They must be silenced… Rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith.

Titus 1:11, Titus 1:13

When a building is on fire, what is needed is not only an alarm that alerts everyone to the danger but a means of dousing the flames.

In his letter to Titus, Paul didn’t only raise the alarm about those who could harm the members of the congregation with dangerous teaching; he also provided his protégé with instructions for how to put the fire out.

Paul’s instructions are not mild-mannered. First he says, “They must be silenced.” The word “silenced” can also be translated “muzzled.” If a dog barks and bites people all of the time, there’s a clear solution. That is what Paul is instructing Titus to do with these teachers, in no uncertain terms: Muzzle them! He also tells Titus to “rebuke them sharply.” He is not pulling his punches!

When we hear this passage with the ears of an outsider, we can understand why someone might say, “Well, I don’t know much about Paul, but he sounds like a mean guy. There’s a level of intolerance here that I don’t really like. He sounds very judgmental.” Indeed, some may hear Paul’s teaching and reject the truth of the gospel on the strength of its offensiveness—unless we translate Paul’s meaning for them.

For it is the seriousness of the situation that explains the directness of his speech. Paul’s intolerance is similar to the cancer specialist’s intolerance of the cancer that he or she seeks to eradicate from a patient’s body. The problem must be dealt with vigorously so that health might be restored. There’s nothing remotely unkind about this kind of focused, principled opposition. Paul is saying, We can’t allow this disease to spread through the congregation, for it can be spiritually fatal.

God looks for those who will fall down at the feet of His Son and say, “All that I could ever do is love You in response to the majestic nature of Your love for me, which has been revealed in Your cross.” The people in Crete were in danger of losing that appreciation. Whether it is in Crete, Cape Town, or Cleveland, false teaching must be responded to graciously, firmly, immediately, and compassionately so that God’s people will be protected from error. Churches must not give a platform to teaching which denies the gospel, and Christians must not give their ear to it.

In the Bible, even those commands that appear harsh and intolerant are motivated by God’s love for His children and His desire to protect us from harm. He wants us to continue to live in wonder at His love—and as we do so, He wants us to be sure to guard our hearts and our churches.

Questions for Thought

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?

Further Reading

2 Peter 2:1-10

Topics: Church Discipline False Teachers Gospel

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg

http://www.truthforlife.org

A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.

Ecclesiastes 7:1-2

Death confuses most of us. We fear it, and though we know it is inevitable, we would much rather not have to deal with it. We seek to isolate ourselves from its reality, turning the music up to drown out the ominous silence that accompanies it. Our denial is understandable; death is the hardest fact of life to face. Yet in our more sober moments, we realize that our lives are as precarious as a child’s sandcastle on the seashore: that sooner or later, the tide will come in and wash it all away.

As with all the issues it addresses, the Bible aims to reorient our perspective on death. Solomon, writing with the all-surpassing wisdom that God had granted him (see 1 Kings 3:5-12), said that death “is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.” Likewise, Moses tells us that “a heart of wisdom” comes from our contemplating our limited number of days on earth, which “end like a sigh” (Psalm 90:9, 12). This is why we learn more about reality at a funeral in a “house of mourning” than at a party in a “house of feasting.”

While it may be tempting to try to shy away from death, then, wisdom looks like accepting that we must face it head on. In fact, the key to learning how to live is to be found in learning how to die. We will never know the reason for our earthly pilgrimage until we’ve come face to face with the fact of death, for it is death that lies at the end of every path. Without considering our death, we’ll end up like the one whose tombstone reads, “Here lies a man who went out of the world without knowing why he came into it.” Such is the lot of so many who spend day after day after day separated from Christ, “having no hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12).

But if by faith God has made you alive together with Christ (Ephesians 2:5), then you have already passed from the domain of death to the land of the living. You can say with Paul, “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57). For you, death is no longer an end that you must dread but the doorway to “fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11). And with that perspective on your final day, you will be ready to make the most of this day, endeavoring in all that you do to glorify the Lord, who has Himself triumphed over death and who will lead you through it (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Questions for Thought

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?

Further Reading

Ecclesiastes 7:1-7

Topics: Death Union with Christ Wisdom

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg

http://www.truthforlife.org

Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.

1 Corinthians 16:1-2

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul spends most of his time soaring among the glories of the resurrection and then ends with the wonderful reminder that our labor in the Lord is not in vain. What would you expect to come next? What would you predict would be a practical application of the resurrection’s life-changing reality?

I imagine your answers would not include “financial stewardship.” And yet this is precisely where Paul takes his readers: “Now concerning the collection for the saints…” Our financial stewardship is not, it turns out, an “unspiritual” part of life, disconnected from things that really matter. Rather, stewardship is an aspect of the work we do in the name of our risen Lord on this side of our own resurrection.

While Paul’s instructions here were given specifically for a collection for the believers in Jerusalem, they are instructive for us in our own contexts. There are three principles that he lays out, and each should shape our own giving.

First, Paul wants giving to be regular and deliberate: “On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper.” This was to take place on the first day of every week. For many of us, regular giving keeps us disciplined and prevents us from waiting until we “feel like” giving. Whether it’s weekly, monthly, or at other set times, regular giving is Paul’s wise instruction.

