Truth For Life Program
Alistair Begg Devotional
C. H. Spurgeon Devotional
One-Year Bible Reading Plan
The fourth of the Ten Commandments calls us to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. But contemporary culture struggles to fit busy schedules into such a framework. Is God’s ancient law still relevant today? Find out on Truth For Life with Alistair Begg.
From the Sermon
Holy Day or Holiday? — Part One
Exodus 20:8–11 Sermon • Includes Transcript • 47:49 • ID: 1692
The Moment of Choice
We cannot be friends with the world and friends with God at the same time (James 4:4). Those who attempt to walk that middle course discover sooner or later how empty and futile it really is: that it makes us, in the words of Kris Kristofferson, “a walking contradiction.”[1]
As the adopted son of Pharaoh’s daughter, Moses enjoyed social status, physical comfort, and material wealth. As an Israelite, outside the precincts of Pharaoh’s establishment there was for him only obscurity, impoverishment, and slavery. Moses knew that remaining in Pharaoh’s courts would make his life far better in every single worldly way. He could have reasoned that it would also enable him to exercise an influence on behalf of God’s people that would never be possible if he went and joined himself to them.
But Moses didn’t stay in Pharaoh’s family. Instead, he renounced the privileges of Egyptian citizenship and identified with a lowly, despised, oppressed group of people who had no political rights. Why? Why would someone give up so much to embrace so little?
The answer is that Moses realized he couldn’t identify himself with God’s people and the Egyptians simultaneously. He realized that he was either a slave with his people or a compromiser in Pharaoh’s court. He couldn’t say that he was an Israelite who believed in the God of his ancestors and also live as an Egyptian.
Moses chose ill treatment and disgrace, we’re told, “for the sake of Christ” (Hebrews 11:26, NIV)—for the sake of the one from Eve’s offspring and Abraham’s family who would fulfill all God’s promises to them (Genesis 3:16; 12:1-3). His calculation was the same as was made over a millennium later by the apostle Paul, who had exactly the “right” kind of background—the education, the sophistication, the heritage—yet said, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8).
Moses made a radical decision—the kind of radical decision that some of us may need to make. Perhaps your background is relatively similar to that of Moses; you grew up with all your material needs being met and with great prospects in the world. Whoever we are and wherever we have come from, though, we all face the moment of choice that Moses did. Will we live as friends of the world or of God? There is no middle way. Today, are you going to live by the world’s standards, laugh at the world’s jokes, employ the world’s methodologies, and adopt the world’s priorities? Or are you going to take your stand with Jesus Christ, go absolutely against the flow, nail your colors to the mast, and confess by word and by deed that He is Lord? Perhaps today is the day when for the first time, or for the first time in a long time, you need to live “by faith” and make that radical decision.
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 Rich Ruler
18uAnd a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to vinherit eternal life?” 19And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 20You know the commandments: w‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” 21And he said, x“All these I have kept from my youth.” 22When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. ySell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have ztreasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 23aBut when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. 24Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, b“How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter cthe kingdom of God! 25For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter cthe kingdom of God.” 26Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” 27But he said, d“What is impossible with man is possible with God.” 28And Peter said, “See, ewe have left our homes and followed you.” 29And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, fthere is no one who has left house or wife or brothers2 or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30who will not receive gmany times more hin this time, and in ithe age to come eternal life.”
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.
A Key to the City
And they restored Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall.
Well-fortified cities have broad walls, and so did Jerusalem in her glory days. The New Jerusalem must, similarly, be surrounded and preserved by a broad wall of nonconformity to the world and separation from its patterns and ideas. There is a tendency today to break down this holy barrier and make the distinction between the Church and the world merely nominal. Believers are no longer fixed on godliness, questionable literature is widely read, frivolous pastimes are eagerly indulged, and a general laxity threatens to deprive the Lord's special people of those sacred distinctives that separate them from sinners. It will be a bad day for the Church and the world when the proposed amalgamation is complete, and the sons of God and the daughters of men shall be united, and another deluge of wrath is ushered in. Beloved reader, make it your aim in heart, in word, in dress, in action to maintain the broad wall, remembering that the friendship of this world is enmity against God.
