Truth For Life Program
Alistair Begg Devotional
C. H. Spurgeon Devotional
One-Year Bible Reading Plan
Scripture assures us that husbands and wives are spiritually equal. So if we’re equal before God, why does He command wives to submit to their husbands’ leadership? Hear the practical and encouraging answer on Truth For Life with Alistair Begg.
From the Sermon
The Reality of Grief
Grief is “a life-shaking sorrow over loss. Grief tears life to shreds; it shakes one from top to bottom. It pulls him loose; he comes apart at the seams. Grief is truly nothing less than a life-shattering loss.”[1] You may know this experience all too well. I remember its first intrusion into my life when I was a teenager and my mother died. Nothing could ever be quite as it had been before.
You do not have to live long as a believer to discover that faith does not insulate us from grief and the fear of it. Paul wrote about the near-death experience of his friend Epaphroditus: “Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow” (Philippians 2:27). The thought of losing Epaphroditus broke Paul’s heart. He understood that death was not the end, but he also recognized that in experiencing loss, or even in the prospect of that, there is true sorrow.
Grief is hard because something has been lost, and certain joys are now irretrievably gone. But we also know that grief is a reality to which Scripture plainly speaks—a reality that will one day be redeemed by a far greater joy. And we know that grief is a reality with which our Savior is personally acquainted. As Jesus stood at the grave of His friend Lazarus, He—the second Person of the Trinity—grieved with those who had gathered there. Though He was about to raise Lazarus from the dead, He still wept because He was sincerely sad. The mystery in this scene is that Jesus so identified with our humanity that He shed genuine tears at the loss of His beloved friend.
Although the Bible introduces us to the reality of Christ’s victory over death and the grave, it doesn’t call us to some kind of glossy, heartless triumphalism. Rather, as Alec Motyer writes, “tears are proper for believers—indeed they should be all the more copious, for Christians are more sensitively aware of every emotion, whether of joy or sorrow, than those who have known nothing of the softening and enlivening grace of God.”[2]
The fact that our loved ones who died in Christ are now with Him lightens but does not remove the anguish of loss and loneliness. We continue to long for the day when such pain will have ceased. Until that day comes, we can find comfort in knowing that Jesus was “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3) as we look to Him as our example, as we see that He is “the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25), and as we look to Him for our eternity. Knowing this is what enables grief and hope to coexist in our hearts.
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?
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.”
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.
Lie Low Before the Throne
To us, O Lord, belongs open shame … Because we have sinned against you.
A deep sense and clear view of sin, its dreadfulness, and the punishment that it deserves should make us lie low before the throne. We have sinned as Christians. It is sad that it should be so. We have been favored, and yet we have been ungrateful; privileged beyond most, but we have not brought forth fruit in proportion. Who is there, although he may have been engaged in the Christian warfare for years, who will not blush when he looks back upon the past? As for our days before we were born again, may they be forgiven and forgotten; but since then, though we have not sinned as before, yet we have sinned against light and against love—light that has really penetrated our minds, and love in which we have rejoiced.
The sin of a pardoned soul is an atrocity! An unpardoned sinner sins cheaply compared with the sin of one of God's elect, who has had communion with Christ and leaned upon Him for his comfort. Look at David! Many will talk of his sin, but I ask you to look at his repentance and hear his broken bones as each one of them moans out its mournful confession! Consider his tears as they fall upon the ground, and the deep sighs with which he accompanies the softened music of his harp!
We have strayed: Let us, therefore, seek the spirit of penitence. Look again at Peter! We often speak of how he denied Christ. Remember, it is written, "He wept bitterly." Do we have no denials of our Lord to be lamented with tears? These sins of ours, before and after conversion, would consign us to the place of inextinguishable fire if it were not for God's sovereign mercy, which snatched us like sticks from the fire.
My soul, bow down under a sense of your natural sinfulness, and worship your God. Admire the grace that saves you—the mercy that spares you—the love that pardons you!
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 June 14
Laws Concerning Cities of Refuge
1“When pthe Lord your God cuts off the nations whose land the Lord your God is giving you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their houses, 2qyou shall set apart three cities for yourselves in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess. 3You shall measure the distances1 and divide into three parts the area of the land that the Lord your God gives you as a possession, so that any manslayer can flee to them.