Second, giving should be proportionate. Funds were to be set aside by each person “as he may prosper”—or, as the NIV puts it, “in keeping with your income.” That leaves the details very much with the individual. God is the one with whom we need to deal, because He’s the one who searches our hearts, and He knows whether our giving is in keeping with what He has given into our care.

Third, we are to give to our family of faith first and foremost. The collection to which Paul refers is being made in churches and for churches. Where we are spiritually fed is where we contribute first (1 Timothy 5:17-18). The local church and then the wider church are not necessarily the only places that should receive our giving, but they are the primary places.

Your task now is to consider whether your own giving patterns need to be changed according to these principles. Ultimately, this is a personal matter, but it is also a profoundly spiritual matter, flowing out of our love and devotion to our Lord Jesus Christ, who has risen, is reigning, and shall return. Be assured, therefore, that as you strive for faithfulness in your giving, that striving will not be in vain.

Questions for Thought

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?

Further Reading

Philippians 4:10-19

Topics: Giving Money Stewardship

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg,

http://www.truthforlife.org

Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

John 18:37

By nature, we believe we have the right to rule our own lives. We think that nobody has the authority to tell us what to do or to rule over us. We will decide for ourselves, define who we are, and mold our own future. Yet this is a dreadful path, and it leads only to despair. For when we look within, however much we have been told to think positively and to believe in ourselves, we are still confronted by our need, our failure, our frailty, and our inadequacy. And when we look without, we see a divided culture and flawed institutions. To what, then, should we look?

The Old Testament records Israel’s repeated rebellion against God’s rule. In an attempt to look just like the nations around them, the Israelites demanded an earthly king (1 Samuel 8:5). Tragically, all of Israel’s kings eventually crumbled to dust: the mighty Saul, the great David, and the wise Solomon all failed politically, morally, and religiously. Surely, the people in the streets were making the same complaints that we hear today: “This is not what we were led to expect when this person became our leader! There must be someone better than this!”

Indeed, there is someone better. Jesus, Son of Man and Son of God, is the Creator, Sustainer, and King of the universe: “For by him all things were created …. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16-17). He is the King who will perfectly fulfill the demands of the role: “In his days … the righteous flourish, and peace abound[s]” (Psalm 72:7); He will deliver the needy, the poor, and the helpless (v 12-13); all nations will serve Him, and “the whole earth” will “be filled with his glory!” (v 19).

As question 26 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism explains, Jesus carries out His kingly office “in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.” He comes to reign over us in such a way that we find real freedom in giving up our autonomy and real rest in quitting from our efforts to make our own future. “Come to me,” He says. “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me … and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29).

Jesus is the resurrected and ascended King. His claim on us is total, and our response is all or it is nothing. We must decide whether Christ’s right to rule and reign over the universe will extend to every facet of our lives as well. Only then will we find Him to be “our shield and defender.”^[1] It is as you bow the knee to Him in those areas of life where you find it hardest, trusting that His rule is better than yours, that you give Him the place that He deserves and find the freedom and the future that you long for.

Questions for Thought

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?

Further Reading

Psalm 72

Topics: Christ as King Christ as Lord Jesus Christ

FOOTNOTES

¹ Robert Grant, “O Worship the King” (1833).

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg,

http://www.truthforlife.org

Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.”

1 Samuel 3:7, 1 Samuel 3:10

When we struggle to understand a new model or theory, we are not helped by a teacher who leaves us on our own if we don’t grasp the concept the first time. Instead, we need a teacher who patiently, encouragingly explains the idea again and again until we get it.

When He called Samuel to be His prophet, God dealt graciously with His servant who didn’t get it—in fact, with two of His servants who didn’t get it!

Samuel was involved at the temple, ministering and engaged. But there was a personal dimension of faith which he had not yet experienced. God’s word hadn’t been revealed to him—and so God took the initiative and was gracious enough to persist by calling to Samuel repeatedly. In this quadruple call of God, we have a reminder of His tenderness and His kindness.

Yet while Samuel is the focus of this passage, Eli also needed God’s patient interactions. Even as a priest, he did not think in the first or second instance that the Lord was speaking to Samuel. Then, suddenly “Eli perceived…” And when there is perception, it is an indication of the work of God.

This gradual perception was true of Jesus’ disciples as well. He told them He still had many things to say to them, but they weren’t ready to understand yet (John 16:12). He didn’t give up on them, though. Instead, He patiently explained again and again.

Some of us may be able to relate to Samuel: perhaps you have read books and listened to sermons many times without experiencing any true impact. Or you may be like the disciples: you’ve begun to understand, but you still find so many matters of faith confusing. No matter how many years we follow Christ and read God’s word, there will always be more to understand and enjoy. Sometimes we may even feel we have gone backwards! But we can be confident that in God we have a gracious teacher to guide us. So, join the psalmist in praying, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law” (Psalm 119:18). And then work hard to understand God’s word and perceive its meaning for your life, prayerfully confident that as you find yourself grasping more and more of what it says, God is at work in you.

Questions for Thought

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?