The Broad Wall provided a pleasant place of relaxation for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, from which they enjoyed sweeping views of the surrounding country. This reminds us of the Lord's exceedingly broad commandments, which provide a pathway to freedom and communion with Jesus. From here we look upon the scenes of earth and gaze toward the glories of heaven. Separated from the world, and denying ourselves all ungodliness and fleshly lusts, we are not in prison nor restricted within narrow boundaries; no, we walk in freedom, because we keep His commands.
Come, reader; this evening walk with God in His statutes. As friend met friend upon the city wall, so meet your God on the path of holy prayer and meditation. You have every right to stand upon the walls of salvation, for you have been given the key to the King's city—you are a citizen of the metropolis of the universe.
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 August 20
Samuel's Farewell Address
1And Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have obeyed nyour voice in all that you have said to me oand have made a king over you. 2And now, behold, the king pwalks before you, qand I am old and gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. 3Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and before rhis anointed. sWhose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me1 and I will restore it to you.” 4They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man's hand.” 5And he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and rhis anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything tin my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”
6And Samuel said to the people, u“The Lord is witness,2 who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 7Now therefore stand still that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous deeds of the Lord that he performed for you and for your fathers. 8vWhen Jacob went into Egypt, and the Egyptians oppressed them,3 wthen your fathers cried out to the Lord and xthe Lord sent Moses and Aaron, ywho brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. 9But zthey forgot the Lord their God. aAnd he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor,4 band into the hand of the Philistines, cand into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them. 10dAnd they cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord eand have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now fdeliver us out of the hand of our enemies, that we may serve you.’ 11And the Lord sent gJerubbaal hand Barak5 iand Jephthah and jSamuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety. 12And when you saw that kNahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, lyou said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ mwhen the Lord your God was your king. 13And now nbehold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, othe Lord has set a king over you. 14If you will pfear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well. 15But qif you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then rthe hand of the Lord will be against you and syour king.6 16Now therefore tstand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes. 17uIs it not wheat harvest today? vI will call upon the Lord, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that wyour wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking for yourselves a king.” 18So Samuel called upon the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day, xand all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.
19And all the people said to Samuel, y“Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.” 20And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet zdo not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. 21And zdo not turn aside after aempty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. 22bFor the Lord will not forsake his people, cfor his great name's sake, because dit has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. 23Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing eto pray for you, fand I will instruct you in the good and the right way. 24gOnly fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider hwhat great things he has done for you. 25But if you still do wickedly, iyou shall be swept away, jboth you and your king.”
1Brothers,1 my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. 2For I bear them witness that bthey have a zeal for God, cbut not according to knowledge. 3For, being ignorant of dthe righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. 4For eChrist is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.2
The Message of Salvation to All
5For fMoses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that gthe person who does the commandments shall live by them. 6But hthe righteousness based on faith says, i“Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7“or ‘Who will descend into the jabyss?’” (that is, kto bring Christ up from the dead). 8But what does it say? l“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9because, if myou confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and nbelieve in your heart othat God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11For the Scripture says, p“Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12qFor there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; rfor the same Lord is Lord of all, sbestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13For t“everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him uof whom they have never heard?3 And how are they to hear vwithout someone preaching? 15And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, w“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16But xthey have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, y“Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17So zfaith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
18But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for
a“Their voice has gone out bto all the earth,
and their words to the ends of the world.”
19But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says,
c“I will dmake you jealous of those who are not a nation;
with a efoolish nation I will make you angry.”
20Then Isaiah is so bold as to say,
f“I have been found by those who did not seek me;
I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.”
21But of Israel he says, g“All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”
Judgment on Ammon
1aConcerning the Ammonites.
