Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah 40:12-31.  Here is a link to this Scripture – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+40&version=NASB

I quote only the following verses.

“²² It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain
And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
²³ He it is who reduces rulers to nothing,
Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.
²⁴ Scarcely have they been planted,
Scarcely have they been sown,
Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth,
But He merely blows on them, and they wither,
And the storm carries them away like stubble.
²⁵ “To whom then will you liken Me
That I would be his equal?” says the Holy One.
²⁶ Lift up your eyes on high
And see who has created these stars,
The One who leads forth their host by number,
He calls them all by name;
Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power,
Not one of them is missing.

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah 40:1-17.  Here is a link to this Scripture – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+40&version=NASB

I quote only the following verses.

“⁶ A voice says, “Call out.”
Then he answered, “What shall I call out?”
All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
⁷ The grass withers, the flower fades,
When the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.
⁸ The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah chapter 39.

“At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered.  ² Hezekiah was pleased, and showed them all his treasure house, the silver and the gold and the spices and the precious oil and his whole armory and all that was found in his treasuries.  There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.  ³ Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?”  And Hezekiah said, “They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon.”  ⁴ He said, “What have they seen in your house?”  So Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house;  there is nothing among my treasuries that I have not shown them.”

⁵ Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts, ⁶ ‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this day will be carried to Babylon;  nothing will be left,’ says the Lord.  ⁷ ‘And some of your sons who will issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away, and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”  ⁸ Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good.”  For he thought, “For there will be peace and truth in my days.”  Isaiah chapter 39.

—————————-

Hezekiah knew that his riches could not extend his life;  it was only God’s grace that extended his life as we learned in the last chapter.  (Isaiah 38:1-5).

And, we learned from Isaiah’s prophesy in in today’s Scripture that Hezekiah’s riches would be stolen and would not last a generation beyond his life.

Earthly treasures do not last, and they do not save.   

“⁴ Do not weary yourself to gain wealth,
Cease from your consideration of it.
⁵ When you set your eyes on it, it is gone.
For wealth certainly makes itself wings
Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.”  Proverbs 11:4-5.

“He who trusts in his riches will fall,
But the righteous will flourish like the green leaf.”  Proverbs 11:28.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;  for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  Matthew 6:19-21.

In sharp contrast, heavenly treasure lasts, and it does save.

“Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.”  2 Timothy 1:14.

We have been entrusted with such heavenly treasure which lasts and which saves and which is the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation summarized by “TULIP”.  

Are we going to be faithful in its use?  Or, are we going to be like the unfaithful slave in the Parable of Talents who hides and buries it?  (Matthew 25:14-30).

“And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and sensible steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time?  Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes.  Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.”  Luke 12:42-44. 

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah chapter 38.  Here is a link to this chapter – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+38&version=NASB

I quote only the following verses.

“In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill.  And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’”  ² Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, ³ and said, “Remember now, O Lord, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in Your sight.”  And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

⁴ Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, ⁵ “Go and say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears;  behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.  ⁶ I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city.”’

⁷ “This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that He has spoken:  ⁸ Behold, I will cause the shadow on the stairway, which has gone down with the sun on the stairway of Ahaz, to go back ten steps.”  So the sun’s shadow went back ten steps on the stairway on which it had gone down.

…

¹⁷ “Lo, for my own welfare I had great bitterness;
It is You who has kept my soul from the pit of nothingness,
For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
¹⁸ “For Sheol cannot thank You,
Death cannot praise You;
Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.
¹⁹ “It is the living who give thanks to You, as I do today;
A father tells his sons about Your faithfulness.
²⁰ “The Lord will surely save me;
So we will play my songs on stringed instruments
All the days of our life at the house of the Lord.”  Isaiah 38:1-8 and 17-20.

—————————

Hezekiah started his prayer by telling the LORD about his own faithfulness.

“and said, “Remember now, O Lord, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in Your sight.”  And Hezekiah wept bitterly.”  Verse 3. 

But, Hezekiah ended his praise by telling of the LORD’s faithfulness. 

“¹⁹ “It is the living who give thanks to You, as I do today;
A father tells his sons about Your faithfulness.
²⁰ “The Lord will surely save me;
So we will play my songs on stringed instruments
All the days of our life at the house of the Lord.”  Verses 19-20.

Other doctrine preaches about its own faithfulness.

But, Reformed Doctrine preaches about the faithfulness of God from the beginning to the end:  from the beginning of “Unconditional Election” through “Limited Atonement” through “Irresistible Grace” to the end of “Preservation of the Saints”, the “U”, “L”, “I”, and “P” of “TULIP”, the Five Points of Calvinism, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation. 

“I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;
I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great congregation.”  Psalm 40:10.

“I will sing of the lovingkindness of the Lord forever;
To all generations I will make known Your faithfulness with my mouth.”  Psalm 89:1.

“For You, O Lord, have made me glad by what You have done,
I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands.”  Psalm 92:4.

“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.

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

I quote only the following verses.

“²⁶ “Have you not heard?
Long ago I did it,
From ancient times I planned it.
Now I have brought it to pass,
That you should turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps.
²⁷ “Therefore their inhabitants were short of strength,
They were dismayed and put to shame;
They were as the vegetation of the field and as the green herb,
As grass on the housetops is scorched before it is grown up.
²⁸ “But I know your sitting down
And your going out and your coming in
And your raging against Me.
²⁹ “Because of your raging against Me
And because your arrogance has come up to My ears,
Therefore I will put My hook in your nose
And My bridle in your lips,
And I will turn you back by the way which you came.

