Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

 ⁹  Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip?  He who has seen Me has seen the Father;  how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

 ¹⁰  “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me?  The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.

 ¹¹  “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me;  otherwise believe because of the works themselves.

 ¹²  “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also;  and greater works than these he will do;  because I go to the Father.”  John 14:7-12.

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Jesus is “the image of the invisible God”.  Colossians 1:15.  Jesus is “the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature”.  Hebrews 1:3.

Here is what Article 10 of The Belgic Confession states in part about Jesus.

Article 10:  That Jesus Christ is true and eternal God.

We believe that Jesus Christ, according to his divine nature, is the only begotten Son of God, begotten from eternity, not made nor created (for then he should be a creature), but co-essential and co-eternal with the Father, the express image of his person, and the brightness of his glory, equal unto him in all things. He is the Son of God, not only from the time that he assumed our nature, but from all eternity, as these testimonies, when compared together, teach us. Moses saith, that God created the world; and John saith, that all things were made by that Word, which he calleth God.  And the apostle saith, that God make the worlds by his Son;  likewise, that God created all things by Jesus Christ.  Therefore it must needs follow, that he, who is called God, the Word, the Son, and Jesus Christ, did exist at that time, when all things were created by him.  Therefore the prophet Micah saith, His goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. And the apostle:  He hath neither beginning of days, nor end of life.  He therefore is that true, eternal, and almighty God, whom we invoke, worship and serve.

In conclusion, this doctrine about Jesus’ oneness with His Father is not just an abstract truth.  This truth immediately follows John 14:6, and this truth should makes us ever more confident that Jesus is “the way, and the truth, and the life;  no one comes to the Father but through Me.”  John 14:6.  When God the Father promised salvation to His people throughout Scripture, the relationship between Him and His Son Jesus Christ was so close, that God the Father knew He could and would deliver that salvation.

In the Scripture for today, Jesus states:  “the Father abiding in Me does His works“.  Elsewhere in Scripture, we read:  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”  John 3:16.

“For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute.  In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.  This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”  Hebrews 6:16-20.

 ⁶  Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life;  no one comes to the Father but through Me.”  John 14:4-6.

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“I know that!”  We may want to rush past by this Scripture to something more interesting.  But, there is more here than seems at first glance.  There is more than the objective truth that Jesus is the only way. 

 ³  “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”  John 14:1-3.

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This Scripture is a follow-up to Jesus’ potentially troubling words in the prior chapter.  “Little children, I am with you a little while longer You will seek Me;  and as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ ”  John 13:33.

Jesus did not want His disciples to be troubled, and so he assures them with this promise:  “that where I am, there you may be also.”  

We tend to focus on verse 2, and we focus on mansions, and we let our imaginations go wild, fueled on dreams of luxury.  But, I think the focus should be on verse 3.  The focus should be on Christ, and we should meditate on the supreme value of simply being in the presence of Christ.  A former Pastor exhorted us, his congregation:  “Seek Christ’s presence, not just His presents.”

We also tend to think too little of a belief in Christ.  We tend to be satisfied with a belief in the historical existence of Christ and that Christ is indeed our Savior.  We tend to be satisfied that Christ can save us from hell (protection) and give us heaven (presents). 

But, how much do we really value simply being in His presence?  If we were one of Christ’s disciples and heard those words (‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’), would it really trouble us?  How would it trouble us?  Would it simply trouble us that we might not get some perceived protection or presents?  Or, would it trouble us because we love Christ so much that we would be troubled just because we thought that we could no longer be in His presence?

I wish I could answer those questions the right way, but I must confess that I seek His protection and presents more than His presence.   

Others may be eager like Peter to claim:  “… I will lay down my life for You.”  John 13:47.  But, before they get too cocky, they should remember the rooster.

We need to go beyond a superficial belief to a deep belief in Christ that primarily seeks the supreme value of simply being in the presence of Christ.  We need to seek Christ’s presence when Christ’s protection and presents seem to disappear.  We need to seek Christ’s presence even though it means that we will be persecuted.

