Posted by: Bill Hornbeck | March 10, 2019

“God, be merciful to me, the sinner!”

Today’s devotion comes from Luke 18:9-14.

“And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt:  “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself:  ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people:  swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week;  I pay tithes of all that I get.’  But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’  I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other;  for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”  Luke 18:9-14.

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Other doctrine trust in themselves that they are righteous enough to provide something to distinguish themselves worthy of salvation whether it be works or at least the will to be saved.

But, Reformed Doctrine does not trust in itself to provide anything to distinguish themselves worthy of salvation, correctly understanding man’s natural condition presented by Scripture which it summarizes as “Total Depravity”.  We are “dead” in sin.  Ephesians 2:1-5.    None of us is righteous, none understands, none of us seeks God, and none does good.  Romans 3:10-18.  We are hostile to God.  Romans 8:7 and Colossians 1:21.  We are in bondage to sin.  Romans 7:14-15.

Reformed Doctrine understands that in order for it to be saved, God would need to provide everything for salvation from the beginning to the end:  from the beginning of God’s “Unconditional Election” through God’s “Limited Atonement” through God’s “Irresistible Grace” to the end of God’s “Preservation of the Saints”, the “U”, “L”, “I”, and “P” of “TULIP” as more fully taught in the Canons of Dordt.  

“For He says to Moses, “I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.”  So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.”  Romans 9:15-16.

“God, be merciful to me, the sinner!”

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Posted by: Bill Hornbeck | March 8, 2019

We “ought to pray and not to lose heart” – “Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation”

Today’s devotion comes from Luke 18:1-8.

“Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man.  There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’  For a while he was unwilling;  but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.’”  And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge *said;  now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?  I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly.  However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”  Luke 18:1-8.

—————–

Today’s Scripture presents three reasons why we should have faith that God will grant our prayer requests.  

First, we are the elect, God’s children:  “will not God bring about justice for His elect”?!

“Who will bring a charge against God’s elect?  God is the one who justifies;  who is the one who condemns?  Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.”  Romans 8:33-34.

“What then shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who is against us?  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?”  Romans 8:31-32.

“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!”  Matthew 7:11.

Second, God is just and righteous.  If the unrighteous judge gave legal protection to the widow, then how much more should we expect the just and righteous God to bring about justice!  “I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly.”

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
He is just and endowed with salvation,
Humble, and mounted on a donkey,
Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”  Zechariah 9:9.

“4 For You have maintained my just cause;
You have sat on the throne judging righteously.
5 You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked;
You have blotted out their name forever and ever.”  Psalm 9:4-5.

“He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the LORD.”

“For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
The LORD gives grace and glory;
No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.”  Psalm 84:11.

Third, God is motivated by persistent prayer.  “Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart”.

“I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.”  Luke 11:8.

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Posted by: Bill Hornbeck | March 7, 2019

“the day of the Lord will come like a thief”

Today’s devotion comes from Luke 17:22-37.  Here is a link to this Scripture – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+17&version=NASB

I quote only the following verses.

“26 And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man:  27 they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.  28 It was the same as happened in the days of Lot:  they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building;  29 but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.  …  34 I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed;  one will be taken and the other will be left.  35 There will be two women grinding at the same place;  one will be taken and the other will be left.  36 [Two men will be in the field;  one will be taken and the other will be left.”]  Luke 17:26-29 and 34-36.

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The verses that I quoted above describe the Second Coming of Christ.  The other verses that I did not quote may describe what was fulfilled around 70 A.D., the time of the destruction of Jerusalem.  We have similar Scripture describing both events in Matthew 24:17-28 and 36-41.

Today’s devotion will focus on the Second Coming of Christ, because the events of 70 A.D. have passed, and we should prepare for the Second Coming of Christ.

“Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.  But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.  For this reason you also must be ready;  for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.”  Matthew 24:42-44.

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

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 3:10-13.

Other doctrine focuses on itself and shrinks back in fear and anxiety at the thought of the Second Coming of Christ.

But, Reformed Doctrine focuses on the Lord and His work before He comes again.  Reformed Doctrine is at peace, spotless and blameless, and regards the tarry of the Lord as salvation.  

Therefore, while we wait for the Second Coming of Christ, we pray for God’s grace to have the patient attitude of our Lord Who will not come again until He faithfully brings every last one of His elect lost sheep into His fold of repentance and salvation.  

“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”  2 Peter 3:9.

