Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

 

Calvin, in his Commentary on this Scripture, states:  “…  The knowledge of the divine favor, it is true, must be sought for in the Word of God; nor has faith any other foundation on which it can rest with security except his word;  …  David declares what was the chief object of his desire, and what end he had in view in seeking deliverance from his calamities, when he says, Let them direct me, and lead me to thy holy hill. As the chief cause of his sorrow consisted in his being banished from the congregation of the godly, so he places the height of all his enjoyments in this, that he might be at liberty to take part in the exercises of religion, and to worship God in the sanctuary. …” 

                                                 

So, do you want to seek God?  Do you want His favor? 

                                                    

Step one is to read His Word.  “O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me”. 

                                                      

Step two is attend church.  “Let them bring me to Your holy hill And to Your dwelling places.   Then I will go to the altar of God,  To God my exceeding joy”.  

Today’s devotion was Revelation 19:11-21.  Too often, we think of Jesus Christ just as a Savior, rather than as Lord and Savior.  In this Scripture, Jesus Christ is called “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS”, and we can easily see why.  Yes, Jesus Christ saves His Beloved Elect, but He also punishes His enemies. 

 

^“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. 

 

Yes, the LORD exercises lovingkindness and saves His Beloved Elect, but the LORD also exercises justice and punishes His enemies.  Those two activities are often mentioned together in Scripture.  But here, we just see the activity of the LORD punishing His enemies.

                                               

The Coming of Christ     

                                                                                        

 “¹¹  And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. 

¹²  His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.

 ¹³  He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.

 ¹⁴  And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.

 ¹⁵  From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.

 ¹⁶  And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

 ¹⁷  Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, “Come, assemble for the great supper of God,

 ¹⁸  so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great.”

 ¹⁹  And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.” 

 ²⁰  And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.

 ²¹  And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.”

Revelation 19:11-21.   

Dear Family and Friends:

                                                               

 

I liked today’s (July 11, 2009) Daily Confession which I copied and pasted below.  Here is the link to the web site Daily Confession in case you want to read the foregoing Daily Confession in its original format and/or want to save the web site as a “Favorite” – Click here: Daily Confession 

                                                                          

 

Spurgeon’s devotion for this Morning of July 9 titled “Forget not all His benefits”, copied and pasted below, reminds us of the importance of being more aware of the benefits that God gives to each of us personally. 

 

The Shorter Catechism teaches:

“Q. 1. What is the chief end of man? 

A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.”

 

This reminder to “Forget not all His benefits” causes us to glorify God more, to enjoy God more, and to trust God more which will lead us to act personally on our faith more. 

                                                                         

“Forget not all His benefits.”

Psalm 103:2

It is a delightful and profitable occupation to mark the hand of God in the lives of ancient saints, and to observe his goodness in delivering them, his mercy in pardoning them, and his faithfulness in keeping his covenant with them. But would it not be even more interesting and profitable for us to remark the hand of God in our own lives? Ought we not to look upon our own history as being at least as full of God, as full of his goodness and of his truth, as much a proof of his faithfulness and veracity, as the lives of any of the saints who have gone before? We do our Lord an injustice when we suppose that he wrought all his mighty acts, and showed himself strong for those in the early time, but doth not perform wonders or lay bare his arm for the saints who are now upon the earth. Let us review our own lives. Surely in these we may discover some happy incidents, refreshing to ourselves and glorifying to our God. Have you had no deliverances? Have you passed through no rivers, supported by the divine presence? Have you walked through no fires unharmed? Have you had no manifestations? Have you had no choice favors? The God who gave Solomon the desire of his heart, hath he never listened to you and answered your requests? That God of lavish bounty of whom David sang, “Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things,” hath he never satiated you with fatness? Have you never been made to lie down in green pastures? Have you never been led by the still waters? Surely the goodness of God has been the same to us as to the saints of old. Let us, then, weave his mercies into a song. Let us take the pure gold of thankfulness, and the jewels of praise and make them into another crown for the head of Jesus. Let our souls give forth music as sweet and as exhilarating as came from David’s harp, while we praise the Lord whose mercy endureth forever.

Here is the link to Spurgeon’s devotion in case you want to read it in its original format and/or save it as a “Favorite”.  If you read it later than this morning of July 9, another devotion will appear, and you will need to click on “Prev” blue link at the left top of the devotion to go back to this “Morning, July 9” devotion. 

My devotion for today included Revelation 16:7-11.  This post focuses on the justice of God’s judgments, the pouring out of God’s wrath and punishment on the wicked, and the failure of the wicked to repent.  

 

                                        

My devotion for today covered Revelation Chapter 15.  This post focuses on “The Song”.

                                                  

The Song                                                                                

On his commentary of Revelation Chapter 15, Rev. Herman Hoeksema in his book Behold he Cometh!  An Exposition of the Book of Revelation at page 525 compares the leading by Moses of the people out of the bondage of Egypt with the leading of Christ of the people out of the bondage of sin.  Rev. Hoeksema furthermore compares the song of Moses with this song and states:  “And for that same reason they now sing the same song, exalting the power of Jehovah, the salvation of His people, and the wrath visited upon the wicked power of opposition.”

