Truth For Life Program
Alistair Begg Devotional
C. H. Spurgeon Devotional
One-Year Bible Reading Plan
Some pastors dilute Jesus’ hard teachings in an effort to blend with—and appeal to—the culture. But this approach is more dangerous than the persecution Christ’s teaching may provoke! Find out why when you listen to Truth For Life with Alistair Begg.
From the Sermon
Long-Suffering Community
Revelation 2:8–11, Revelation 3:7–13 Sermon • Includes Transcript • 1:09:51 • ID: 0108
I Want to See
All around the blind man, the Passover was approaching, and the crowd was building. There was a great sense of anticipation. For most in the crowd, there was no time for stopping—certainly not for the ever-present beggars that lay around at the city gates. They were always there, known well to the people on the outskirts of Jericho. Many of the crowd likely would have seen this blind man, Bartimaeus, so often that they didn’t even notice him anymore.
The crowd was so consumed with Jesus that Bartimaeus was probably regarded as a dreadful inconvenience. Their reaction to his cries for mercy—to rebuke him and attempt to silence him—suggests that they thought this marginalized member of society clearly could make no useful contribution to what Jesus was doing. But in seeking to quieten him, they became a barrier to the mission of Jesus—to the very one they claimed to be following and the very cause they claimed to be pursuing.
This particular blind man didn’t have merely a minor interest in Jesus, though, so he continued crying out to Him. Mark’s narrative demonstrates Christ’s perfect compassion with a simple phrase: “Jesus stopped”—two words of grace. Can you imagine the crowd’s reaction when Jesus said to the people who had been rebuking the man, “Call him”? That surely brought a measure of deserved embarrassment!
Perhaps there are people in your life for whom you struggle to pray. Maybe there are some you just want to rebuke or ignore. Maybe you just don’t want to deal with the inconvenience. It can seem like such a nuisance to invite somebody to church, sit with them, eat with them, and be involved in their lives. It is messy, and it demands time and effort. We’d rather such people heard the gospel from someone else. It is so easy to slip into this way of thinking without really noticing; but when we do, we become just like the crowd: a barrier to people meeting their Savior. Jesus says to us, Don’t rebuke them. Call them. This is precisely why I came.
May God forgive us when we, like the crowd, are full of indignation at the interference to our plans and inconvenience to our preferences caused by those who are crying out for His mercy. Christ alone does the work of opening blind eyes, but He has entrusted us with the responsibility and privilege of proclaiming these words: “Take heart … he is calling you.”
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 Request of James and John
35cAnd James and John, dthe sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us ewhatever we ask of you.” 36And he said to them, f“What do you want me to do for you?” 37And they said to him, “Grant us gto sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, hin your glory.” 38Jesus said to them, i“You do not know what you are asking. Are you able jto drink the cup that I drink, or kto be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” 39And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, l“The cup that I drink myou will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, nyou will be baptized, 40but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, obut it is for those for whom it has been pprepared.” 41And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. 42qAnd Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles rlord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43But sit shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,4 44and whoever would be first among you must be tslave5 of all. 45For even the Son of Man came not to be served but uto serve, and vto give his life as a ransom for wmany.”
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.
Never Grow Stingy
You have not bought me sweet cane with money.
Worshipers at the temple were keen to bring presents of sweet perfumes to be burned upon the altar of God. But Israel, in the time of her backsliding, became ungenerous and made fewer offerings to her Lord. This was an evidence of coldness of heart toward God and His house.
Reader, does this never happen with you? Is it not possible that the complaint of this text may occasionally, if not frequently, be brought against you? Those who are poor in pocket, if rich in faith, will be accepted even though their gifts are small; but, poor reader, do you give in fair proportion to the Lord, or is the widow's mite kept back from the sacred treasury? The rich believer should be thankful for the wealth entrusted to him but should not forget his large responsibility, for where much is given, much will be required.
But, rich reader, are you mindful of your obligations, and is your giving to the Lord proportionate to the benefit you enjoy? Jesus gave His blood for us; what shall we give to Him? We are His, and He has purchased us for Himself—can we act as if we were our own? O for more consecration! O for more love! Blessed Jesus, how good it is of You to accept our sweet cane bought with money! Nothing is too costly as a tribute to Your unrivaled love, and yet You receive with favor the smallest sincere token of affection! You receive our poor forget-me-nots and love-tokens as though they were intrinsically precious, though indeed they are but as the bunch of wild flowers that the child brings to his mother.
