Truth For Life Program
Alistair Begg Devotional
C. H. Spurgeon Devotional
One-Year Bible Reading Plan
Who Is Jesus? (Part 5 of 6)
Selected ScripturesSome people enjoy Christmas festivities while remaining indifferent to Jesus. Gain a deeper understanding of Christmas in light of Christ’s divine assignment, and find out why neutrality isn’t an option. That’s our focus on Truth For Life with Alistair Begg.
From the Sermon
Who Is Jesus? — Part Three
Selected Scriptures Sermon • Includes Transcript • 50:12 • ID: 1767
Rejoice With the Angels
Jesus’ birthplace had a rich biblical history before ever it was visited by angels. It was Bethlehem that had once been stirred at the return of a woman who had left with her husband and two sons. Her name was Naomi. She and her family had gone in search of bread, from “the town of bread” (the meaning of “Bethlehem”), because of famine. While away, she’d lost her husband and both her sons. After this triple bereavement, she returned to the town with one of her daughters-in-law, a woman called Ruth, who gives her name to the Old Testament book that tells their story. This grieving foreigner would one day become a part of the lineage of the Messiah (Matthew 1:1-6).
It was also in the fields surrounding Bethlehem that a shepherd boy, David, looked after his father’s sheep. Bethlehem was the place where Samuel arrived in obedience to God’s word to find a replacement for King Saul. He asked Jesse to bring his sons out because one of them was going to be the king. They all came. None of them were chosen. The prophet then asked if there were any others, and the one who just looked after the sheep was brought in—and soon became the shepherd king of Israel (1 Samuel 16:1-12).
Then, 1,000 years later, a man named Joseph returned to his ancestral home of Bethlehem to be registered for a census with his betrothed, Mary. In this now-familiar and ordinary yet historically significant place, it was time for the arrival of the promised and long-anticipated Messiah. For some 600 years previously, the prophet Micah had recorded these words:
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days. (Micah 5:2)
Once again in Bethlehem, presumably in those same surrounding fields where David had once watched over his father’s sheep, there would be a stirring as the skies filled up with angelic visitation and echoed to salvation’s songs (Luke 2:8-14).
As you approach this familiar territory during the Christmas season, may your heart be stirred afresh in the presence of God’s Son, our Messiah. May His Spirit move you to consider with awe the centuries-long complexity of the preparation for that moment when your King lay in a manger. And may He cause you to rejoice with the angels in God’s great salvation, knowing that our great God uses the small and ordinary things in life—even a little town like Bethlehem—to accomplish His great and glorious purposes.
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?
The Shepherds and the Angels
8And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9And an angel of the Lord xappeared to them, and ythe glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all zthe people. 11For aunto you is born this day in bthe city of David ca Savior, who is dChrist ethe Lord. 12And fthis will be a sign for you: you will find a baby gwrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13And suddenly there was with the angel ha multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
14i“Glory to God jin the highest,
jand on earth kpeace lamong those with whom he is pleased!”4
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 Became Poor
For your sake he became poor.
The Lord Jesus Christ was eternally rich, glorious, and exalted; but “though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor.” As the wealthy believer cannot be true in his fellowship with his poor brethren unless from his wealth he ministers to their needs, so (the same rule holding with the head as between the members) it is impossible that our Divine Lord could have had fellowship with us unless He had given to us from His own abounding wealth and had become poor so as to make us rich.
If He had remained upon His throne of glory, and we had continued in the ruins of the Fall without receiving His salvation, fellowship would have been impossible on both sides. Our position by the Fall, apart from the covenant of grace, made it as impossible for fallen man to communicate with God as it is for Satan to be in communion with Christ. In order, therefore, that communion might be enjoyed, it was necessary for the rich relative to bestow his estate upon his poor relatives, for the righteous Savior to give to His sinning brethren from His own perfection, and for we, the poor and guilty, to receive of His fullness grace for grace, so that in giving and receiving, the One might descend from the heights, and the other ascend from the depths, and in this way be able to embrace each other in true and hearty fellowship.
Poverty must be enriched by Him in whom are infinite treasures before it can begin to commune; and guilt must lose itself in imputed and imparted righteousness before the soul can walk in fellowship with purity. Jesus must clothe His people in His own garments or He cannot admit them into His palace of glory; and He must wash them in His own blood or else they will be too defiled for the embrace of His fellowship.