4“This is the provision for rthe manslayer, who by fleeing there may save his life. If anyone kills his neighbor unintentionally without having hated him in the past— 5as when someone goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down a tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies—he may flee to one of these cities and live, 6lest sthe avenger of blood in hot anger pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him fatally, though the man did not deserve to die, since he had not hated his neighbor in the past. 7Therefore I command you, You shall set apart three cities. 8tAnd if the Lord your God enlarges your territory, uas he has sworn to your fathers, and vgives you all the land that he promised to give to your fathers— 9provided you are careful to keep all this commandment, which I command you today, by loving the Lord your God and by walking ever in his ways—wthen you shall add three other cities to these three, 10lest innocent blood be shed in your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, and so the guilt of bloodshed be upon you.
11“But if anyone hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and attacks him xand strikes him fatally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities, 12then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there, and hand him over to the avenger of blood, so that he may die. 13yYour eye shall not pity him, zbut you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood2 from Israel, so that it may be well with you.
Property Boundaries
14a“You shall not move your neighbor's landmark, which the men of old have set, in the inheritance that you will hold in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.
Laws Concerning Witnesses
15“A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. bOnly on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established. 16If ca malicious witness arises to accuse a person of wrongdoing, 17then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the Lord, dbefore the priests and the judges who are in office in those days. 18The judges shall einquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, 19fthen you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evil3 from your midst. 20And the rest gshall hear and fear, and shall never again commit any such evil among you. 21yYour eye shall not pity. hIt shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
Give Thanks to the Lord, for He Is Good
1iPraise the Lord!
jOh give thanks to the Lord, kfor he is good,
lfor his steadfast love endures forever!
2Who can utter the mighty deeds of the Lord,
or declare all his praise?
3Blessed are they who observe justice,
who mdo righteousness at all times!
4nRemember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people;
help me when you save them,1
5that I may look upon the prosperity of your ochosen ones,
that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation,
that I may glory with your inheritance.
6pBoth we and qour fathers have sinned;
we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.
7Our fathers, when they were in Egypt,
did not consider your wondrous works;
they rdid not remember the abundance of your steadfast love,
but srebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.
8Yet he saved them tfor his name's sake,
uthat he might make known his mighty power.
9He vrebuked the Red Sea, and it wbecame dry,
and he xled them through the deep as through a desert.
10So he ysaved them from the hand of the foe
and zredeemed them from the power of the enemy.
11And athe waters covered their adversaries;
not one of them was left.
12Then bthey believed his words;
they csang his praise.
13But they soon dforgot his works;
they did not wait for ehis counsel.
14But they had fa wanton craving in the wilderness,
and gput God to the test in the desert;
15he hgave them what they asked,
but sent ia wasting disease among them.
16When men in the camp jwere jealous of Moses
and Aaron, kthe holy one of the Lord,
17lthe earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
and covered the company of Abiram.
18mFire also broke out in their company;
the flame burned up the wicked.
19They nmade a calf in Horeb
and worshiped a metal image.
20They oexchanged the glory of God2
for the image of an ox that eats grass.
21They pforgot God, their Savior,
who had done great things in Egypt,
22wondrous works in qthe land of Ham,
and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
23Therefore rhe said he would destroy them—
had not Moses, his schosen one,
tstood in the breach before him,
to turn away his wrath from destroying them.
24Then they udespised vthe pleasant land,
having wno faith in his promise.
25They xmurmured in their tents,
and did not obey the voice of the Lord.
26Therefore he yraised his hand and swore to them
that he would make them fall in the wilderness,
27and would make their offspring fall among the nations,
zscattering them among the lands.
28Then they ayoked themselves to the aBaal of Peor,
and ate sacrifices offered to bthe dead;
29they provoked the Lord to anger with their deeds,
and a plague broke out among them.
30Then cPhinehas stood up and intervened,
and the plague was stayed.
31And that was dcounted to him as righteousness
from generation to generation forever.
32They eangered him at the waters of Meribah,
and it went ill with Moses on their account,
33for they fmade his spirit bitter,3
and he gspoke rashly with his lips.
34They did not hdestroy the peoples,
ias the Lord commanded them,
35but they jmixed with the nations
and learned to do as they did.
