
When you receive a letter from a friend, you probably don’t immediately look for what it says about you. That’s not the best way to read the Bible either. Join us as we begin a study titled Letters from the Risen Christ on Truth For Life with Alistair Begg.
From the Sermon
Living Community
Revelation 3:1–6, Revelation 3:14–22 Sermon • Includes Transcript • 57:49 • ID: 2308
Perfect Sympathy
Many of us are discouraged by the regularity with which we face temptation. We might be embarrassed at the overwhelming allure of the temptation in our lives. It can feel all-consuming. In those moments, it is important to remember that the experience of being tempted in itself is not sin—for Christ, who was sinless, endured it. But because He didn’t yield to temptations, as we often do, He serves as our ultimate example as we strive for righteousness.
When Christ took human nature upon Himself, He became subject to its limitations and trials. Therefore, although Jesus is the divine Son of God and our Great High Priest, not a mere mortal, we can derive encouragement from knowing that He is perfectly able to sympathize with our own struggles.
Christ’s sympathy for the trials you and I face depends not upon the experience of sin but upon the experience of the temptation to sin, which only the one who is truly sinless can know to its fullest extent. Jesus does not demonstrate sympathy from a distance; He intimately knows the pain and challenge of enduring temptation. He walked our earthly paths.
So, when you are most aware of the temptations that face you and most aware of your weaknesses, here is where you can go. Do not lean into earthly wisdom of the “great high priests” of the 21st century, who would tell you that temptations are desires to be indulged, that guilt is an affliction to be rejected, and that shame is always unhelpful and unnecessary. Turn instead to the Great High Priest, who tells you that temptations are to be resisted and who provides the power to enable you to do that (1 Corinthians 10:13), and who also assures you that your guilt and shame when you give in has been borne in His body and removed at the cross.
One thing that is truly beautiful about a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ is that you can feel confident in going before the one who died in order that you might hold firmly to the faith you profess. You can regularly, humbly, assuredly come into the presence of Almighty God Himself, who welcomes you through Christ, your perfect sympathizer. And eventually, in eternity, there will be nothing left about which you need Christ to plead on your behalf. You will simply be able to stand before God in worship, praising Him for inviting you into His perfect presence. Until then, ask the one who knows what it is to face and resist temptation to be with you as you battle your own temptations and as you strive to obey Him today.
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 Founder of Salvation
5For it was not to angels that God subjected the world lto come, of which we are speaking. 6It has been testified somewhere,
m“What is man, that you are mindful of him,
or the son of man, that you care for him?
7You made him for a little while lower than the angels;
you have crowned him with glory and honor,1
8putting everything in subjection under his feet.”
Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, nwe do not yet see everything in subjection to him. 9But we see him owho for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, pcrowned with glory and honor qbecause of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might rtaste death sfor everyone.
10For it twas fitting that he, ufor whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons vto glory, should make the wfounder of their salvation xperfect through suffering. 11For yhe who sanctifies and zthose who are sanctified aall have one source.2 That is why he is not ashamed to call them bbrothers,3 12saying,
c“I will tell of your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the dcongregation I will sing your praise.”
13And again,
e“I will put my trust in him.”
And again,
f“Behold, I and the children gGod has given me.”
14Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise hpartook of the same things, that ithrough death he might jdestroy kthe one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15and deliver all those who lthrough fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he mhelps the offspring of Abraham. 17Therefore he had nto be made like his brothers in every respect, oso that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest pin the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18For because he himself has suffered qwhen tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

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.

With Jesus at Our Side
Come, my beloved, let us go out into the fields … Let us … See whether the vines have budded.
The bride was about to engage in hard work and desired her beloved's company in it. She does not say, "I will go," but "let us go." In like fashion, it is a blessing to work when Jesus is at our side! It is the business of God's people to be trimmers of God's vines. Like our first parents, we are put into the garden of the Lord for usefulness; let us then go out into the fields.
When God's people are thinking properly, they desire to enjoy communion with Christ. Some may imagine that they cannot serve Christ actively and still have fellowship with Him; they are mistaken. There is no doubt that we may easily neglect our inward life in outward exercises and be forced to say, "They made me keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard have I not kept!"1 There is no reason why this should be the case except for our own foolishness and neglect. It is certain that a professing Christian may do nothing and end up just as lifeless in spiritual things as those who are most busy.
Mary was not praised for sitting still, but for her sitting at Jesus' feet. Even so, Christians are not to be praised for neglecting duties under the pretense of having secret fellowship with Jesus: It is not sitting, but sitting at Jesus' feet that is commendable. Do not think that activity is in itself an evil: It is a great blessing and a means of grace to us. Paul called it a grace given to him to be allowed to preach; and every form of Christian service may become a personal blessing to those engaged in it. Those who have most fellowship with Christ are not recluses or hermits, who have time on their hands, but tireless workers who are toiling for Jesus and who, in their endeavor, have Him side by side with them, so that they are workers together with God.