“I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father;  and I lay down My life for the sheep.  I have other sheep, which are not of this fold;  I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice;  and they will become one flock with one shepherd.”  John 10:14-16.

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;  and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish;  and no one will snatch them out of My hand.”  John 10:27-28.

“Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation …”  2 Peter 3:14-15.

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Posted by: Bill Hornbeck | March 6, 2019

“For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

Today’s devotion comes from Luke 17:20-21.

“Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed;  nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’  For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”  Luke 17:20-21.

—————

The kingdom of God is in our midst in the sense that the kingdom of God is at work in our midst even though we do not always see it or recognize it.  In a sense, it is hidden until it finishes all of its work as taught by the following Parable of the Leaven.

“And again He said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God?  It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened.”  Luke 13:20-21.

God accomplishes all of his good pleasure in the elect as taught by the following Article in the Canons of Dordt, even though we do not always see it or recognize it.

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

“But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.  The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”  2 Peter 3:8-9.

God also accomplishes all of his good pleasure for the non-elect, ungodly men, even though we do not always see it or recognize it.

“What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?”  Romans 9:22.

“Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming?  For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.”  For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.  But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.”  2 Peter 3:3-7.

“For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment;  and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;  and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter;  and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds), then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,”  2 Peter 2:4-9.

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”  2 Peter 3:10.

“And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man:  they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.”  Luke 17:26-27.

“O LORD, You are my God;
I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name;
For You have worked wonders,
Plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.”  Isaiah 25:1.

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Posted by: Bill Hornbeck | March 5, 2019

“Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?”

Today’s devotion comes from Luke 17:11-19.

“While He was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee.  As He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him;  and they raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”  When He saw them, He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”  And as they were going, they were cleansed.  Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him.  And he was a Samaritan.  Then Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed?  But the nine—where are they?  Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?”  And He said to him, “Stand up and go;  your faith has made you well.”  Luke 17:11-19.

——————

All ten lepers called on Jesus to heal them:  “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”  And, all ten lepers were healed by Jesus:  “When He saw them, He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”  And as they were going, they were cleansed.”  Verse 14.

But, Jesus singled only out one out of ten for praise.  That one was a Samaritan, but he was not singled out for praise because he was a Samaritan.  He was singled out for praise, because he “returned to give glory to God”.

Most importantly, Jesus singled out only one of the ten lepers (the Samaritan who “returned to give glory to God”) as having faith.  “And He said to him, “Stand up and go;  your faith has made you well.”  Verse 19.

Today’s Scripture leads us to question whether or not the many today have faith who only call on God to be healed or to receive some other thing from God, but who do not properly return to Jesus to give glory to God.

Let us consider the following article from the Belgic Confession on faith.

Article 22:  Of Faith in Jesus Christ.

We believe that, to attain the true knowledge of this great mystery, the Holy Ghost kindleth in our hearts an upright faith, which embraces Jesus Christ, with all his merits, appropriates him, and seeks nothing more besides him.  For it must needs follow, either that all things, which are requisite to our salvation, are not in Jesus Christ, or if all things are in him, that then those who possess Jesus Christ through faith, have complete salvation in him.  Therefore, for any to assert, that Christ is not sufficient, but that something more is required besides him, would be too gross a blasphemy:  for hence it would follow, that Christ was but half a Savior.  Therefore we justly say with Paul, that we are justified by faith alone, or by faith without works.  However, to speak more clearly, we do not mean, that faith itself justifies us, for it is only an instrument with which we embrace Christ our Righteousness.  But Jesus Christ, imputing to us all his merits and so many holy works which he has done for us, and in our stead, is our Righteousness.  And faith is an instrument that keeps us in communion with him in all his benefits, which, when become ours, are more than sufficient to acquit us of our sins.  Belgic Confession.

Faith “embraces Jesus Christ, with all his merits, appropriates him, and seeks nothing more besides him”.  Faith does not “pick and choose” what it wants from Jesus and what it wants from other persons and other things.

When we consider this definition of faith, we see that 9 out of the 10 lepers “picked and chose” the healing that they wanted from Jesus, but they did not return to Jesus.  They did not glorify Jesus.  They did not embrace Jesus with all of His merits and appropriate Him and seek nothing besides Him.  Likewise, there are many today who also do not so embrace Jesus with all of His merits and appropriate Him and seek nothing besides Him.

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it;  but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”  Matthew 16:24-25.

“When Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack;  sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven;  and come, follow Me.”  Luke 18:22.

“More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,”  Philippians 3:8-9.

