INSIGHTS & NOTES FROM
CHAPTER 91
"...all those that live a life of communion with God are constantly safe under his protection & may therefore preserve a holy serenity & security of mind at all times." "It is the character of a true believer that he dwells in the secret place of the Most High; he is at home in God, returns to God" "If Jehovah be our God, our refuge, & our fortress, what can we desire which we may not be sure to find in him? He is neither fickle nor false, neither weak nor mortal; he is God & not man, & therefore there is no danger of being disappointed in him." "God protects believers." "God is as willing to guard his people as the hen is to guard the chickens, & as able as a man of war in armour." "Those that preserve their purity in times of general corruption may trust God with their safety in times of general desolation." "It is our duty to be at home in God, to make our choice of him, & then to live our life in him as our habitation, to converse with him, & delight in him, & depend upon him;" "Christ has broken the serpent's head, spoiled our spiritual enemies (Colossian 2:15)." "...those are truly honourable whom God puts honour upon by taking them into covenant & communion with himself & designing them for his kingdom & glory. John 12:26." CHAPTER 92 "Praising God is good work: it is good in itself, & good for us." "It is our privilege that we are admitted to praise God, & have hope to be accepted in it." "It is good to give thanks for the mercies we have received, for that is the way of fetching in further mercy" "Those can best recommend to others the duty of praise who have themselves experienced the pleasantness of it." "I will triumph in the works of thy hands. From a joyful remembrance of what God has done for us we may raise a joyful prospect of what he will do, & triumph in the assurance of it, triumph over all opposition." Romans 11:33. "The greatness of God's works should lead us to consider the depth of his thoughts, that counsel of his own will according to which he does all things - what a compass his thoughts fetch & to what a length they reach!" "Christ reckons those his enemies that will not have him to reign over them" "Where God gives true grace he will give more grace." "...let those who flourish in God's courts, give him the glory of it" "The products of sanctification, all the instances of a lively devotion & a useful conversation, good works, by which God is glorified & others are edified, these are the fruits of righteousness." "All that ever trusted in God found him faithful & all-sufficient, & none were ever made ashamed of their hope in him." CHAPTER 93 "The Lord reigns gloriously; He is clothed with majesty." "He reigns powerfully." "Both strength & honour are his clothing. He can do every thing, & with him nothing is impossible." "He reigns eternally" "He reigns triumphantly." "The unlimited sovereignty & irresistible power of the great Jehovah are very encouraging to the people of God, in reference to all the noises & hurries they meet with in this world. Psalms 46:1, 2." "He reigns in truth & holiness." "God's church is his house; it is a holy house, cleansed from sin, consecrated by God, & employed in his service." "...holiness always becomes God's house & family, & those who belong to it; it is perpetually decent" CHAPTER 94 "There is a God to whom vengeance belongs" "Those are wicked indeed, & workers of the worst iniquity, lost to all honour & virtue, who are cruel to the innocent & hate the righteous." "If all knowledge is from God, no doubt all knowledge is in God." "It concerns us to keep a strict guard upon our thoughts, because God takes particular notice of them. Thoughts are words to God, & vain thoughts are provocations." "There is a rest remaining for the people of God after the days of their adversity" "Let God's suffering people assure themselves of this, that, whatever their friends do, God will not cast them off, nor throw them out of his covenant or out of his care; he will not forsake them, because they are his inheritance" "'When I had almost dwelt in silence, then the Lord was my help, kept me alive, kept me in heart; & unless I had made him my help, by putting my trust in him & expecting relief from him, I could never have kept possession of my own soul; but living by faith in him has kept my head above water, has given me breath, & something to say.'" "God's right hand sustains his people when they look on their right hand & on their left & there is none to uphold; & we are then prepared for his gracious supports when we are sensible of our own weakness & inability to stand by our own strength, & come to God, to acknowledge it, & to tell him how our foot slips." "God is, & will be, as a righteous Judge, the patron & protector of right & the punisher & avenger of wrong" "God is his people's refuge, to whom they may flee, in whom they are safe & may be secure; he is the rock of their refuge, so strong, so firm, impregnable, immovable, as a rock" Matthew Henry's Commentary: Job To Song Of Solomon, Mac Donald, pgs. 587 - 600.
