Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah chapter 23.  Here is a link to this chapter – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+23&version=NASB

I quote only the following verses.

“The oracle concerning Tyre.

Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
For Tyre is destroyed, without house or harbor;
It is reported to them from the land of Cyprus.
2 Be silent, you inhabitants of the coastland,
You merchants of Sidon;
Your messengers crossed the sea
3 And were on many waters.
The grain of the Nile, the harvest of the River was her revenue;
And she was the market of nations.
4 Be ashamed, O Sidon;
For the sea speaks, the stronghold of the sea, saying,
“I have neither travailed nor given birth,
I have neither brought up young men nor reared virgins.”
5 When the report reaches Egypt,
They will be in anguish at the report of Tyre.
6 Pass over to Tarshish;
Wail, O inhabitants of the coastland.
7 Is this your jubilant city,
Whose origin is from antiquity,
Whose feet used to carry her to colonize distant places?

8 Who has planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,
Whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the earth?
9 The Lord of hosts has planned it, to defile the pride of all beauty,
To despise all the honored of the earth.
10 Overflow your land like the Nile, O daughter of Tarshish,
There is no more restraint.
11 He has stretched His hand out over the sea,
He has made the kingdoms tremble;
The Lord has given a command concerning Canaan to demolish its strongholds.”  Isaiah 23:1-11.

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The LORD of hosts shows His sovereignty over all the nations and His destruction of the pride of the wicked.

“The Lord of hosts has planned it, to defile the pride of all beauty,
To despise all the honored of the earth.”  Verse 9.

“He has stretched His hand out over the sea,
He has made the kingdoms tremble;
The Lord has given a command concerning Canaan to demolish its strongholds.”  Verse 11.

And yet, we are too eager to point at the wicked pride of others without noticing the pride within ourselves.  We think that we deserve to be saved by something that we think we contribute whether it be our works or our inherent goodness or at least our alleged free-will choices.

But, our pride is humbled as we come to realize that we cannot earn our salvation by anything that we contribute.  Reformed Doctrine teaches that our natural condition is “Total Depravity”.  We are dead in sin, hostile to God, and enslaved to sin and Satan.  We need a Savior to provide all that we need for salvation from beginning to 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.

The LORD humbles us and puts us in our place as He did with Job.  The LORD reminds us that He alone is God.

“6 Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm and said,

7 “Now gird up your loins like a man;
I will ask you, and you instruct Me.
8 “Will you really annul My judgment?
Will you condemn Me that you may be justified?
9 “Or do you have an arm like God,
And can you thunder with a voice like His?
10 “Adorn yourself with eminence and dignity,
And clothe yourself with honor and majesty.
11 “Pour out the overflowings of your anger,
And look on everyone who is proud, and make him low.
12 “Look on everyone who is proud, and humble him,
And tread down the wicked where they stand.
13 “Hide them in the dust together;
Bind them in the hidden place.
14 “Then I will also confess to you,
That your own right hand can save you.”  Job 40:6-14.

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

I quote only the following verses.

“5 For the Lord God of hosts has a day of panic, subjugation and confusion
In the valley of vision,
A breaking down of walls
And a crying to the mountain.
6 Elam took up the quiver
With the chariots, infantry and horsemen;
And Kir uncovered the shield.
7 Then your choicest valleys were full of chariots,
And the horsemen took up fixed positions at the gate.
8 And He removed the defense of Judah.
In that day you depended on the weapons of the house of the forest,
9 And you saw that the breaches
In the wall of the city of David were many;
And you collected the waters of the lower pool.
10 Then you counted the houses of Jerusalem
And tore down houses to fortify the wall.
11 And you made a reservoir between the two walls
For the waters of the old pool.
But you did not depend on Him who made it,
Nor did you take into consideration Him who planned it long ago.

12 Therefore in that day the Lord God of hosts called you to weeping, to wailing,
To shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth.”  Isaiah 22:5-12.

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The people of Jerusalem did not depend on the LORD God of hosts:

“…  But you did not depend on Him who made it,
Nor did you take into consideration Him who planned it long ago.”  Verse 11.

The consequence was punishment:

“Therefore in that day the Lord God of hosts called you to weeping, to wailing,
To shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth.”  Verse 12.

And yet, other doctrine neglects this warning (and other warnings throughout Scripture about trusting man) and continues to depend at least partly on its own works or its own will to be saved.

But, Reformed Doctrine depends entirely on the works of God and the will of God to be saved.

Reformed Doctrine sees the “Total Depravity” of man and does not trust nor depend on itself at all.  Rather, Reformed Doctrine depends entirely on God from beginning to 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.

“9 …  This I know, that God is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise,
In the Lord, whose word I praise,
11 In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
12 Your vows are binding upon me, O God;
I will render thank offerings to You.
13 For You have delivered my soul from death,
Indeed my feet from stumbling,
So that I may walk before God
In the light of the living.”  Psalm 56:9-13.

