Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

 ³⁶  “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ–this Jesus whom you crucified.”  Acts 2:33-36. 

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Verse 35 of today’s Scripture graphically describes the dominion of Christ.  It is quite a contrast to the paintings that we see of a long-haired weak hippy.  I am not saying that we should imagine Christ as butch-cut conservative on steroids.  Rather, I am saying that this contrast serves as an important reminder that we form our image of Christ from Scripture, and not from images such as paintings and statues or based just on our own desires and imaginations.

Verses 34 and 35 are a quote from Psalm Chapter 110.  It fills out the description of the total sovereignty and absolute power and shattering action of Christ’s dominion. 

“¹  The LORD says to my Lord:
         “Sit at My right hand
         Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
    ²  The LORD will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying,
         “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.”
    ³  Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power;
         In holy array, from the womb of the dawn,
         Your youth are to You as the dew.
    ⁴  The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind,
         “You are a priest forever
         According to the order of Melchizedek.”
    ⁵  The Lord is at Your right hand;
         He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath.
    ⁶  He will judge among the nations,
         He will fill them with corpses,
         He will shatter the chief men over a broad country.
    ⁷  He will drink from the brook by the wayside;
         Therefore He will lift up His head.”  Psalm Chapter 110.

Yet, even in this chapter of awesome fear-generating language of the Kingship of Christ, there is the hope that Christ is also our Priest in verse 4. 

The language of verses 5 and 6 reminds us of Psalm 2:7-9.

“⁷  “I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD:
         He said to Me, ‘You are My Son,
         Today I have begotten You.
    ⁸  ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance,
         And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.
    ⁹  ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron,
         You shall shatter them like earthenware.'”  Psalm 2:7-9.

What should be our response?

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Proverbs 9:10

“Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?”  Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins;  and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”  Acts 2:37-39.

 ²⁴  “But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.

 ²⁵  “For David says of Him,
         ‘I SAW THE LORD ALWAYS IN MY PRESENCE;
         FOR HE IS AT MY RIGHT HAND, SO THAT I WILL NOT BE SHAKEN.
    ²⁶  ‘THEREFORE MY HEART WAS GLAD AND MY TONGUE EXULTED;
         MOREOVER MY FLESH ALSO WILL LIVE IN HOPE;
    ²⁷  BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT ABANDON MY SOUL TO HADES,
         NOR ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY.
    ²⁸  ‘YOU HAVE MADE KNOWN TO ME THE WAYS OF LIFE;
         YOU WILL MAKE ME FULL OF GLADNESS WITH YOUR PRESENCE.’  

²⁹  “Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

 ³⁰  “And so, because he was a prophet and knew that GOD HAD SWORN TO HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT one OF HIS DESCENDANTS ON HIS THRONE,

 ³¹  he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID His flesh SUFFER DECAY.

 ³²  “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.”  Acts 2:22-32. 

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The Resurrection of Christ:  Prophesied.  In today’s Scripture, we read the prophecy of David which comes from Psalm 16:8-11. 

“⁸  I have set the LORD continually before me;
         Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
    ⁹  Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices;
         My flesh also will dwell securely.
    ¹⁰  For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol;
         Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.
    ¹¹  You will make known to me the path of life;
         In Your presence is fullness of joy;
         In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.”  Psalm 16:8-11.  

Not only are we thrilled to read this prophecy of Jesus as we ponder this pointing to Christ and His resurrection, we are thrilled to renew our commitment, even this Sunday morning as we prepare to go to church to also “set the LORD continually before me”.  Neither David nor Jesus are alone in receiving these wonderful promises:  “You will make known to me the path of life;  In Your presence is fullness of joy;  In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.”

The Resurrection of Christ:  Attested.

“Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst”.  The purpose of Jesus’ miracles was not only to show some spectacular signs and wonders or to provide some food or healing.  These miracles attested to the fact that Jesus was unique, the One and Only Christ, the One and Only Messiah, the One and Only Anointed of God, the One and Only Son of God.  We can fully trust Jesus as our LORD and Savior.  

The Resurrection of Christ:  Witnessed.

“This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.”  We remember the importance of the apostles being witnesses from the prior chapter of Acts 1.  Acts 1:3 states:  “To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.”  Acts 1:21-22 states:  “Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us– beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us–one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”

 ¹³  But others were mocking and saying, “They are full of sweet wine.” 

