Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

Today’s devotion comes from Acts 19:11-20.

“God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out.  But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.”  Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.  And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”  And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.  This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in Ephesus;  and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified.  Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices.  And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone;  and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.  So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing.”  Acts 19:11-20.

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“So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;
It will not return to Me empty,
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”  Isaiah 55:11.

“9 “Remember the former things long past,
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is no one like Me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things which have not been done,
Saying, ‘My purpose will be established,
And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;
11 Calling a bird of prey from the east,
The man of My purpose from a far country.
Truly I have spoken;  truly I will bring it to pass.
I have planned it, surely I will do it.”  Isaiah 46:9-11.

God accomplishes all of His good pleasure.  Total Perfect Triumph.

“Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches;  but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth;  for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD.”  Jeremiah 9:23-24.

“The LORD has established His throne in the heavens,
And His sovereignty rules over all.”  Psalm 103:19.

Today’s devotion comes from Acts 19:8-10.

“And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.  But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the people, he withdrew from them and took away the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.  This took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.”  Acts 19:8-10.

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Paul protected himself and his disciples from those who were “hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the people”.  Paul withdrew from them and took away the disciples.

“A prudent man sees evil and hides himself,
The naive proceed and pay the penalty.”  Proverbs 27:12.

“14 Do not enter the path of the wicked
And do not proceed in the way of evil men.
15 Avoid it, do not pass by it;
Turn away from it and pass on.”  Proverbs 4:14-15.

“He who walks with wise men will be wise,
But the companion of fools will suffer harm.”  Proverbs 13:20.

“But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.  Reject a factious (quarrelsome) man after a first and second warning, knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned.”  Titus 3:9-11.

“But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.  For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,  unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power;  Avoid such men as these.”  2 Timothy 3:1-5.

“How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.”  Psalm 1:1-3.

Thanksgiving Day

“In God we have boasted all day long,
And we will give thanks to Your name forever.  Selah.”  Psalm 44:8.

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As we count our blessings on this Thanksgiving Day, the following Scripture comes to the front.

It is like we are in a fog of a variety of pleasant sights but then the fog lifts and we see the one rock-solid mountain of God’s grace.

“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.  Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.  But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith;  and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;  not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”  Ephesians 2:1-9.

Today’s devotion comes from Acts 18:23-28.  The next devotion, God willing, will be Friday, November 29, 2019, because on Thursday, “In God we have boasted all day long, And we will give thanks to Your name forever.  Selah.”   Psalm 44:8.

“And having spent some time there, he left and passed successively through the Galatian region and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

Now a Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus;  and he was mighty in the Scriptures.  This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord;  and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John;  and he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue.  But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.  And when he wanted to go across to Achaia, the brethren encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him;  and when he had arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.”  Acts 18:23-28.

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Although today’s Scripture is filled with elements of a successful mission trip, the converts “believed through grace”.  Verse 27.

Consider all the favorable elements of this successful mission trip.  There was a preacher who was instructed in the way of the Lord, and he was eloquent, fervent in spirit, speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus.  He was speaking out boldly.  There were others who sharpened him and encouraged him and introduced him to the disciples to welcome him.  His preaching was powerful and persuasive.

And yet, those who had believed did so, not through all of these elements, but they “believed through grace”.

Other doctrine trust man and “the variety show” that the preacher presents with flashing lights and loud, repetitive music performed by rock stars and followed by cute jokes and stories by the preacher, all of which combine to draw our attention to man.  

But, Reformed Doctrine trusts God and His grace and His Word, all of which combine to draw our attention to God.  

Consider what the Canons of Dordt states in the section THIRD AND FOURTH HEADS OF DOCTRINE Of the Corruption of Man, His Conversion to God, and the Manner Thereof.

I quote here the last sentence followed by all of Articles 11 and 12.  “Wherefore also, man is himself rightly said to believe and repent, by virtue of that grace received.”

“Article 11.  But when God accomplishes his good pleasure in the elect, or works in them true conversion, he not only causes the gospel to be externally preached to them, and powerfully illumines their minds by his Holy Spirit, that they may rightly understand and discern the things of the Spirit of God;  but by the efficacy of the same regenerating Spirit, pervades the inmost recesses of the man;  he opens the closed, and softens the hardened heart, and circumcises that which was uncircumcised, infuses new qualities into the will, which though heretofore dead, he quickens;  from being evil, disobedient and refractory, he renders it good, obedient, and pliable;  actuates and strengthens it, that like a good tree, it may bring forth the fruits of good actions.

Article 12.  And this is the regeneration so highly celebrated in Scripture, and denominated a new creation:  a resurrection from the dead, a making alive, which God works in us without our aid.  But this is in no wise effected merely by the external preaching of the gospel, by moral suasion, or such a mode of operation, that after God has performed his part, it still remains in the power of man to be regenerated or not, to be converted, or to continue unconverted;  but it is evidently a supernatural work, most powerful, and at the same time most delightful, astonishing, mysterious, and ineffable;  not inferior in efficacy to creation, or the resurrection from the dead, as the Scripture inspired by the author of this work declares;  so that all in whose heart God works in this marvelous manner, are certainly, infallibly, and effectually regenerated, and do actually believe.  – Whereupon the will thus renewed, is not only actuated and influenced by God, but in consequence of this influence, becomes itself active.  Wherefore also, man is himself rightly said to believe and repent, by virtue of that grace received.”

“For by grace you have been saved through faith;  and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;  not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”  Ephesians 2:8-9.

Today’s devotion comes from Acts 17:16-21.

“Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols.  So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be present.  And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him.  Some were saying, “What would this idle babbler wish to say?”  Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.  And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is which you are proclaiming?  For you are bringing some strange things to our ears;  so we want to know what these things mean.”  (Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)”  Acts 17:16-21.

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“…  Some were saying, “What would this idle babbler wish to say?”  Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.”  Verse 18.

“For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom;  but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”  1 Corinthians 1:22-24.

“10 “You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD,
“And My servant whom I have chosen,
So that you may know and believe Me
And understand that I am He.
Before Me there was no God formed,
And there will be none after Me.
11 “I, even I, am the LORD,
And there is no savior besides Me.
12 “It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed,
And there was no strange god among you;
So you are My witnesses,” declares the Lord,
“And I am God.
13 “Even from eternity I am He,
And there is none who can deliver out of My hand;
I act and who can reverse it?”  Isaiah 43:10-13.

“But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.”  1 Corinthians 1:30-31.