Truth For Life Program
Alistair Begg Devotional
C. H. Spurgeon Devotional
One-Year Bible Reading Plan
Sitting in a pew and singing worship songs doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a flower bed would make you a rose. So how can you be sure that you have genuine, saving faith? Explore the answer along with Alistair Begg on Truth For Life.
From the Sermon
The People of God
Every kingdom has citizens, and the kingdom of God is no different. Who, then, are citizens in God’s kingdom? Who are God’s people?
The people of God comprise all who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. These people are not a part of God’s kingdom because of their intellect, power, or any other external factor, but simply and only because God has chosen to love them and so has given them the gift of faith in His Son. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for assuming that they were members of God’s family because of their lineage: “If you were Abraham’s children,” He said, “you would be doing the works Abraham did” (John 8:39). And what did Abraham do? He trusted in the promises of God; he “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” (Galatians 3:6).
We are full members of God’s family, then, not because of something we do but by the work of God’s Spirit in convicting our hearts, causing us to believe, and leading us to repentance. We don’t need to undergo the ritual requirements of Jewish law or be physical descendants of Abraham to be included among God’s people. In Romans 2:29, Paul essentially asks, Who are the children of Abraham? The answer is: anyone who undergoes “circumcision … of the heart, by the Spirit.”
As we consider these truths, we may wonder whether Paul thought there was any benefit in being a Jew. Paul explained that there was actually a phenomenal advantage, because the Jews were the first to receive God’s promises, giving them a unique opportunity to understand the signs that pointed forward to fulfillment in Christ (Romans 3:1-2). But that understanding itself does not make anyone a citizen of God’s kingdom. That is open to, and reserved for, those who become subjects of its King. Whether we are Jews or Gentiles—whatever our background, wherever we were born, and however we were raised—God offers salvation to all who come to faith in Christ. Our citizenship in God’s kingdom is not tied to ethnicity or externals but to humble, childlike faith in the Messiah.
The world is full of people struggling to find where they fit or striving to maintain their position in a company, society, friendship circle, or even their own family. God does not ask you to struggle or to strive but simply to enjoy. If you belong to God’s people by faith in Jesus, then you have been rescued by His name, you have been freed from shame, and you are part of His people. It is here that you fit, here that you find your home.
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?
One in Christ
11Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called kthe circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12remember lthat you were at that time separated from Christ, malienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to nthe covenants of promise, ohaving no hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were pfar off have been brought near qby the blood of Christ. 14For rhe himself is our peace, swho has made us both one and has broken down tin his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in uordinances, that he might create in himself one vnew man in place of the two, so making peace, 16and might wreconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17And he came and xpreached peace to you who were yfar off and peace to those who were znear. 18For athrough him we both have baccess in cone Spirit to the Father. 19So then you are no longer dstrangers and aliens,4 but you are efellow citizens with the saints and fmembers of the household of God, 20gbuilt on the foundation of the hapostles and prophets, iChrist Jesus himself being jthe cornerstone, 21kin whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into la holy temple in the Lord. 22In him myou also are being built together ninto a dwelling place for God by5 the Spirit.
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.
Rough Seas
They are troubled like the sea that cannot be quiet.
We are unaware of what sorrow may be upon the sea at this moment. We are safe in our quiet room, but far away out to sea the hurricane may be cruelly seeking the lives of men. Imagine the bitter winds howling through the rigging, the timbers heaving as the waves beat like battering rams upon the boat! God help you, poor drenched and wearied ones! I am praying to the great Lord of sea and land, that He will make the storm calm and bring you to your desired haven! I ought not simply to pray; I should try to help those brave men who risk their lives so constantly. Have I ever done anything for them? What can I do? How often does the boisterous sea swallow up the sailor!
Thousands have died where pearls lie deep. There is sorrow on the sea, which is echoed in the sad lament of widows and orphans. The salt of the sea is in the eyes of many mothers and wives. Relentless billows, you have devoured the love of women and the strength of households. What a resurrection there will be from the caverns of the deep when the sea gives up her dead!