³⁰ “Then this shall be the sign for you:  you will eat this year what grows of itself, in the second year what springs from the same, and in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.  ³¹ The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward.  ³² For out of Jerusalem will go forth a remnant and out of Mount Zion survivors.  The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”’

³³ “Therefore, thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, ‘He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there;  and he will not come before it with a shield, or throw up a siege ramp against it.  ³⁴ By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he will not come to this city,’ declares the Lord.  ³⁵ ‘For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.’”

³⁶ Then the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians;  and when men arose early in the morning, behold, all of these were dead.  ³⁷ So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home and lived at Nineveh.  ³⁸ It came about as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons killed him with the sword;  and they escaped into the land of Ararat.  And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.”  Isaiah 37:26-38.

———————————-

The wicked may rage and conquer for a while as part of God’s sovereign plan.

““Have you not heard?
Long ago I did it,
From ancient times I planned it.
Now I have brought it to pass,
That you should turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps.”  Verse 26.

Sennacherib king of Assyria did so as we read in today’s Scripture, and we remember that Pharaoh king of Egypt did so earlier in history.

But, God saves His people as we read in today’s Scripture.

“For out of Jerusalem will go forth a remnant and out of Mount Zion survivors.  The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”’  Verse 32.

And, we read in other Scriptures many other examples of how God saves His people such as when He miraculously delivered His people through the plagues on Egypt and through the middle of the Red Sea on dry land.

We may question why God allows the wicked to rage and conquer for even a little while, but Scripture answers.  

“For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.”  Romans 9:17.

“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?  And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,”  Romans 9:22-23. 

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah chapter 36.  Here is a link to this chapter – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+36&version=NASB

I quote only the following verses.

“Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them.  ² And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah with a large army.  And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway of the fuller’s field. ³ Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to him.

⁴ Then Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, “What is this confidence that you have?  ⁵ I say, ‘Your counsel and strength for the war are only empty words.’  Now on whom do you rely, that you have rebelled against me?  ⁶ Behold, you rely on the staff of this crushed reed, even on Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it.  So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him.  …

¹⁸ Beware that Hezekiah does not mislead you, saying, “The Lord will deliver us.”  Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? ¹⁹ Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad?  Where are the gods of Sepharvaim?  And when have they delivered Samaria from my hand?  ²⁰ Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their land from my hand, that the Lord would deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’”  Isaiah 36:1-6 and 18-20.

———————–

Just because someone tells you some true things does not mean that all that person says is true.

It was true, as Rabshakeh (the Assyrian messenger) said, that Judah should not trust the Pharaoh and Egypt.  But, such truth does not mean that the LORD could not save Jerusalem as Rabshakeh maintained.

It was also true, as Rabshakeh also said, that the gods of the nations did not save Samaria.  But, such truth does not mean that the LORD could not save Jerusalem as Rabshakeh maintained.

And, today, we are confronted with many preachers and teachers who do tell us some true things, maybe even many true things, but likewise, it does not mean that all that person says is true.

We have preachers and teachers that preach and teach Christ, but even though they maintain that God loves everyone and Christ died for everyone, their “christ” did not actually save anyone, because they maintain that it is up to the individual to save themselves by being wise enough and good enough to provide something that God is unwilling to provide whether it be works or will.

But, Reformed Doctrine preaches and teaches the God of Scripture Whom we can truly trust to provide all that we need for salvation from “Unconditional Election”, “Limited Atonement”, “Irresistible Grace”, and “Preservation of the Saints”, the “U”, “L”, “I”, and “P” of “TULIP”, the Five Points of Calvinism, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation. 

Q. 30.  Do such then believe in Jesus the only Savior, who seek their salvation and welfare of saints, of themselves, or anywhere else?

 A.  They do not;  for though they boast of Him in words, yet in deeds they deny Jesus the only deliverer and Savior;  for one of these two things must be true, either that Jesus is not a complete Savior, or that they who by a true faith receive this Savior must find all things in Him necessary to their salvation.  Heidelberg Catechism. 

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.  Canons of Dordt.

“² “Behold, God is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid;
For the Lord God is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation.”
³ Therefore you will joyously draw water
From the springs of salvation.
⁴ And in that day you will say,
“Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name.
Make known His deeds among the peoples;
Make them remember that His name is exalted.”
⁵ Praise the Lord in song, for He has done excellent things;
Let this be known throughout the earth.
⁶ Cry aloud and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”  Isaiah 12:2-6.

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah chapter 32.  Here is a link to this chapter – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+32&version=NASB

I quote only the following verses.

“15 Until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high,
And the wilderness becomes a fertile field,
And the fertile field is considered as a forest.
16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness
And righteousness will abide in the fertile field.
17 And the work of righteousness will be peace,
And the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever.
18 Then my people will live in a peaceful habitation,
And in secure dwellings and in undisturbed resting places;”  Isaiah 32:15-18.

—————————-

Today’s Scripture shows the great fruit of what righteousness produces:  “peace” and “quietness and confidence forever”. 

“And the work of righteousness will be peace,
And the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever.”  Verse 17.

Do we want such “peace” and “quietness and confidence forever”?

Then, let us seek God’s righteousness!

“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”  Matthew 6:33.

“for the kingdom of God is … righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”  Romans 14:17.

“6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.”  Isaiah 9:6-7.

And, we also notice this righteousness and peace are accomplished by “the zeal of the Lord of hosts” which is stated in a different way by today’s Scripture:  “the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high” in verse 15.

“All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful;  yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”  Hebrews 12:11.

“8 I will hear what God the Lord will say;
For He will speak peace to His people, to His godly ones;
But let them not turn back to folly.
9 Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him,
That glory may dwell in our land.
10 Lovingkindness and truth have met together;
Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
11 Truth springs from the earth,
And righteousness looks down from heaven.
12 Indeed, the Lord will give what is good,
And our land will yield its produce.
13 Righteousness will go before Him
And will make His footsteps into a way.”  Psalm 85:8-13.