This is not just a matter of just trying harder, even though yes, we should try harder.  We really need God’s grace to have the faith and the love that we should for Christ.

But, there is hope! 

Here is what Paul said at a time when he claimed, like some of us, that he acted “ignorantly in unbelief” and that he was not only just a sinner but “foremost of all” sinners. 

Paul said at that time of confession:  “and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus.”  1 Timothy 1:14.  The faith and the love that we need are in Christ, and this grace is more than abundant!  Praise God!!!

 ³⁸  Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for Me?  Truly, truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times.”  John 13:36-38.

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The Humble Pie doesn’t taste good.  But, it is good for us.  No one likes to hear The Rooster crowing in the morning signaling:  “Time to get up!”  But, it is good for us.  Yesterday, I ate humble pie and then heard the rooster crow.

Why?  Is it really necessary?  I certainly know that I am far from perfect, but I think I am doing some things right.

Question and Answer 115 of The Heidelberg Catechism provides the answer and The Hope.

Question 115.  Why will God then have the ten commandments so strictly preached, since no man in this life can keep them?

Answer.  First, that all our lifetime we may learn more and more to know our sinful nature, and thus become the more earnest in seeking the remission of sin, and righteousness in Christ;  likewise, that we constantly endeavor and pray to God for the grace of the Holy Spirit, that we may become more and more conformable to the image of God, till we arrive at the perfection proposed to us, in a life to come.

The Hope is also almost hidden in today’s Scripture:  “but you will follow later.”

 ³⁵  “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”  John 13:33-35.

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The central message of this Scripture for today is that Jesus commands us to love another.  This commandment is a good summary of what we read earlier in this chapter, namely, that we wash one another’s feet.  John 13:14.  As I wrote in the devotion for December 31, 2010, “Although we cannot clean each other from sin, we can be kind to each other and forgive each other and encourage each other and build each other up.”

This Scripture also reminds us that we can do more.  Love encompasses a lot more than being kind, forgiving, encouraging, and building up.

Love can include the act of a husband and father working hard to provide financial support for his family.  Love can include the act of a wife and mother cleaning toilets and changing diapers.  Of course, a husband and father should also clean toilets and change diapers, and a wife may be able to provide some financial support;  but love does not wait until the other person does what he or she thinks is that other person’s fair share before he or she does all that he or she can do out of love.

This Scripture drove me to the carpet in repentance early this morning.  Yesterday, I nitpicked both my wife and sons.  I hurt their feelings.  Rather, than doing all that I could do out of love, I criticized them for some small things that I thought they should do.

“If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge;  and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.”  1 Corinthians 13:1-2.

 ²³  There was reclining on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved.

 ²⁴  So Simon Peter gestured to him, and said to him, “Tell us who it is of whom He is speaking.”

 ²⁵  He, leaning back thus on Jesus’ bosom, said to Him, “Lord, who is it?”

 ²⁶  Jesus then answered, “That is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him.”  So when He had dipped the morsel, He took and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.

 ²⁷  After the morsel, Satan then entered into him.  Therefore Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.”

 ²⁸  Now no one of those reclining at the table knew for what purpose He had said this to him.

 ²⁹  For some were supposing, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus was saying to him, “Buy the things we have need of for the feast”;  or else, that he should give something to the poor.

 ³⁰  So after receiving the morsel he went out immediately;  and it was night.”  John 13:21-30. 

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The disciples were troubled and at a loss to know of which one Jesus was speaking:  “Truly, truly, I say to you, that one of you will betray Me.”  

Peter was wise in using John, who was the disciple “whom Jesus loved” and who was leaning on Jesus’ bosom, to get the answer to everyone’s question:  “Lord, who is it?”.  Peter knew that John appeared closer to Jesus than the rest of the disciples, who was literally leaning on Jesus’ bosom and who was figuratively leaning on Jesus for an answer.  

Of course, Jesus would not answer such a question against His will.  Even after His answer, the disciples still did not understand.  But, Jesus does answer the question and disclose out of such closeness, and I do think this close situation and this disclosure arising out of this close situation give us a taste of what we can expect as Christians who are also loved by the Lord and who are also close to the Lord.

