Truth For Life Program
Alistair Begg Devotional
C. H. Spurgeon Devotional
One-Year Bible Reading Plan
Satan is every believer’s enemy—and he is sneaky, deceptive, and ruthless! So how do we recognize his schemes? And how are we supposed to respond? Find out when you join us for a closer look at our enemy, the devil. That’s on Truth For Life with Alistair Begg.
From the Sermon
A Word to Fathers
In Roman society, a father’s power was all-prevailing. As William Barclay wrote, “A Roman father had absolute power over his family … He could bind or beat his son; he could sell him into slavery; and he even had the right to execute him … If ever a people knew what parental discipline was, the Romans did.”[1]
Notice, then, that here Paul is not simply calling for the exercise of parental authority. Rather, he is both assuming its rightfulness and tempering it. His instruction is first negative: “Do not provoke your children to anger.” He urges fathers to exercise restraint in disciplining their children, lest they do more harm than good by exasperating them or causing them to become discouraged, resentful, or angry.
How might we provoke our children to anger? Through selfishness, severity, inconsistency, unreasonableness, favoritism, nagging, fault-finding, failure to appreciate progress… Yet such a daunting list shouldn’t discourage us; instead, it should remind us that this responsibility is entirely beyond us apart from God’s grace.
And yet Paul’s instruction is not only negative but also positive. The verb “bring them up” can also mean “nourish.” There is something horticultural about it—a reminder not only that we are to rear our children tenderly but also that doing so is no momentary task; rather, it’s a journey over many years. At the same time, this nourishment involves “discipline”—namely, the discipline of Scripture, by which the father himself is conformed to the image of Christ—and “instruction,” which involves gently bringing God’s word to bear upon our children’s minds so that their character is actually transformed.
If you are a parent, how can you accomplish such a task? It takes grace. It also takes patience. In stock-market terms, parenthood is not day trading; it’s long-term investing. It’s amazing how a monstrous four-year-old who is constantly treated with godly love and discipline can become a thoughtful and loving young adult by her late teens. So if you are not a parent, pray for those who are. They need it! And if you are a parent, consider your own approach. How are you establishing parental authority in the home? In what ways are you most in danger of provoking your children as you do so? How will you instruct your children in God’s word, and how can you see your own character being formed into Christlikeness through the experience of parenthood? In all this, remember that parenting is an act of grace. We are to discharge our responsibilities faithfully. But you will be crushed if you do not remember that grace is sufficient to overcome any and every mistake—a truth to build you up and keep you on your knees!
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 Greatest Commandment
1“Now this is zthe commandment—the statutes and the rules1—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, 2that ayou may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and bthat your days may be long. 3Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, cas the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
4“Hear, O Israel: dThe Lord our God, the Lord is one.2 5You eshall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6And fthese words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7gYou shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8hYou shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9iYou shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
10“And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities jthat you did not build, 11and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, 12kthen take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 13It is lthe Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and mby his name you shall swear. 14You shall not ngo after other gods, othe gods of the peoples who are around you— 15for pthe Lord your God in your midst qis a jealous God—rlest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.
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.
An Internal Disagreement
And God separated the light from the darkness.
A believer has two principles at work within him. In his natural estate he was subject to one principle only, which was darkness; now light has entered, and the two principles disagree. Consider the apostle Paul's words in the seventh chapter of Romans: "I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members."1 How is this state of things occasioned? "God separated the light from the darkness." Darkness, by itself, is quiet and undisturbed, but when the Lord sends in light, there is a conflict, for the one is in opposition to the other, a conflict that will never end until the believer is altogether light in the Lord.
If there is a division inside the individual Christian, there is certain to be a division outside. As soon as the Lord gives light to any man, he proceeds to separate himself from the darkness around; he withdraws from a merely worldly religion of outward ceremony, for nothing short of the Gospel of Christ will now satisfy him, and he removes himself from worldly society and frivolous amusements and seeks the company of the saints, for "We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers."2
The light gathers to itself, and the darkness to itself. What God has separated, let us never try to unite; but as Christ went outside the camp, bearing His reproach, let us come out from the ungodly and be a special people. He was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners; and as He was, so we are to be nonconformists to the world, dissenting from all sin, and distinguished from the rest of mankind by our likeness to our Master.
1) Romans 7:21-23
2) 1 John 3:14
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 July 9
Conquests in Northern Canaan
1When Jabin, king of Hazor, heard of this, he zsent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph, 2and to the kings who were in the northern hill country, and in the aArabah south of bChinneroth, and in the lowland, and cin Naphoth-dor on the dwest, 3to the Canaanites in the east and the west, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the eJebusites in the hill country, and the fHivites under gHermon in the land of hMizpah. 4And they came out with all their troops, a great horde, in number ilike the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots. 5And all these kings joined their forces and came and encamped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.
