
Probably it had been the dearest object of Philemon’s desires to have all his household saved; but it was not at first fully granted to him. He had a wicked servant, Onesimus, who, having wronged him, ran away from his service.
His master’s prayers followed him, and at last, as God would have it, Onesimus was led to hear Paul preach; his heart was touched, and he returned to Philemon not only to be a faithful servant, but a beloved brother, adding another member to the church in Philemon’s house.
Is there an unconverted family member absent this morning? Make special supplication that they may, upon returning to their home, gladden every heart with good news of what grace has done! Is there an unconverted family member still at home? Ask God to save him also.
If there is such a church in our house, let us order it well, and let everyone conduct themselves as in the sight of God. Let us go about our daily routines with studied holiness, diligence, kindness, and integrity. More is expected of a church than of an ordinary household.
Family worship must, in such a case, be more devout and hearty; internal love must be warmer and unbroken, and external conduct must be more sanctified and Christlike. We need not fear that the smallness of our number will put us out of the list of churches, for the Holy Spirit has enrolled a family-church here in the inspired book of remembrance.
As a church let us now draw near to the great Head of the one Church universal, and let us beseech Him to give us grace to shine before men to the glory of His name.
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 November 1
Amaziah Reigns in Judah
1kIn the lsecond year of Joash the son of Joahaz, king of Israel, mAmaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, began to reign. 2He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jehoaddin of Jerusalem. 3And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not like David his father. He did in all things as Joash his father had done. 4nBut the high places were not removed; othe people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. 5And as soon as the royal power was pfirmly in his hand, he struck down his servants qwho had struck down the king his father. 6But he did not put to death the children of the murderers, according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, where the Lord commanded, r“Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. But each one shall die for his own sin.”
7sHe struck down ten thousand Edomites in tthe Valley of Salt and took uSela by storm, and called it vJoktheel, which is its name to this day.
8wThen Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash1 the son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, xlet us look one another in the face.” 9And Jehoash king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah, y“A thistle on Lebanon sent to a cedar on Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son for a wife,’ and a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle. 10You have indeed zstruck down Edom, aand your heart has lifted you up. Be content with your glory, and stay at home, for why should you provoke trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you?”
11But Amaziah would not listen. So Jehoash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah xfaced one another in battle at bBeth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah. 12And Judah was defeated by Israel, cand every man fled to his home. 13And Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash, son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and came to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem for four hundred cubits,2 from dthe Ephraim Gate to ethe Corner Gate. 14And he seized fall the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king's house, also hostages, and he returned to Samaria.
15gNow the rest of the acts of Jehoash that he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 16And Jehoash slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel, and Jeroboam his son reigned in his place.
17hAmaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. 18Now the rest of the deeds of Amaziah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 19And they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to iLachish. But they sent after him to Lachish and put him to death there. 20And they brought him on horses; and he was buried in Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David. 21And all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. 22He built jElath and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers.
Jeroboam II Reigns in Israel
23In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, began to reign in Samaria, and he reigned forty-one years. 24And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, kwhich he made Israel to sin. 25lHe restored the border of Israel mfrom Lebo-hamath as far as the Sea of nthe Arabah, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant oJonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from pGath-hepher. 26For the Lord qsaw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter, rfor there was none left, bond or free, and there was none to help Israel. 27sBut the Lord had not said that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, so he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.
28Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam and all that he did, and his might, how he fought, and how he restored tDamascus and uHamath to Judah in Israel, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 29And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, the kings of Israel, and Zechariah his son reigned in his place.
Preach the Word
1hI charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, iwho is to judge the living and the dead, and by jhis appearing and his kingdom: 2preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; kreprove, rebuke, and lexhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3mFor the time is coming when people will not endure nsound1 teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4and owill turn away from listening to the truth and pwander off into myths. 5As for you, qalways be sober-minded, rendure suffering, do the work of san evangelist, tfulfill your ministry.
6For uI am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my vdeparture has come. 7wI have fought the good fight, xI have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8Henceforth there is ylaid up for me zthe crown of righteousness, which the Lord, athe righteous judge, will award to me on bthat day, and not only to me but also to all cwho have loved his appearing.
