Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

Today’s devotion comes from Matthew 18:10-14.

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.  For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.

“What do you think?  If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying?  If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray.  So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.”  Matthew 18:10-14.

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“So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.”  Verse 14.

Other doctrine will jump with joy all over this verse, claiming that this verse proves that God loves everyone, Christ died for everyone, and that the only difference between the saved and the saved is that the saved show themselves worthy of salvation by their own works or at least their own alleged free-will choice of Christ.

But, Reformed Doctrine studies the context and concludes that “these little ones” are God’s elect.  In other words, it is not the will of God that any one of His elect perish.

First, we see that there is nothing in this text by which the little one (one of the ninety-nine sheep) did anything to save himself or herself.  Rather, the little one was saved only because the shepherd searched and found the lost sheep.

Second, we see that these hundred sheep were owned by the shepherd:  “If any man has a hundred sheep”.  Verse 12.  Just because an owner searches and saves his own property does not mean that he desires to search and save property that is not his own.

Third, the fact that these little ones had angels in heaven for whom God was concerned (as the reason why we should not despise them) shows that they were part of God’s elect.  Verse 10.

Fourth, in the context of verse 1-6 of this same chapter, these little ones were identified by Jesus as greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and in verse 6 as those who “believe in Me”.

“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.  …  But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. 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. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all;  and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”  John 10:14-15 and 26-29.

Today’s devotion comes from Matthew 17:24-27.

“When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the two-drachma tax came to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the two-drachma tax?”  He *said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon?  From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs or poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?”  When Peter said, “From strangers,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are exempt.  However, so that we do not offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up;  and when you open its mouth, you will find a shekel.  Take that and give it to them for you and Me.”  Matthew 17:24-27.

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Jesus and His disciples had every right to claim privileges based on their standing as sons of the kingdom such as being exempt from tax.  But Jesus taught and set the example for us that just because they could claim such privileges does not mean that they should claim such privileges.  The following Scripture states it well.

“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;  do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.  Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.”  Philippians 2:3-7.

And, there is hope and help to do so!

As Jesus performed a miracle, a work of God, in obtaining the tax money, God will give us the will to have such selfless attitude and God will work within us to perform works consistent with such a Godly attitude.

Shortly after the above Scripture, we read:  “for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”  Philippians 2:13.

Today’s devotion comes from Matthew 16:21-28.

“From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.  Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord!  This shall never happen to You.”  But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan!  You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

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.  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?  For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.

“Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”  Matthew 16:21-28.

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How quickly we forget!  We read today’s Scripture and forget Reformed Doctrine and run to another doctrine that teaches that we can come to Christ through our own denial of self, discipline, and deeds.

Other doctrine teaches us to turn our focus from God to ourselves, to turn our focus from the Spirit to the flesh, turn our focus from God’s will to our will, and to turn our focus from Christ’s cross to our cross.

Let us first remember what we did learn from Reformed Doctrine.

“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.

“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.  For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.  This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.  For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”  John 6:37-40.

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing;  the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.  But there are some of you who do not believe.”  For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray 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.”  John 6:63-65.

Then, on that Reformed Doctrine basis, let us proceed and meditate on some things that we can glean from today’s Scripture.

Christ only went to the cross once.  The disciples only followed Christ to the cross once.

Figuratively, we also have only followed Christ to the cross and been crucified in Christ once.

“For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all;  but the life that He lives, He lives to God.  Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”  Romans 6:10-11.

Some of the disciples who also saw the Son of Man coming in His kingdom when they saw Christ ascension after His resurrection.  In a partial fulfillment of Christ coming to His kingdom, a taste of what was to come, some disciples also saw the transfiguration of Christ which was reported in the very next chapter.

Through faith by God’s grace, we have come to Christ and seen both the Christ’s transfiguration and Christ’s ascension.  We have seen Christ come in His kingdom, and we are entitled to all the benefits thereof, many of which we currently possess and the rest are reserved in Heaven for us.

Consider what the Heidelberg Catechism states.