Further Reading

Romans 12:1-3

Topics: God’s Word Studying the Bible

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg

http://www.truthforlife.org

Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

Hebrews 13:1-4

There’s all the difference in the world between describing what it means to ride a bicycle and actually helping somebody get on the seat and pedal away. Making a cake seems to be fairly straightforward when I look at the recipe books, but I haven’t had much success in making one that actually tastes right! What I need is hands-on guidance: somebody to do it in front of me and then allow me to try my hand at it too.

The moral instruction provided for us in Hebrews 13 is to be trained and formed in our lives not by learning to apply abstract principles but as a result of seeing these principles worked out in the family of faith. We can read, for example, about what it means to love one another, but it is far better to observe such love in the lives of loving people. We can understand that we’re supposed to care for strangers, but we can experience it firsthand if we’re brought up in a home where such care is faithfully practiced. We can read the principles and demands for sexual purity, but we will do far better if we are raised in a flourishing home where they’re modeled or are able to sit in such homes as we visit other families in our church. The list goes on and on.

Establishing these ethical norms is demanding. It takes time, patience, and involvement. They cannot be achieved by watching a video or reading an article. If information was enough to bring about transformation, then all we would need to do is write it down or say it. But you can’t learn love, honor, and faithfulness from the content on a screen. No, if you are to be content, pure, loving, and hospitable, then that is going to have to be discovered and worked out in the family of faith.

Look, then, to your brothers and sisters who exemplify Christlikeness in these ways. Read Hebrews 13:1-4 again, praise God for those you know who live these verses out, and then be sure to learn from them so that in these ways you become like them. Make it your aim to so follow their example that you, like Paul, might humbly be able to say to others, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). What will that look like this week?

Questions for Thought

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?

Further Reading

Hebrews 13:1-8

Hebrews 13:16-17

Topics: Christian Living Discipleship The Local Church

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg, 

http://www.truthforlife.org

He answered them, “You give them something to eat” … And they all ate and were satisfied.

Mark 6:37, Mark 6:42

When Jesus directed the disciples to feed a crowd of 5,000 men, plus women and children, with nothing but a young boy’s five loaves of bread and two fish, they faced a seemingly impossible situation. As Andrew questioned, “What are they for so many?” (John 6:9). But the Twelve did as Jesus directed them: they sat the people down, separated them into groups, and then divided the loaves and fish. And divided. And divided. And before they knew it, a miracle had unfolded.

The five loaves and two fish managed to feed thousands—and not just with the tiniest servings of food but with such an abundance that “they all ate and were satisfied.” In fact, in a rather humorous turn of events, there were even leftovers. Just as God had done centuries earlier with the manna in the wilderness (Exodus 16), here the Shepherd of Israel proved His identity and provided for His people’s needs, both literally and symbolically.

It should be impossible for us to consider this story and not recognize that God takes unmanageable situations and unbelievably limited resources and multiplies them for the well-being of others and the glory of His name. And He can do this with our lives as well.

Perhaps, if you are the only Christian in your family, in your class, or at your job, you may wonder, like Andrew, “What am I among so many? What can I say? What can I do?” But here is the real question to ask: “Have I truly offered up my resources to God—my time, talents, energy, gifts, and finances?” They may not be much. But He can multiply them!

The missionary Gladys Aylward lived in London with no education and no savings. What she had, though, was a passionate longing to go to China to share the gospel. This small-statured lady, who had long, straight, black hair, thus began a journey by train and then by ocean liner, and eventually ended up in Shanghai. As she stood on the deck, looking out on the city, she saw all the small-statured Chinese people with their straight, black hair, and she suddenly realized that God had had a plan and purpose for her all along. He’d even established her DNA in such a way that she would be perfectly suited to become the “Little Woman” who would reach countless tiny children with the gospel—all because she offered up her life to God and He multiplied it for His glory.

As you look out on your day and your week, offer yourself to God. Your inability is His opportunity. Your weaknesses and your sense of dependence form the very basis upon which He shows Himself to be strong. With nothing but mere loaves and fish, He satisfied thousands. Be in no doubt that He can use you to do great things of eternal worth, if you will only ask Him.

Questions for Thought

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?

Further Reading

Mark 6:30-44

Topics: Dependence on God Glory of God Parables

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg,

http://www.truthforlife.org

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 1:6-7

Suffering is a reality we all must face. Our union with Christ does not remove us from the pain that is part and parcel of life this side of eternity. And since “for a little while” we are to be “grieved by various trials,” we need to have a biblical perspective on suffering.

In his first letter, Peter addressed early believers who had been exiled for the sake of Christ. Their suffering had caused them great grief, which Peter noted empathetically—but he also commanded them to rejoice in the midst of their trials. He reminded the early church, as he reminds us, that suffering is inevitably limited in its timeframe: it will only last “for a little while.”

Our pain often does not feel temporary. If it is a chronic physical ailment or an unresolved relational break, it does not feel as though it is lasting “a little while.” Indeed, there are many whose whole earthly pilgrimage is marked by great suffering. Yet it is for this very reason that the Bible says so much about heaven: to remind us that our lives are incredibly brief compared with eternity. “We do not lose heart,” says Paul. “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison … The things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

Not only this, but as we walk through trials clinging to Christ, our pain is telling us something about our faith. It isn’t difficult to be a Christian when the band is playing and everyone’s marching along, doing just fine. But when difficulties arise, when we have unanswered questions, when we awake in the night and weep uncontrollably, when sometimes all we are able to say is “Father, help,” and yet we do say that… that is when our faith is tested, and that is when it is proved genuine.