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Insights From "Church, Read The Book Of Acts, & Get Ready!" by Donnie Swaggart - Chapter 610/28/2020 "THE SPIRIT MAKES INTERCESSION"
Romans 8:26, 27 "TRIALS & AFFLICTIONS" "All believers face problems & difficulties each day. However, there are problems & then there are great trials & afflictions that Satan brings against us." "This is where this great help of the Holy Spirit aids us." "LIKEWISE THE SPIRIT ALSO HELPS" "In the Greek the word help means 'the action of a person coming to another's aid by taking hold over against that person of the load he is carrying.'" "...the Holy Spirit has been given to us in order to help us carry the burdens & afflictions that Satan engineers against us." John 14:16 "Comforter in the Greek is parakletos, meaning 'one called alongside of another to help.' While the Holy Spirit doesn't necessarily remove the problem, He certainly does make the load lighter." "OUR INFIRMITIES" "Infirmities mean 'want of strength, or weakness.'" "...Paul is primarily speaking of the weakness of prayer. The thing that Satan has brought against us is so great that we don't even know how to pray about it. We are weak in even knowing how to articulate the request or petition in prayer." "FOR WE KNOW NOT WHAT WE SHOULD PRAY FOR AS WE OUGHT" "...the statement really reads, 'For we know not THE WHAT we should pray as we ought.'" "The word ought speaks of what is necessary in the nature of the case for which we are to pray." "BUT THE SPIRIT HIMSELF MAKES INTERCESSION" "...the wonderful help of the Holy Spirit. We don't know what to do, but He does. We don't know what to pray, but He does." "As one prays in the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, who is God, knows exactly how the petition is to be worded & how to bring the need before the Lord. In our limitations we don't know how, but praise God, the Holy Spirit does!" "WITH GROANINGS WHICH CANNOT BE UTTERED" "Groanings refer to a burden of prayer, which comes straight from the heart & cannot really be put into words. It's a cry from deep within." "Being God, everything the Holy Spirit does & prays is 'according to the will of God' (vs. 27)." "Beloved, you don't have to carry the load of satanic attack. The Holy Spirit is our helper & our intercessor." Church, Read The Book Of Acts, & Get Ready!, Donnie Swaggart, pgs. 45 - 50. CHAPTER 87
"The church has a foundation, so that it cannot sink or totter; Christ himself is the foundation of it, which God has laid." "Holiness is the strength & stability of the church; it is this that will support it & keep it from sinking." "We are to judge of things & persons by the figure they make & the estimate put upon them in & by the scripture." "Christ is the true temple; all our springs are in him, & from him all our streams flow. It pleased the Father, & all believers are well pleased with it too, that in him should all fulness dwell." CHAPTER 88 "...God's own elect cry day & night to him" "This is indeed praying always; & then we shall speed in prayer, when we continue instant in prayer." "If our old acquaintance be shy of us, & those we expect kindness from prove unkind, we must bear that with the same patient submission to the divine will that we do other afflictions." "Though our prayers be not answered immediately, yet we must not therefore give over praying, because the vision is for an appointed time, & at the end it shall speak & not lie. God delays the answer in order that he may try our patience & perseverance in prayer." "If we begin our days with trouble, & the days of our mourning have been prolonged a great while, let us not think it strange, but let tribulation work patience." "If our friends are put far from us by scattering providence, nay, if by death our acquaintances are removed into darkness, we have reason to look upon it as a sore affliction, but must acknowledge & submit to the hand of God in it." CHAPTER 89 "We may be for ever singing God's mercies & yet the subject will not be drawn dry." "...the more God's works are known the more they are admired & praised." "It is expected from God's saints on earth that they praise him; who should, if they do not?" "A holy awe of God must fall upon us, & fill us, in all our approaches to God" "Those only serve God acceptably who serve him with reverence & godly fear, Hebrews 12:28." "God is able to do every thing; for he is the Lord God Almighty. His arm, his hand, is mighty & strong, both to save his people & to destroy his & their enemies; none can either resist the force or bear the weight of his mighty hand." "The gospel is indeed a joyful sound, a sound of victory, of liberty, of communion with God, & the sound of abundance of rain; blessed are the people that hear it, & know it, & bid it welcome." "Those that rejoice in Christ Jesus, & make God their exceeding joy, have enough to counterbalance their grievances & silence their griefs; & therefore their joy is full (I John 1:4)." "No