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again;  and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”  Matthew 13:44-46.

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Posted by: Bill Hornbeck | March 4, 2019

“enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life”

Today’s devotion comes from Luke 17:7-10.

“Which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come immediately and sit down to eat’?  But will he not say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, and properly clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink;  and afterward you may eat and drink’?  He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he?  So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves;  we have done only that which we ought to have done.’”  Luke 17:7-10.

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At first, today’s Scripture seems demanding, restrictive, and unpleasant.  Who wants to be a slave?!  We want to be free!!!   

But, when we meditate on today’s Scripture with a Reformed Doctrine perspective, we think about the benefit of being enslaved to God.

Although other doctrine is proud, Reformed Doctrine is humble.

Although other doctrine clings to alleged free-will, Reformed Doctrine treasures the sovereignty of God.

Reformed Doctrine is humble in its recognition that it was a slave to sin as taught in “Total Depravity”, the “T” of “TULIP”, the Five Points of Calvinism, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation as more fully taught in the Canons of Dordt.

“For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.  Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed?  For the outcome of those things is death.”  Romans 6:20-21.

Reformed treasures the sovereignty of God.

“But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.”  Romans 6:22.

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Posted by: Bill Hornbeck | March 3, 2019

“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.”

Today’s devotion comes from Luke 17:5-6.

“The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”  And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’;  and it would obey you.”  Luke 17:5-6.

——————-

Faith is a gift of God.

“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.

Article 22:  Of Faith in Jesus Christ.

We believe that, to attain the true knowledge of this great mystery, the Holy Ghost kindleth in our hearts an upright faith, which embraces Jesus Christ, with all his merits, appropriates him, and seeks nothing more besides him.  …  Belgic Confession.

Article 8.  For this was the sovereign counsel, and most gracious will and purpose of God the Father, that the quickening and saving efficacy of the most precious death of his Son should extend to all the elect, for bestowing upon them alone the gift of justifying faith, thereby to bring them infallibly to salvation:  that is, it was the will of God, that Christ by the blood of the cross, whereby he confirmed the new covenant, should effectually redeem out of every people, tribe, nation, and language, all those, and those only, who were from eternity chosen to salvation, and given to him by the Father;  that he should confer upon them faith, which together with all the other saving gifts of the Holy Spirit, he purchased for them by his death;  should purge them from all sin, both original and actual, whether committed before or after believing;  and having faithfully preserved them even to the end, should at last bring them free from every spot and blemish to the enjoyment of glory in his own presence forever.  SECOND HEAD OF DOCTRINE Of the Death of Christ, and the Redemption of Men Thereby of Canons of Dordt.

Q. 21.  What is true faith?

A.  True faith is not only a certain knowledge, whereby I hold for truth all that God has revealed to us in His Word, but also an assured confidence, which the Holy Ghost works by the gospel in my heart;  that not only to others, but to me also, remission of sin, everlasting righteousness, and salvation are freely given by God, merely of grace, only for the sake of Christ’s merits.  Heidelberg Catechism.

 Q. 59.  Who are made partakers of redemption through Christ?

A.  Redemption is certainly applied, and effectually communicated, to all those for whom Christ hath purchased it;  who are in time by the Holy Ghost enabled to believe in Christ according to the gospel.  Westminster Larger Catechism.

Q. 72.  What is justifying faith?

A.  Justifying faith is a saving grace, wrought in the heart of a sinner by the Spirit and Word of God, whereby he, being convinced of his sin and misery, and of the disability in himself and all other creatures to recover him out of his lost condition, not only assenteth to the truth of the promise of the gospel, but receiveth and resteth upon Christ and his righteousness, therein held forth, for pardon of sin, and for the accepting and accounting of his person righteous in the sight of God for salvation.  Westminster Larger Catechism.

“Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:  Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;  seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.”  2 Peter 1:1-3.

“For who regards you as superior?  What do you have that you did not receive?  And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?”  1 Corinthians 4:7.

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Posted by: Bill Hornbeck | March 1, 2019

“The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire”

Today’s devotion comes from Luke 17:1-4.

“He said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come!  It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble.  Be on your guard!  If your brother sins, rebuke him;  and if he repents, forgive him.  And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”   Luke 17:1-4.

——————

Other doctrine focuses on man and what man should do or not do.

But, Reformed Doctrine focuses on God and what God has done and will do.

“The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire;  in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father.  He who has ears, let him hear.”  Matthew 13:41-43.

