REFORMED WITNESS
Volume V, September 1997, Number 9
Devotional Books
Devotional reading of the Bible is of greatest importance for the Christian. He must spend time personally or with his family in reading the Bible each day. Study of the Bible is important for our daily instruction as Christians. Such study aids us greatly in our daily walk with God and our real spiritual communion with Him. There are a number of excellent books available which aid in devotional reading. We have two such books in our bookstore which we would like to recommend in our mailer this month. They contain a collection of meditations by the late Rev. Gerrit Vos, a beloved former minister of Hope Protestant Reformed Church in Redlands, California. We have copied a sample meditation from each of these books below.
Also in this issue: The Power of God
The Praise of God's Loving Kindness
Chapter 19 of O Taste and See, Meditations from the Psalms
by Gerrit Vos
See more articles by this author
"How excellent is Thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Thy wings. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of Thy house; and Thou shalt make them drink of the rivers of Thy pleasures, For with Thee is the fountain of life: in Thy light shall We see light." - Psalm 36:7-9
The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart that there is no fear of God before his eyes!
That's the beginning of this psalm.
And the poet will enlarge upon that premise.
Wicked man proves his own wickedness, for he flattereth himself so long in his own eyes that his iniquity becomes hateful. His words are iniquity and deceit; there is neither wisdom nor goodness; he deviseth mischief upon his bed and carries it to its baleful fruition: he abhorreth not evil.
And all this is done in the midst of the awful Self-revelation of Jehovah.
The heavens and the clouds speak of His faithfulness and mercy; the mountains tell us of His righteousness; the great deep thunders of His judgment; and the Lord preserveth both man and beast.
And all this is lovingkindness for the church. The mountains skip and the hills make their noise heard, for His mercy endureth forever.
How great, how excellent is this lovingkindness of God!
Let's talk of it awhile.
* * * * *
What is this lovingkindness?
It is one of God's attributes, one of His wondrous virtues.
It is that virtue of God wherein His entire Being or Essence constrains Him to be good and to do good unto His people, in and through Jesus Christ the Lord, and from everlasting to everlasting.
If and when God's lovingkindness is over you it is well. Then, nothing is against you; everything cooperates unto your everlasting welfare.
A striking example of such lovingkindness you find in Deuteronomy 33:26-29.
Then the Lord rideth upon the heavens to your help and His excellency in the skies. Then the Eternal God is your Refuge, and beneath are the everlasting arms. Then the Lord precedes you in your battles and sayeth: Destroy! Then the heavens drop dew at every step you take, and He becomes and is the Shield of your help and the Sword of your excellency.
How excellent, literally: how precious, is such loving- kindness! Nothing can be compared to it. It is more precious than gold, yea, than much fine gold, and sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.
And the result is that men put their trust in Him and seek refuge under the shadow of His wings. It is the image of the protecting wings of God against the hateful birds that seek to destroy you: the hen gathereth her frightened chicks under her protecting wings.
God's lovingkindness is great over those poor chicks in the face of the devil, and all wickedness.
* * * * *
Lovingkindness?
But it is so long ago that this song was written.
Two thousand years ago this song was already old. And so much has happened since it was first set to music. Oh, lovingkindness was a lovely concept to David, the servant of the Lord. But what shall we say today?
Lovingkindness of our God is the Lord Jesus Christ!
And the Lord Jesus Christ today means that there are untold millions of hands reaching downward to you in your misery. You may be lying on your deathbed, and those hands are reaching for you in order soon to lift you up to heaven's rest. Lovingkindness of Jehovah means a million melodies and a million songs that are sung about the great salvation in the blood of Jesus. How precious is that lovingkindness for you in the midst of this wicked and dreadful age. This age speaks of wars and rumors of wars as never before. The whole world is now really an armed camp.
Where shall we go?
There is no place on earth where you are safe anymore. If and when it breaks the very heavens shall be filled with fire and destruction. And you will breathe the killing atmosphere of fall-out and quick or slow death.