Until then there will be sorrow on the sea. As if in sympathy with the woes of earth, the sea is always fretting along a thousand shores, wailing with a sorrowful cry, booming with a hollow crash of unrest, raving with uproarious discontent, chafing with hoarse rage, or jangling with the voices of ten thousand murmuring pebbles. The roar of the sea may be glorious to a rejoicing spirit, but to the son of sorrow, the wide, wide ocean is even more forlorn than the wide, wide world. This is not our comfort, and the restless billows tell us so. There is a land where there is no more sea—our faces are firmly set toward it; we are going to the place of which the Lord has spoken. Until then we cast our sorrows on the Lord who walked upon the sea of old and who makes a way for His people through the depths.
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 September 7
David Hears of Saul's Death
1After the death of Saul, when David had returned afrom striking down the Amalekites, David remained two days in Ziklag. 2And on the third day, behold, ba man came from Saul's camp, cwith his clothes torn and dirt on his head. And when he came to David, dhe fell to the ground and paid homage. 3David said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.” 4And David said to him, e“How did it go? Tell me.” And he answered, “The people fled from the battle, and also many of the people have fallen and are dead, and Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead.” 5Then David said to the young man who told him, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?” 6And the young man who told him said, f“By chance I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and there was Saul leaning on his spear, and behold, the chariots and the horsemen were close upon him. 7And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called to me. And I answered, ‘Here I am.’ 8And he said to me, ‘Who are you?’ I answered him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’ 9And he said to me, g‘Stand beside me and kill me, for anguish has seized me, and yet my life still lingers.’ 10So I stood beside him and killed him, because I was sure that he could not live after he had fallen. hAnd I took the crown that was on his head and the armlet that was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.”
11Then David took hold of his clothes and itore them, and so did all the men who were with him. 12And they mourned and wept jand fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. 13And David said to the young man who told him, “Where do you come from?” And he answered, “I am the son of a sojourner, an Amalekite.” 14David said to him, “How is it you were not kafraid to put out your hand to destroy lthe Lord's anointed?” 15Then mDavid called one of the young men and said, “Go, execute him.” And he struck him down so that he died. 16And David said to him, n“Your blood be on your head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed othe Lord's anointed.’”
David's Lament for Saul and Jonathan
17And David plamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan his son, 18and he said it1 should be taught to the people of Judah; behold, it is written in qthe Book of Jashar.2 He said:
19“Your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places!
rHow the mighty have fallen!
20sTell it not in Gath,
tpublish it not in the streets of Ashkelon,
ulest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice,
lest the daughters of vthe uncircumcised exult.
21w“You mountains of Gilboa,
let there be no dew or rain upon you,
nor fields of offerings!3
For there the shield of the mighty was defiled,
the shield of Saul, not xanointed with oil.
22“From the blood of the slain,
from the fat of the mighty,
ythe bow of Jonathan turned not back,
and the sword of Saul returned not empty.
23“Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely!
In life and in death they were not divided;
they were zswifter than eagles;
they were astronger than lions.
24“You daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,
who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet,
bwho put ornaments of gold on your apparel.
25c“How the mighty have fallen
in the midst of the battle!
“Jonathan lies slain on your high places.
26I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan;
very pleasant have you been to me;
dyour love to me was extraordinary,
surpassing the love of women.
27c“How the mighty have fallen,
and the weapons of war perished!”
Spiritual Gifts
1Now mconcerning1 spiritual gifts,2 brothers,3 I do not want you to be uninformed. 2You know that nwhen you were pagans oyou were led astray to pmute idols, however you were led. 3Therefore I want you to understand that qno one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is raccursed!” and sno one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.
4Now tthere are varieties of gifts, but uthe same Spirit; 5and vthere are varieties of service, but uthe same Lord; 6and there are varieties of activities, but it is uthe same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7wTo each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of xwisdom, and to another the utterance of yknowledge according to the same Spirit, 9to another zfaith by the same Spirit, to another agifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10to another bthe working of miracles, to another cprophecy, to another dthe ability to distinguish between spirits, to another evarious kinds of tongues, to another fthe interpretation of tongues. 11All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, gwho apportions to each one individually has he wills.
One Body with Many Members
12For just as ithe body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, jso it is with Christ. 13For kin one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—lJews or Greeks, slaves4 or free—and mall were made to drink of one Spirit.