good work can miscarry in the hand of those whom God himself undertakes to strengthen." "God's mercy to us, & his faithfulness to us, are with Christ; he is not only pleased with him, but with us in him; & it is in him that all the promises of God are yea & amen." "We are unworthy, but he is worthy" "Thrones & crowns are tottering things, & are often laid in the dust; but there is a crown of glory reserved for Christ's spiritual seed which fadeth not away." "For those whose days are few & full of trouble may yet glorify God & do some good, may keep their communion with God & get to heaven, & then they are not made in vain." "If we would have the comfort of the stability of God's promise, we must give him the praise of it; in blessing God, we encourage ourselves." "Those who give God thanks for what he has done may give him thanks also for what he will do; God will follow those with his mercies who, in a right manner, follow him with their praises." CHAPTER 90 "True believers are at home in God, & that is their comfort in reference to all the toils & tribulations they meet with in this world. In him we may repose & shelter ourselves as in our dwelling-place." "We are dying creatures, & all our comforts in the world are dying comforts, but God is an everliving God" "Man, in his prime, does but flourish as the grass, which is weak, & low, & tender, & exposed, & which, when the winter of old age comes, will wither of itself: but he may be mown down by disease or disaster, as the grass is, in the midst of summer. All flesh is as grass." "Secret sins are known to God & shall be reckoned for." "Our years, when they are gone, can no more be recalled than the word that we have spoken can." "...we should spend our years ...with care & industry" "It is an excellent art rightly to number our days, so as not to be out in our calculation, as he was who counted upon many years to come when, that night, his soul was required of him. We must live under a constant apprehension of the shortness & uncertainty of life & the near approach of death & eternity." "Let us pray for early mercy, the seasonable communications of divine mercy, that God's tender mercies may speedily prevent us, early in the morning of our days, when we are young & flourishing. Let us pray for the true satisfaction & happiness which are to be had only in the favour & mercy of God." "God's people reckon the returns of God's lovingkindness a sufficient recompence for all their troubles." "Holiness is the beauty of the Lord our God; let that be upon us in all we say & do; let the grace of God in us, & the light of our good works, make our faces to shine." "We are so unworthy of divine assistance, & yet so utterly insufficient to bring any thing to pass without it, that we have need to be earnest for it & to repeat the request: Yea, the work of our hands, establish thou it, &, in order to that, establish us in it." Matthew Henry's Commentary: Job To Song Of Solomon, Mac Donald, pgs. 567 - 587. CHAPTER 83
"God's speaking is his acting; for with him saying & doing are the same thing." "The prayer is... that these enemies, who were confederate against Israel, might be defeated in all their attempts, & that they might prove their own ruin" "...we may pray to God that he will deal with the enemies of his church in our days as he did with those in the days of our fathers." "That which we should earnestly desire & beg of God for our enemies & persecutors is that God would bring them to repentance." "If they will not be ashamed & repent, let them be put to shame &perish" CHAPTER 84 "How lovely is the sanctuary in the eyes of all that are truly sanctified!" "Let us therefore spend as much of our time as may be in that blessed work in which we hope to spend a joyful eternity." "Those who have the new Jerusalem in their eye must have the ways that lead to it in their heart" "If we make God's promise our strength, we must make God's word our rule, & walk by it." "Those that press forward in their Christian course shall find God adding grace to their graces, John 1:16. They shall be changed from glory to glory (2 Cor. 3:18), from one degree of glorious grace to another, till, at length, every one of them appears before God in Zion, to give glory to him & receive blessings from him." "In all our addresses to God we must desire that he would look upon the face of Christ, accept us for his sake, & be well-pleased with us in him. We must look with an eye of faith, & then God will with an eye of favour look upon the face of the anointed" "We are here in darkness, but, if God be our God, he will be to us a sun, to enlighten & enliven us, to guide & direct us. We are here in danger, but he will be to us a shield to secure us from the fiery darts that fly thickly about us." "Let us therefore always walk in the light of the Lord, & never throw ourselves out of his protection, & we shall find him a sun to supply us with all good & a shield to shelter us from all evil." "Let it be our care