 ¹⁵  “For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day;

 ¹⁶  but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel:
    ¹⁷  ‘AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,’ God says,
         ‘THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND;
         AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY,
         AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS,
         AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS;
    ¹⁸  EVEN ON MY BONDSLAVES, BOTH MEN AND WOMEN,
         I WILL IN THOSE DAYS POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT
         And they shall prophesy.
    ¹⁹  ‘AND I WILL GRANT WONDERS IN THE SKY ABOVE
         AND SIGNS ON THE EARTH BELOW,
         BLOOD, AND FIRE, AND VAPOR OF SMOKE.
    ²⁰  ‘THE SUN WILL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS
         AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD,
         BEFORE THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS DAY OF THE LORD SHALL COME.
    ²¹  ‘AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’ ”  Acts 2:12-21.

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In above-stated verses 17 through 21, Peter quotes most of Joel 2:28-32.  Here is the full verse of Joel 2:32:  “And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD Will be delivered;  For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem There will be those who escape, As the LORD has said, Even among the survivors whom the LORD calls.”  I think that this Joel 2:32 verse is important, as well as the whole book of Joel, which prophesies about these “last days” for several reasons.  The Book of Joel reminds us that salvation is based on election “whom the LORD calls”, and the Book of Joel reminds us that in these last days God is not only exercising His lovingkindness, God is also exercising His justice. 

There is a broad pouring out of the Holy Spirit when we consider that Scripture only mentions a few receiving the Holy Spirit in the beginning of the New Testament (not including the Old Testament) from John the Baptist and Jesus to the twelve disciples to the 120 at Pentecost to the 3,000 and more at this initial pouring evidenced by Acts 2:41 to many more later.  This is certainly an exponential pouring out of the Spirit both in terms of numbers of people and in terms of different types of people (Jews and Gentiles and all nations).  In that sense, the Spirit was poured out on all mankind.

But, I do think that we need to be careful to understand that not everyone receives the Holy Spirit and that God still hates the wicked and intends on fully punishing them to fulfill His justice.  We get that sense when we read the Book of Joel. 

In conclusion, this Scripture for today should not make us careless into thinking that God loves everyone and that it is within our control to call upon the name of the LORD and be saved whenever we want.  We should not neglect the fear of the LORD and repentance.  Rather, we should adopt the following attitude of fear of the LORD and repentance along with this hope of the pouring out of Holy Spirit which is in the same chapter of Joel 2 which Peter quotes in the Scripture for today. 

“¹¹  The LORD utters His voice before His army;
         Surely His camp is very great,
         For strong is he who carries out His word
         The day of the LORD is indeed great and very awesome,
         And who can endure it?
    ¹²  “Yet even now,” declares the LORD,
         “Return to Me with all your heart,
         And with fasting, weeping and mourning;
    ¹³  And rend your heart and not your garments ”
         Now return to the LORD your God,
         For He is gracious and compassionate,
         Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness
         And relenting of evil.”  Joel 2:11-13.

 ³  And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.

 ⁴  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

 ⁵  Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven.

 ⁶  And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language.

 ⁷  They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans?

 ⁸  “And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born?

 ⁹  “Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,

 ¹⁰  Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,

 ¹¹  Cretans and Arabs–we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.”  Acts 2:1-11. 

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“¹  Praise the LORD!
         Praise God in His sanctuary;
         Praise Him in His mighty expanse.
    ²  Praise Him for His mighty deeds;
         Praise Him according to His excellent greatness.
    ³  Praise Him with trumpet sound;
         Praise Him with harp and lyre.
    ⁴  Praise Him with timbrel and dancing;
         Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe.
    ⁵  Praise Him with loud cymbals;
         Praise Him with resounding cymbals.
    ⁶  Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
         Praise the LORD!”  Psalm Chapter 159.

As interesting as it may be to marvel at the signs and wonder, let us not forget to speak of the mighty deeds of God and praise Him! 

“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth;  for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak;  and He will disclose to you what is to come.  “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.”  John 16:13-14. 

The Holy Spirit guides us into all the truth, discloses to us the mighty deeds of God, and empowers us to glorify God and praise God and boldly speak about these mighty deeds of God.

 ²³  So they put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and Matthias.