Personal Instructions
9dDo your best to come to me soon. 10For eDemas, fin love with gthis present world, hhas deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia,2 iTitus to Dalmatia. 11hLuke alone is with me. Get jMark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. 12kTychicus I have sent to Ephesus. 13When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. 14lAlexander the coppersmith did me great harm; mthe Lord will repay him according to his deeds. 15Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. 16At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. nMay it not be charged against them! 17But othe Lord stood by me and pstrengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and qall the Gentiles might hear it. So rI was rescued sfrom the lion's mouth. 18The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. tTo him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Final Greetings
19Greet uPrisca and Aquila, and vthe household of Onesiphorus. 20Erastus remained at Corinth, and I left wTrophimus, who was ill, at Miletus. 21xDo your best to come before winter. Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers.3
1xwhen I would heal Israel,
the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed,
and the evil deeds of ySamaria,
for zthey deal falsely;
the thief breaks in,
and the bandits raid outside.
2But they do not consider
that aI remember all their evil.
Now btheir deeds surround them;
cthey are before my face.
3By their evil dthey make dthe king glad,
and the princes by their treachery.
4eThey are all adulterers;
they are like a heated oven
whose baker ceases to stir the fire,
from the kneading of the dough
until it is leavened.
5On the day of four king, the princes
became sick with the heat of wine;
he stretched out his hand with mockers.
6For with hearts like an oven gthey approach their intrigue;
all night their anger smolders;
in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
7All of them are hot as an oven,
and they devour their rulers.
All htheir kings ihave fallen,
and none of them calls upon me.
8Ephraim jmixes himself with the peoples;
Ephraim is a cake not turned.
9kStrangers devour his strength,
and lhe knows it not;
gray hairs are sprinkled upon him,
and lhe knows it not.
10mThe pride of Israel testifies to his face;1
nyet they do not return to the Lord their God,
nor seek him, for all this.
11Ephraim is like a dove,
osilly and without sense,
calling to pEgypt, going to qAssyria.
12As they go, rI will spread over them my net;
I will bring them down like birds of the heavens;
sI will discipline them taccording to the report made to their congregation.
13uWoe to them, for they have strayed from me!
Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me!
vI would redeem them,
but wthey speak lies against me.
14xThey do not cry to me from the heart,
but ythey wail upon their beds;
for grain and wine they gash themselves;
they rebel against me.
15Although zI trained and strengthened their arms,
yet they devise evil against me.
16They areturn, but not upward;2
they are blike a treacherous bow;
their princes shall fall by the sword
because of cthe insolence of their tongue.
This shall be their derision din the land of Egypt.
Psalm 120
Deliver Me, O Lord
A Song of mAscents.
1In my distress I called to the Lord,
and he answered me.
2Deliver me, O Lord,
from lying lips,
from a deceitful tongue.
3What shall be given to you,
nand what more shall be done to you,
you deceitful tongue?
with glowing qcoals of the broom tree!
5Woe to me, that I sojourn in rMeshech,
that I dwell among sthe tents of tKedar!
6Too long have I had my dwelling
among those who hate peace.
7uI am for peace,
but when I speak, they are for war!
Psalm 121
My Help Comes from the Lord
A Song of mAscents.
1I vlift up my eyes to wthe hills.
From where does my help come?
2xMy help comes from the Lord,
who ymade heaven and earth.
3He will not zlet your foot be moved;
he who akeeps you will not slumber.
4Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your bshade on your cright hand.
6dThe sun shall not estrike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7The Lord will akeep you from all evil;
he will akeep your life.
8The Lord will keep
your fgoing out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.
Psalm 122
Let Us Go to the House of the Lord
A Song of mAscents. Of David.
1I was glad when they said to me,
g“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”
2Our feet have been standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem!
3Jerusalem—hbuilt as a city
that is ibound firmly together,
4to which the tribes jgo up,
the tribes of the Lord,
to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5There lthrones for judgment were set,
the thrones of the house of David.
6mPray for the peace of Jerusalem!
“May they be secure who love you!
7Peace be within your nwalls
and security within your ntowers!”
8For my brothers and companions' sake
I will say, o“Peace be within you!”
9For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will pseek your good.
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