Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

Today’s devotion comes from Revelation 7:13-17.

 

“Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?”  I said to him, “My lord, you know.”  And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.  For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple;  and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them.  They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore;  nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat;  for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life;  and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”  Revelation 7:13-17.

 

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God “not only” saves us from our sins and from the eternal punishment of hell that we deserve;  God also provides us with eternal blessings in heaven. 

 

Yesterday, we considered that “Salvation belongs to the Lord” and that the Lord provides all that we need for salvation.

 

Today, we considers that the Lord provides glorious blessings in heaven as well.  “They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore;  nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat;  for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life;  and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”  Verses 16 and 17. 

 

“… Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,
And which have not entered the heart of man,
All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”  1 Corinthians 2:9.

 

But, we have difficulty believing that God will provide these things to us.  Our natural tendency is to believe that God will treat us as we treat others.  We may be good to others for a little while or for as long as they are good to us.  Likewise, we believe that God will only be good to us as long as we perfectly perform for Him.  In summary, we tend to only lightly consider these heavenly things, because we think that they are too good to be true.

 

 

Reformed Doctrine destroys that thinking.  Reformed Doctrine teaches us that God did not save us, because we were good enough.  Reformed Doctrine helps us to believe likewise that God does not provide blessings in heaven, because we are good enough or will be good enough. 

 

Reformed Doctrine helps us to understand that like “Salvation belongs to the Lord”, we belong to the Lord.  God chose us.  We are His people, His sheep.  God saves us and provides blessings in heaven, because we are His people, we belong to Him.

 

Our only comfort in life and death is that we “belong” to our faithful Savior Jesus Christ Who saved us from our sins, preserves us, and assures us of all these heavenly things that He will provide us.  See Question and Answer 1 of the Heidelberg Catechism.          

 

Today’s devotion comes from Revelation 7:8-12. 

                                                                                                                                                     “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;  and they cry out with a loud voice, saying,

                                                 

“Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”  And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying,

“Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever.  Amen.”  Revelation 7:8-12.

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“Salvation belongs to the Lord;  Your blessing be upon Your people!  Selah.”  Psalm 3:8

Some teach that man should get some credit for salvation.  They teach that man supplies the “free-will”, the condition that motivates God to elect themselves, the inherent goodness which God loves, the good works or maybe just their choice of Christ, and the perseverance of faith until the end.

But, those are not among this great multitude who “cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” 

This great multitude does not regard man as deserving any such praise. They “fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever.  Amen.”

Reformed Doctrine teaches “Salvation belongs to the Lord”.  Reformed Doctrine teaches “TULIP”, the Five Points of Calvinism, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation which clearly shows that “Salvation belongs to the Lord”.

Reformed Doctrine first humbles man by teaching the “Total Depravity” of man.  Man is dead in sin and cannot contribute anything to his own salvation.  Man’s only chance for salvation is that God will provide all that is needed for salvation.

Reformed Doctrine then teaches that God provides everything needed for salvation from “Unconditional Election” through “Limited Atonement” through “Irresistible Grace” through “Preservation of the Saints”.

In conclusion, Isaiah Chapter 59 is a good summary of man’s wickedness and God’s salvation.

“¹ Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short
That it cannot save;
Nor is His ear so dull
That it cannot hear.
² But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God,
And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.
³ For your hands are defiled with blood
And your fingers with iniquity;
Your lips have spoken falsehood,
Your tongue mutters wickedness.
⁴ No one sues righteously and no one pleads honestly.
They trust in confusion and speak lies;
They conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity.
⁵ They hatch adders’ eggs and weave the spider’s web;
He who eats of their eggs dies,
And from that which is crushed a snake breaks forth.
⁶ Their webs will not become clothing,
Nor will they cover themselves with their works;
Their works are works of iniquity,
And an act of violence is in their hands.
⁷ Their feet run to evil,
And they hasten to shed innocent blood;
Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity,
Devastation and destruction are in their highways.
⁸ They do not know the way of peace,
And there is no justice in their tracks;
They have made their paths crooked,
Whoever treads on them does not know peace.