We notice in Psalm 56:12 that the vows that are binding to save us are not our vows but “Your vows” (that is God’s vows).

“For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.”  And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise.  For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute.  In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.”  Hebrews 6:13-18.

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah chapter 21.  Here is a link to this chapter – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+21&version=NASB

I quote only the following verses.

“The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea.

As windstorms in the Negev sweep on,
It comes from the wilderness, from a terrifying land.
2 A harsh vision has been shown to me;
The treacherous one still deals treacherously, and the destroyer still destroys.
Go up, Elam, lay siege, Media;
I have made an end of all the groaning she has caused.
3 For this reason my loins are full of anguish;
Pains have seized me like the pains of a woman in labor.
I am so bewildered I cannot hear, so terrified I cannot see.
4 My mind reels, horror overwhelms me;
The twilight I longed for has been turned for me into trembling.
5 They set the table, they spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink;
“Rise up, captains, oil the shields,”

6 For thus the Lord says to me,

“Go, station the lookout, let him report what he sees.
7 “When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,
A train of donkeys, a train of camels,
Let him pay close attention, very close attention.”

8 Then the lookout called,

“O Lord, I stand continually by day on the watchtower,
And I am stationed every night at my guard post.
9 “Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.”
And one said, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
And all the images of her gods are shattered on the ground.”
10 O my threshed people, and my afflicted of the threshing floor!
What I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
The God of Israel, I make known to you.”  Isaiah 21:1-10.

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“I will stand on my guard post
And station myself on the rampart;
And I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me,
And how I may reply when I am reproved.
2 Then the Lord answered me and said,
“Record the vision
And inscribe it on tablets,
That the one who reads it may run.
3 “For the vision is yet for the appointed time;
It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
For it will certainly come, it will not delay.”  Habakkuk 2:1-3.

“Wait for the Lord;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the LORD.”  Psalm 27:14.

“For I the Lord will speak, and whatever word I speak will be performed.  It will no longer be delayed, for in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it,” declares the Lord God.’”  Ezekiel 12:25.

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah chapter 20.

“In the year that the commander came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him and he fought against Ashdod and captured it, at that time the Lord spoke through Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go and loosen the sackcloth from your hips and take your shoes off your feet.”  And he did so, going naked and barefoot.  And the Lord said, “Even as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot three years as a sign and token against Egypt and Cush, so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old, naked and barefoot with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.  Then they will be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and Egypt their boast.  So the inhabitants of this coastland will say in that day, ‘Behold, such is our hope, where we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria;  and we, how shall we escape?’”  Isaiah chapter 20.

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“Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help
And rely on horses,
And trust in chariots because they are many
And in horsemen because they are very strong,
But they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the Lord!
2 Yet He also is wise and will bring disaster
And does not retract His words,
But will arise against the house of evildoers
And against the help of the workers of iniquity.
3 Now the Egyptians are men and not God,
And their horses are flesh and not spirit;
So the Lord will stretch out His hand,
And he who helps will stumble
And he who is helped will fall,
And all of them will come to an end together.”  Isaiah 31:1-3.

“5 Thus says the Lord,
“Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind
And makes flesh his strength,
And whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 “For he will be like a bush in the desert
And will not see when prosperity comes,
But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness,
A land of salt without inhabitant.
7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord
And whose trust is the Lord.
8 “For he will be like a tree planted by the water,
That extends its roots by a stream
And will not fear when the heat comes;
But its leaves will be green,
And it will not be anxious in a year of drought
Nor cease to yield fruit.”  Jeremiah 17:5-8.

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah chapter 19.  Here is a link to this chapter – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+19&version=NASB

I quote only the following verses.

“The oracle concerning Egypt.

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah chapter 18.

“Alas, oh land of whirring wings
Which lies beyond the rivers of Cush,
2 Which sends envoys by the sea,
Even in papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters.
Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth,
To a people feared far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation
Whose land the rivers divide.
3 All you inhabitants of the world and dwellers on earth,
As soon as a standard is raised on the mountains, you will see it,
And as soon as the trumpet is blown, you will hear it.

4 For thus the Lord has told me,

“I will look from My dwelling place quietly
Like dazzling heat in the sunshine,
Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
5 For before the harvest, as soon as the bud blossoms
And the flower becomes a ripening grape,
Then He will cut off the sprigs with pruning knives
And remove and cut away the spreading branches.
6 They will be left together for mountain birds of prey,
And for the beasts of the earth;
And the birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them,
And all the beasts of the earth will spend harvest time on them.
7 At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the Lord of hosts
From a people tall and smooth,
Even from a people feared far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation,
Whose land the rivers divide—
To the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, even Mount Zion.”  Isaiah chapter 18.

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Although the nation of Ethiopia too would be punished and cut back like a trimmed plant (verses 5-6), there is hope for Ethiopia.

“At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the Lord of hosts From a people tall and smooth, … To the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, even Mount Zion.”  Verse 7.

