Truth For Life Program
Alistair Begg Devotional
C. H. Spurgeon Devotional
One-Year Bible Reading Plan
Is there a certain personality or preaching style that’s more effective at sharing God’s Word? Discover the key to successful preaching, and learn how to keep your personality from distracting from the message. That’s on Truth For Life with Alistair Begg.
From the Sermon
The Call of Ministry
2 Corinthians 4:1–7 Sermon • Includes Transcript • 42:36 • ID: 2160
Songs of Deliverance
If you watch old black-and-white Robin Hood or King Arthur movies, you will see queens who ride through battlefields on horseback. They don’t go alone on their journeys, but mounted soldiers ride all around them, surrounding them with protection.
On difficult days, we can remind ourselves that God “will command his angels concerning [us] to guard [us] in all [our] ways” (Psalm 91:11), and that He has surrounded us with a band of others who are following Christ’s banner—namely, our church. The Christian life is meant to be a corporate journey, not an individualistic one. We have the benefit of rallying together for the cause of Christ. We are to surround ourselves with those who provide “shouts [or “songs,” NIV] of deliverance.” When we worship together, we experience the benefits of the deliverance that God provides for us.
When we are disoriented by life or acutely aware of our flaws, failings, discouragements, and doubts, the antidote is not to try to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. Instead, we can look at the wonders of what Jesus has done and make sure we are hearing from brothers and sisters in Christ what Jesus has done. With the help of a simple hymnbook alongside God’s word, we can encourage one another through the darkest of days by filling our minds with truth through song and Scripture.
Alec Motyer once wrote, “When truth gets into a creed or hymn-book, it becomes the confident possession of the whole church.”[1] With words deeply rooted in theology, we can daily tell ourselves, “He is all I need to get through.” Then, in the company of God’s people, we can worship together, asking our Lord for grace and peace. A living church will always be a singing church.
You are not meant to worship on an island. This is part of what corporate worship is about: to be surrounded by songs of deliverance. You are wired by your Creator to stand in the assembly of those who affirm to you, as you affirm to them, memorable words like these:
Sing, O sing of my Redeemer!
With His blood He purchased me;
On the cross He sealed my pardon,
Paid the debt, and made me free.[2]
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?
He Heals the Brokenhearted
1iPraise the Lord!
For jit is good to sing praises to our God;
for kit is pleasant,1 and la song of praise is fitting.
2The Lord mbuilds up Jerusalem;
he ngathers the outcasts of Israel.
3He heals othe brokenhearted
and pbinds up their wounds.
4He qdetermines the number of the stars;
he rgives to all of them their names.
5sGreat is our Lord, and tabundant in power;
uhis understanding is beyond measure.
6The Lord vlifts up the humble;2
he casts the wicked to the ground.
7wSing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
make melody to our God on xthe lyre!
8He covers the heavens with clouds;
he prepares yrain for the earth;
he makes zgrass grow on the hills.
9He agives to the beasts their food,
and to bthe young ravens that cry.
10His delight is not in cthe strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,
11but the Lord dtakes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who ehope in his steadfast love.
12Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
13For he strengthens fthe bars of your gates;
he blesses your children within you.
14He gmakes peace in your borders;
he hfills you with the ifinest of the wheat.
15He jsends out his command to the earth;
his word runs swiftly.
16He gives ksnow like wool;
he scatters lfrost like ashes.
17He hurls down his crystals of mice like crumbs;
who can stand before his ncold?
18He osends out his word, and melts them;
he makes his wind blow and the waters flow.
19He declares his word to Jacob,
his pstatutes and rules3 to Israel.
20He qhas not dealt thus with any other nation;
they do not know his rules.4
rPraise the Lord!
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.
Christ's Ongoing Service
He … began to wash the disciples' feet.
The Lord Jesus loves His people so much that every day He is still doing for them much that is analogous to washing their soiled feet. Their poorest actions He accepts; their deepest sorrow He feels; their slenderest wish He hears; and their every transgression He forgives. He is still their servant as well as their Friend and Master. He not only performs majestic deeds for them, when in all His priestly garb and function He stands up to plead for them, but He also humbly, patiently goes among His people with the basin and the towel. He does this when He puts away from us day by day our constant infirmities and sins.
