Truth For Life Program
Alistair Begg Devotional
C. H. Spurgeon Devotional
One-Year Bible Reading Plan
Good parents love their children even when they misbehave—but they do discipline them. God, too, loves us even when we disobey—but it doesn’t always feel good! Hear about man’s disobedience and God’s redeeming love, on Truth For Life with Alistair Begg.
From the Sermon
The Goodness of God — Part Three
Nehemiah 9:16–37 Sermon • Includes Transcript • 39:24 • ID: 1741
Should Christians Tithe?
When the topic of biblical stewardship and finances comes up, what is one guiding principle that quickly comes to mind? The most common answer is almost certainly “tithing.” And yet, for a word that historically has been used so often in the language of church life, there’s a good deal of misunderstanding about what it actually means to tithe. So what does the Bible teach about tithing and the Christian’s relationship to it?
First, the tithe (the word simply means “a tenth”) was the basic principle of giving in the Old Testament. From the beginning, the Jewish people were to bring tithes of their crops and livestock to the Lord (Leviticus 27:30). These tithes were brought to the Levites (temple workers), who would then give a tenth of the tithe to the priests. This pattern was established firmly and fairly in the law of Moses, but as spiritual indifference set in among the people, the practice fell into disuse. For example, we read of Nehemiah’s dismay when he “found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them … So I confronted the officials and said, ‘Why is the house of God forsaken?’” (Nehemiah 13:10-11).
Second, while tithing is the pattern of giving in the Old Testament, it is not stated as an obligation in the New Testament. There we are confronted by an eloquent silence on this subject. This must be significant. We would expect that someone like Paul, with his intimate knowledge of the law, would have affirmed the Old Testament pattern, or at least alluded to it as a principle to be applied in the church. But he does not.
How, then, is a Christian to respond to these two observations? Should we tithe in the way the Israelites were commanded to do, or do we ignore that principle in the way the New Testament seems to? Well, it is true that the tithe is not explicitly commanded in the New Testament—but neither is it explicitly rejected. So while we are not to offer tithes as a matter of obedience to the Old Testament law, neither should we simply ignore the principle. The idea of giving ten percent could be a good starting point for Christians, but it is a starting point and no more. For if we are not careful, the principle of the tithe can be used to alleviate our conscience as we give the bare minimum and try to keep God out of our business. The problem with that kind of approach is that, as the psalmist writes, the earth and all its fullness is the Lord’s—including every last cent and possession we claim as ours! We think of ourselves as “giving” to God, but, in truth, He owns it all.
The relationship of the Christian to the principle of tithing, then, is not a neat and clean one. Ten percent may be far too much for you at the moment—or it may be far too comfortable! So perhaps the best way forward is to use that number as your starting point and then to ask God for wisdom and integrity as you look at your finances and at your heart. Let Him reveal how you can most faithfully use your finances—which, in truth, are His finances—for His glory.
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?
8rI say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. 9For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that sthough he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. 10And in this matter tI give my judgment: uthis benefits you, who va year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. 11So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. 12For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable waccording to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. 13For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness 14your abundance at the present time should supply xtheir need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. 15As it is written, y“Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.”
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.
He Loves to Hear
Behold, he is praying.
Prayers are instantly noticed in heaven. The moment Saul began to pray, the Lord heard him. Here is comfort for the distressed but praying soul. When our hearts are broken and we bow in prayer, we are often only able to employ the language of sighs and tears; still our groaning has made all the harps of heaven thrill with music.
That tear has been caught by God and treasured in the receptacle of heaven. “Put my tears in your bottle”1 implies that they are caught as they flow. The petitioner, whose fears prevent his words, will be well understood by the Most High. He may only look up with misty eye; but “prayer is the falling of a tear.”
Tears are the diamonds of heaven; sighs are a part of the music of Jehovah’s court and are numbered with “the sublimest strains that reach the majesty on high.” Do not think that your prayer, however weak or trembling, will be unregarded.