14For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18But as it is, nGod arranged the members in the body, each one of them, oas he chose. 19If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many parts,5 yet one body.
21The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, pall rejoice together.
27Now qyou are the body of Christ and individually rmembers of it. 28And sGod has appointed in the church first tapostles, second uprophets, third teachers, then vmiracles, then wgifts of healing, xhelping, yadministrating, and vvarious kinds of tongues. 29Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31But zearnestly desire the higher gifts.
And I will show you a still more excellent way.
The Glory of the Lord Leaves the Temple
1Then I looked, and behold, xon the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim there appeared above them something ylike a sapphire,1 in appearance like a throne. 2And he said to zthe man clothed in linen, “Go in among athe whirling wheels underneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with bburning coals from between the cherubim, and cscatter them over the city.”
And he went in dbefore my eyes. 3Now the cherubim were standing eon the south side of the house, when the man went in, and fa cloud filled gthe inner court. 4And hthe glory of the Lord iwent up from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the house fwas filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with jthe brightness of the glory of the Lord. 5And kthe sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, klike the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.
6And when he commanded lthe man clothed in linen, m“Take fire from between nthe whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,” he went in and stood beside a wheel. 7And a cherub stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took some of it and put it into the hands of the man clothed in linen, who took it and went out. 8The cherubim appeared to have othe form of a human hand under their wings.
9pAnd I looked, and behold, there were four wheels beside the cherubim, one beside each cherub, and qthe appearance of the wheels was rlike sparkling sberyl. 10And as for their appearance, the four had the same likeness, as if a wheel were within a wheel. 11tWhen they went, they went in any of their four directions2 uwithout turning as they went, vbut in whatever direction the front wheel3 faced, the others followed without turning as they went. 12wAnd their whole body, their rims, and their spokes, their wings,4 and the wheels were full of eyes all around—the wheels that the four of them had. 13As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing n“the whirling wheels.” 14xAnd every one had four faces: ythe first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was za human face, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.
15aAnd the cherubim mounted up. These were bthe living creatures that I saw by cthe Chebar canal. 16dAnd when the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them. And dwhen the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels did not turn from beside them. 17eWhen they stood still, these stood still, and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them, for the spirit of the living creatures5 was in them.
18fThen gthe glory of the Lord went out from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. 19hAnd the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth ibefore my eyes as they went out, with the wheels beside them. And they stood at the entrance of the jeast gate of the house of the Lord, and kthe glory of the God of Israel was over them.
20lThese were the living creatures that I saw munderneath the God of Israel by nthe Chebar canal; and I knew that they were cherubim. 21oEach had four faces, and each four wings, and underneath their wings pthe likeness of human hands. 22qAnd as for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the Chebar canal. rEach one of them went straight forward.
Why Should I Fear in Times of Trouble?
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of fthe Sons of Korah.
1gHear this, all peoples!
Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
2hboth low and high,
rich and poor together!
3My mouth shall speak iwisdom;
the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
4I will incline my ear to ja proverb;
I will solve my kriddle to the music of the lyre.
5lWhy should I fear in mtimes of trouble,
when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
6those who ntrust in their wealth
and boast of the abundance of their riches?
7Truly no man ocan ransom another,
or pgive to God qthe price of his life,
8for rthe ransom of their life is costly
and can never suffice,
9that he should live on forever
and snever see the pit.
10For he sees tthat even the wise die;
uthe fool and the stupid alike must perish
and vleave their wealth to others.
11Their wgraves are their homes forever,1
their dwelling places xto all generations,
though they ycalled lands by their own names.
12Man in his pomp zwill not remain;
ahe is like the beasts that perish.
13This is the path of those who have bfoolish confidence;
yet after them people approve of their boasts.2 Selah
14Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
death shall be their shepherd,
and the upright cshall rule over them in the morning.
dTheir form shall be consumed ein Sheol, with no place to dwell.
15But God will fransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will greceive me. Selah
16Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,
when the glory of his house increases.
17hFor when he dies he will icarry nothing away;
his glory will not go down after him.
18For though, while he lives, he counts himself jblessed
—and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—
19his soul will kgo to the generation of his fathers,
who will never again lsee light.
20mMan in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.
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