“Envoys will come out of Egypt;
Ethiopia will quickly stretch out her hands to God.”  Psalm 68:31.

In summary, the Lord of hosts is sovereign over all the nations and has given authority over the nations to God the Son, Jesus Christ.  It is in the best interests of those nations, their leaders and the peoples, to do homage to Christ.

“7 “I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to Me, ‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
8 ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance,
And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.
9 ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron,
You shall shatter them like earthenware.’”

10 Now therefore, O kings, show discernment;
Take warning, O judges of the earth.
11 Worship the Lord with reverence
And rejoice with trembling.
12 Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way,
For His wrath may soon be kindled.
How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”  Psalm 2:7-12.

Other doctrine is all about alleged free-will, being independent, and honoring man.

But, Reformed Doctrine is all about submitting to the will of the LORD, being dependent on the LORD, honoring the LORD, and worshipping the LORD with reverence.

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah chapter 15.

“The oracle concerning Moab.

Surely in a night Ar of Moab is devastated and ruined;
Surely in a night Kir of Moab is devastated and ruined.
2 They have gone up to the temple and to Dibon, even to the high places to weep.
Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba;
Everyone’s head is bald and every beard is cut off.
3 In their streets they have girded themselves with sackcloth;
On their housetops and in their squares
Everyone is wailing, dissolved in tears.
4 Heshbon and Elealeh also cry out,
Their voice is heard all the way to Jahaz;
Therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud;
His soul trembles within him.
5 My heart cries out for Moab;
His fugitives are as far as Zoar and Eglath-shelishiyah,
For they go up the ascent of Luhith weeping;
Surely on the road to Horonaim they raise a cry of distress over their ruin.
6 For the waters of Nimrim are desolate.
Surely the grass is withered, the tender grass died out,
There is no green thing.
7 Therefore the abundance which they have acquired and stored up
They carry off over the brook of Arabim.
8 For the cry of distress has gone around the territory of Moab,
Its wail goes as far as Eglaim and its wailing even to Beer-elim.
9 For the waters of Dimon are full of blood;
Surely I will bring added woes upon Dimon,
A lion upon the fugitives of Moab and upon the remnant of the land.”  Isaiah chapter 15.

———————-

“Therefore the abundance which they have acquired and stored up
They carry off over the brook of Arabim.”  Verse 7.

The abundance of Moab did not save them, and our abundance does not save us. 

“As he had come naked from his mother’s womb, so will he return as he came.  He will take nothing from the fruit of his labor that he can carry in his hand.”  Ecclesiastes 5:15.

“For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.”  1 Timothy 6:7.

“Then He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed;  for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”  And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive.  And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’  Then he said, ‘This is what I will do:  I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.  And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come;  take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”’  But God said to him, ‘You fool!  This very night your soul is required of you;  and now who will own what you have prepared?’  So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”  Luke 12:15-21.

“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.

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

Today’s devotion comes from Isaiah chapter 14.  Here is a link to this chapter – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+14&version=NASB

I quote only the following verses.

“The Lord of hosts has sworn saying, “Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and just as I have planned so it will stand, to break Assyria in My land, and I will trample him on My mountains.  Then his yoke will be removed from them and his burden removed from their shoulder.  This is the plan devised against the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out against all the nations.  For the Lord of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it?  And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?”  Isaiah 14:24-27.

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Other doctrine teaches that man can frustrate the plan of God.

Other doctrine teaches that although God loves everyone and Christ died for everyone, man can frustrate the plan of God by his alleged free-will.

But, Reformed Doctrine teaches that God only loves His elect and Christ died only for God’s elect and that man cannot frustrate the plan of God.

Reformed Doctrine teaches that despite man’s natural condition of “Total Depravity” (dead in sin, hostile to God, who does not understand, who does not seek God, and who does not do good), God can and does fully and exactly accomplish His plan of saving every one of His elect 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.

This is the Gospel, the Good News of Salvation!

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.

Article 9.  This purpose proceeding from everlasting love towards the elect, has from the beginning of the world to this day been powerfully accomplished, and will henceforward still continue to be accomplished, notwithstanding all the ineffectual opposition of the gates of hell, so that the elect in due time may be gathered together into one, and that there never may be wanting a church composed of believers, the foundation of which is laid in the blood of Christ, which may steadfastly love, and faithfully serve him as their Savior, who as a bridegroom for his bride, laid down his life for them upon the cross, and which may celebrate his praises here and through all eternity.  SECOND HEAD OF DOCTRINE Of the Death of Christ, and the Redemption of Men Thereby of Canons of Dordt.

“9 “Remember the former things long past,
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is no one like Me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things which have not been done,
Saying, ‘My purpose will be established,
And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;
11 Calling a bird of prey from the east,
The man of My purpose from a far country.
Truly I have spoken;  truly I will bring it to pass.
I have planned it, surely I will do it.”  Isaiah 46:9-11.