In conclusion, the first post talked generally about God’s TOTAL PERFECT TRIUMPH.  The second post talked about a specific example of TOTAL PERFECT TRIUMPH:  THE REVELATION OF THE REAPERS, and like this song, the Revelation of the Reapers also exalted the power of God, the salvation of His people, and the wrath visited upon the wicked.   This third post “sings” The Song of this TOTAL PERFECT TRIUMPH.

As some of you may know, I am reading through the Book of Revelation.  You may have noticed that my posts have become more infrequent and that I have not written much, if anything, on my devotions.  Revelation is difficult for me to understand.  Nevertheless, it is an important book.  Revelation 1:3 states:  “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it;  for the time is near.”

 

It is time to write.  My devotion for today concerned Revelation 14:14-20.  This concerns the story of the Reapers.

                                                    

The Reapers   

                                         

^“Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man, having a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand.  And another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.”  Then He who sat on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.

And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle.  Then another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, “Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe.”  So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God.  And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses’ bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles.”  Revelation 14:14-20.

On his commentary of Revelation 14:14-20, Rev. Herman Hoeksema in his book Behold he Cometh!  An Exposition of the Book of Revelation at page 505 states:  “… he who supervises the reaping of the earth, is none other than Jesus Christ our Lord”.  Rev. Hoeksema at page 510 states:  “And the gathering of the wheat is a symbol of the removal of God’s people from the earth.  So also the harvest of the wicked is more than once referred to in the Word of God as the cutting of the grapes and the gathering of them in the winepress, to be pressed and trodden.” 

In conclusion, the prior post talked generally about God’s TOTAL PERFECT TRIUMPH.  Here in Revelation, we see a specific example of TOTAL PERFECT TRIUMPH.  We see the harvest of God’s people.  We see the harvest of the wicked.  God is in absolute control, accomplishing all of His purpose.   

Today, I came across the following verse in Spurgeon’s Devotion for this morning.

 

^“The secret of the LORD is for those who fear Him,
         And He will make them know His covenant.”  Psalm 25:14. 

 

In a footnote to this verse, I found the following verse:  ^“For the devious are an abomination to the LORD;
         But He is intimate with the upright.”  Proverbs 3:32. 

 

Then, the following verses came to my mind: 

 

“No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.”  John 15:15.

 

” … But we have the mind of Christ.”  I Corinthians 2:16. 

 

There was a time that I was taught a “god” who would wait and wring his hands as to whom would accept him.  This “god” loved everyone equally and would suffer the loss of most of his beloved children in hell forever.   

 

With great joy, I was reminded of the Sovereign God of Scripture who loses none of His Elect Beloved Children.  I was reminded of the Almighty God of Scripture Who alone can save, Who alone does save, not as a gentleman knocking on the door of your heart, but rather as a Mighty Warrior. 

 

“¹⁶  And He saw that there was no man,
         And was astonished that there was no one to intercede;
         Then His own arm brought salvation to Him,
         And His righteousness upheld Him. 
 ¹⁷  He put on righteousness like a breastplate,
         And a helmet of salvation on His head;
         And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing
         And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle. 
 ¹⁸  According to their deeds, so He will repay,
         Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies;
         To the coastlands He will make recompense. 
 ¹⁹  So they will fear the name of the LORD from the west
         And His glory from the rising of the sun,
         For He will come like a rushing stream
         Which the wind of the LORD drives. 
 ²⁰  “A Redeemer will come to Zion,
         And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the LORD.

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.

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

Consider John 6: 28-29:
“Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.’ “ 

God changes the focus from what man should do to what God has done.  God changes the focus from works to faith.  God changes the focus from man generating his own faith to God even giving faith.  Total Perfect Triumph.

In summary: Psalm 115:3 states:
“But our God is in the heavens;
He does whatever He pleases.“

(Emphasis added to the foregoing verses by bold italic.).

In conclusion, God does whatever he pleases, which includes that He exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth, for He tells us that He does so and delights in these things.  Total Perfect Triumph.

 

I read this following article with great joy.  I am pleased to mention news stories about places wherever Calvinism flourishes, but it is particularly pleasing to learn of the flourishing of Calvinism in China where my grandfather Richard H. Pousma, M.D. was a Christian Reformed Church (“CRC”) medical missionary in Nanking, China from 1926 to 1927 until forced out by civil unrest.  My Grandpa brought my Grandma and my Mother (who was then a one year old baby) with him to China.  He wrote the book An Eventful Year in the Orient, and he later was also a medical missionary to Navajo Indians at the CRC mission at Rehoboth (near Gallup, New Mexico) for many more years.   

Today, I was blessed to read the following article titled “The Keeping Power of God” by John Samson. It contains  Scriptural support for the Fifth point of Calvinism which is “Perseverance of the Saints” a/k/a “Preservation of the Saints” (The “P” in “TULIP”).

 

Although I have “copied and pasted” (with the permission of John Samson) herein the entire article, here is the link to the article in case you want to read it in its original format at the Reformation Theology web site and/or to make comments.

 

 

                                                           

Posted by John Samson on June 10, 2009 02:42 PM