Furthermore, we can rejoice in the reality that no matter what we’re going through, God sees, He hears, He cares, and He acts to guard our faith and bring us to our glorious inheritance, in a world where nothing perishes or fades (1 Peter 1:4-5). The road through the valley may be a long one, but He will bring us through it.

God promises to use suffering in the lives of His children to display His glory. None of us will become all that God intends for us to be if we choose always to run in the sunshine of ease and comfort. But when we trust that He will use life’s trials to refine us, we will surely be filled with the hope of eternity and live in a manner that is increasingly like that of our Savior. How does it comfort you to consider the riches and the duration of eternity with Him today? How could you use that prospect to encourage someone else?

Questions for Thought

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?

Further Reading

1 Peter 1:1-9

Topics: Affliction Heaven Suffering

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg, 

http://www.truthforlife.org

You whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, “You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off”; fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God.

Isaiah 41:9-10

It is tempting to think that our significance is determined by what we’ve achieved, where we’ve been, or where we are going in this life. Yet each of these is irrelevant when considering our lasting significance, which is grounded only in our relationship with God. This relationship is not based upon our wishful thinking or elevated opinions of ourselves. No, it’s based on the surety of these words: “I have chosen you and not cast you off.”

Have we not given God grounds to reject us? If God’s covenant with us and acceptance of us were based upon our daily performance, then none of us would remain in relationship with Him for more than 24 hours. But the wonder of His covenant with us is that it is founded upon His choice. He has chosen us, He has called us from the farthest corners of the world, and He will not cast us off.

Before we can obey and experience God’s grace, we must understand it. Grace is the antidote to all fear and anxiety. We will never be able to overcome worry by simply repeating self-help mantras, nor will we gain victory over fear only by the exhortations of others to obey what Scripture calls for. Such an approach will result in discouragement and doubt, even in despair.

When dreadful thoughts arise—I am afraid and overwhelmed, and I don’t know what to do or I am weak and insignificant, and I don’t know how to go on—we must remind ourselves of God’s grace, which says to us, I called you. I chose you. I love you. I have not rejected you. Only the grace of God can help us to overcome our fears and give us this confidence. His promises put all else in perspective, teaching us to fix our minds on the hope of eternity and live in light of its reality.

Do you have any rivers that you think are uncrossable? Are there any mountains that you can’t tunnel through? Are you afraid of a new task that is awaiting you? Are you faced with continual difficulties? Remember that God’s truth doesn’t change. His purposes don’t change. His Son doesn’t change. This unchanging God is the one who is with you and for you. Listen to Him now: “I have chosen you and not cast you off; fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God.”

Questions for Thought

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?

Further Reading

1 John 3:1-3

Topics: Eternal Security Faithfulness of God God’s Covenants

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg, 

http://www.truthforlife.org

Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him.

Acts 20:17

In the middle of the 20th century, the Church of England commissioned a report entitled Towards the Conversion of England. The goal was to discover what was taking place within the parishes of the Anglican Communion. In that report, the writers came very quickly to the topic of leadership, on which they observed, “A spiritual leader can often make an astonishing difference.”^[1] The adjective “spiritual” is crucial. If the church is going to flourish in the world, it must have spiritual men in the position of leadership. Although we are distanced from that report by many years, and although a lot has changed since then, the strategic necessity for spiritually mature leaders, in whatever country or denomination we are in, has not changed. No church of Jesus Christ progresses beyond the spiritual progress of its leaders.

Every sports team has a captain or equivalent. Each member of the team may be equally valuable, but someone has to lead. Without a captain, a team loses direction and will often lack the discipline needed to win. The same is true in an orchestra: without a conductor, it risks losing coordination and any meaningful sense of harmony.

The necessary role of leadership is true in every area of life—and it’s no different with God’s people. Jesus was the leader of a group of twelve disciples. When He ascended to heaven, Peter and James appear to have become the leaders of the apostles and the church in Jerusalem. The apostles then established leadership in the local churches. When Paul wrote to Titus, he was very concerned that the right kinds of men were appointed to positions of leadership within the church (Titus 1:5-9). If an error was made in who was appointed, then the resulting damage would not be easily undone. And when he had limited time near Ephesus, it was “the elders of the church” who Paul summoned to Miletus in order to encourage and exhort.

Without good leadership, chaos easily follows. Many of the unsolved problems in the life of local churches can be traced back to defective leadership. Conversely, the resolution of problems almost always can be traced back to effective leadership.

If success depends upon the quality of leadership, then Christians should care deeply about leaders within their local church. Christ purchased the church with His own blood, and it is through the church that God intends to display His glory in the world and to the spiritual realms (Ephesians 3:10). Take time, then, to pray for your leaders. Consider how you can actively encourage them to faithfulness and in their labors. Be someone whom to lead is an occasion for joy and not groaning (Hebrews 13:17)—for your leaders’ sake, and for yours.

Questions for Thought

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?

