Truth For Life Program
Alistair Begg Devotional
C. H. Spurgeon Devotional
One-Year Bible Reading Plan
Throughout each day, we make countless little decisions that may seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things. But these little decisions add up over time and can either erode or build up relationships. Hear more on Truth For Life with Alistair Begg.
From the Sermon
Planting Hedges in Marriage — Part Two
Ephesians 5:22–33 Sermon • Includes Transcript • 48:04 • ID: 1892
Brotherly Love
Young siblings are inclined to elbow and nudge each other and to complain about each other. If we are honest, sometimes our idea of “brotherly affection” in the church is marked more by that kind of thinking and conduct than it is by love and gratitude. When we look around at one another, instead of singing that we’re glad we’re part of the family of God,”[1] we can often think deep down, “I’m surprised you’re part of the family of God.”
Paul calls us to a better way.
In this verse, love is described using family words. Philostorgoi, translated here as “love,” comes from the Greek word storge, which refers to the devoted love of parent for child. Philadelphia, translated here as “with brotherly affection,” is the word used for the love between siblings (as in the name of the city of Philadelphia, the “City of Brotherly Love”). Back in Romans 8, Paul has already reminded his readers that they’re together as members of one family by God’s grace (Romans 8:12-17). Now, because they have each been brought into the family on the same basis—namely, in Jesus—they have every reason to be devoted to one another.
This kind of love requires not only genuine affection but also humility. The NIV translates the second sentence in this verse as “Honor one another above yourselves.” This resembles what we see in Philippians 2, where Paul writes, “In humility count others more significant than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3). Scripture calls us to put others first. We are to learn to play second fiddle without complaining or perversely seeking to be commended for doing so. The only competitive element among a church family should be that of seeing who can raise up and do good to others the most.
Thinking of this kind of loving brotherly affection brings us back to Jesus, who loves to call us His brothers and sisters (Hebrews 2:11-15). For Jesus, “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:6-7). It is Jesus who shows what true brotherly affection is; it is Jesus who loves His family perfectly in this way, outdoing all others in showing honor; it is Jesus whom we are called to be like, and whom we are living like each time we choose to love with Christlike brotherly affection. Today, then, love like Him.
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?
Jonathan Warns David
1Then David fled from Naioth min Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?” 2And he said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me. And why should my father hide this from me? It is not so.” 3But David vowed again, saying, “Your father knows well that nI have found favor in your eyes, and he thinks, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly, oas the Lord lives and pas your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.” 4Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.” 5David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is qthe new moon, and I should not fail to sit at table with the king. But let me go, rthat I may hide myself in the field till the third day at evening. 6sIf your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run tto Bethlehem his city, for there is a yearly usacrifice there for all the clan.’ 7If he says, ‘Good!’ it will be well with your servant, but if he is angry, then know that vharm is determined by him. 8Therefore deal kindly with your servant, wfor you have brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with you. xBut if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?” 9And Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I knew that vit was determined by my father that harm should come to you, would I not tell you?” 10Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you roughly?” 11And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field.
12And Jonathan said to David, “The Lord, the God of Israel, be witness!1 When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? 13But should it please my father to do you harm, ythe Lord do so to Jonathan and more also if I do not disclose it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. zMay the Lord be with you, as he has been with my father. 14If I am still alive, show me the steadfast love of the Lord, that I may not die; 15aand do not cut off2 your steadfast love from my house forever, when the Lord cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” 16And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, b“May3 the Lord take vengeance on David's enemies.” 17And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, cfor he loved him as he loved his own soul.
18Then Jonathan said to him, d“Tomorrow is the new moon, and eyou will be missed, because fyour seat will be empty. 19On the third day go down quickly to the place where you hid yourself when the matter was in hand, and remain beside the stone heap.4 20And I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark. 21And behold, I will send the boy, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, take them,’ then you are to come, for, gas the Lord lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. 22But if I say to the youth, h‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go, for the Lord has sent you away. 23iAnd as for the matter of which you and I have spoken, behold, jthe Lord is between you and me forever.”
24So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. 25The king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite,5 and Abner sat by Saul's side, kbut David's place was empty.
26Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him. lHe is not clean; surely he is not clean.” 27But on mthe second day, the day after the new moon, kDavid's place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has not the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” 28Jonathan answered Saul, n“David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem. 29He said, ‘Let me go, for our clan holds a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers.’ For this reason he has not come to the king's table.”
30Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother's nakedness? 31For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.” 32Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, o“Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” 33pBut Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew qthat his father was determined to put David to death. 34And Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had disgraced him.