to walk uprightly, & then let us trust God to give us every thing that is good for us." CHAPTER 85 "So ready is God to hear & answer the prayers of his people that by his Spirit in the word, & in the heart, he indites their petitions & puts words into their mouths." "The sense of present afflictions should not drown the remembrance of former mercies; but, even when we are brought very low, we must call to remembrance past experiences of God's goodness, which we must take notice of with thankfulness, to his praise." "When God forgives sin he covers it; &, when he covers the sin of his people, he covers it all." "God is pacified if we are purified." "The vessels of God's mercy are the heirs of his salvation; he shows mercy to those to whom he grants salvation; for salvation is of mere mercy." "If God be the fountain of all our mercies, he must be the centre of all our joys." "If we would have God to hear what we say to him by prayer, we must be ready to hear what he says to us by his word." "When there is no truth nor mercy all goes to ruin (Hosea 4:1; Isaiah 59:14, 15)." "When a people return to God & adhere to him in a way of duty he will return to them & abide with them in a way of mercy." "All good comes from God's goodness; & when mercy, truth & righteousness, have a sovereign influence on men's hearts & lives, all good may be expected." Matthew 6:33 "Righteousness is a sure guide in meeting God & in following him." CHAPTER 86 "...the best self-preservation is to commit ourselves to God's keeping & by faith & prayer to make our Creator our preserver." "It is mercy in God to pardon our sins & to help us out of our distresses; both these are included in this prayer, God be merciful to me." "He is a sin-pardoning God; not only he can forgive, but he is ready to forgive, more ready to forgive than we are to repent." "He is a prayer-hearing God" "Let us always entertain great thoughts of this great God, & be filled with holy admiration of this God who doeth wonders; & let him alone have our hearts who is God alone." "Men are barbarous, but God is gracious; men are false, but God is faithful." "Christ is the way & the truth, & we must both learn Christ & walk in him." "'Let my heart be fixed for God, & firm & faithful to him, & fervent in serving him; that is a united heart.'" "The joy of the saints shall be the shame of their persecutors." Matthew Henry's Commentary: Job To Song Of Solomon, Mac Donald, pgs. 553 - 567. CHAPTER 75
"Unto thee, O God! do we give thanks for all the favours thou hast bestowed upon us... our thanksgivings must be often repeated." "There are many works which God does for his people that may truly be called wondrous works, out of the common course of providence & quite beyond our expectations." "Those that are advanced to posts of honour must remember they are posts of service, & must set themselves with diligence & application of mind to do the work to which they are called." "...from God alone kings receive their power" "Promotion comes not from the east, nor from the west, nor from the desert, that is, neither from the desert on the north of Jerusalem nor from that on the south" "...magistrates should rule for God as those that must give account to him, because it is by him that kings reign." "The wicked are reserved unto the day of judgment." CHAPTER 76 "It is the glory & happiness of a people to have God among them by his ordinances" "...when God pleases he can make his enemies to weaken & destroy themselves." "If God be a consuming fire, how can chaff & stubble stand before him" "When God is speaking judgment from heaven it is time for the earth to compose itself into an awful & reverent silence" "Be silent, O all flesh! before the Lord, for he is raised up to judgment. Zechariah 2:13." "Our prayers & praises, & especially our hearts, are the presents we should bring to the Lord our God." "He can dispirit those that are most daring & make them heartless" "Since there is no contending with God, it is as much our wisdom as it is our duty to submit to him." CHAPTER 77 "Days of trouble must be days of prayer... when God seems to have withdrawn from us; we must seek him & seek till we find him." "Those that are under trouble of mind must not think to drink it away, or laugh it away, but must pray it away." "We may be tempted to think that God has abandoned us & cast us off, that the covenant of grace fails us, & that the tender mercy of our God shall be for ever withheld from us. But we must not give way to such suggestions as these." "...let faith answer them from the Scripture; Will the Lord cast off for ever? God forbid. Romans 11:1. No; the Lord will not cast off his people." "Is his mercy clean gone for ever? No; his mercy endures for ever; as it is from everlasting, it is to everlasting. Doth his promise fail for evermore? No; it is impossible for God to lie. Hebrews 6:18. Hath God forgotten to be gracious? No; he cannot deny himself, & his own name which he hath proclaimed gracious & merciful. Exodus 34:6." "Has he in anger shut up his tender mercies? No; they are new every morning (Lamentations 3:23)" "The works of the Lord, for his people, have been wondrous works." "The due remembrance of the works of God will be a powerful antidote against distrust of his promise & goodness; for he is God & changes not." "All he does is intended for the good of his church." "Who is so great a God as our God?" "...he is a God of almighty power" "They being weak & helpless, & apt to wander like a flock of sheep, & lying exposed to the beasts of prey, God went before them with all the care & tenderness of a shepherd that they might not fail." CHAPTER 78 "That which we are to transmit to our children is not only the knowledge of languages, arts & sciences, liberty & property, but especially the praises of the Lord, & his strength appearing in the wonderful works he has done." "Hypocrisy is the high road to apostasy." "Those that have descended from wicked & ungodly ancestors, if they will but consider the word & works of God, will see reason enough not to tread in their steps." "Sin dispirits men & takes away the heart." "Nothing is more provoking to God than our quarreling with our allotment & indulging the desires of the flesh." "When once the ordinary powers of nature are exceeded God has made bare his arm, & we must conclude that nothing is impossible with him." "Those that will not believe the power of God's mercy shall feel the power of his indignation, & be made to confess that it is a fearful thing to fall into his hands." "To all that by faith & prayer ask, seek, & knock, these doors shall at any time be opened; for the God of heaven is rich in mercy to all that call upon him." "The end of those who make a god of their belly is destruction. Philippians 3:19. The prosperity of fools shall destroy them, & their ruin will be the greater." "Those hearts are hard indeed that will neither be melted by the mercies of God nor broken by his judgments." "...the reason why we spend our days in so much vanity & trouble, why we live with so little comfort & to so little purpose, is because we do not live by faith." "Afflictions are sent to put us in mind of God as our rock & our redeemer; for, in prosperity, we are apt to forget him." "Those that make the holy God their enemy must never expect the holy angels to be their friends." "It was spiritual adultery either to worship idols or to worship God by images, as if he had been an idol, & therefore by it they are said to move him to jealousy. Deuteronomy 32:16, 21." "God never leaves us till we leave him, never withdraws till we have driven him from us." "We throw ourselves out of God's protection when we go out of our place & out of the way of our duty." "Sooner or later God will glorify himself by putting disgrace upon his enemies." "God delights to put honour upon the humble & diligent, to raise the poor out of the dust & to set them among princes; & sometimes he finds those most fit for public action that have spent the beginning of their time in solitude & contemplation." Matthew Henry's Commentary: Job To Song Of Solomon, Mac Donald, pgs. 521 - 541. CHAPTER 71
"We praise God, & so please him, by telling him (if it be indeed true) what an entire confidence we have in him" "Those that are entirely satisfied with God's all-sufficiency & the truth of his promises, & in dependence upon that, as sufficient to make them amends, are freely willing to do & suffer, to lose & venture, for him may truly say, In thee, O Lord! do I put my trust." "He that was our help from our birth ought to be our hope from our youth." "Hope of the glory of God is hope that makes not ashamed." "Those that are at home in God, that live a life of communion with him & confidence in him, that continually resort unto him by faith, & prayer, having their eyes ever towards him, may promises themselves a strong habitation in him, such as will never fall of itself nor can ever be broken through by any invading power" "To be cast off & forsaken of God is a thing to be dreaded at any time, especially in the time of old age & when our strength fails us: for it is God that is the strength of our heart." "God will turn into shame the glory of those who turn into shame the glory of God & his people." "The longer we live the more expert we should grow in praising God & the more we should abound in it." "When we have said all we can, to the glory of God's grace, there is still more to be said; it is a subject that can never be exhausted, & therefore we should never grow weary of it." "We must always go about God's work in his strength, having our eyes up unto him to work in us both to will & to do." "Those that have been taught of God from their youth, & have made it the business of their lives to honour him, may be sure that he will not leave them when they are old & gray-headed, will not leave them helpless & comfortless, but will make the evil days of old age their best days, & such as they shall have