John 16:13-15 tells us:  “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.  “All things that the Father has are Mine;  therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.”

We have the Spirit of truth Who guides us into all the truth and Who takes of Jesus and discloses it to us.  We are closer to Jesus than John was when he leaned on Jesus’ bosom, because we have this Spirit of Jesus, this Spirit of truth.

As I write these devotions, I should write out of such faith.  As you preach or teach, you should write out of such faith.  As we read Scripture and listen to sermons, we should do so out of such faith.  As we all live our lives, we should live out of such faith that “the Spirit of truth … will guide you into all the truth”.

 ¹⁸  “I do not speak of all of you I know the ones I have chosen;  but it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘HE WHO EATS MY BREAD HAS LIFTED UP HIS HEEL AGAINST ME.’

 ¹⁹  “From now on I am telling you before it comes to pass, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am He.

 ²⁰  “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me;  and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.”  John 13:16-20.

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This devotion focuses on the importance of doing God’s Word.  As stated in today’s Scripture, “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.”  John 13:17. 

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.  “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house;  and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.

“Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.  “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell–and great was its fall.”

When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching;  for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.”  Matthew 7:24-29.

To pound this point home, Jesus deflected praise about His mother to teach this importance of doing God’s Word.  “While Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed.”  But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”  Luke 11:27-28.

James 1:22-27 ties it together. 

“²²  But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.

 ²³  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;

 ²⁴  for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.

 ²⁵  But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

 ²⁶  If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.

 ²⁷  Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this:  to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”  James 1:22-27. 

Who can do what we should?!  But, there is hope and comfort!!

We are all very aware of the first Question and Answer of The Heidelberg Catechism, copied below, but please pay close and particular attention to the last phrase and promise that I have put in bold italic.

Question 1.  What is thy only comfort in life and death?

Answer.  That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Savior Jesus Christ;  who, with his precious blood, hath fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil;  and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head;  yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him.  

In conclusion, one of my favorite verses is Ezekiel 36:27.  “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”  Ezekiel 36:27

 ¹⁴  “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.

 ¹⁵  “For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.”  John 13:12-15. 

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“Christ completely cleans us, His church, from sin” as stated in yesterday’s devotion;  that is the truth illustrated through the visual and physical display of washing the feet.  Although we cannot clean each other from sin, we can be kind to each other and forgive each other and encourage each other and build each other up. 

Ephesians 4:32
“Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”

1 Thessalonians 5:11
“Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.”

 ⁷  Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.”

 ⁸  Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”

 ⁹  Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.”

 ¹⁰  Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean;  and you are clean, but not all of you.”

 ¹¹  For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.”  John 13:5-11. 

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Christ completely cleans us, His church, from sin:  “so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.”  Ephesians 5:26-27.

You have seen how little boys try to clean themselves.  They are still quite dirty even after their attempts.  We too would do a poor job of cleaning ourselves if the job was dependent on our will and skill.  But, Christ is the One Who cleans, and He completely cleans us from all sin. 

“⁷  Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
         Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
    ⁸  Make me to hear joy and gladness,
         Let the bones which You have broken rejoice.
    ⁹  Hide Your face from my sins
         And blot out all my iniquities.
    ¹⁰  Create in me a clean heart, O God,
         And renew a steadfast spirit within me.”  Psalm 51:7-9.

“¹⁸  “Come now, and let us reason together,”
         Says the LORD,
         “Though your sins are as scarlet,
         They will be as white as snow;
         Though they are red like crimson,
         They will be like wool.”  Isaiah 1:18.

Praise God!

“¹⁸  Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity
         And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession?
         He does not retain His anger forever,
         Because He delights in unchanging love.
    ¹⁹  He will again have compassion on us;
         He will tread our iniquities under foot.
         Yes, You will cast all their sins
         Into the depths of the sea.
    ²⁰  You will give truth to Jacob
         And unchanging love to Abraham,
         Which You swore to our forefathers
         From the days of old.”  Micah 7:18-20.