Believer, herein is love! For your sake the Lord Jesus “became poor” that He might lift you up into communion with Himself.
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 December 24
Hezekiah Reigns in Judah
1jHezekiah began to reign when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abijah1 the daughter of kZechariah. 2And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done.
Hezekiah Cleanses the Temple
3In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he lopened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them. 4He brought in the priests and the Levites and assembled them in the square on the east 5and said to them, “Hear me, Levites! Now mconsecrate yourselves, and consecrate the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and carry out the filth2 from the Holy Place. 6For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done what was evil in the sight of the Lord our God. They have forsaken him and nhave turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord and turned their backs. 7They also oshut the doors of the vestibule and put out the lamps and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the Holy Place to the God of Israel. 8Therefore pthe wrath of the Lord came on Judah and Jerusalem, and he has made them qan object of horror, of astonishment, rand of hissing, as you see with your own eyes. 9For behold, sour fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. 10Now tit is in my heart uto make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, in order that his fierce anger may turn away from us. 11My sons, do not now be negligent, vfor the Lord has chosen you to stand in his presence, to minister to him and to be his ministers and make offerings to him.”
12Then the Levites arose, wMahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of xthe Kohathites; and of the sons of xMerari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; and of the xGershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah; 13and of the sons of yElizaphan, Shimri and Jeuel; and of the sons of zAsaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah; 14and of the sons of aHeman, Jehuel and Shimei; and of the sons of bJeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel. 15They gathered their brothers and cconsecrated themselves and went in as the king had commanded, dby the words of the Lord, eto cleanse the house of the Lord. 16The priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and they brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the Lord into the court of the house of the Lord. And the Levites took it and carried it out to fthe brook Kidron. 17They began to consecrate gon the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the vestibule of the Lord. Then for eight days they consecrated the house of the Lord, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished. 18Then they went in to Hezekiah the king and said, “We have cleansed all the house of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the table for the showbread and all its utensils. 19All the utensils hthat King Ahaz discarded in his reign when he was faithless, we have made ready and consecrated, and behold, they are before the altar of the Lord.”
Hezekiah Restores Temple Worship
20Then Hezekiah the king rose early and gathered the officials of the city and went up to the house of the Lord. 21And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats ifor a sin offering for the kingdom and for the sanctuary and for Judah. And he commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the Lord. 22So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests received the blood jand threw it against the altar. And they slaughtered the rams, and their blood was thrown against the altar. And they slaughtered the lambs, and their blood was thrown against the altar. 23Then the goats for the sin offering were brought to the king and the assembly, kand they laid their hands on them, 24and the priests slaughtered them and made a sin offering with their blood on the altar, lto make atonement for all Israel. For the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.
25mAnd he stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, harps, and lyres, naccording to the commandment of David and of Gad othe king's seer and of pNathan the prophet, for the commandment was from the Lord through his prophets. 26The Levites stood with qthe instruments of David, rand the priests with the trumpets. 27Then Hezekiah commanded that the burnt offering be offered on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, sthe song to the Lord began also, and the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of David king of Israel. 28The whole assembly worshiped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded. All this continued until the burnt offering was finished. 29When the offering was finished, tthe king and all who were present with him bowed themselves and worshiped. 30And Hezekiah the king and the officials commanded the Levites to sing praises to the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed down and worshiped.
31Then Hezekiah said, u“You have now consecrated yourselves to3 the Lord. Come near; bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of the Lord.” And the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all who were vof a willing heart brought burnt offerings. 32The number of the burnt offerings that the assembly brought was 70 bulls, 100 rams, and 200 lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the Lord. 33And the consecrated offerings were 600 bulls and 3,000 sheep. 34But the priests were too few and could not flay all the burnt offerings, so until other priests had consecrated themselves, wtheir brothers the Levites helped them, until the work was finished—xfor the Levites were more upright in heart than the priests in consecrating themselves. 35Besides the great number of burnt offerings, there was ythe fat of the peace offerings, and there were zthe drink offerings for the burnt offerings. Thus the service of the house of the Lord was restored. 36And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced because God had provided for the people, for the thing came about suddenly.
The Seven Angels with Seven Plagues
1Then rI saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, sseven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished.
2And I saw twhat appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those uwho had conquered the beast and its image and vthe number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass wwith harps of God in their hands. 3And they sing xthe song of Moses, ythe servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,
z“Great and amazing are your deeds,
O Lord God the Almighty!
aJust and true are your ways,
O King of the nations!1
4bWho will not fear, O Lord,
and glorify your name?