36They served their idols,
which became ka snare to them.
37They lsacrificed their sons
and their daughters to mthe demons;
38they poured out innocent blood,
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
and the land was npolluted with blood.
39Thus they obecame unclean by their acts,
and pplayed the whore in their deeds.
40Then qthe anger of the Lord was kindled against rhis people,
and he abhorred his rheritage;
41he sgave them into the hand of the nations,
so that those who hated them ruled over them.
42Their enemies toppressed them,
and they were brought into subjection under their power.
43uMany times he delivered them,
but they were rebellious in their vpurposes
and were wbrought low through their iniquity.
44Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress,
when he xheard their cry.
45For their sake he yremembered his covenant,
and zrelented according to athe abundance of his steadfast love.
46He caused them to be bpitied
by all those who held them captive.
47cSave us, O Lord our God,
and dgather us from among the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
and glory in your praise.
48eBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
eAnd let all the people say, “Amen!”
fPraise the Lord!
The Idols of Babylon and the One True God
1oBel bows down; Nebo stoops;
their idols are on beasts and livestock;
these things you carry are borne
as burdens on weary beasts.
2They stoop; they bow down together;
they cannot save the burden,
but pthemselves go into captivity.
3“Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
all the remnant of the house of Israel,
qwho have been borne by me from before your birth,
carried from the womb;
4reven to your old age I am he,
and to gray hairs I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear;
I will carry and will save.
5s“To whom will you liken me and make me equal,
and compare me, that we may be alike?
6tThose who lavish gold from the purse,
and weigh out silver in the scales,
hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;
uthen they fall down and worship!
7vThey lift it to their shoulders, they carry it,
they set it in its place, and it stands there;
wit cannot move from its place.
If one cries to it, it does not answer
or save him from his trouble.
8“Remember this and stand firm,
recall it to mind, xyou transgressors,
9remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me,
10ydeclaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, z‘My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
11acalling a bird of prey from the east,
the man of my counsel from a far country.
bI have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;
I have purposed, and I will do it.
12“Listen to me, you stubborn of heart,
you who are far from righteousness:
13cI bring near my righteousness; it is not far off,
and my salvation will not delay;
dI will put salvation in Zion,
for Israel my glory.”
The Seven Bowls of God's Wrath
1Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling pthe seven angels, “Go and qpour out on the earth rthe seven bowls of the wrath of God.”
2So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful ssores came upon the people who bore tthe mark of the beast and worshiped its image.
3The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and uit became like the blood of a corpse, and vevery living thing died that was in the sea.
4The third angel poured out his bowl into wthe rivers and the springs of water, and xthey became blood. 5And I heard the angel in charge of the waters1 say,
y“Just are you, zO Holy One, awho is and who was,
for you brought these judgments.
6For bthey have shed the blood of csaints and prophets,
and dyou have given them blood to drink.
It is what they deserve!”
7And I heard ethe altar saying,
“Yes, Lord God the Almighty,
ftrue and just are your judgments!”
8The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people gwith fire. 9They were scorched by the fierce heat, and hthey cursed2 the name of God who had power over these plagues. iThey did not repent jand give him glory.
10The fifth angel poured out his bowl on kthe throne of the beast, and lits kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish 11and cursed mthe God of heaven for their pain and nsores. oThey did not repent of their deeds.
12The sixth angel poured out his bowl on pthe great river Euphrates, and qits water was dried up, rto prepare the way for the kings sfrom the east. 13And I saw, coming out of the mouth of tthe dragon and out of the mouth of uthe beast and out of the mouth of vthe false prophet, three wunclean spirits like xfrogs. 14For they are ydemonic spirits, zperforming signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, ato assemble them for battle on bthe great day of God the Almighty. 15(“Behold, cI am coming like a thief! dBlessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, ethat he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”) 16And fthey assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called gArmageddon.
The Seventh Bowl
17The seventh angel poured out his bowl into hthe air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, i“It is done!” 18And there were jflashes of lightning, rumblings,3 peals of thunder, and ka great earthquake lsuch as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. 19mThe great city nwas split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God oremembered pBabylon the great, qto make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20And revery island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. 21And sgreat hailstones, about one hundred pounds4 each, fell from heaven on people; and tthey cursed God for uthe plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.
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