Q.  49.  Of what advantage to us is Christ’s ascension into heaven?
A. First, that He is our advocate in the presence of His Father in heaven;  secondly, that we have our flesh in heaven as a sure pledge that He, as the Head, will also take up to Himself, us, His members;  thirdly, that He sends us His Spirit as an earnest, by whose power we seek the things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God, and not things on earth.

So, here we are.  We live by faith in Christ in what He accomplished on the cross for us and what Christ continues to do for us seated in Heaven.  We do not live by faith in our fleshly ability to deny our self, carry a cross, and follow Christ.

“I have been crucified with Christ;  and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me;  and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”  Galatians 2:20.

“Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”  Galatians 5:24.

“Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.  For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”  Colossians 3:2-4.

“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”  Philippians 3:20-21.

“… Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.  Who will separate us from the love of Christ?  Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  Just as it is written,

Today’s devotion comes from Matthew 16:13-20.

“Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”  And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah;  but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”  He *said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”  Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.  I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church;  and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven;  and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”  Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.”  Matthew 16:13-20.

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Peter was blessed because God revealed Who Jesus was to Peter.

Some thought Jesus was some miracle worker or prophet.  But, Jesus was much more.  Jesus was the One and Only Christ, the son of the living God, Who shared divinity with God the Father and Who was Lord and Savior.  Peter did not learn that from any human;  God the Father revealed it to Peter.

“It is the Spirit who gives life;  the flesh profits nothing;  the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.  But there are some of you who do not believe.”  For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray 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.  So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?”  Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have words of eternal life.  We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”  John 6:63-69.

Consider that despite all of Jesus’ miracles, despite all of Jesus prophecies and all of the other words of His wisdom, and despite Jesus’ compassion on the people, many withdrew and did not believe that Jesus was the One and Only Christ, the son of the living God, Who shared divinity with God the Father as “the Holy One of God”.  They did not believe because God chose to not reveal it to them.

And yet, other doctrine continues to rely on its own wisdom and its own will to both learn Who Jesus is and to teach it to others.

But, Reformed Doctrine relies on God alone to both learn Who Jesus is and to teach it to others.  In a nutshell, Reformed Doctrine sees the necessity of Christ Himself building His church.

Salvation is a work of God 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”, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation.

Jesus said:  “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church;  …”.  Verse 18.  Let us not only focus on Peter.  Let us not forget that Peter did not come to faith in Christ through his own wisdom or his own will.  In other words, it is not important whether Jesus built His church on Peter or built His church on someone else.  What is important is that Jesus Himself will build His church.

“What then is Apollos?  And what is Paul?  Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.  So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.”  1 Corinthians 3:5-7.

Jesus stated:  “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him;  and I will raise him up on the last day.  It is written in the prophets, ‘AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.’  Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.”  John 6:44-45.

Today’s devotion comes from Matthew 16:1-12.  Here is a link to this Scripture – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+16&version=NASB

I quote only the following verses.

“And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread.  And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”  They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “He said that because we did not bring any bread.”  But Jesus, aware of this, said, “You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread?  Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets full you picked up?  Or the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets full you picked up?  How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?  But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”  Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”  Matthew 16:5-12.

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The Pharisees were legalistic.  They were more interested in the letter of the law than the spirit of the law.  They were more interested in proving their own righteousness than seeking the righteousness of God.

“Then some Pharisees and scribes *came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders?  For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”  And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?  For God said, ‘HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER,’ and, ‘HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH.’  But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,” he is not to honor his father or his mother.’  And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.  You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:

‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS,
BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.
‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME,
TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’”  Matthew 15:1-9.

The Pharisees superficially appeared religious and admirable.  If people did not beware of their teaching, they could be sucked into copying their doctrine and practice and faith in their own righteousness.  “A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.”  Galatians 1:9.  In other words, a little caving into the Pharisees’ doctrine and practice and faith in their own righteousness would lead to a total transformation to their doctrine and practice and faith in their own righteousness.

“Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you.  And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law.  You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law;  you have fallen from grace.  For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.”  Galatians 5:2-5.

So, beware of the teaching of the Pharisees!  There are Pharisees around us today.  Jesus’ warning was not only for His disciples two thousand years ago.

“For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor.  For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God.  I have been crucified with Christ;  and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me;  and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.  I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”  Galatians 2:18-21.