Truth For Life Program
Alistair Begg Devotional
C. H. Spurgeon Devotional
One-Year Bible Reading Plan
We may connect the first time we meet someone, but becoming best friends takes time. Similarly, we can’t open the Bible just once and expect to know it well. We need to continually return to God and His Word. Hear more on Truth For Life with Alistair Begg.
From the Sermon
An Exposition of Psalm 19 — Part Two
Psalm 19:7–14 Sermon • Includes Transcript • 44:22 • ID: 3240
Promised Provision
What do we bring to Jesus? Only our need.
The post-resurrection fishing scene in John 21 echoes an earlier fishing scene for the disciples on the Sea of Galilee, recorded in Luke 5. In both stories, despite their professional fishing experience, the disciples toiled and toiled but caught nothing. In both instances, Jesus appeared and had them bring in a tremendous load of fish. The first encounter was to teach them to be fishers of men; the second was to remind them to continue in their work of adding to God’s kingdom. Both miracles illustrated the point that the disciples could only succeed through God’s power. Jesus was as much in control of the Sea of Galilee when the disciples caught nothing as He was when they caught everything. He was just as sovereign over their emptiness as He was over their fullness. Christ desires that we see our poverty in order that we might bow in wonder at His provision. When you and I are all too aware of our own emptiness, we can trust that God is in control of that too. He invites us to seek that every void in life be filled with His goodness and strength.
When Jesus called out to the disciples to ask if they had caught any fish, He forced them to face their needy condition and answer honestly. Christ has questions for us in our emptiness today, too. He’s not looking for excuses, dialogues, or debates. He wants our honest recognition of our need. The disciples’ condition mirrors our own: we cannot even do what we are good at without the Lord’s help. We can neither speak nor listen, sing nor write, work nor play without God’s enabling grace. As Jesus had said earlier in the Gospel of John, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
Jesus did not leave the disciples in their poverty, nor did He provide just enough for them to get by; He abundantly supplied a large haul. Such provision reflects how, by promising eternal life to all who believe in Him, Jesus continues to give immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine. When Christ intervenes in our lives by His Spirit, He doesn’t merely run a trickle of water through them to tease us; He promises that out of our hearts will flow rivers of living water (John 7:38). Just as Jesus went on to invite the disciples onto shore to eat breakfast with Him (21:9-10), so He invites you to His table to fill your hunger. And as He invites you to join Him, He also comes to you on the way, offering more than enough strength for the journey.
Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6). Bring your need to Him today. Be honest about your own lack. And then trust Him to give you far more than you need in order to walk towards your heavenly home, serving His glorious purposes as you do.
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?
Jesus Appears to Seven Disciples
1After this Jesus brevealed himself cagain to the disciples by dthe Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. 2Simon Peter, eThomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of fCana in Galilee, gthe sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. 3Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but hthat night they caught nothing.
4Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples idid not know that it was Jesus. 5jJesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” 6kHe said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. 7That disciple lwhom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, mhe put on his outer garment, for he was nstripped for work, and othrew himself into the sea. 8The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards1 off.
9When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. 10Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. 12Jesus said to them, p“Come and qhave breakfast.” Now rnone of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13Jesus came and stook the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. 14tThis was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the 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.
The Deep Cost of Sin
… So that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
Christian, why would you play with sin? Has it not cost you enough already? Burnt child, will you play with the fire? What! When you have already been between the jaws of the lion, will you step a second time into his den? Have you not had enough of the old serpent? Did he not poison all your veins once, and will you play at the cobra's den and put your hand in the dragon's lair a second time?
Do not be so mad, so foolish! Did sin ever yield you real pleasure? Did you find solid satisfaction in it? If so, go back to your old drudgery, and wear the chain again, if it delights you. But inasmuch as sin never gave you what it promised to bestow but deluded you with lies, do not be snared by the old fowler: Be free, and let the memory of your enslavement prevent you from entering the net again!