35In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him a little boy. 36And he said to his boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37And when the boy came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, r“Is not the arrow beyond you?” 38And Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry! Be quick! Do not stay!” So Jonathan's boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master. 39But the boy knew nothing. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 40And Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go and carry them to the city.” 41And as soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap6 and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed one another and wept with one another, David weeping the most. 42Then Jonathan said to David, s“Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying, t‘The Lord shall be between me and you, uand between my offspring and your offspring, forever.’” And he rose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.7
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.
Open Adoption
We wait eagerly for adoption as sons.
Even in this world saints are God's children, but the only way that people will discover this is by certain moral characteristics. The adoption is not displayed; the children are not yet openly declared. Among the Romans a man might adopt a child and keep it private for a long time; but there was a second adoption in public; when the child was brought before the constituted authorities, its old clothes were removed, and the father who took it to be his child gave it clothing suitable to its new status in life. "Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared."1 We are not yet clothed in the apparel of heaven's royal family; we are wearing in this flesh and blood just what we wore as the children of Adam. But we know that "when he appears" who is "the firstborn among many brothers,"2 we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is.
Can't you imagine that a child taken from the lowest ranks of society and adopted by a Roman senator would say to himself, "I long for the day when I shall be publicly adopted. Then I shall discard these poor clothes and be dressed in clothes that depict my senatorial rank"? Glad for what he has already received, he still groans until he gets the fullness of what has been promised to him. So it is with us today. We are waiting until we put on our proper clothes and are declared as the children of God for all to see. We are young nobles and have not yet worn our crowns. We are young brides, and the marriage day has not arrived, but our fiancé's love for us leads us to long and sigh for the bridal morning. Our very happiness makes us long for more; our joy, like a swollen stream, longs to spring up like a fountain, leaping to the skies, heaving and groaning within our spirit for lack of space and room by which to reveal itself to men.
1) 1 John 3:2
2) Romans 8:29
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 23
20“The Lord owill send on you curses, confusion, and pfrustration in all that you undertake to do, quntil you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me. 21The Lord will make rthe pestilence stick to you until he has consumed you off the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 22sThe Lord will strike you with wasting disease and with fever, inflammation and fiery heat, and with drought1 and with tblight and with mildew. They shall pursue you until you perish. 23And uthe heavens over your head shall be bronze, and the earth under you shall be iron. 24The Lord will make the rain of your land powder. From heaven dust shall come down on you until you are destroyed.
25v“The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. And you wshall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 26And xyour dead body shall be food for all birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth, and ythere shall be no one to frighten them away. 27The Lord will strike you zwith the boils of Egypt, and with tumors and ascabs and itch, of which you cannot be healed. 28The Lord will strike you with bmadness and blindness and confusion of mind, 29and you shall cgrope at noonday, as the blind grope in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways.2 And you shall be only oppressed and robbed continually, and there shall be no one to help you. 30dYou shall betroth a wife, but another man shall ravish her. eYou shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it. fYou shall plant a vineyard, but you shall not enjoy its fruit. 31Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you shall not eat any of it. Your donkey shall be seized before your face, but shall not be restored to you. Your sheep shall be given to your enemies, but there shall be no one to help you. 32gYour sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, while your eyes look on and fail with longing for them all day long, hbut you shall be helpless. 33A nation that you have not known shall eat up the fruit of your ground and of all your labors, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually, 34so that you are driven mad iby the sights that your eyes see. 35The Lord will strike you on the knees and on the legs jwith grievous boils of which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head.
36“The Lord will kbring you and your king whom you set over you to a nation that neither you lnor your fathers have known. And mthere you shall serve other gods of wood and stone. 37And you shall become na horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the Lord will lead you away. 38oYou shall carry much seed into the field and shall gather in little, for pthe locust shall consume it. 39qYou shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm shall eat them. 40You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you rshall not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives shall drop off. 41You shall father sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours, for sthey shall go into captivity. 42pThe cricket3 shall possess all your trees and the fruit of your ground. 43tThe sojourner who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. 44uHe shall lend to you, and you shall not lend to him. tHe shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.
45v“All these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you till you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you. 46They shall be wa sign and a wonder against you and your offspring forever. 47xBecause you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, 48therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and lacking everything. And he ywill put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you. 49zThe Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, aswooping down like the eagle, a nation bwhose language you do not understand, 50a hard-faced nation cwho shall not respect the old or show mercy to the young. 51It shall deat the offspring of your cattle and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed; it also shall not leave you grain, wine, or oil, the increase of your herds or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish.
52“They shall ebesiege you in all your towns, until your high and fortified walls, in which you trusted, come down throughout all your land. And they shall besiege you in all your towns throughout all your land, which the Lord your God has given you. 53And fyou shall eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and daughters, whom the Lord your God has given you, gin the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you. 54The man who is the most tender and refined among you will hbegrudge food to his brother, to ithe wife he embraces,4 and to the last of the children whom he has left, 55so that he will not give to any of them any of the flesh of his children whom he is eating, because he has nothing else left, jin the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in all your towns. 56kThe most tender and refined woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because she is so delicate and tender, will begrudge to the husband she embraces,5 to her son and to her daughter, 57her afterbirth that comes out from between her feet and her children whom she bears, because lacking everything she will eat them secretly, jin the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in your towns.