“For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.

FOR YET IN A VERY LITTLE WHILE,
HE WHO IS COMING WILL COME, AND WILL NOT DELAY.
BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH;
AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM.

But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.”  Hebrews 10:36-39.

“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.

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Posted by: Bill Hornbeck | February 28, 2019

‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.”

Today’s devotion comes from Luke 16:19-31.

“Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day.  And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table;  besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores.  Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom;  and the rich man also died and was buried.  In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and *saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom.  And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’  But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things;  but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.  And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’  And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’  But Abraham *said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets;  let them hear them.’  But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’  But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”  Luke 16:19-31.

———————–

It is true that those who did not listen to Moses and the Prophets would not listen to Jesus who rose from the dead.

Jesus said:  “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me.  But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”  John 5:46-47.

But, there is also a deeper meaning.

Scripture teaches that man is dead in sin and does not understand nor seek God nor do good, and that man is hostile to God and enslaved to sin and Satan.  Romans 3:10-18, Romans 8:7, Romans 6:20-21, Colossians 1:21, and Ephesians 2:1-3.  Reformed Doctrine summarizes this point as man’s “Total Depravity”, the “T” of “TULIP”, the Five Points of Calvinism, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation.

Unless we have a good understanding and belief in “Total Depravity”, we will be like the rich man who believed that we only need to be warned in order to believe, repent, and seek God.

If ever there was a group of people who should have believed, repented, and sought God, it would have been Jesus’ followers.  They saw Jesus’ miracles, heard Jesus’ preaching, and otherwise observed Jesus Who was the perfect image of the invisible God in Whom the fullness of God dwelt.  Colossians 1:15 and 19.

And yet, many of Jesus’ followers did not believe but eventually left Him.

“And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.”

As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.”  John 6:65-66.

Reformed Doctrine understands that because of man’s “Total Depravity”, we need God to elect us for salvation, make us alive, give us faith, and preserve us to salvation.  In other words, Reformed Doctrine understands that because of man’s “Total Depravity”, we need God to provide all that we need for salvation from the beginning to the end:  from the beginning of God’s “Unconditional Election” through God’s “Limited Atonement” through God’s “Irresistible Grace” to the end of God’s “Preservation of the Saints”, the “U”, “L”, “I”, and “P” of “TULIP” as more fully taught in the Canons of Dordt.

“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him;  and I will raise him up on the last day.”  John 6:44.

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Posted by: Bill Hornbeck | February 27, 2019

“You shall not commit adultery.”

Today’s devotion comes from Luke 16:18.

“Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.”  Luke 16:18.

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“You shall not commit adultery.”  Exodus 20:14.

Q. 109.  Doth God forbid in this commandment only adultery and such like gross sins?

A.  Since both our body and soul are temples of the Holy Ghost, He commands us to preserve them pure and holy;  therefore He forbids all unchaste actions, gestures, words, thoughts, desires, and whatever can entice men thereto.  Heidelberg Catechism.  

“Flee immorality.  Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.  Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?  For you have been bought with a price:  therefore glorify God in your body.”  1 Corinthians 6:18-20.

“But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints;  and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.”  Ephesians 5:3-4.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’;  but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you;  for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.  If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you;  for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.

“It was said, ‘WHOEVER SENDS HIS WIFE AWAY, LET HIM GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE’;  but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery;  and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”  Matthew 5:27-31.

Q. 108.  What doth the seventh commandment teach us?

A.  That all uncleanness is accursed of God;  and that therefore we must with all our hearts detest the same, and live chastely and temperately, whether in holy wedlock or in single life.  Heidelberg Catechism.    

“For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality;  that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor,”  1 Thessalonians 4:3-4.

“Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled;  for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.”  Hebrews 13:4.

“But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I.  But if they do not have self-control, let them marry;  for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

But to the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife should not leave her husband (but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife.

But to the rest I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he must not divorce her.  And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not send her husband away.  For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband;  for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy.  Yet if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave;  the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us to peace.  For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband?  Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?

Only, as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each, in this manner let him walk.”  1 Corinthians 7:8-17.

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

A.  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.  Heidelberg Catechism.    

“Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God;  because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight;  for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.”  Romans 3:19-20.

“Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.  But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.  For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”  Galatians 3:24-26.

“If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  1 John 1:8-9.

“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.  For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did:  sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”  Romans 8:1-4.

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.  For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh;  for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.  Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are:  immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;  against such things there is no law.  Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”  Galatians 5:16-24.

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