It is contrary to the designs of eternal love, which are all focused on your purity and holiness; therefore do not run counter to the purposes of your Lord.
Another thought should restrain you from sin. Christians can never sin cheaply; they pay a heavy price for iniquity. Transgression destroys peace of mind, obscures fellowship with Jesus, hinders prayer, brings darkness over the soul; therefore do not be the serf and slave of sin.
There is still a higher argument: Each time you serve sin you are "crucifying once again the Son of God . . . and holding him up to contempt."1 Can you bear that thought? If you have fallen into any special sin during this day, it may be that my Master has sent this admonition this evening to bring you back before you have wandered very far. Turn to Jesus afresh. He has not forgotten His love for you; His grace is still the same. With weeping and repentance, come to His footstool, and you shall be reunited in His love; you will be set upon a rock again, and your goings shall be established.
1) Hebrews 6:6
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 30
The Defeat of King Og
1“Then we turned and went up the way to Bashan. And eOg the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at fEdrei. 2But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not fear him, for I have given him and all his people and his land into your hand. And you shall do to him as you did to gSihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.’ 3So the Lord our God gave into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people, hand we struck him down until he had no survivor left. 4And we took all his cities at that time—there was not a city that we did not take from them—sixty cities, ithe whole region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 5All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides very many unwalled villages. 6And jwe devoted them to destruction,1 as we did to Sihon the king of Heshbon, devoting to destruction every kcity, men, women, and children. 7But all the livestock and the spoil of the cities we took as our plunder. 8So we took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the Valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon 9(the Sidonians call lHermon mSirion, while the Amorites call it nSenir), 10all the cities of the otableland and all Gilead and all Bashan, as far as pSalecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 11(For qonly Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of rthe Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron. Is it not in sRabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits2 was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the tcommon cubit.3)
12“When we took possession of this land at that time, I gave to the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory beginning uat Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead with vits cities. 13wThe rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, that is, xall the region of Argob, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (All that portion of Bashan is called the land of rRephaim. 14yJair the Manassite took all the region of Argob, that is, Bashan, as far as the border of zthe Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called the villages aafter his own name, Havvoth-jair, as it is to this day.) 15To Machir bI gave Gilead, 16and to the Reubenites cand the Gadites I gave the territory from Gilead as far as the Valley of the Arnon, with the middle of the valley as a border, as far over as the river Jabbok, dthe border of the Ammonites; 17the Arabah also, with the Jordan as the border, from eChinnereth as far as fthe Sea of the Arabah, gthe Salt Sea, under hthe slopes of Pisgah on the east.
18“And I commanded you at that time, saying, ‘The Lord your God has given you this land to possess. iAll your men of valor shall cross over armed before your brothers, the people of Israel. 19Only your wives, your little ones, and your livestock j(I know that you have much livestock) shall remain in the cities that I have given you, 20kuntil the Lord gives rest to your brothers, as to you, and they also occupy the land that the Lord your God gives them beyond the Jordan. Then each of you may return to his possession which I have given you.’ 21And I commanded lJoshua at that time, ‘Your eyes have seen all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings. So will the Lord do to all the kingdoms into which you are crossing. 22You shall not fear them, for it is mthe Lord your God who fights for you.’
Moses Forbidden to Enter the Land
23“And I pleaded with the Lord at that time, saying, 24‘O Lord God, you have only begun to show your servant nyour greatness and your mighty hand. For owhat god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours? 25Please let me go over and see pthe good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and qLebanon.’ 26But rthe Lord was angry with me because of you and would not listen to me. And the Lord said to me, s‘Enough from you; do not speak to me of this matter again. 27tGo up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and look at it with your eyes, for you shall not go over this Jordan. 28But ucharge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he shall go over at the head of this people, and he shall put them in possession of the land that you shall see.’ 29So we remained in vthe valley opposite Beth-peor.
Revive Us Again
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of nthe Sons of Korah.
1Lord, you were ofavorable to your land;
you prestored the fortunes of Jacob.