Jacob’s ladder is lofty, but our prayers shall lean upon the Angel of the covenant and so climb its starry rounds.
Our God not only hears prayer but also loves to hear it.
He does not forget the cry of the humble. True, He does not regard high looks and lofty words; He does not care for the pomp and pageantry of kings; He does not listen to the drums of war; He does not regard the triumph and pride of man.
But wherever there is a heart enlarged with sorrow or a lip quivering with agony or a deep groan or a penitential sigh, the heart of Jehovah is open.
He marks it down in the registry of His memory; He puts our prayers, like rose leaves, between the pages of His book of remembrance, and when at last the volume is opened, there will be a precious fragrance springing from it.
Faith asks no signal from the skies,
To show that prayers accepted rise.
Our Priest is in His holy place,
And answers from the throne of grace.
1) Psalm 56:8
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 3
Ahaz Reigns in Judah
1In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, began to reign. 2Ahaz was ytwenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God, as his father David had done, 3but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. zHe even burned his son as an offering,1 aaccording to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. 4bAnd he sacrificed and made offerings con the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.
5dThen Rezin king of Syria and dPekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to wage war on Jerusalem, and they besieged Ahaz ebut could not conquer him. 6At that time Rezin the king of Syria recovered fElath for Syria and drove the men of Judah from fElath, and the Edomites came to Elath, where they dwell to this day. 7gSo Ahaz sent messengers to hTiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” 8Ahaz also itook the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasures of the king's house and sent a present to the king of Assyria. 9jAnd the king of Assyria listened to him. The king of Assyria marched up against Damascus kand took it, carrying its people captive to lKir, and he killed Rezin.
10When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet mTiglath-pileser king of Assyria, he saw the altar that was at Damascus. And King Ahaz sent to nUriah the priest a model of the altar, and its pattern, exact in all its details. 11And Uriah the priest built the altar; in accordance with all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, so Uriah the priest made it, before King Ahaz arrived from Damascus. 12And when the king came from Damascus, the king viewed the altar. oThen the king drew near to the altar and went up on it 13and burned his burnt offering and his grain offering and poured his drink offering and threw the blood of his peace offerings on the altar. 14And pthe bronze altar that was before the Lord he removed qfrom the front of the house, from the place between rhis altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of rhis altar. 15And King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, saying, “On the great altar burn sthe morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering and the king's burnt offering and his grain offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering and their drink offering. And throw on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice, but tthe bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by.” 16Uriah the priest did all this, as King Ahaz commanded.
17And King Ahaz cut off the frames of the stands and removed the basin from them, and he took down uthe sea2 from off the bronze oxen that were under it and put it on a stone pedestal. 18And the covered way for the Sabbath that had been built inside the house and the outer entrance for the king he caused to go around the house of the Lord, because of the king of Assyria. 19Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz that he did, are they not written vin the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 20And Ahaz slept with his fathers and wwas buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.
Teach Sound Doctrine
1But as for you, teach what accords with psound1 doctrine. 2Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, psound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3qOlder women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, rnot slanderers sor slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5to be self-controlled, tpure, uworking at home, kind, and vsubmissive to their own husbands, wthat the word of God may not be reviled. 6Likewise, urge xthe younger men to be self-controlled. 7Show yourself in all respects to be ya model of good works, and in your teaching zshow integrity, adignity, 8and bsound speech that cannot be condemned, cso that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9dBondservants2 are to be submissive to their own masters ein everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10not pilfering, fbut showing all good faith, gso that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.
11For hthe grace of God ihas appeared, bringing salvation jfor all people, 12training us to renounce ungodliness and kworldly passions, and lto live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in mthe present age, 13nwaiting for our blessed ohope, the pappearing of the glory of our great qGod and Savior Jesus Christ, 14rwho gave himself for us to sredeem us from all lawlessness and tto purify for himself ta people for his own possession who are uzealous for good works.