For you alone are choly.
dAll nations will come
and worship you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.”
5After this I looked, and ethe sanctuary of fthe tent2 of witness in heaven was opened, 6and out of the sanctuary came gthe seven angels with the seven plagues, clothed in pure, bright ilinen, jwith golden sashes around their chests. 7And one of kthe four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven lgolden bowls full of the wrath of God mwho lives forever and ever, 8and nthe sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and ono one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.
The Flock Doomed to Slaughter
1Open your doors, kO Lebanon,
that the fire may devour your cedars!
2Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen,
for the glorious trees are ruined!
Wail, koaks of Bashan,
for the thick forest has been felled!
3The sound of lthe wail of lthe shepherds,
for their glory is ruined!
The sound of the roar of mthe lions,
nfor the thicket of the Jordan is ruined!
4Thus said the Lord my God: o“Become shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter. 5pThose who buy them slaughter them and go unpunished, and those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, qI have become rich,’ and their own shepherds have no pity on them. 6For rI will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of this land, declares the Lord. Behold, I will cause each of them to fall into the hand of his neighbor, and each into the hand of his king, and they shall crush the land, and I will deliver none from their hand.”
7sSo I became the shepherd of the flock doomed to be slaughtered by the sheep traders. And I took two staffs, one I named uFavor, the other I named vUnion. sAnd I tended the sheep. 8In one month wI destroyed the three shepherds. But I became impatient with them, and they also detested me. 9So I said, “I will not be your shepherd. xWhat is to die, let it die. What is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed. And let those who are left devour the flesh of one another.” 10And I took ymy staff Favor, and I broke it, annulling the covenant that I had made with all the peoples. 11So it was annulled on that day, and the sheep traders, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the Lord. 12Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages zthirty pieces of silver. 13Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—athe lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the zthirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter. 14Then I broke bmy second staff Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
15Then the Lord said to me, “Take once more the equipment of ca foolish shepherd. 16For behold, I am raising up in the land a shepherd dwho does not care for those being destroyed, or seek the young or heal the maimed or nourish the healthy, but edevours the flesh of the fat ones, tearing off even their hoofs.
17f“Woe to my worthless shepherd,
gwho deserts the flock!
May the sword strike his arm
and hhis right eye!
Let his arm be wholly withered,
his right eye utterly blinded!”
I Am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life
1d“Let not your hearts be troubled. eBelieve in God;1 believe also in me. 2In fmy Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that gI go to prepare a place for you?2 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you hto myself, that iwhere I am you may be also. 4And you know the way to where I am going.”3 5jThomas said to him, “Lord, kwe do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6Jesus said to him, “I am lthe way, and mthe truth, and nthe life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7oIf you had known me, you would have pknown my Father also.4 From now on you do know him and qhave seen him.”
8rPhilip said to him, “Lord, sshow us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? tWhoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10Do you not believe that uI am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you vI do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11Believe me that uI am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else wbelieve on account of the works themselves.
12“Truly, truly, I say to you, xwhoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I yam going to the Father. 13zWhatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that athe Father may be glorified in the Son. 14zIf you ask me5 anything in my name, I will do it.
Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit
15b“If you love me, you will ckeep my commandments. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another dHelper,6 to be with you forever, 17even ethe Spirit of truth, fwhom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and gwill be7 in you.
18“I will not leave you as orphans; hI will come to you. 19iYet a little while and the world will see me no more, but jyou will see me. kBecause I live, you also will live. 20lIn that day you will know that mI am in my Father, and nyou in me, and oI in you. 21pWhoever has my commandments and qkeeps them, he it is who loves me. And rhe who loves me swill be loved by my Father, and I will love him and tmanifest myself to him.” 22uJudas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it vthat you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23Jesus answered him, w“If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and xwe will come to him and ymake our home with him. 24Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And zthe word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me.
25“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26But the aHelper, the Holy Spirit, bwhom the Father will send in my name, che will teach you all things and dbring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27ePeace I leave with you; fmy peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. gLet not your hearts be troubled, neither hlet them be afraid. 28iYou heard me say to you, j‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I kam going to the Father, for lthe Father is greater than I. 29And mnow I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. 30I will no longer talk much with you, for nthe ruler of this world is coming. oHe has no claim on me, 31but I do pas the Father has commanded me, qso that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.
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