Do not worry. God's hands and song and music is there for you. He is filled with His precious lovingkindness. When these things begin to happen turn your faces toward the heavens, and know that your deliverance is nigh.
Seek the shadow of His wings, and take your trust there. You are safe, now and for evermore. He suffered no man to do them wrong.
When devils rage and the wicked with foot and hand devise to hurt you, when the power of evil within you threatens to devour and lay low, His lovingkindness will reach and find you. It will save you every day. It is new every morning. Jesus is always nigh unto the sheep.
Oh, how precious is the Lord's lovingkindness!
* * * * *
The text is eternal truth.
Listen : "They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of Thy house!"
The House of God: what is it?
Its type was the temple on mount Zion.
Its fulfillment is Jesus our Lord.
It is the Holy Place where God blesses His people every day. Its Altar of Incense is the fellowship of prayer. Its Table of Shewbread is the feeding on the Bread of Life. Its Golden Candlestick is the testimony that Jesus and His people are the very Light of the World. And once each year the High Priest went into the inner sanctuary to make reconciliation and blessing. It symbolized the blessed communion of the eternal Covenant of grace.
We have a little shadow of all these things in the places where we worship, adore God on Sunday. But also in the prayer cell, every day and every hour, the blessed God calls us effectually to prayer and worship. The time shall come, said Jesus, that God's people shall worship neither at Samaria nor at the Temple in Jerusalem, but they shall worship God in Spirit and in Truth. And that is fulfilled.
Note: the fatness of Thy House!
That fatness is the knowledge of our God, and the love of God from all eternity. It is the knowledge that we are justified by faith in His Son. It is the assurance that all of the children of God are being sanctified and glorified. It is the absolute assurance that we shall finally arrive in the land that is fairer than day.
God shall make them drink of the river of His own pleasures.
It shows that this enjoyment of His lovingkindness is His Own Covenant life.
Thy pleasures are the pleasures of God destined to be for you and me. God is the ever-blessed God. Psalm 42 tells us of the song of God. God is eternally happy and blessed: God is full of pleasures.
And of that flood you may drink. Its essence is the praise of God. God praises Himself, and you may sing along with God.
You will become drunk with spiritual happiness!
* * * * *
Its origin?
Listen to God: "For with Thee is the Fountain of Life!"
Listen also to a later prophet: "In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness" Zechariah 13:1.
Oh yes, God is the Fountain of all this lovingkindness.
God is the Fountain of His Own life.
He is the Fountain of the life of the creature.
He is also the Fountain of the Life of Christ.
And, finally, He is the Fountain of the life of the church.
And the Water of Life bubbles forth and shall bubble forth unto all eternity.
Drink of that Fountain. Drink of that God in and through Christ Jesus the Lord.
He stood one day upon the earth, and looking at His sheep, He said: Let him that is athirst come unto Me and drink.
What opened that Fountain?
The very death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The wonder of wonders. Life came from death, which is the greatest miracle. Power through Him Who is the worm. Riches through His poverty. Heaven came and comes from His hell. Understand it if you can.
Are you filled with sin and uncleanness? Is your sin so great that doubts assail you? Do you feel inclined to say with Peter: Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man? Are your sins more than you can count, and do you feel like the poor publican who stole into the temple and dared not so much as to raise his eyes to heaven?
The Fountain cleanses you, my dear brother. It purges all your sins away, my dear sister.
It is purposely opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that it may cleanse them.
Out of it comes the floods of God's pleasures. Out of it comes the precious lovingkindness of your God.
Come, see, drink, and taste that the Lord is full of mercy, grace, and lovingkindness.
"In Thy Light we shall see Light!"
That is the death for all filthy heresy which prattles of the will of man unto salvation.
God places us within the Light that streams from His face. And Light of God is all virtue, all beauty, and splendor of the Godhead.
And standing in the shaft of His light, we see the light. We see His great salvation. We hear Him say: I love you. I loved you yesterday. I loved you before the world was born. I loved you from all eternity!