Let us remember then, in anything we have to do for Jesus, we can do it and should do it in close communion with Him.
1) Song of Solomon 1:6

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 May 9
Numbers 17
Aaron's Staff Buds
11 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2h“Speak to the people of Israel, and get from them staffs, one for each fathers' house, from all their chiefs according to their fathers' houses, twelve staffs. Write each man's name on his staff, 3and write Aaron's name on the staff of Levi. For there shall be one staff for the head of each fathers' house. 4Then you shall deposit them in the tent of meeting before the testimony, iwhere I meet with you. 5And the staff of the man jwhom I choose shall sprout. Thus I will make to cease from me kthe grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against you.” 6Moses spoke to the people of Israel. And all their chiefs gave him staffs, one for each chief, according to their fathers' houses, twelve staffs. And the staff of Aaron was among their staffs. 7And Moses deposited the staffs before the Lord in lthe tent of the testimony.
8On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony, and behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds. 9Then Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the people of Israel. And they looked, and each man took his staff. 10And the Lord said to Moses, “Put back mthe staff of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept nas a sign for the rebels, othat you may make an end of their grumblings against me, lest they die.” 11Thus did Moses; as the Lord commanded him, so he did.
12And the people of Israel said to Moses, “Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone. 13pEveryone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the Lord, shall die. Are we all to perish?”
Numbers 18
Duties of Priests and Levites
1So the Lord said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father's house with you shall qbear iniquity connected with the sanctuary, rand you and your sons with you shall bear iniquity connected with your priesthood. 2And with you bring your brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may sjoin you and tminister to you while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. 3They shall keep guard over you and uover the whole tent, vbut shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary or to the altar wlest they, and you, die. 4They shall join you and keep guard over the tent of meeting for all the service of the tent, xand no outsider shall come near you. 5And you shall ykeep guard over the sanctuary and over the altar, zthat there may never again be wrath on the people of Israel. 6aAnd behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the people of Israel. bThey are a gift to you, given to the Lord, to do the service of the tent of meeting. 7And cyou and your sons with you shall guard your priesthood for all that concerns the altar and dthat is within the veil; and you shall serve. I give your priesthood as a gift,1 and eany outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”
8Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, “Behold, fI have given you charge of the contributions made to me, all the consecrated things of the people of Israel. I have given them to you gas a portion and to your sons as a perpetual due. 9This shall be yours of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every offering of theirs, every grain offering of theirs and every hsin offering of theirs and every iguilt offering of theirs, which they render to me, shall be most holy to you and to your sons. 10In a most holy place shall you eat it. Every male may eat it; it is holy to you. 11This also is yours: the contribution of their gift, all the jwave offerings of the people of Israel. I have given them to kyou, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due. lEveryone who is clean in your house may eat it. 12mAll the best of the oil and all the best of the wine and of the grain, nthe firstfruits of what they give to the Lord, I give to you. 13The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, owhich they bring to the Lord, shall be yours. lEveryone who is clean in your house may eat it. 14pEvery devoted thing in Israel shall be yours. 15qEverything that opens the womb of all flesh, whether man or beast, which they offer to the Lord, shall be yours. Nevertheless, rthe firstborn of man you shall redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. 16And their redemption price s(at a month old you shall redeem them) you shall fix at five shekels2 in silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, twhich is twenty gerahs. 17uBut the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar and shall burn their fat as a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 18But their flesh shall be yours, as vthe breast that is waved and as the right thigh are yours. 19wAll the holy contributions that the people of Israel present to the Lord I give to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due. xIt is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord for you and for your offspring with you.” 20And the Lord said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. yI am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel.
21z“To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service that they do, their service in the tent of meeting, 22aso that the people of Israel do not come near the tent of meeting, blest they bear sin and die. 23But cthe Levites shall do the service of the tent of meeting, dand they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, and among the people of Israel they shall have no inheritance. 24For the tithe of the people of Israel, which ethey present as a contribution to the Lord, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance. Therefore I have said of them that they shall have no inheritance famong the people of Israel.”
25And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 26“Moreover, you shall speak and say to the Levites, ‘When you take from the people of Israel the tithe that I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present a contribution from it to the Lord, ga tithe of the tithe. 27hAnd your contribution shall be counted to you as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the winepress. 28So you shall also present a contribution to the Lord from all your tithes, which you receive from the people of Israel. And from it you shall give the Lord's contribution to Aaron the priest. 29Out of all the gifts to you, you shall present every contribution due to the Lord; from each its best part is to be dedicated.’ 30Therefore you shall say to them, ‘When you have offered from it the best of it, ithen the rest shall be counted to the Levites as produce of the threshing floor, and as produce of the winepress. 31And you may eat it in any place, you and your households, for it is jyour reward in return for your service in the tent of meeting. 32And you shall kbear no sin by reason of it, when you have contributed the best of it. But you shall not lprofane the holy things of the people of Israel, lest you die.’”
Cast Your Burden on the Lord
To the choirmaster: with fstringed instruments. A Maskil1 of David.