6And the Lord said to Joshua, j“Do not be afraid of them, for tomorrow at this time I will give over all of them, slain, to Israel. You shall khamstring their horses and burn their lchariots with fire.” 7So Joshua and all his warriors came msuddenly against them by the waters of Merom and fell upon them. 8And the Lord gave them into the hand of Israel, who struck them and chased them as far as nGreat Sidon and oMisrephoth-maim, and eastward as far as the Valley of pMizpeh. And they struck them until he left none remaining. 9And Joshua did to them qjust as the Lord said to him: he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.
10And Joshua turned back at that time and captured rHazor and struck its king with the sword, for Hazor formerly was the head of all those kingdoms. 11And they struck with the sword all who were in it, devoting them to destruction;1 sthere was none left that breathed. And he burned Hazor with fire. 12And all the cities of those kings, and all their kings, Joshua captured, and struck them with the edge of the sword, devoting them to destruction, tjust as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded. 13But none of the cities that stood on mounds did Israel burn, except Hazor alone; that Joshua burned. 14And all the spoil of these cities and the livestock, the people of Israel took for their plunder. But every person they struck with the edge of the sword until they had destroyed them, and they did not leave any who breathed. 15uJust as the Lord had commanded Moses his servant, vso Moses commanded Joshua, wand so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses.
16So Joshua took all that land, xthe hill country and all the Negeb and yall the land of Goshen zand the lowland zand the Arabah aand the hill country of Israel and its lowland 17bfrom Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, as far as cBaal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon below dMount Hermon. And he captured eall their kings and struck them and put them to death. 18Joshua made war fa long time with all those kings. 19There was not a city that made peace with the people of Israel except gthe Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. They took them all in battle. 20For it was the Lord's doing hto harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, in order that they should be devoted to destruction and should receive no mercy but be destroyed, ijust as the Lord commanded Moses.
21And Joshua came at that time and cut off jthe Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua devoted them to destruction with their cities. 22There was none of the Anakim left in the land of the people of Israel. Only in Gaza, kin Gath, and in Ashdod did some remain. 23So Joshua took the whole land, laccording to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses. mAnd Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel naccording to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war.
My Rock and My Fortress
Of David.
1Blessed be the Lord, my grock,
hwho trains my hands for war,
and my fingers for battle;
2he is my isteadfast love and my jfortress,
my kstronghold and my deliverer,
my lshield and he in whom I take refuge,
who msubdues peoples1 under me.
3O Lord, nwhat is man that you oregard him,
or the son of man that you think of him?
4pMan is like a breath;
his days are like qa passing rshadow.
5sBow your heavens, O Lord, and come down!
tTouch the mountains so that they smoke!
6uFlash forth the lightning and scatter them;
usend out your arrows and rout them!
7vStretch out your hand from on high;
wrescue me and deliver me from the many waters,
from the hand xof foreigners,
8whose mouths speak ylies
and whose right hand is za right hand of falsehood.
9I will sing aa new song to you, O God;
upon aa ten-stringed harp I will play to you,
10who gives victory to kings,
who brescues David his servant from the cruel sword.
11Rescue me and deliver me
from the hand xof foreigners,
whose mouths speak ylies
and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
12May our sons in their youth
be like cplants full grown,
our daughters like dcorner pillars
cut for the structure of a palace;
13emay our granaries be full,
fproviding all kinds of produce;
may our sheep bring forth thousands
and ten thousands in our fields;
14may our cattle be heavy with young,
suffering no mishap or failure in bearing;2
may there be no gcry of distress in our streets!
15hBlessed are the people to whom such blessings fall!
iBlessed are the people whose God is the Lord!
Jerusalem Refused to Repent
1yRun to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,
look and take note!
Search her squares to see
zif you can find a man,
one who does justice
and seeks truth,
athat I may pardon her.
2bThough they say, “As the Lord lives,”
cyet they swear falsely.
3O Lord, do not your eyes look for truth?
dYou have struck them down,
but they felt no anguish;
you have consumed them,
but they refused to take correction.
eThey have made their faces harder than rock;
they have refused to repent.
4Then I said, “These are only the poor;
they have no sense;
ffor they do not know the way of the Lord,
the justice of their God.
5I will go to the great
and will speak to them,
for they know the way of the Lord,
the justice of their God.”
gBut they all alike had broken the yoke;
they had burst the bonds.