15Declare these things; exhort and vrebuke with all authority. wLet no one disregard you.
The Lord Will Punish Israel
1Rejoice not, O Israel!
Exult not like the peoples;
efor you have played the whore, forsaking your God.
fYou have loved a prostitute's wages
on all threshing floors.
2gThreshing floor and wine vat shall not feed them,
and gthe new wine shall fail them.
3They shall not remain in hthe land of the Lord,
but iEphraim shall return to Egypt,
and jthey shall eat unclean food in Assyria.
4kThey shall not pour drink offerings of wine to the Lord,
land their sacrifices shall not please him.
It shall be like mmourners' bread to them;
all who eat of it shall be defiled;
for their bread shall be for their hunger only;
nit shall not come to the house of the Lord.
5oWhat will you do on the day of the appointed festival,
and on the day of the feast of the Lord?
6For behold, they are going away from destruction;
but pEgypt shall gather them;
Memphis shall bury them.
Nettles shall possess qtheir precious things of silver;
rthorns shall be in their tents.
7sThe days of punishment have come;
the days of recompense have come;
Israel shall know it.
tThe prophet is a fool;
the man of the spirit is mad,
because of your great iniquity
and great hatred.
8The prophet is uthe watchman of Ephraim with my God;
yet va fowler's snare is on all his ways,
and hatred in the house of his God.
9wThey have deeply corrupted themselves
as xin the days of Gibeah:
whe will remember their iniquity;
he will punish their sins.
10Like grapes in the wilderness,
yI found Israel.
Like the first fruit on the fig tree
in its first season,
I saw your fathers.
But zthey came to Baal-peor
and aconsecrated themselves to the thing of shame,
and bbecame detestable like the thing they loved.
11Ephraim's cglory shall fly away like a bird—
dno birth, no pregnancy, no conception!
12eEven if they bring up children,
I will bereave them till none is left.
fWoe to them
when gI depart from them!
13Ephraim, has I have seen, was like a young palm1 planted in a meadow;
but eEphraim must lead his children out to slaughter.2
14Give them, O Lord—
what will you give?
Give them ia miscarrying womb
and dry breasts.
15Every evil of theirs is in jGilgal;
there I began to hate them.
Because of the wickedness of their deeds
I will drive them out of my house.
I will love them no more;
all ktheir princes are lrebels.
16Ephraim is stricken;
mtheir root is dried up;
they shall bear no fruit.
Even nthough they give birth,
eI will put their beloved children to death.
17oMy God will reject them
because they have not listened to him;
pthey shall be wanderers among the nations.
Psalm 126
Restore Our Fortunes, O Lord
A Song of mAscents.
1When the Lord srestored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who tdream.
2Then our umouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then they said among the nations,
v“The Lord has done great things for them.”
3The Lord has done great things for us;
we are glad.
4Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
like streams in the Negeb!
5wThose who sow in tears
shall reap with shouts of joy!
6He who goes out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
bringing his sheaves with him.
Psalm 127
Unless the Lord Builds the House
A Song of mAscents. Of Solomon.
1Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord xwatches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
2It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious ytoil;
for he gives to his zbeloved asleep.
3Behold, bchildren are a heritage from the Lord,
cthe fruit of the womb a reward.
4Like arrows in the hand of da warrior
are the children1 of one's youth.
5Blessed is the man
who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
when he speaks with his enemies ein the gate.2
Psalm 128
Blessed Is Everyone Who Fears the Lord
A Song of mAscents.
1fBlessed is everyone who fears the Lord,
who gwalks in his ways!
2You hshall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;
you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.
3Your wife will be like ia fruitful vine
within your house;
your children will be like jolive shoots
around your table.
4Behold, thus shall the man be blessed
who fears the Lord.
5kThe Lord bless you lfrom Zion!
May you see mthe prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life!
6May you see your nchildren's children!
oPeace be upon Israel!
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