58“If you are not careful to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, lthe Lord your God, 59then the Lord will bring on you and your offspring extraordinary afflictions, afflictions severe and lasting, and sicknesses grievous and lasting. 60And he will bring upon you again all mthe diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. 61Every sickness also and every affliction that is not recorded in the book of this law, the Lord will bring upon you, until you are destroyed. 62Whereas nyou were as numerous oas the stars of heaven, you shall be left few in number, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God. 63And as the Lord ptook delight in doing you good and multiplying you, so the Lord will qtake delight in bringing ruin upon you and destroying you. And you shall be plucked off the land that you are entering to take possession of it.
64“And the Lord rwill scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and sthere you shall serve other gods tof wood and stone, uwhich neither you nor your fathers have known. 65And vamong these nations you shall find no respite, and there shall be no resting place for the sole of your foot, but wthe Lord will give you there a trembling heart and failing eyes and xa languishing soul. 66Your life shall hang in doubt before you. Night and day you shall be in dread and have no assurance of your life. 67yIn the morning you shall say, ‘If only it were evening!’ and at evening you shall say, ‘If only it were morning!’ because of the dread that your heart shall feel, and zthe sights that your eyes shall see. 68And the Lord awill bring you back in ships to Egypt, a journey that I promised that byou should never make again; and there you shall offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer.”
Daleth
25uMy soul clings to the dust;
vgive me life waccording to your word!
26When xI told of my ways, you answered me;
yteach me your statutes!
27zMake me understand the way of your precepts,
and I will ameditate on your wondrous works.
28bMy soul melts away for sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word!
29Put false ways far from me
and graciously cteach me your law!
30I have chosen the way of faithfulness;
I dset your rules before me.
31I cling to your testimonies, O Lord;
elet me not be put to shame!
32I will run in the way of your commandments
He
33gTeach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes;
and I will keep it hto the end.6
34iGive me understanding, that I may keep your law
and observe it with my whole heart.
35jLead me in the path of your commandments,
for I kdelight in it.
36lIncline my heart to your testimonies,
and not to mselfish gain!
37nTurn my eyes from looking at worthless things;
and ogive me life in your ways.
38pConfirm to your servant your promise,
qthat you may be feared.
39Turn away the rreproach that I dread,
for your rules are good.
40Behold, I slong for your precepts;
tin your righteousness give me life!
Waw
41Let your usteadfast love come to me, O Lord,
your salvation vaccording to your promise;
42then wshall I have an answer for him rwho taunts me,
for I trust in your word.
43And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth,
for my xhope is in your rules.
44I will keep your law continually,
forever and ever,
45and I shall walk yin a wide place,
for I have zsought your precepts.
46I will also speak of your testimonies abefore kings
and shall not be put to shame,
47for I bfind my delight in your commandments,
which I love.
48I will clift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love,
and I will dmeditate on your statutes.
The Compassion of the Lord
1d“Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
ecome, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
2fWhy do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
3Incline your ear, and come to me;
ghear, that your soul may live;
hand I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
imy steadfast, sure love for jDavid.
4kBehold, I made him a witness to the peoples,
la leader and commander for the peoples.
5kBehold, you shall call a nation that you do not know,
and ma nation that did not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel,
nfor he has glorified you.
6o“Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;
7let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
9pFor as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10q“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
rgiving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but sit shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
12t“For you shall go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
uthe mountains and the hills before you
shall break forth into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13vInstead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the Lord,
an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
1hIn those days iJohn the Baptist came preaching in jthe wilderness of Judea, 2k“Repent, for lthe kingdom of heaven is at hand.”1 3For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,
m“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
n‘Prepare2 the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.’”
4Now John wore oa garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was plocusts and qwild honey. 5Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 6and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, rconfessing their sins.
7But when he saw many of sthe Pharisees and tSadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, u“You brood of vvipers! Who warned you to flee from wthe wrath to come? 8Bear fruit xin keeping with repentance. 9And do not presume to say to yourselves, y‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from zthese stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. aEvery tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
11b“I baptize you with water cfor repentance, but dhe who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you ewith the Holy Spirit and ffire. 12His gwinnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and hgather his wheat into the barn, ibut the chaff he will burn with junquenchable fire.”
The Baptism of Jesus
13kThen Jesus came lfrom Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14mJohn would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, othe heavens were opened to him,3 and he psaw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17and behold, qa voice from heaven said, r“This is my beloved Son,4 with whom I am well pleased.”
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