6Therefore ha lion from the forest shall strike them down;
a iwolf from the desert shall devastate them.
jA leopard is watching their cities;
everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces,
because their transgressions are many,
their kapostasies are great.
7l“How can I pardon you?
Your children have forsaken me
mand have sworn by those who are no gods.
nWhen I fed them to the full,
othey committed adultery
pand trooped to the houses of whores.
8They were well-fed, lusty stallions,
qeach neighing rfor his neighbor's wife.
9sShall I not punish them for these things?
declares the Lord;
and shall I not avenge myself
on a nation such as this?
10t“Go up through her vine rows and destroy,
ubut make not a full end;
strip away her branches,
for they are not the Lord's.
11vFor the house of Israel and the house of Judah
have been utterly treacherous to me,
declares the Lord.
12They have spoken falsely of the Lord
and have said, ‘He will do nothing;
wno disaster will come upon us,
xnor shall we see sword or famine.
13The prophets will become wind;
the word is not in them.
Thus shall it be done to them!’”
The Lord Proclaims Judgment
14Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts:
“Because you have spoken this word,
behold, yI am making my words in your mouth za fire,
and this people wood, and the fire shall consume them.
15aBehold, I am bringing against you
a nation from afar, O house of Israel,
declares the Lord.
It is an enduring nation;
it is an ancient nation,
a nation whose language you do not know,
bnor can you understand what they say.
16cTheir quiver is like dan open tomb;
they are all mighty warriors.
17eThey shall eat up your harvest and your food;
they shall eat up your sons and your daughters;
they shall eat up your flocks and your herds;
they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees;
your ffortified cities in which you trust
they shall beat down with the sword.”
18“But even in those days, declares the Lord, uI will not make a full end of you. 19And when your people say, g‘Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ you shall say to them, ‘As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, hso you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.’”
20Declare this in the house of Jacob;
proclaim it in Judah:
21“Hear this, iO foolish and senseless people,
jwho have eyes, but see not,
who have ears, but hear not.
22kDo you not fear me? declares the Lord.
Do you not tremble before me?
I placed the sand las the boundary for the sea,
a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass;
though the waves toss, they cannot prevail;
though mthey roar, they cannot pass over it.
23nBut this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart;
they have turned aside and gone away.
24They do not say in their hearts,
‘Let us fear the Lord our God,
owho gives the rain in its season,
the autumn rain and the spring rain,
and keeps for us
pthe weeks appointed for the harvest.’
25qYour iniquities have turned these away,
and your sins have kept good from you.
26For wicked men are found among my people;
rthey lurk like fowlers lying in wait.1
sThey set a trap;
they catch men.
27Like a cage full of birds,
their houses are full of deceit;
therefore they have become great and rich;
28tthey have grown fat and sleek.
They know no bounds in deeds of evil;
uthey judge not with justice
the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper,
and they do not defend the rights of the needy.
29vShall I not punish them for these things?
declares the Lord,
and shall I not avenge myself
on a nation such as this?”
30An appalling and whorrible thing
has happened in the land:
31xthe prophets prophesy falsely,
and the priests rule at their direction;
ymy people love to have it so,
but what will you do when the end comes?
Teaching About Divorce
1Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from nGalilee and oentered pthe region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2And qlarge crowds followed him, and he healed them there.
3And Pharisees came up to him and rtested him by asking, s“Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?” 4He answered, t“Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5and said, u‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and vthe two shall become one flesh’? 6So they are no longer two but one flesh. wWhat therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” 7They said to him, x“Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” 8He said to them, “Because of your yhardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9zAnd I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”1
10The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” 11But he said to them, a“Not everyone can receive this saying, but only bthose to cwhom it is given. 12For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs dfor the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”
Let the Children Come to Me
13eThen children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples frebuked the people, 14but Jesus said, g“Let the little children hcome to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” 15And he laid his hands on them and went away.
The Rich Young Man
16iAnd behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to jhave keternal life?” 17And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. lIf you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, m“You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19Honor your father and mother, and, nYou shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20The young man said to him, o“All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” 21Jesus said to him, “If you would be pperfect, go, qsell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have rtreasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22sWhen the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
23And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, tonly with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24uAgain I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter vthe kingdom of God.” 25When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26But Jesus wlooked at them and said, x“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 27Then Peter said in reply, “See, ywe have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” 28Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world,2 zwhen the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me awill also sit on twelve thrones, bjudging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29cAnd everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold3 and will dinherit eternal life. 30But emany who are ffirst will be last, and the last first.
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