Let us never grow stingy toward You, and from this hour may we never hear You complain of us again for withholding the gifts of our love. We will give You the firstfruits of our increase and pay You tithes of all, and then we will confess, "of your own have we given you."1
1) 1 Chronicles 29:14
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 23
Reuben and Gad Settle in Gilead
1Now the people of Reuben and the people of Gad had a very great number of livestock. And they saw the land of vJazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place for livestock. 2So the people of Gad and the people of Reuben came and said to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the chiefs of the congregation, 3w“Ataroth, xDibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, yNebo, and Beon, 4the land zthat the Lord struck down before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” 5And they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not take us across the Jordan.”
6But Moses said to the people of Gad and to the people of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to the war while you sit here? 7Why will you discourage the heart of the people of Israel from going over into the land that the Lord has given them? 8Your fathers did this, awhen I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. 9For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the people of Israel from going into the land that the Lord had given them. 10bAnd the Lord's anger was kindled on that day, and he swore, saying, 11‘Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, cfrom twenty years old and upward, shall see the land that I swore to give dto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed me, 12none except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the eKenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for fthey have wholly followed the Lord.’ 13And the Lord's anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them gwander in the wilderness forty years, until hall the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was gone. 14And behold, you have risen in your fathers' place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel! 15For if you iturn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all this people.”
16Then they came near to him and said, j“We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones, 17but kwe will take up arms, ready to go before the people of Israel, until we have brought them to their place. And our little ones shall live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18lWe will not return to our homes until each of the people of Israel has gained his inheritance. 19For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, mbecause our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan to the east.” 20So nMoses said to them, “If you will do this, if you will take up arms to go before the Lord for the war, 21and every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before the Lord, until he has odriven out his enemies from before him 22and the land is subdued before the Lord; then after that you shall return and be free of obligation to the Lord and to Israel, and pthis land shall be your possession before the Lord. 23But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and qbe sure your sin will find you out. 24rBuild cities for your little ones and folds for your sheep, and do what you have promised.” 25And the people of Gad and the people of Reuben said to Moses, “Your servants will do as my lord commands. 26sOur little ones, our wives, our livestock, and all our cattle shall remain there in the cities of Gilead, 27tbut your servants will pass over, every man who is uarmed for war, before the Lord to battle, as my lord orders.”
28So vMoses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest and to wJoshua the son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the people of Israel. 29And Moses said to them, “If the people of Gad and the people of Reuben, every man who is armed to battle before the Lord, will pass with you over the Jordan and the land shall be subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession. 30However, if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.” 31And the people of Gad and the people of Reuben answered, “What the Lord has said to your servants, we will do. 32We will pass over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us beyond the Jordan.”
33And xMoses gave to them, to the people of Gad and to the people of Reuben and to the half-tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land and its cities with their territories, the cities of the land throughout the country. 34And the people of Gad built yDibon, zAtaroth, aAroer, 35Atroth-shophan, bJazer, Jogbehah, 36cBeth-nimrah and Beth-haran, dfortified cities, and folds for sheep. 37And the people of Reuben built eHeshbon, yElealeh, Kiriathaim, 38fNebo, and gBaal-meon (htheir names were changed), and cSibmah. And they gave other names to the cities that they built. 39And the sons of iMachir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and captured it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it. 40And Moses jgave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he settled in it. 41And kJair the son of Manasseh went and captured their villages, and called them Havvoth-jair.1 42And Nobah went and captured Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah, after his own name.
In the Day of Trouble I Seek the Lord
To the choirmaster: according to yJeduthun. A Psalm of zAsaph.
1I acry aloud to God,
aloud to God, and he will hear me.
2bIn the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
in cthe night my dhand is stretched out without wearying;
my soul erefuses to be comforted.
3When I remember God, I fmoan;
when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah
4You hold my eyelids open;
I am so gtroubled that I cannot speak.
5I consider hthe days of old,
the years long ago.
6I said,1 “Let me remember my isong in the night;
let me jmeditate in my heart.”
Then my spirit made a diligent search:
7“Will the Lord kspurn forever,
and never again lbe favorable?
8Has his steadfast love forever ceased?
Are his mpromises at an end for all time?
9nHas God forgotten to be gracious?
oHas he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah
10Then I said, “I will appeal to this,
to the years of the pright hand of the Most High.”2
11I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
yes, I will qremember your wonders of old.
12I will ponder all your rwork,
and meditate on your smighty deeds.
13Your way, O God, is tholy.
uWhat god is great like our God?
14You are the God who vworks wonders;
you have wmade known your might among the peoples.
15You xwith your arm redeemed your people,
the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
16When ythe waters saw you, O God,
when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
indeed, the deep trembled.
17The clouds poured out water;
the skies zgave forth thunder;
your aarrows flashed on every side.
18bThe crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
cyour lightnings lighted up the world;
the earth dtrembled and shook.