Further Reading

Acts 20:17-35

Topics: Leadership The Local Church Prayer

FOOTNOTES

¹ Towards the Conversion of England (J. M. Dent, 1946), p 3.

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg,

http://www.truthforlife.org

He entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.” And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words.

Luke 19:45, Luke 19:48

From the beginning of His life, the Jerusalem Temple was significant to Jesus. When He was a baby, the elderly Simeon had taken Him in his arms and declared Him in the temple courts to be the wonder of God’s salvation (Luke 2:25-35). As a twelve-year-old boy, Jesus had sought out His Father’s house and engaged in conversation with the religious leaders (v 46-49). Jesus’ comfort in and love of His Father’s house was palpable—and therefore so was His grief when He discovered irreverent behavior in that holy place.

The temple in Jerusalem was the place where God met His people. So when Jesus encountered an irreligious marketplace set up in its courts, He was justifiably grieved and angry. The individuals responsible for the disrespect in the temple were the same who had jeered at His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. They didn’t bat an eye at exchanging money on the temple floor for an inordinate profit and deeming people’s offerings of creatures “unacceptable” in order to sell them “acceptable” offerings at unfair prices. The way the temple courts were being used was so far removed from His Father’s intentions that Jesus, as the Great High Priest, inevitably needed to come set it right. Jesus’ knowledge of Old Testament prophecy allowed Him to speak with ultimate authority and remind the people of the temple’s holy purpose, referencing Scripture that they knew and could not contest: “My house shall be a house of prayer” (Isaiah 56:7; see also Jeremiah 7:11).

Jesus’ next action—using a whip made out of cords to drive out the livestock and stop the bazaar in its tracks (John 2:15)—was certainly justified. Zeal for His Father’s reputation consumed Him (v 17). And yet we know that these were people over whom Jesus had wept (Luke 19:41-44). That whip was held by a Savior who had tears in His eyes.

Jesus is the perfect Son, who cares more than anything about bringing glory to His Father and who is angered more than anything by lies, greed, and pursuit of power that comes between His Father and sinners in need of grace. He looks at those who reject God and weeps, because He knows how far they have fallen. He looks at those who place barriers in the way of others meeting God and is angry, because He longs for His Father to receive the praise He is due and for people to be saved. We, too, would do well to weep over the lost and be angry over those who twist truth for their own ends. We would do well to pray for the same zeal for God’s glory, even as we give thanks that Jesus came not only to reveal His zeal for His Father but to be the means by which we can dwell in His house forever.

Questions for Thought

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?

Further Reading

Isaiah 56:1-8

Topics: Grace of God Greed Lying

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg,

http://www.truthforlife.org

He holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

Hebrews 7:24-25

Jesus’ sacrificial work as our High Priest is a finished work, a once-and-for-all accomplishment with regard to sin. There is no need for repetition and no possibility of addition. But why is it, exactly, that He is able to “save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him”?

Because, first, Christ’s role as our Great High Priest is the solution to our rebellion. Deep down inside, each of us knows that we have rejected our dependence upon God, instead making a bid for independence. In trying to live our lives independently, we reveal that our stubborn hearts are curved into themselves. We pridefully think, “I don’t need an advocate. I don’t need anybody to do anything on my behalf. I can handle this myself.”

But despite the fact that we have rebelled against God, amazingly, He seeks us out and saves us. Jesus brings about reconciliation by dealing with our alienation from God, which is two-sided: we are alienated on our side by our sin and on God’s side by His wrath. Jesus has paid the penalty for our sins; He has satisfied God’s wrath by offering Himself as an unblemished sacrifice.

Second, Jesus saves “to the uttermost” because He has destroyed the leverage that the Evil One uses to fill us with fear. In Hebrews 2, the writer explains, “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery” (v 14-15). Through His own death, Jesus has set us free from Satan’s grip, liberating us from what ought to be our greatest fear: death itself. When Satan seeks to accuse us before the Father, Jesus is, as it were, able to point out that his words are empty—that he has nothing to say against us. And Jesus’ priestly work still continues in His continual intercession on our behalf. In Jesus we have a Priest who sheds His grace on our lives day by day through His heavenly mediation. As Jesus enjoys being in His Father’s presence today, right now, He is not offering a sacrifice, but rather speaking as our advocate before the Father. We may picture Him standing by His Father, saying, That one is mine. I died for her. She is covered by my blood and is clothed in my righteousness.

So, “When Satan tempts me to despair, and tells me of my guilt within / Upward I look and see Him there, who made an end of all my sin.” Therefore, “I know that while in heaven He stands, no power can bid me thence depart.”^[1] Jesus, your Priest forever, stands in His Father’s presence today, speaking of you and for you. There is nothing to fear.

Questions for Thought

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?

Further Reading

Hebrews 7:23-28, Hebrews 8:1-6

Topics: Christ as Priest Eternal Security Satan

FOOTNOTES

¹ Charitie Lees Bancroft, “Before the Throne of God Above” (1863).

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg,

http://www.truthforlife.org

This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true.

Psalm 18:30

God is never in a hurry. He’s never late. His timing is always perfect. Yet so many of us spend so much of our lives hurrying from place to place, anxious to make things happen when we think they should happen.

Consider Esther 6 as an example. There’s a lot of hurry-up in this one chapter. It’s not the hurry-up of God, though, but the hurry-up of humanity.