2You qforgave the iniquity of your people;
you qcovered all their sin. Selah
3You withdrew all your wrath;
you rturned from your hot anger.
4sRestore us again, O God of our salvation,
and put away your indignation toward us!
5tWill you be angry with us forever?
Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
6Will you not urevive us again,
that your people may vrejoice in you?
7Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,
and grant us your salvation.
8wLet me hear what God the Lord will speak,
for he will xspeak peace to his people, to his ysaints;
but let them not zturn back to afolly.
9Surely his bsalvation is near to those who fear him,
that cglory may dwell in our land.
10dSteadfast love and faithfulness meet;
erighteousness and peace kiss each other.
11Faithfulness springs up from the ground,
and righteousness looks down from the sky.
12Yes, fthe Lord will give what is good,
and our land gwill yield its increase.
13hRighteousness will go before him
and make his footsteps a way.
Woe to Those Who Go Down to Egypt
1Woe1 to vthose who go down to Egypt for help
and rely on horses,
who wtrust in chariots because they are many
and in horsemen because they are very strong,
but xdo not look to the Holy One of Israel
or consult the Lord!
2And yyet he is wise and brings disaster;
zhe does not call back his words,
but awill arise against the house of the evildoers
and against the helpers of bthose who work iniquity.
3The Egyptians are man, and not God,
and their horses care flesh, and not spirit.
When the Lord stretches out his hand,
the helper will stumble, and he who is helped will fall,
and they will all perish together.
4For thus the Lord said to me,
d“As a lion or a young lion growls over his prey,
and when a band of shepherds is called out against him
he is not terrified by their shouting
or daunted at their noise,
eso the Lord of hosts will come down
to fight2 on Mount Zion and on its hill.
5fLike birds hovering, so the Lord of hosts
will protect Jerusalem;
he will protect and deliver it;
he will spare and rescue it.”
6gTurn to him from whom people3 have hdeeply revolted, O children of Israel. 7For in that day ieveryone shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which your hands have sinfully made for you.
8j“And the Assyrian shall fall by a sword, not of man;
and a sword, not of man, shall devour him;
and he shall flee from the sword,
and his young men shall be kput to forced labor.
9lHis rock shall pass away in terror,
and his officers desert the standard in panic,”
declares the Lord, whose mfire is in Zion,
and whose nfurnace is in Jerusalem.
Prologue
1The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God agave him bto show to his servants1 the things that must soon take place. cHe made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2dwho bore witness to the word of God and to ethe testimony of Jesus Christ, even fto all that he saw. 3gBlessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, hfor the time is near.
Greeting to the Seven Churches
4John to the seven churches that are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from ihim jwho is and kwho was and who is to come, and from lthe seven spirits who are before his throne, 5and from Jesus Christ mthe faithful witness, nthe firstborn of the dead, and othe ruler of kings on earth.
To phim who loves us and qhas freed us from our sins by his blood 6and made us ra kingdom, rpriests to shis God and Father, to him be tglory and udominion forever and ever. Amen. 7Behold, vhe is coming with the clouds, and wevery eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail2 on account of him. Even so. Amen.
8x“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, y“who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Vision of the Son of Man
9I, John, your brother and zpartner in athe tribulation and bthe kingdom and cthe patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos don account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10eI was in the Spirit fon the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice glike a trumpet 11saying, h“Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”
12Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw iseven golden lampstands, 13and in the midst of the lampstands jone like ka son of man, lclothed with a long robe and mwith a golden sash around his chest. 14nThe hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. oHis eyes were like a flame of fire, 15phis feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and qhis voice was like the roar of many waters. 16rIn his right hand he held seven stars, sfrom his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and this face was like the sun shining uin full strength.
17vWhen I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But vhe laid his right hand on me, wsaying, “Fear not, xI am the first and the last, 18and the living one. yI died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and zI have the keys of Death and Hades. 19aWrite therefore bthe things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and cthe seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and dthe seven lampstands are the seven churches.
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