1gGive ear to my prayer, O God,
and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!
2Attend to me, and answer me;
I am restless hin my complaint and I imoan,
3because of the noise of the enemy,
because of the oppression of the wicked.
For they jdrop trouble upon me,
and in anger they bear a grudge against me.
4My heart is in anguish within me;
kthe terrors of death have fallen upon me.
5Fear and trembling come upon me,
6And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest;
7nyes, I would wander far away;
I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah
8I would hurry to find a shelter
from othe raging wind and tempest.”
9Destroy, O Lord, pdivide their tongues;
for I see qviolence and strife in the city.
10Day and night they go around it
on its walls,
and riniquity and trouble are within it;
11ruin is in its midst;
soppression and fraud
do not depart from its marketplace.
12For it is not an enemy who taunts me—
then I could bear it;
it is not an adversary who tdeals insolently with me—
then I could hide from him.
13uBut it is you, a man, my equal,
my companion, my familiar friend.
14We used to take sweet counsel together;
within God's house we walked in vthe throng.
15Let death steal over them;
let them go down to Sheol walive;
for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.
16But I call to God,
and the Lord will save me.
17xEvening and ymorning and at znoon
I autter my complaint and moan,
and he hears my voice.
18He redeems my soul in safety
from the battle that I wage,
for bmany are arrayed against me.
19God will give ear and humble them,
he who is centhroned from of old, Selah
because they do not dchange
and do not fear God.
20My companion2 estretched out his hand against his friends;
he violated his covenant.
21His fspeech was gsmooth as butter,
yet war was in his heart;
his words were softer than oil,
yet they were hdrawn swords.
22iCast your burden on the Lord,
and he will sustain you;
jhe will never permit
the righteous to be moved.
23But you, O God, kwill cast them down
into lthe pit of destruction;
men of mblood and treachery
shall not nlive out half their days.
But I will otrust in you.
Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz
1In the days of mAhaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, nRezin the king of Syria and nPekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. 2When the house of David was told, o“Syria is in league with1 pEphraim,” the heart of Ahaz2 and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.
3And the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and qShear-jashub3 your son, at the end of rthe conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer's Field. 4And say to him, s‘Be careful, tbe quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two usmoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and vthe son of Remaliah. 5Because Syria, with Ephraim and vthe son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying, 6“Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it4 for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” 7thus says the Lord God:
w“‘It shall not stand,
and it shall not come to pass.
8For the head of Syria is xDamascus,
and the head of Damascus is Rezin.
And within sixty-five years
Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.
9And the head of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the head of Samaria is ythe son of Remaliah.
zIf you5 are not firm in faith,
you will not be firm at all.’”
The Sign of Immanuel
10Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: 11“Ask aa sign of the Lord your6 God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” 12But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” 13And he7 said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you bweary my God also? 14Therefore the cLord himself will give you a sign. dBehold, the evirgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name fImmanuel.8 15He shall eat gcurds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16hFor before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be ideserted. 17jThe Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house such days as have not come since the day that kEphraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!”
18In that day the Lord will lwhistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 19And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and min the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.9
20In that day nthe Lord will oshave with a razor that is phired beyond qthe River10—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.
21rIn that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep, 22and because of the abundance of milk that they give, he will eat curds, for everyone who is left in the land will eat scurds and honey.
23In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels11 of silver, will become tbriers and thorns. 24uWith bow and arrows a man will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns. 25vAnd as for all the hills that used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear tof briers and thorns, but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.
Greeting
1aJames, a servant1 of God and bof the Lord Jesus Christ,
To cthe twelve tribes in dthe Dispersion:
Greetings.
Testing of Your Faith
2eCount it all joy, my brothers,2 when you meet trials fof various kinds, 3for you know that gthe testing of your faith hproduces steadfastness. 4And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be iperfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5jIf any of you lacks wisdom, klet him ask God, lwho gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6But mlet him ask in faith, nwith no doubting, for the one who doubts is like oa wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8phe is a double-minded man, qunstable in all his ways.
9Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10and rthe rich in his humiliation, because slike a flower of the grass3 he will pass away. 11For the sun rises with its scorching heat and twithers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
12uBlessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive vthe crown of life, wwhich God has promised to those who love him. 13Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15Then desire xwhen it has conceived gives birth to sin, and ysin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
16Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17zEvery good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from athe Father of lights, bwith whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.4 18cOf his own will he dbrought us forth by the word of truth, ethat we should be a kind of ffirstfruits of his creatures.
Hearing and Doing the Word
19gKnow this, my beloved brothers: let every person hbe quick to hear, islow to speak, jslow to anger; 20for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21Therefore kput away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with lmeekness the implanted word, mwhich is able to save your souls.
22But be ndoers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25But the one who looks into the perfect law, othe law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, phe will be blessed in his doing.
26If anyone thinks he is religious qand does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's rreligion is worthless. 27Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: sto visit torphans and widows in their affliction, and uto keep oneself vunstained from the world.
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