Haman woke up and hurried off to see the king about hanging Mordecai (Esther 6:4). When King Ahasuerus requested that he hurry with the king’s robes to exalt the person the king delighted to honor (v 10), it was no problem for Haman to do so, assuming that the honor was intended for himself. Later we see Haman hurrying once more—but this time it is to his house in shame (v 12), embarrassed at being ordered to honor his most hated enemy, Mordecai. He didn’t want anyone to see him. He covered his head, like an arrested criminal trying to shield himself from the gaze of the TV cameras. He was a picture of disappointment and pain.

Mordecai, however, was not in a hurry. He had been overlooked. His warning of an assassination plot had been significant, yet apparently nobody cared about it, not least the very king who was the beneficiary of what he had done. Four or five years had passed without any honor or recognition (Esther 6:3), and still Mordecai patiently and faithfully continued to do what was right. He trusted in God and His timing. He knew that “this God—his way is perfect.”

Derek Kidner writes that “‘all God’s delays are maturings, either of the time … or of the man.”^[1] The psalmist says, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word” (Psalm 119:67). Like the psalmist, our default is to just do our own thing and wander any way we want. But when God in His providence makes us wait longer than we might like or even brings disappointment, pain, and heartache into our lives, we are given the opportunity to pay attention to His words and to trust that His plan is unfolding perfectly.

We are called to believe that God’s way is perfect and His word is true—not just when His favor is evident but when the wheels are falling off and the good that we’ve done, which is deserving of honor and acclaim, is largely ignored. Do you believe that? Remember that even God’s ultimate plan of salvation did not require hurry: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6, emphasis added). God’s ways are perfect and His timing impeccable. Set aside your hurry, then, and give up your anxiety, learning instead to trust God to do His work at the right time.

Questions for Thought

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?

Further Reading

Proverbs 3:5-12

Topics: Providence of God Sovereignty of God Trusting God

FOOTNOTES

¹ Psalms 1–72: An Introduction and Commentary on Books I and II of the Psalms, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, ed. D. J. Wiseman (InterVarsity, 1973), p 61.

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg, 

http://www.truthforlife.org

At one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.

Ephesians 5:8-10

Being made righteous should lead to us living righteously.

We trust Christ alone for our righteousness and never our good works. We must never lose sight of that. But we must also realize that the righteousness Christ gives us inevitably manifests itself in righteous deeds. Paul puts it this way: as believers, we are to “walk as children of light.” And why? Because “the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true.” In short, the Lord has made us righteous; therefore, we are to act righteously.

We cannot be the beneficiaries of the objective righteousness of Christ without the evidence presenting itself in our righteous living. Sinclair Ferguson puts it wonderfully when he says that “we are now the recipients of an irrevocable justification (or righteousness) in Christ, which in turn leads to a growth in righteousness in ourselves.”^[1] Similarly, John Calvin wrote that “the Son of God though spotlessly pure took upon himself the ignominy and shame of our sin and in return clothed us with his purity.”^[2] Christ bears our sin for us, grants us His unblemished record, and then empowers us, by His Spirit, to “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him” (Colossians 1:10).

The Puritans used to speak in terms of a righteousness that was imputed and then a righteousness that was imparted. They were seeking to distinguish between the objective righteousness that Christ affords us and the subjective righteousness that we enact in our lives in the power of the Spirit. As believers, we are the grateful possessors of both.

Whatever your preferred terminology, this much is always true: the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ isn’t simply a free pass that excuses us to do as we please. No, the gospel calls us and empowers us to do what pleases the Lord. The key is that the gospel always turns us back to Jesus. As you look to Christ for your righteousness, He will enable you to “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely” and strengthen you to run the unique race God has set out for you (Hebrews 12:1-2). So today, be sure not to trust in your righteous living to earn you salvation or blessing from the Lord. But equally, be sure not to make the mistake of allowing your salvation to tempt you to be half-hearted in your pursuit of righteous living. You have been made righteous; now go and live righteously.

Questions for Thought

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?

Further Reading

Ephesians 5:8-15

Topics: Christian Living Imputed Righteousness Jesus Christ

FOOTNOTES

¹ Let’s Study Ephesians (Banner of Truth, 2015), p 181.

² Institutes of the Christian Religion 2.16.6, quoted in Bruce Milne, Know the Truth: A Handbook of Christian Belief, 3rd ed. (InterVarsity, 2009), p 212.

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg,

http://www.truthforlife.org

“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.

2 Corinthians 10:17-18

The world has always been quick to encourage people to believe in and boast in themselves. In Paul’s day, as now, the more you were able to say about yourself, what you’d done, and what you were planning to do, the greater the possibility that you’d advance your career, be well-liked, and prove yourself a “success.” And this thinking, if we are not careful, pervades our perspective on our lives, including our personal ministries. We ask ourselves, “Have I done ‘great’ things? Am I well-liked? Have I been a success?” But according to Paul, “What you say about yourself means nothing in God’s work. It’s what God says about you that makes the difference” (2 Corinthians 10:18, MSG).