“⁹ Therefore justice is far from us,
And righteousness does not overtake us;
We hope for light, but behold, darkness,
For brightness, but we walk in gloom.
¹⁰ We grope along the wall like blind men,
We grope like those who have no eyes;
We stumble at midday as in the twilight,
Among those who are vigorous we are like dead men.
¹¹ All of us growl like bears,
And moan sadly like doves;
We hope for justice, but there is none,
For salvation, but it is far from us.
¹² For our transgressions are multiplied before You,
And our sins testify against us;
For our transgressions are with us,
And we know our iniquities:
¹³ Transgressing and denying the Lord,
And turning away from our God,
Speaking oppression and revolt,
Conceiving in and uttering from the heart lying words.
¹⁴ Justice is turned back,
And righteousness stands far away;
For truth has stumbled in the street,
And uprightness cannot enter.
¹⁵ Yes, truth is lacking;
And he who turns aside from evil makes himself a prey.
Now the Lord saw,
And it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice.
¹⁶ And He saw that there was no man,
And was astonished that there was no one to intercede;
Then His own arm brought salvation to Him,
And His righteousness upheld Him.
¹⁷ He put on righteousness like a breastplate,
And a helmet of salvation on His head;
And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing
And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle.
¹⁸ According to their deeds, so He will repay,
Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies;
To the coastlands He will make recompense.
¹⁹ So they will fear the name of the Lord from the west
And His glory from the rising of the sun,
For He will come like a rushing stream
Which the wind of the Lord drives.
²⁰ “A Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the Lord.

²¹ “As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from now and forever.”  Isaiah Chapter 59.

Today’s devotion comes from Revelation 7:4-8.

“And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

Today’s devotion comes from Revelation 7:1-3.

 

“After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree.  And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God;  and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads.”  Revelation 7:1-3.

 

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Heidelberg Catechism assures me that “all things must be subservient to my salvation”.  Question and Answer 1.

 

Even in Ezekiel’s vision of slaughter, in which it appeared to Ezekiel that God was destroying the whole remnant of Israel, Ezekiel was saved.  There too a saving mark was put on the foreheads of those who were spared.  See Ezekiel Chapter 9.

 

In Jesus’ parable of wheat and tares, although God very much desired to burn the wicked represented by the tares, God was careful to not hurt the righteous represented by the wheat.  “Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.  But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away.  But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also.  The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field?  How then does it have tares?’  And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves *said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’  But he *said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them.  Allow both to grow together until the harvest;  and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up;  but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”  Matthew 13:24-30. 

 

 

God “preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;”  2 Peter 2:5.  

 

God “rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men” when He “condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes”.  2 Peter 2:6-7.

 

God “knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,”  2 Peter 2:9.

 

“Come, my people, enter into your rooms And close your doors behind you;  Hide for a little while Until indignation runs its course.”  Isaiah 26:20

 

Psalm 91 provides a comforting conclusion.

Today’s devotion comes from Revelation 6:12-17.

                                                           

“¹² I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake;  and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood;  ¹³ and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind.  ¹⁴ The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.  ¹⁵ Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains;  ¹⁶ and they *said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb;  ¹⁷ for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?””  Revelation 6:12-17.

                           

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“¹⁰ Enter the rock and hide in the dust
From the terror of the Lord and from the splendor of His majesty.
¹¹ The proud look of man will be abased
And the loftiness of man will be humbled,
And the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.

A Day of Reckoning Coming

Today’s devotion comes from Revelation 6:9-11.

 

“⁹ When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained;  ¹⁰ and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”  ¹¹ And there was given to each of them a white robe;  and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.”  Revelation 6:9-11.

 

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Yesterday, we considered:  “But, we need to remember that those seals need to be broken to open the book of life.  …  Random “helter-skelter” did not break out in the breaking of the seals.  These are no “Pandora’s boxes”.  God is still sovereign and in perfect total control.”

 

Yet, there is a big difference between the death of the ungodly and the death of the godly.  We may have thought regarding the deaths that occurred in the breaking of the second, third, and fourth seals that those were “just” the deaths of the ungodly.  But, we are confronted with the deaths of the godly (the martyrs) in the breaking of this fifth seal. 

 

We may wonder like the martyrs:  “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 

 

But, God is still sovereign and in perfect total control as is evident by His calm response:  “they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.”

 

Today’s devotion comes from Revelation 6:1-8.

 

“¹ Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, “Come.”  I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow;  and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.

 

³ When He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come.”  ⁴ And another, a red horse, went out;  and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him.

 

⁵ When He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, “Come.”  I looked, and behold, a black horse;  and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.  ⁶ And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius;  and do not damage the oil and the wine.”

                                               

⁷ When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come.”  ⁸ I looked, and behold, an ashen horse;  and he who sat on it had the name Death;  and Hades was following with him.  Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.”  Revelation 6:1-8. 

 

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As we start reading the Scripture which describes the breaking of the seven seals, we may focus on the vivid imagery and be alarmed, puzzled, and frightened.  But, we need to remember that those seals need to be broken to open the book of life.