Thus says the Lord:
“Has Israel no sons?
Has he no heir?
Why then has bMilcom1 cdispossessed Gad,
and his people settled in its cities?
2Therefore, behold, the days are coming,
declares the Lord,
when I will cause dthe battle cry to be heard
against eRabbah of the Ammonites;
it shall become a desolate fmound,
and its villages shall be burned with fire;
then Israel shall dispossess those who dispossessed him,
says the Lord.
3“Wail, O gHeshbon, for Ai is laid waste!
Cry out, O daughters of eRabbah!
hPut on sackcloth,
lament, and run to and fro among the hedges!
For iMilcom shall go into exile,
jwith his priests and his officials.
4Why do you boast of your valleys,2
kO faithless daughter,
lwho trusted in her treasures, saying,
‘Who will come against me?’
5Behold, mI will bring terror upon you,
declares the Lord God of hosts,
from all who are around you,
and you shall be driven out, every man straight before him,
with none to gather the fugitives.
6“But nafterward I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites, declares the Lord.”
Judgment on Edom
7Concerning oEdom.
Thus says the Lord of hosts:
p“Is wisdom no more in pTeman?
qHas counsel perished from the prudent?
qHas their wisdom vanished?
8rFlee, turn back, dwell in the depths,
O inhabitants of sDedan!
For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him,
tthe time when I punish him.
9uIf grape gatherers came to you,
would they not leave vgleanings?
uIf thieves came by night,
would they not destroy only enough for themselves?
10wBut I have stripped Esau bare;
uI have uncovered his hiding places,
and he is not able to conceal himself.
His children are destroyed, and his brothers,
and his neighbors; and xhe is no more.
11yLeave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive;
yand let your widows trust in me.”
12For thus says the Lord: z“If those who did not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, awill you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you must drink. 13bFor I have sworn by myself, declares the Lord, that cBozrah shall become da horror, a taunt, a waste, and a curse, and all her cities shall be perpetual wastes.”
14eI have heard a message from the Lord,
and an envoy has been sent among the nations:
f“Gather yourselves together and come against her,
and rise up for battle!
15For behold, I will make you small among the nations,
despised among mankind.
16The horror you inspire has deceived you,
and the pride of your heart,
you who live in the clefts of the rock,3
who hold the height of the hill.
Though you gmake your nest as high as the eagle's,
I will bring you down from there,
declares the Lord.
17h“Edom shall become a horror. iEveryone who passes by it will be horrified iand will hiss because of all its disasters. 18jAs when Sodom and Gomorrah and their kneighboring cities were overthrown, says the Lord, lno man shall dwell there, lno man shall sojourn in her. 19mBehold, nlike a lion coming up from othe jungle of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make him4 run away from her. And I will appoint over her whomever I choose. pFor who is like me? qWho will summon me? rWhat shepherd can stand before me? 20Therefore hear the plan that the Lord has made against sEdom and the purposes that he has formed against the inhabitants of tTeman: uEven the little ones of the flock shall be dragged away. Surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate. 21At the sound of their fall vthe earth shall tremble; the sound of their cry shall be heard at the Red Sea. 22Behold, wone shall mount up and fly swiftly like an eagle and spread his wings against xBozrah, and the heart of the warriors of Edom shall be in that day like the heart yof a woman in her birth pains.”
Judgment on Damascus
23Concerning zDamascus:
a“Hamath and bArpad are confounded,
for they have heard bad news;
they melt in fear,
cthey are troubled like the sea that cannot be quiet.
24zDamascus has become feeble, dshe turned to flee,
and panic seized her;
anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her,
as yof a woman in labor.
25How is ethe famous city not forsaken,
the city of my joy?
26fTherefore her young men shall fall in her squares,
and all her soldiers shall be destroyed in that day,
declares the Lord of hosts.
27And gI will kindle a fire in the wall of zDamascus,
and it shall devour the strongholds of hBen-hadad.”
