INSIGHTS & NOTES FROM
CHAPTER 1
"When men profane the vessels of the sanctuary with their sins it is just with God to profane them by his judgments." "Those that would do good in the world when they grow up must learn when they are young." "...if that time be lost, it will hardly be redeemed." "Whoever are in favour, it is God that has brought them into favour; & it is by him that they find good understanding." "Those that would excel in wisdom & piety must learn betimes to keep under the body & bring it into subjection." "It becomes us to be humble under humbling providences." "See what it is to keep ourselves pure from the pollutions of sin; it is the way to have the comfort & satisfaction which will be health to the navel & marrow to the bones, while the pleasures of sin are rottenness to the bones." "Industry is the way to preferment." CHAPTER 2 "All the treasures & all the delights of the children of men, which this mighty monarch had the command of, could not procure him a little repose, when by reason of the trouble of his mind his sleep broke from him. But God gives his beloved sleep, who return to him as their rest." "...God sometimes serves his own purposes by putting things out of men's minds as well as by putting things into their minds." "How miserable is the case of those who live under an arbitrary government, as this of Nebuchadnezzar's!" "Daniel knew how by prayer to converse with God & he found favour with him..." "Praying friends are valuable friends" "We ought in prayer to look up to God as the God of heaven, a God above us, & who has dominion over us, to whom we owe adoration & allegiance, a God of power, who can do every thing." "Secret things belong to the Lord our God, & therefore, if there be any mercy we stand in need of that concerns a secret, to him we must apply" "There are mysteries & secrets which by prayer we are let into; with that key the cabinets of heaven are unlocked, for Christ has said, Thus knock, & it shall be opened unto you." "What honour God puts upon us we should be willing that our brethren may share with us in." "In transmitting divine revelation to the children of men, it has been God's usual way to make use of the weak & foolish things & persons of the world, & such as were despised & despaired of, to confound the wise & mighty, that the excellency of the power might be of him. I Corinthians 1:27, 28." "The insufficiency of creatures should drive us to the all-sufficiency of the Creator. There is a God in heaven (& it is well for us there is) who can do that for us, & make known that to us, which none on earth can" "The greatest of princes have no power but what is given them from above." "The kingdom of Christ shall wear out all other kingdoms, shall outlive them, & flourish when they are sunk with their own weight, & so wasted that their place knows them no more. All the kingdoms that appear against the kingdom of Christ shall be broken with a rod of iron, as a potter's vessel. Psalms 2:9." "Whatever God has made known we may depend upon." "...sometimes, before God brings his people into trouble, he prepares it, that it may be easy to them." CHAPTER 3 "Strong convictions often come short of a sound conversion. Many in a pang have owned the absurdity & dangerousness of sin, & yet have gone on in it." "True devotion calms the spirit, quiets & meekens it; but superstition, & a devotion to false gods, inflame men's passions, inspire them with rage, & fury, & turn them into brutes." "The faithful servants of God will find him a Master able to bear them out in his service, & to control & overrule all the powers that are armed against them." "God sometimes appears wonderfully for the silencing of the blasphemies of the enemy, as well as for the answering of the prayers of his people" "They know they must obey God rather than man" "God can strike those with astonishment whose hearts are most hardened both against him & against his people." "See how the God of nature can, when he pleases, control the powers of nature, to make them serve his purposes." "Those that suffer for Christ have his gracious presence with them in their sufferings, even in the fiery furnace, even in the valley of the shadow of death, & therefore evey there they need fear no evil." "...Sooner or later, God will convince the proudest of men that he is the most high God, & above them, & too hard for them, even in those things wherein they deal proudly & presumptuously. Exodus 18:11." "It is our God only that is the consuming fire (Heb. 12:29); other fire, if he but speak the word, shall not consume." "If God can work such deliverance as no other can, he may demand such obedience as no other may." "Those shall have their praise, if not of men, yet of God, who prefer their souls before their bodies, & will rather lose their lives than forsake their God." Matthew Henry's Commentary: Isaiah to Malachi, Mac Donald, pgs. 1016 - 1044.