 ²⁴  And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen

 ²⁵  to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.”

 ²⁶  And they drew lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias;  and he was added to the eleven apostles.”  Acts 1:21-26. 

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Not much is mentioned about Matthias in Scripture about Matthias.  When I did a BibleGateway keyword search, his name only appeared in this Scripture for today.

Yet, this Scripture informs us that Matthias accompanied Jesus and the rest of the apostles the whole time “beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He (Jesus) was taken up from us”.  That was only about three years, but it probably seemed like a lifetime for Matthias.

We can imagine Matthias quietly and patiently waiting in the shadows.  We can imagine Matthias not only witnessing Jesus but also witnessing Judas.  We can imagine that Matthias may have been skeptical of Judas and may have wondered why Judas was chosen to be one of the twelve disciples rather than himself. 

Most of us have been like Matthias at times of our lives.  We may witness and work in the shadows without honor or even recognition, while others, less qualified and less sincere than us (maybe they are even evil), seem to prosper and get all the honor and recognition.  We may fret.  We may envy.  

Psalm Chapter 37 may apply to Judas and Matthias.  Psalm Chapter 37 may apply to you.  Here is the link to the full chapter followed by a quote of the first 11 verses – Click here: Psalm 37 – Passage Lookup – New American Standard Bible – BibleGateway.com

“¹  Do not fret because of evildoers,
         Be not envious toward wrongdoers.
    ²  For they will wither quickly like the grass
         And fade like the green herb.
    ³  Trust in the LORD and do good;
         Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
    ⁴  Delight yourself in the LORD;
         And He will give you the desires of your heart.
    ⁵  Commit your way to the LORD,
         Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
    ⁶  He will bring forth your righteousness as the light
         And your judgment as the noonday.
    ⁷  Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him;
         Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
         Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
    ⁸  Cease from anger and forsake wrath;
         Do not fret;  it leads only to evildoing.
    ⁹  For evildoers will be cut off,
         But those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land.
    ¹⁰  Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more;
         And you will look carefully for his place and he will not be there.
    ¹¹  But the humble will inherit the land
         And will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.”  Psalm 37:1-11.

 ¹⁴  These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.”  Acts 1:12-14. 

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Place for Prayer should be free from distractions and accolades.  “So he entered and shut the door behind them both and prayed to the LORD.”  2 Kings 4:33  “But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”  Matthew 6:6  Here, in today’s Scripture, likewise, we notice that they went up to the upper room to pray away from the crowds and the distractions. 

People of Prayer should include each of us.  In today’s Scripture, rather than just state the apostles went up to the upper room to pray, the Scripture mentions the individual names of each of them (Judas Iscariot, the only other one, was dead after he betrayed Jesus.)  Each of us is important.    Throughout Scripture, we see that prayer is not reserved for priests, ministers, and elders, but all people are commanded to pray from the greatest to the least.  “If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”  2 Chronicles 7:13-14.  In Jonah Chapter 3, we can learn a lesson where we read:  “Then the people of Nineveh believed in God;  and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them.”  Jonah 3:5.  “But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth; and let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands.”  Jonah 3:8.   

 ¹¹  They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky?  This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”  Acts 1:9-11.

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It should make us think why the angels (“two men in white clothing”) changed the focus of the apostles from the Ascension to the Second Coming. 

Did the angels do so to lessen the sorrow of the apostles?  Maybe.  But, there was no indication of sorrow here in this text, although we can infer that the apostles would miss the bodily presence of Jesus.

Did the angels feel that the apostles were wasting time?  Maybe.  But, there was no indication of the apostles wasting time in this text.

Did the angels know that there was no spiritual meaning to the Ascension?  No!  There is abundant spiritual meaning to the Ascension!  For example, consider the following from The Westminister Larger Catechism. 

Question 53:  How was Christ exalted in his ascension?

Answer:  Christ was exalted in his ascension, in that having after his resurrection often appeared unto and conversed with his apostles, speaking to them of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God, and giving them commission to preach the gospel to all nations, forty days after his resurrection, he, in our nature, and as our head, triumphing over enemies, visibly went up into the highest heavens, there to receive gifts for men, to raise up our affections thither, and to prepare a place for us, where himself is, and shall continue till his second coming at the end of the world.

The following Scripture and Reformed Confession answers the question as to why the angels changed the focus from the Ascension to the Second Coming.