The Power of God
Chapter 2 from The More Glorious Covenant, Rich Heritage of the New Testament Church
by Rev. Gerrit Vos
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"For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. " Romans 1:16
This verse is a reason for that which Paul has said in the 15th verse, namely, that he was ready to come and preach the Gospel in Rome also.
The question confronts us: why did Paul say that he is not ashamed to preach the Gospel in Rome also?
The answer is twofold.
First, the whole world was laughing at the Gospel story. The Greeks called the Gospel folly. Imagine: salvation by means of a worm, crawling on that awful cross. The Romans also mocked. They are the strong; they subdued the whole world by force of men and arms. Moreover, they had the legal acumen. They were on top. Who needs salvation -- especially by Him Who like a lamb gave Himself over to their Pilate?
But Paul will show that both the Greek and the Roman are too filthy to mention, and so he did not need to be ashamed in their presence. Their filth is so great that it can hardly be told.
And the second, the positive reason, is that the Gospel is the beauty of God personified. Rather than to be ashamed, he will boast in that Gospel of God all the day long. The Gospel is beauty and power, both being of God and in Christ. It is as beautiful as God is, and its power is as great as the resurrection from the dead. Let us listen to him.
* * * * *
Although the text speaks of the Gospel of Christ, you may also call it the Gospel of God, both because that name is given it in Holy Scripture, and also because Christ is the manifestation of God Himself. He is the Face of the Father and came to declare Him.
The Gospel is the Gospel of God -- but not in the narrow sense of the word. Some make it so small and so narrow as to include only the Sermon on the Mount. Especially the modern church, which is fast becoming the Antichrist, does this. Others make the Gospel of God the words of Jesus, and no more.
Oh no, the Gospel of God in its broadest sense includes the whole of God's special revelation, the Bible. Here we have another ground for the stand that the Gospel of Christ is the Gospel of God. The Bible is the revelation of God in Jesus Christ; therefore, we call that Book the Word of God, which is one of the names of Jesus.
Neither is the Gospel of God an expression of the manifestation of God's love for everyone, an offer that is made by God of His well-meaning will to save whoever comes under the proclamation of this Gospel. Neither is it a conditional promise to everyone that is born under the dispensation of the covenant of grace.
No, the Gospel is not a Gospel on a thumbnail, and it is not for everyone that hears this Gospel outwardly, externally. No, the Gospel in the biblical sense of the word is the glad tidings concerning the promise.
That promise was made by God in paradise to our first parents. He repeated that promise through the ages; and, in that process of repeating, the promise became richer and richer and richer.
Until Christ, the Son of God, appeared in the fulness of time. And that appearance is the Gospel of God.
* * * * *
Why is that called the Gospel?
Well, Gospel means glad tidings. And there are no tidings which can approach these tidings.
And here is the gladness of these tidings: they tell of a righteousness of God which shall clothe all the children of God. This righteousness of God is the most beautiful thing for poor sinners, guilty and undone in themselves and on the way to hell.
Beautiful it is because it includes: 1.) forgiveness of sins; 2.) adoption unto children; 3.) peace with God; and 4.) the right to eternal life in the new world that is coming. One could write a book about each of these four bounties.
And all these bounties are promised, and partially given now already, on the basis of the coming, the person, and the work of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God.
Are they not glad tidings?
I am persuaded that even we who have these great and wonderful promises do not appreciate them as we should. If we saw them and appreciated them as they really are, on the background of eternal damnation and eternal death, we would leap for joy in the praise of God. Go and read Habakkuk 3:17,18. Especially this last verse on the background of verse 17. In the midst of absolute crop failures, so that there is nothing left to live from, we will leap for joy in the God of our salvation. For we see the great and wonderful Gospel!
Imagine: you die and know that when you arrive at the door of heaven, God will cry out and say, "Welcome, my good and faithful servant! Come in, and enjoy My presence unto all eternity!"