19Your eway was through the sea,
your path through the great waters;
yet your footprints fwere unseen.3
20You gled your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Judgment on the Whole Earth
1Behold, cthe Lord will empty the earth1 and make it desolate,
and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.
2dAnd it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest;
as with the slave, so with his master;
as with the maid, so with her mistress;
eas with the buyer, so with the seller;
as with the lender, so with the borrower;
fas with the creditor, so with the debtor.
3gThe earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered;
hfor the Lord has spoken this word.
4iThe earth mourns and withers;
the world languishes and withers;
the highest people of the earth languish.
5The earth lies jdefiled
under its inhabitants;
for kthey have transgressed the laws,
violated the statutes,
broken the everlasting covenant.
6Therefore la curse devours the earth,
and its inhabitants msuffer for their guilt;
therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched,
and few men are left.
7nThe wine mourns,
the vine languishes,
all the merry-hearted sigh.
8oThe mirth of the tambourines is stilled,
the noise of the jubilant has ceased,
the mirth of the lyre is stilled.
9No more do they drink wine pwith singing;
strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.
10qThe wasted city is broken down;
revery house is shut up so that none can enter.
11sThere is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine;
tall joy has grown dark;
the gladness of the earth is banished.
12Desolation is left in the city;
the gates are battered into ruins.
13For thus it shall be in the midst of the earth
among the nations,
uas when an olive tree is beaten,
as at the gleaning when the grape harvest is done.
14They lift up their voices, they sing for joy;
over the majesty of the Lord they shout from the west.2
15vTherefore in the east3 give glory to the Lord;
in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
16wFrom the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise,
of glory to xthe Righteous One.
But I say, “I waste away,
I waste away. Woe is me!
For ythe traitors have betrayed,
with betrayal the traitors have betrayed.”
17zTerror and the pit and the snare4
are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth!
18zHe who flees at the sound of the terror
shall fall into the pit,
and he who climbs out of the pit
shall be caught in the snare.
For athe windows of heaven are opened,
and bthe foundations of the earth tremble.
19The earth is utterly broken,
the earth is split apart,
the earth is violently shaken.
20The earth cstaggers like a drunken man;
it sways like a hut;
dits transgression lies heavy upon it,
and it falls, and will not rise again.
21On that day the Lord will punish
the host of heaven, in heaven,
and ethe kings of the earth, on the earth.
22fThey will be gathered together
as prisoners in a pit;
they will be shut up in a prison,
and after many days gthey will be punished.
23hThen the moon will be confounded
and the sun ashamed,
for ithe Lord of hosts reigns
on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
and his glory will be before his elders.
Christ Our Advocate
1My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, ywe have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2zHe is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but aalso for the sins of the whole world. 3And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we bkeep his commandments. 4Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments cis a liar, and cthe truth is not in him, 5but whoever dkeeps his word, in him truly ethe love of God is perfected. fBy this we may know that we are in him: 6whoever says he gabides in him hought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
The New Commandment
7Beloved, I am writing you ino new commandment, but jan old commandment kthat you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. 8At the same time, it is la new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because1 mthe darkness is passing away and nthe true light is already shining. 9Whoever says he is in the light and ohates his brother is still in darkness. 10Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him2 there is no pcause for stumbling. 11But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and qwalks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
12I am writing to you, little children,
because ryour sins are forgiven for his name's sake.
13I am writing to you, fathers,
because you know shim who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
because tyou have overcome the evil one.
I write to you, children,
because uyou know the Father.
14I write to you, fathers,
because you know shim who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because tyou are strong,
and the word of God abides in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.
Do Not Love the World
15vDo not love the world or the things in the world. wIf anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For all that is in the world—xthe desires of the flesh and ythe desires of the eyes and pride of life3—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17And zthe world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
Warning Concerning Antichrists
18Children, ait is the last hour, and as you have heard that bantichrist is coming, so now cmany antichrists have come. dTherefore we know that it is the last hour. 19eThey went out from us, but they were not of us; for fif they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, gthat it might become plain that they all are not of us. 20But you have been hanointed by ithe Holy One, and jyou all have knowledge.4 21I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 22Who is the liar but khe who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is bthe antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23lNo one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. 24Let mwhat you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then nyou too will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25And this is the promise that he made to us5—oeternal life.
26I write these things to you about pthose who are trying to deceive you. 27But qthe anointing that you received from him abides in you, and ryou have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and sis true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.
Children of God
28And now, little children, abide in him, so that twhen he appears uwe may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his vcoming. 29If you know that whe is righteous, you may be sure that xeveryone who practices righteousness has been born of him.
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