Judgment on Kedar and Hazor
28Concerning iKedar and the kingdoms of Hazor that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck down.
Thus says the Lord:
j“Rise up, advance against iKedar!
Destroy kthe people of the east!
29lTheir tents and their flocks shall be taken,
their lcurtains and all their goods;
their camels shall be led away from them,
and men shall cry to them: m‘Terror on every side!’
30nFlee, wander far away, dwell in the depths,
O inhabitants of Hazor!
declares the Lord.
For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
has made a plan against you
and formed a purpose against you.
31j“Rise up, advance against a nation oat ease,
pthat dwells securely,
declares the Lord,
pthat has no gates or bars,
that dwells alone.
32qTheir camels shall become plunder,
their herds of livestock a spoil.
rI will scatter to every wind
sthose who cut the corners of their hair,
and I will bring their calamity
from every side of them,
declares the Lord.
33Hazor shall become ta haunt of jackals,
an everlasting waste;
uno man shall dwell there;
uno man shall sojourn in her.”
Judgment on Elam
34The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning vElam, in the beginning of the reign of wZedekiah king of Judah.
35Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Behold, I will break xthe bow of vElam, the mainstay of their might. 36And I will bring upon vElam the four winds from the four quarters of heaven. And I will scatter them to all those winds, and there shall be no nation to which those driven out of vElam shall not come. 37I will yterrify vElam before their enemies and before those who seek their life. I will bring disaster upon them, zmy fierce anger, declares the Lord. aI will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them, 38and I will set my throne in vElam and destroy their king and officials, declares the Lord.
39“But in the latter days bI will restore the fortunes of vElam, declares the Lord.”
Psalm 26
I Will Bless the Lord
Of David.
1qVindicate me, O Lord,
for I have rwalked in my integrity,
and I have strusted in the Lord without wavering.
2tProve me, O Lord, and try me;
3For your vsteadfast love is before my eyes,
and I wwalk in your vfaithfulness.
4I do not xsit with men of yfalsehood,
nor do I consort with hypocrites.
5I zhate the assembly of evildoers,
and I will not sit with the wicked.
6I awash my hands in innocence
and go around your altar, O Lord,
7proclaiming thanksgiving aloud,
and telling all your bwondrous deeds.
8O Lord, I clove the habitation of your house
and the place where your glory dwells.
9dDo not sweep my soul away with sinners,
nor my life with bloodthirsty men,
10in whose hands are evil devices,
and whose right hands are full of ebribes.
11But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity;
redeem me, and be gracious to me.
12My foot stands on flevel ground;
in gthe great assembly I will bless the Lord.
Psalm 27
The Lord Is My Light and My Salvation
Of David.
1The Lord is my hlight and my isalvation;
jwhom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold1 of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
2When evildoers assail me
to keat up my flesh,
my adversaries and foes,
it is they who stumble and fall.
3lThough an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
yet2 I will be confident.
4mOne thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may ndwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon othe beauty of the Lord
and to inquire3 in his temple.
5For he will phide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will qlift me high upon a rock.
6And now my rhead shall be lifted up
above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
sacrifices with shouts of sjoy;
tI will sing and make melody to the Lord.
7uHear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;
be gracious to me and answer me!
8You have said, v“Seek4 my face.”
My heart says to you,
“Your face, Lord, do I seek.”5
9wHide not your face from me.
Turn not your servant away in anger,
O you who have been my help.
Cast me not off; forsake me not,
xO God of my salvation!
10For ymy father and my mother have forsaken me,
but the Lord will ztake me in.
11aTeach me your way, O Lord,
and lead me on ba level path
because of my enemies.
12cGive me not up to the will of my adversaries;
for dfalse witnesses have risen against me,
and they ebreathe out violence.
13I believe that I shall look6 upon fthe goodness of the Lord
in gthe land of the living!
14hWait for the Lord;
ibe strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord!
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