Put plainly and simply, you need not go to hell! And, positively, you may go to heaven and be thrilled unto endless eternity with the image of God!
Oh, the glad tidings of the Gospel! Should we be ever ashamed of it?
* * * * *
And that Gospel of God in Christ is the power of God. That is the deathblow to all Pelagianism.
Pelagians teach that man, natural man, has some power left, so that with the help of God he can work out his own salvation.
That's the deathblow to all Pelagianism, also the so-called half-, quarter-, or eighth-Pelagians. All these shades agree that there is some power left in natural man unto good. And they are all wrong. This text is very plain, and says that the Gospel of Christ is the power of God. So man is not in it at all.
I think that it is a sign of the times that almost the whole church of Christ joins in this erroneous chorus of the power of man. Most of them say it openly, others by implication.
No, but the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation.
Not the Gospel as we have it in the Bible. The Bible as such has no power at all. It is sufficient to take away all excuses from them that read and hear. But without the Holy Spirit, the Bible has no power to save. You can hear the whole Word of God preached by the best and most devoted and true preacher, but if you have not the grace of the Holy Spirit of Christ with that Word, it will not save you at all. The Gospel of Christ is the power of God when God Himself speaks in the depth of your heart, through the Word that is preached to you, or when and while you read, or, sometimes, after you have heard or read, and applied by His Spirit. Then the Gospel is almighty in power and beauty, and it accomplishes all which God has planned in His eternal counsel unto the salvation of the elect.
The first fruit of this almighty power of God is regeneration, the new birth from heaven. It is equal to the power which God wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead. And that power of God continues to work in the elect, until with body and soul they arrive in the renewed world, the new heavens and the new earth in which righteousness shall dwell.
But it is only and exclusively the power of God.
* * * * *
That Gospel, that almighty power of God, is unto salvation.
Do you notice, dear reader, that it is all of God? It is the Gospel of God in Christ. It is the power of God. And it is the salvation of God.
Salvation! What indescribable charm there is in that word!
Negatively, it is the glad tidings of God, the almighty power of God which rescues us from the greatest evil there is. That evil is sin, guilt, and death, eternal death.
Hence, power is needed, almighty power of God to save from eternal death, damnation, and the curse. God wrought this salvation through Jesus Christ. The process of that salvation culminated in the resurrection from the dead. Christ went the dark way of eternal death, and was raised by God to life eternal -- the covenant fellowship of the Triune God.
And so our death, damnation, and the curse are gone forever. We are saved. Hallelujah!
But that is only the negative side. And if that is beautiful, what shall we say of positive salvation?
It is life eternal, and that is the knowledge of God -- not a mere intellectual knowledge, but a knowledge that is akin to the love of God. It is the communion with Him Who gave us the new birth. Eternally we will stand before His face, and we will be satisfied with His image. And that means that all the communicable virtues of God shall be given to us everlastingly. God shall be all and in all.
Moreover, we shall have fellowship with the whole church of Christ in utmost perfection. We will be able to trust all of them, and will never be put to shame. There is no deceit there. Every child of God shall take his place there and shall be as an individual voice in the great songfest forever. And all to the praise of Him Who saved us.
Also, we shall have the great multitude of angels for our ministers. They shall serve us so that we may the better serve God. I do not know in what way these angels will serve us. They do even now. We do not know the character and scope of such loving service -- but they do. Note how Peter, when he was in prison, was helped by an angel. Angels are very willing to serve those who shall inherit salvation. They rejoice over the conversion of one saint, even now.
That salvation is to everyone that believeth. And do not forget, this faith is the gift of God so that no flesh may boast in His presence. It is all of God.
First the Jew and then the Greek. We know that salvation is of the Jews. But after the breaking down of the wall of partition this salvation came to the Greek also. And this Greek is the representative of all the elect out of the nations of the world.
Presently this great host shall sing their song of praise.
John heard the pre-audition.
I love those ever recurring hallelujahs!
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