Paul’s second letter to the Corinthian church is part of a very personal correspondence. Part of this letter involves a lengthy defense of his ministry in the face of strong criticism. While Paul isn’t concerned for his own reputation, he is concerned for the members of the body of Christ under his shepherding care. And out of that care emerge significant truths concerning boasting and humility, which we must take to heart.

Paul could easily have matched his critics in their own boasting (2 Corinthians 11:21b-23a), but instead he took a different approach (v 23b-29). Instead of bragging about his status and his service to God, he ran through an extensive list of his sufferings and weaknesses. He shared these failures, these weaknesses, because he viewed them as assets, as the key to knowing and experiencing God’s power and the ways in which God had weakened him before working through him. The principle here is often lost. We want everybody to know that we have it together, that we’re successful, that we don’t have any problems. But what are we doing? We’re making much of our accomplishments instead of making much of Christ! We’re giving the impression of our strength rather than relying on God’s. We put a fake shine on our old clay pots (2 Corinthians 4:7), forgetting that the beauty and usefulness come from what the pot holds: Christ’s power, which fills and flows over and through our cracks, our weaknesses.

We cannot boast in what God is doing as though we deserve it or boast in what God is doing through us as though we did it all ourselves. There is nothing uglier than spiritual pride—a boasting in something not our own, a boasting in something God-given. Where there is spiritual pride, there is no view of the cross. Make sure that in your successes and in your failings your song remains the same:

Naught have I gotten but what I received;
Grace hath bestowed it when I have believed;
Boasting excluded, pride I abase;
I’m only a sinner, saved by grace! ^[1]

Questions for Thought

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?

Further Reading

2 Corinthians 11:21-33

Topics: The Cross Pride Suffering

FOOTNOTES

¹ James Martin Gray, “Only a Sinner” (1905).

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg

http://www.truthforlife.org

When he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.”

Luke 19:41-42

Here is an opportunity to look, in the words of some past theologians, into “the human face of God.”

As the Son of God entered the city of God, Jerusalem, He wept. Why? He was shedding tears of compassion for its people, on account of the judgment that awaited them. Jesus loved the city, and He knew that the people who greeted Him did not understand the kind of peace He would bring—the peace that comes with knowing Him—and that many would reject Him and the offer of peace that He brought.

It wasn’t that the Jews were disinterested in peace. Indeed, they longed for it. But they thought it would come militarily or politically—that Jesus’ arrival would bring them triumph over the Roman authorities. They thought the peace they needed most was a horizontal peace. They didn’t know that in their desire for that peace they were in fact rejecting the message Jesus was bringing and the offer of a great peace He was making. On account of their ignorance and their blindness, then, Jesus wept.

In many ways, we are no different from the Jews who witnessed that first Holy Week. By nature, we experience the same blindness because of our sin. We tend to think of sin in terms of what we shouldn’t have done but have, or what we’ve failed to do even though we know we should. But in actual fact sin is a condition before it is an action. It blinds us to any awareness that we are at enmity with God. We cannot see our need for peace with God. We cannot see that all the other ways in which we lack peace horizontally stem ultimately from our lack of that vertical peace with our Maker. We cannot see the provision that has been made for peace through Jesus.

This lack of peace pervades individual hearts as well as families, communities, and nations. Only a relationship with the Prince of Peace can show us that He who once came to conquer sin and will come again to rule and reign as King also came as a prophet to speak into our ignorance and blindness.

The Bible says that it is first in knowing peace with God that we discover the peace of God—and that peace has been granted in the person and work of Jesus. So, meditate on the peace that you enjoy with your Creator because of the death and resurrection of His Son. Give thanks that His Spirit has opened your eyes to that which was hidden by sin from the city of Jerusalem. And pray that your heart would be as compassionate as His was, so that you weep over those who are seeking peace everywhere except where it may truly be found, and so that your tears cause you to hold out the offer of the peace that Jesus came to give and died to make.

Questions for Thought

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?

Further Reading

Colossians 1:15-23

Topics: Jesus Christ Peace Sin

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg,

http://www.truthforlife.org

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.

Exodus 20:17

The Ten Commandments do not go easy on us as they come to their close. Each of the four commands prior to the tenth deal primarily (though not exclusively) with our actions. This one takes a different approach, taking aim at our desires and our attitudes.

When God forbids coveting, He confronts us with a seemingly universal problem—the desire to have for ourselves what God has chosen to give to another. The object of our envy may take any number of forms—prestige, positions, and possessions, to name just a few. The apostle John knew how easily our hearts fall into coveting when he warned us, “Do not love the world or the things in the world … All that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world” (1 John 2:15-17).

In addition to understanding what and how easily we are tempted to covet, it’s important to acknowledge the ruinous effects coveting has on us. It spoils relationships and lies behind many of our disagreements; it is impossible to love someone while we covet something they have. It makes us selfish. And it causes us to fixate on material things.

All of these effects are touched on by one of Jesus’ warnings related to coveting. When a man approached Him with concerns about his inheritance, Jesus bypassed the question to get to the heart of the problem—and the warning is precisely what our covetous hearts need to hear: “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). How easily we forget this very truth, believing instead that true and lasting joy would be ours if we could only have a little more money, a little more fame, a little more free time, or a little more of whatever else we see others enjoying and covet for ourselves.