Last night when you bowed the knee, you mournfully confessed that much of your conduct was not worthy of your profession; and even tonight you must grieve again that you have fallen into the selfsame folly and sin from which special grace delivered you long ago. And yet Jesus displays great patience with you. He will hear your confession of sin; He will say, “I will—be clean!” He will again apply the blood of sprinkling and speak peace to your conscience and remove every spot. It is a great act of eternal love when Christ once for all absolves the sinner and places him in the family of God; but what condescending patience it is when the Savior with much long-suffering bears the repetitive follies of His wayward disciple, day by day and hour by hour washing away the multiplied transgressions of His erring but still much-loved child! To dry up a flood of rebellion is something marvelous, but to endure the constant dripping of repeated offenses, to bear with a perpetual trying of patience, this is truly divine! While we find comfort and peace in our Lord's daily cleansing, its legitimate influence upon us will be to increase our watchfulness and quicken our desire for holiness. Is that your experience?
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 October 24
Naaman Healed of Leprosy
1lNaaman, mcommander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.1 2Now the Syrians on none of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman's wife. 3She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” 4So Naaman went in and told his lord, “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.” 5And the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.”
So he went, otaking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels2 of gold, and ten pchanges of clothing. 6And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” 7And when the king of Israel read the letter, qhe tore his clothes and said, r“Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only sconsider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.”
8But when Elisha the tman of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha's house. 10And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, u“Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” 11But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. 12Are not Abana3 and Pharpar, the rivers of vDamascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. 13But his servants came near and said to him, w“My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” 14So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, xand his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, yand he was clean.
Gehazi's Greed and Punishment
15Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him. And he said, “Behold, I know that zthere is no God in all the earth but in Israel; so aaccept now a present from your servant.” 16But he said, b“As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, cI will receive none.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused. 17Then Naaman said, “If not, please let there be given to your servant two mule loads of earth, for from now on your servant will not offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god but the Lord. 18In this matter may the Lord pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of dRimmon to worship there, eleaning on my arm, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon your servant in this matter.” 19He said to him, f“Go in peace.”
But when Naaman had gone from him a short distance, 20gGehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “See, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not accepting from his hand what he brought. hAs the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something from him.” 21So Gehazi followed Naaman. And when Naaman saw someone running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him and said, i“Is all well?” 22And he said, “All is well. My master has sent me to say, ‘There have just now come to me from jthe hill country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets. Please give them a talent of silver and ktwo changes of clothing.’” 23And Naaman said, l“Be pleased to accept two talents.” And he urged him and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and laid them on two of his servants. And they carried them before Gehazi. 24And when he came to the hill, he took them from their hand and put them in the house, and he sent the men away, and they departed. 25He went in and stood before his master, and Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” And he said, “Your servant went nowhere.” 26But he said to him, “Did not my heart go when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Was it a time to accept money and garments, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male servants and female servants? 27Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.” So he went out from his presence ma leper, like snow.
Pray for All People
1First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2vfor kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and wdignified in every way. 3This is good, and xit is pleasing in the sight of yGod our Savior, 4who desires zall people to be saved and ato come to bthe knowledge of the truth. 5For cthere is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man1 Christ Jesus, 6dwho gave himself as a ransom for all, which is ethe testimony given fat the proper time. 7gFor this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (hI am telling the truth, I am not lying), ia teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
8I desire then that jin every place the men should pray, klifting lholy hands without anger or quarreling; 9likewise also mthat women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, 10nbut with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. 11Let a woman learn quietly owith all submissiveness. 12pI do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13qFor Adam was formed first, rthen Eve; 14and Adam was not deceived, but sthe woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15Yet she will be saved through tchildbearing—if they continue in ufaith and love and holiness, with self-control.
Daniel's Prayer for His People
1bIn the first year of cDarius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a dMede, who was made king over the realm of the eChaldeans— 2in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to fthe word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.
3Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by gprayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. 4I prayed to the Lord my God and hmade confession, saying, i“O Lord, the igreat and awesome God, who jkeeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5kwe have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly land rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. 6mWe have not listened to nyour servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to oour kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7To you, pO Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, qthose who are near and qthose who are far away, in rall the lands to which you have driven them, because of sthe treachery that they have committed against you. 8To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because kwe have sinned against you. 9tTo the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him 10mand have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by nhis servants the prophets. 11uAll Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, vrefusing to obey your voice. wAnd the curse and oath xthat are written in the Law of yMoses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because kwe have sinned against him. 12He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against zour rulers who ruled us,1 by abringing upon us a great calamity. bFor under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem. 13xAs it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God, cturning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. 14dTherefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, efor the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and fwe have not obeyed his voice. 15And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt gwith a mighty hand, and hhave made a name for yourself, as at this day, iwe have sinned, we have done wickedly.
16“O Lord, jaccording to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, kyour holy hill, lbecause for our sins, and for mthe iniquities of our fathers, nJerusalem and your people have become oa byword among all who are around us. 17Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord,2 pmake your face to shine upon qyour sanctuary, which is desolate. 18rO my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see sour desolations, and tthe city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. 19O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. uDelay not, vfor your own sake, O my God, because tyour city and wyour people are called by your name.”
Gabriel Brings an Answer
20xWhile I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before the Lord my God for ythe holy hill of my God, 21while I was speaking in prayer, the man zGabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, acame to me in swift flight at bthe time of the evening sacrifice. 22cHe made me understand, speaking with me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you dinsight and understanding. 23eAt the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, fand I have come to tell it to you, for gyou are greatly loved. Therefore consider the word hand understand the vision.
The Seventy Weeks
24i“Seventy weeks3 are decreed about your people and jyour holy city, to finish kthe transgression, to put an end to sin, land to atone for iniquity, mto bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and nto anoint a most holy place.4 25oKnow therefore and understand that pfrom the going out of the word to restore and qbuild Jerusalem to the coming of an ranointed one, a sprince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again5 with squares and moat, tbut in a troubled time. 26And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall ube cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come vshall destroy the city and the sanctuary. wIts6 end shall come with a flood, xand to the end there shall be war. yDesolations are decreed. 27And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week,7 and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. zAnd on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until athe decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”
Psalm 117
The Lord's Faithfulness Endures Forever
1cPraise the Lord, all nations!
Extol him, all peoples!
2For dgreat is his steadfast love toward us,
and ethe faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
bPraise the Lord!
Psalm 118
His Steadfast Love Endures Forever
1fOh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!
2gLet Israel say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
3gLet the house of Aaron say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
4gLet those who fear the Lord say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
5hOut of my distress I icalled on the Lord;
the Lord answered me and set me jfree.
6kThe Lord is on my side; lI will not fear.
What can man do to me?
7mThe Lord is on my side as my helper;
I shall nlook in triumph on those who hate me.
8oIt is better to take refuge in the Lord
pthan to trust in man.
9It is better to take refuge in the Lord
pthan to trust in princes.
10qAll nations surrounded me;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
11They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
12rThey surrounded me like bees;
they went out like sa fire among thorns;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
13I was tpushed hard,1 so that I was falling,
but the Lord helped me.
14The Lord is my strength and my song;
uhe has become my salvation.
15Glad songs of salvation
are in the tents of the righteous:
v“The right hand of the Lord wdoes valiantly,
16the right hand of the Lord exalts,
the right hand of the Lord wdoes valiantly!”
17xI shall not die, but I shall live,
and yrecount the deeds of the Lord.
18The Lord has zdisciplined me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.
19aOpen to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord.
20This is the gate of the Lord;
bthe righteous shall enter through it.
21I thank you that cyou have answered me
uand have become my salvation.
22dThe stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.2
23This is the Lord's doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
24This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25Save us, we pray, O Lord!
O Lord, we pray, give us success!
26eBlessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
We fbless you from the house of the Lord.
27The Lord is God,
and he has made ghis light to shine upon us.
Bind the festal sacrifice with cords,
up to hthe horns of the altar!
28You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God; I will iextol you.
29jOh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!
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