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"We must not only acknowledge, but acquiesce in, the hand of God, appointing us our lot, & be well pleased with it, believing it fittest for us. He shall choose our inheritance for us. Psalms 47:4."
"God will put honour upon those who keep their integrity in times of general apostasy & he has special favours in reserve for them." "Into the church of Christ, both militant & triumphant, there is a free access by faith for all that come of every tribe, from every quarter." "Whoever will may come & take of the water of life, of the tree of life, freely." "When the gospel is faithfully preached, gospel ordinances are duly administered, & God is worshipped in the name of Jesus Christ... it may truly be said, The Lord is there" "The Lord is there in his church, to rule & govern it, to protect & defend it, & graciously to accept & own his sincere worshippers, & to be nigh unto them in all that they call upon him for." Matthew Henry's Commentary: Isaiah to Malachi, Mac Donald, pgs. 1011 - 1016. CHAPTER 44
"...though we have often looked into the things of God, they will yet bear to be looked over again" "The lessons we have learned we should still repeat to ourselves. Every time we review the sacred fabric of holy things, which we have in the scriptures, we shall still find something new which we did not before take notice of." "...he sees the house filled with the glory of the Lord, which strikes an awe upon him, so that he falls prostrate at the sight, the humblest posture of adoration & the expression of a holy awe" "The more we see of the glory of God the more low we shall lie in our own eyes." "Those who are appointed to be teachers have need to be very diligent careful learners, that they may neither forget any of the things they are entrusted with nor mistake concerning them." "It is time for those that have continued long in sin to reckon it long enough, & too long, & to begin to think of taking up in time, & leaving off their evil courses." "...those who have robbed God of his honour will justly be deprived of their honour." "Those who have been faithful are honoured & established." "God will put marks of honour upon those who give proofs of their fidelity & constancy to him in shaking trying times, & will employ those in his service who have kept close to his service when others deserted it & drew back." "If we keep close to God, God will keep us close to him." "They shall teach my people the difference between the holy & the profane, between good & evil, lawful & unlawful" "Ministers must decide controversies according to the word of God" "Those who have God for their inheritance & their possession may be content with a little, & ought not to covet a great deal of the possessions & inheritances of this earth. If we have God, we have all; & therefore may well reckon that we have enough." "It is all in all to the comfort of any house to have the blessing of God upon it & to have the blessing to rest in it" CHAPTER 45 "Whatever our substance is we must honour God with it, by giving him his dues out of it." "Those that worship God together should often join in renewing their repentance for their manifold defects, & applying the blood of Christ for the pardon of them" CHAPTER 46 "Great men should, by their constant & reverent attendance on God in public worship, give a good example to their inferiors, both engaging them & encouraging them to do likewise." "Christians, who are to present themselves to God as living sacrifices, should aim & endeavour to be - blameless, & harmless, & without rebuke." "Ministers must take heed of doing any thing to bolster up ignorant people in their superstitious vanities." CHAPTER 47 "The gifts of the Spirit increase by being exercised, & grace, where it is true, is growing, like the light of the morning, which shines more & more to the perfect day." "It is good to be often searching into the things of God, & trying the depth of them, not only to look on the surface of those waters, but to go to the bottom of them as far as we can, to be often digging, often diving, into the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, as those who covet to be intimately acquainted with those things." "The grace of God makes dead sinners alive & living saints lively; every thing is made fruitful & flourishing by it." "Those that will not be watered with the grace of God, & made fruitful, shall be abandoned to their own hearts' lusts, & left for ever unfruitful." "Gospel-grace makes those persons & places which were unprofitable & good for nothing to become serviceable to God & man." "It is God that appoints the bounds of our habitation" Matthew Henry's Commentary: Isaiah to Malachi, Mac Donald, pgs. 994 - 1011. |
AuthorCross Preaching Pentecostal Pastor. Husband to Tonia, Father to 3 beautiful girls, Monica, Zoe & Briana, & Grandfather to Wesley & Elliott Archives
September 2023
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