So how do we combat this dangerous sin? If coveting is a disordering of our desires, then we must actively cultivate right desires. Through Bible reading and prayer, through worship and fellowship, we can increase our appetite for godly things, all the while purposefully shrinking our appetite for worldly things. These kinds of habits will lead us into lives of contentment, so that we can say with the psalmist, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:25-26).

Do you long for your heart to be content? Do you want to guard against coveting? Then seek and find satisfaction in God alone. Next time you find you are sad for yourself rather than happy for another because they have a blessing that you do not, ask God to enable you to say to yourself, and to mean, “There is nothing on earth as great as knowing God. There is no earthly blessing that can endure to eternity. Therefore, I shall be satisfied in Him, and Him alone.”

Questions for Thought

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?

Further Reading

Philippians 4:8-13

Topics: Contentment Effects of Sin Jealousy

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg, 

http://www.truthforlife.org

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Exodus 20:16

Every command of Scripture serves not only as an instruction for our lives but also as a reflection of who God is. The command against adultery is rooted in His faithfulness. The forbidding of murder flows from the life-giving Lord. So it is with the ninth commandment against bearing false witness, which comes from the promise-keeping God of all truth, who does not and cannot lie (Numbers 23:19).

What does the Lord have in view when He instructs us not to bear false witness? It is surely safe to assume that this commandment concerns any form of speech that is less than truthful. There are many ways we fall short. We do it by outright deceit, when we provide false information or withhold the truth in some way. We do it when we participate in rumors, spreading gossip about others. We do it by slandering and flattering others. We do it when we exaggerate the truth, give false impressions, and are careless with the facts. All of this falls short of the divine standard.

A vital component of fighting against the temptation to lie is to understand why we lie in the first place. The source of lies is none other than Satan himself, about whom Jesus says, “When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). Deceit was his strategy in the Garden of Eden, when he approached Eve with a lying tongue. Tragically, we are often driven by the same motives as the Evil One when we lie: pride, hatred, and fear. We lie out of pride when we want others to think highly of us. We deceive out of hatred because we want to tear down someone else. We speak untruth out of a fear of the consequences that we think would result from the truth being known. In all of this, we lie because in those moments we love ourselves more than we love God and our neighbors.

The reality is that God hates deception (Proverbs 6:16-19). In order for us to walk in the truth, we must crucify our pride and be more concerned with what God thinks of us than with what someone else thinks of us. We must put away malice and pursue love for others, committing to never speaking slanderously or spreading gossip. And we must fight an ungodly fear of man, replacing it with the fear of God, who came in flesh and declared Himself to be “the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

The Lord Jesus has given His people His Spirit of truth (John 15:26), who empowers us to walk in the truth and put away falsehood. Only by His power are we increasingly conformed into the image of Christ and ever more reflecting the character of the God who gave the ninth commandment. Consider now in which situations and in what ways you are most often tempted to bear false witness. How will the truth about Jesus, His saving gospel, and His indwelling Spirit motivate you to speak differently from now on—to speak the truth, as a follower of the truth?

Questions for Thought

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?

Further Reading

Proverbs 6:16-19

Topics: Lying Satan Truth

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg, 

http://www.truthforlife.org

You shall not steal.

Exodus 20:15

This eighth commandment is, on its face, a simple instruction. But like all of Scripture, the commandments reward prayerful reflection. And when we approach this command carefully, we find that it reaches further into our lives than we first imagined.

To understand the true offense of stealing, we need to see the two biblical principles that undergird the eighth commandment. One is the right to private property; the other is the sovereign ownership of God over all He has made. In other words, God owns all things, and He grants temporary stewardship to us. So to steal something from someone is an offense against God as the ultimate owner and against the person who is stewarding it.

We will not, however, fully understand this commandment until we grasp the various ways it extends into our lives. Stealing can take many forms. There are the more obvious ones:

• blatant theft

• borrowing something we fail to return

• keeping dishonest records

• misusing our employer’s time

• paying unjust wages, withholding wages, or delaying wages

But there are other, less obvious ways to steal, which this commandment also speaks to:

• slandering others, thereby stealing their reputation

• sinning sexually with another, thereby stealing their moral purity

• plagiarizing, thereby stealing someone else’s work

• cheating in the classroom

• failing to give God what we owe Him (Malachi 3:8)

The eighth commandment leaves no stone of our lives unturned, and, if we are honest, we all find ourselves guilty of breaking it in one way or another. Yet in His grace and wisdom God not only tells us what not to do; He also tells us what to pursue: “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need” (Ephesians 4:28). The right response to the eighth commandment is not merely not to steal but to commit ourselves to lives of honesty, integrity, hard work, and generosity.

This is what we see in the life of Zacchaeus. He was a tax collector and guilty of stealing, yet when he encountered the Lord Jesus, he repented of his sin and restored what he had stolen, committing himself to making things right (Luke 19:7-8). This is what repentance and obedience look like when it comes to this command. So consider first: How have I been guilty of stealing? Of what am I being called to repent? And then ask yourself: How will I now commit myself to giving and sharing where once I was stealing?

Questions for Thought

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?

Further Reading

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Topics: Repentance Stealing Stewardship

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg,

http://www.truthforlife.org