“I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge, even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you, so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  1 Corinthians 1:4-8. 

“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;”  Philippians 3:20.  

“And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.  For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?  But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.”  Romans 8:23-25. 

“Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!  But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.”  2 Peter 3:11-12. 

“looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,”  Titus 2:13.     

1 Peter 1:13
“Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be.  We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.  And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”  1 John 3:2-3.

We will close with the following from The Heidelberg Catechism.

Question 52.  What comfort is it to thee that “Christ shall come again to judge the quick and the dead”?

Answer.  That in all my sorrows and persecutions, with uplifted head I look for the very same person, who before offered himself for my sake, to the tribunal of God, and has removed all curse from me, to come as judge from heaven: who shall cast all his and my enemies into everlasting condemnation, but shall translate me with all his chosen ones to himself, into heavenly joys and glory.

 ³  To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.

 ⁴  Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me;

 ⁵  for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

 ⁶  So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”

 ⁷  He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;

 ⁸  but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”  Acts 1:1-8.

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Good witnesses observe and remember and accurately recount important facts.  “To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.”  Acts 1:3.

Good witnesses know the limits of their testimony and do not attempt to testify as to things about which they do not know.  “So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”  He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;”  Acts 1:6-7. 

Good witnesses boldly speak the truth in love.  “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth;  for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak;  and He will disclose to you what is to come.”  John 16:13  “but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,”  Ephesians 4:15  “but after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition.”  1 Thessalonians 2:2

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There is a lot of difference between the testimony of one who testifies that God loves everybody and the testimony of another who testifies that God only loves His elect.  Both testimonies cannot be true.

There is a lot of difference between the testimony of one who testifies that Jesus died for everybody and the testimony of another who testifies that Jesus only died for His elect.  Both testimonies cannot be true. 

There is a lot of difference between the testimony of one who testifies that that man is only severely affected by sin (but is able on his own to produce his own works and his own will to secure his own salvation) and the testimony of another man is dead in sin (and is unable on his own to produce his own works or even just his own will to secure his own salvation) .  Both testimonies cannot be true.

There is a lot of difference between the testimony of one who testifies that man is ultimately in charge of whether or not he will be saved based on his own free will and the testimony of another who testifies that God is ultimately in charge of whether or not a man will be saved based on His sovereign election alone.  Both testimonies cannot be true.

There is a lot of difference between the testimony of one who testifies that God only delights in lovingkindness and the testimony of another who testifies that God delights in both lovingkindness and justice.  Both testimonies cannot be true.

How do we know which testimony is true?

By our own desires and feelings?  By some mystic or special revelation?  By the teaching of someone we respect or like?

By Scripture!

One of “The Five Solas of the Reformation” is “Sola Scriptura”, Latin words meaning “Scripture alone”.  Here is what Rev. Rodney Kleyn of the Trinity Protestant Reformed Church in Hudsonville, Michigan stated about it:

 ¹⁹  Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God.  And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me!”

 ²⁰  Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them;  the one who also had leaned back on His bosom at the supper and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?”

 ²¹  So Peter seeing him said to Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man?”

 ²²  Jesus said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?  You follow Me!”

 ²³  Therefore this saying went out among the brethren that that disciple would not die;  yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but only, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?”  John 21:18-23. 

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Jesus commands us:  “Follow me!”  We should not hesitate to make sure that everyone else has the same marching orders.

As parents, we are all too familiar with a similar reaction of one of our children when we ask that child to do something.  That child will typically react by hesitating and exclaiming:  “What about my brother!  Why does he not have to do this job!”

We would do well to remember Jesus’ words in Luke 14:27
“Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”

This duty may be clear, but who has the strength and faithfulness, to even just figuratively, carry his own cross to his own crucifixion?

But, there is hope!

John 10:4
“When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.

John 10:27
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;

But, our focus should not just be on us, dumb sheep, and our own ability to hear Christ’s voice and our own ability to follow.  We have a Good Shepherd Who brings us to where we need to be. 

“²  He makes me lie down in green pastures;
         He leads me beside quiet waters.
    ³  He restores my soul;
         He guides me in the paths of righteousness
         For His name’s sake.
    ⁴  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
         I fear no evil, for You are with me;
         Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”  Psalm 23:2-4.