“I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals.  And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?”  And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it.  Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it;  and one of the elders *said to me, “Stop weeping;  behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.”  Revelation 5:1-5.

Random “helter-skelter” did not break out in the breaking of the seals.  These are no “Pandora’s boxes”.  God is still sovereign and in perfect total control.

The events described in the breaking of the seals are things that must come.  We remember Revelation 4:1:  “After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”  Revelation 4:1.

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”  Romans 8:28.

“And they *sang a new song, saying,

Today’s devotion comes from Revelation 5:11-14.

 

“¹¹ Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders;  and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, ¹² saying with a loud voice,

¹³ And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying,

¹⁴ And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.”  And the elders fell down and worshiped.”  Revelation 5:11-14.

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Some teach man’s free-will determines who will be saved.  If that were the truth, would there be such praise as we see in today’s Scripture?   

Are these myriads of myriads of heavenly voices in today’s Scripture proclaiming man’s free-will or God’s sovereignty?

God’s perfect sovereign dominion is eliciting such praise and worship. 

Our doctrine should be consistent and in harmony with these heavenly voices and the truth of God’s perfect sovereign dominion.  And, Reformed Doctrine a/k/a Calvinism is.

We read about such dominion in the Belgic Confession. 

Article 13:  Of Divine Providence.

We believe that the same God, after he had created all things, did not forsake them, or give them up to fortune or chance, but that he rules and governs them according to his holy will, so that nothing happens in this world without his appointment:  nevertheless, God neither is the author of, nor can be charged with, the sins which are committed.  For his power and goodness are so great and incomprehensible, that he orders and executes his work in the most excellent and just manner, even then, when devils and wicked men act unjustly.  … This doctrine affords us unspeakable consolation, since we are taught thereby that nothing can befall us by chance, but by the direction of our most gracious and heavenly Father;  who watches over us with a paternal care, keeping all creatures so under his power, that not a hair of our head (for they are all numbered), nor a sparrow, can fall to the ground, without the will of our Father, in whom we do entirely trust;  being persuaded, that he so restrains the devil and all our enemies, that without his will and permission, they cannot hurt us.  And therefore we reject that damnable error of the Epicureans, who say that God regards nothing, but leaves all things to chance.

We read about such dominion in the Heidelberg Catechism.

Question 1.  What is thy only comfort in life and death?

Answer.  That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Savior Jesus Christ;  who, with his precious blood, hath fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil;  and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head;  yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him.

We read about such dominion in the Canons of Dordt.

Article 7.  Election is the unchangeable purpose of God, whereby, before the foundation of the world, he hath out of mere grace, according to the sovereign good pleasure of his own will, chosen, from the whole human race, which had fallen through their own fault, from their primitive state of rectitude, into sin and destruction, a certain number of persons to redemption in Christ, whom he from eternity appointed the Mediator and Head of the elect, and the foundation of Salvation.

This elect number, though by nature neither better nor more deserving than the others, but with them involved in one common misery, God hath decreed to give to Christ, to be saved by him, and effectually to call and draw them to his communion by his Word and Spirit, to bestow upon them true faith, justification and sanctification;  and having powerfully preserved them in the fellowship of his Son, finally, to glorify them for the demonstration of his mercy, and for the praise of his glorious grace; as it is written:  “According as he hath chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy, and without blame before him in love;  having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved,”  Ephesians 1:4,5,6.  And elsewhere: “Whom he did predestinate, them he also called;  and whom he called, them he also justified;  and whom he justified, them he also glorified,”  Romans 8:30.  The Canons of Dordt FIRST HEAD OF DOCTRINE Of Divine Predestination.

We read about such dominion in the Westminister Larger Catechism.

Question 13:  What has God especially decreed concerning angels and men?

Answer:  God, by an eternal and immutable decree, out of his mere love, for the praise of his glorious grace, to be manifested in due time, has elected some angels to glory;  and in Christ has chosen some men to eternal life, and the means thereof:  and also, according to his sovereign power, and the unsearchable counsel of his own will (whereby he extends or withholds favor as he pleases), has passed by and foreordained the rest to dishonor and wrath, to be for their sin inflicted, to the praise of the glory of his justice.

God accomplishes all of His good purpose.  Total Perfect Triumph.

“To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”

Today’s devotion comes from Revelation 4:9-11.

 

“And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

                                 

“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power;  for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”  Revelation 4:9-11.

                               

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“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  Genesis 1:1

 

“God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind;  and God saw that it was good.”  Genesis 1:21