occasion to say they have pleasure in." "Sometimes God makes his people's troubles contribute to the increase of their greatness, & their sun shines the brighter for having been under a cloud." "O God! who is like unto thee? None in heaven, none on earth, no angel, no king." "Holy joy is the very heart & life of thankful praise." "...the soul must be at work, & with all that is within us we must bless his holy name, else all about us is worth little." "The Lamb that was slain, & has redeemed us to God, must therefore be counted worthy of all blessing & praise." CHAPTER 72 "The best thing we can ask of God for our children is that God will give them wisdom & grace to know & do their duty; that is better than gold." "Those have little love either to God or man, & are of a very narrow selfish spirit, who care not what becomes of the world & the church, when they are gone." "Those who would live quiet & peaceable lives must pray for kings, & all in authority, that God would give them his judgments & righteousness." "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Christ is the poor man's King." "The devil is the great oppressor, whom Christ will break in pieces & of whose kingdom he will be the destruction." "Faith in Christ will set up, & keep up, the fear of God; & therefore this is the everlasting gospel that is preached. Fear God, & give honour to him. Revelation 14:7." "Both holiness & love shall be perpetual in Christ's kingdom, & shall never go to decay, for the subjects of it shall fear God as long as the sun, & moon endure" "Before the Lord Jesus we must all either bow or break" "Honour the Lord with thy substance." "It is Christ only that shall be feared throughout all generations" "So sure is every word of God, & with so much satisfaction may we rely upon it, that we have reason enough to give thanks for what he has said, though it be not yet done." "God is worthy to be praised" "...God does all by his own power, & they are wondrous things which he does, & such as will be the eternal admiration of saints & angels." "Let every heart, & every mouth, & every assembly, be filled with the high praises of God." "Let God be glorified, let the kingdom of the Messiah be set up, & kept up" CHAPTER 73 "Good thoughts of God will fortify us against many of Satan's temptations. Truly God is good." "An upright heart is a clean heart; cleanness is truth in the inward part." "There are storms that will try the firmest anchors." "...to cleanse our hearts, in the first place, by repentance & regeneration, & then to wash our hands in innocency by a universal reformation of our lives. It is not in vain to do this, not in vain to serve God & keep his ordinances; but good men have been sometimes tempted to say, 'It is vain'... because they see wicked people in prosperity" "We must think twice before we speak once both because some things may be thought which yet may not be spoken & because the second thoughts may correct the mistakes of the first." "There are many great things, & things needful to be known, which will not be known otherwise than by going into the sanctuary of God, by the word & prayer. The sanctuary must therefore be the resort of a tempted soul." "The righteous man's afflictions end in peace, & therefore he is happy; the wicked man's enjoyments end in destruction, & therefore he is miserable." "Who can support those whom God will cast down" "We ought to be of God's mind, for his judgment is according to truth, & not to admire & envy that which he despises & will despise; for, sooner or later, he will bring all the world to be of his mind." "If we have been kept in the way with God, kept closely in our duty & upheld in our integrity, we must own ourselves indebted to the free grace of God for our preservation." "We must ascribe our safety in temptations, & our victory over it, not to our own wisdom, for we are foolish, & ignorant, but to the gracious presence of God with us & the prevalency of Christ's intercession for us, that our faith may not fail: 'My feet were almost gone, & they would have quite gone, past recovery, but that thou hast holden me by my right hand & so kept me from falling.'" "All those who commit themselves to God shall be guided with his counsel, with the counsel both of his word & of his Spirit, the best counsellors." "All those who are guided & led by the counsel of God in this world shall be received to his glory in another world." "All is well if God be mine." "...we must repose ourselves in God with an entire satisfaction" "The saints choose God for their portion, they have him for their portion, & it is their happiness that he will be their portion, a portion that will last as long as the immortal soul lasts." "Our drawing near to God takes rise from his drawing near to us, & it is the happy meeting that makes the bliss." "Let us therefore live in a continual dependence upon him: 'I have put my trust in the Lord God, & will never go a whoring from him after any creature confidences." "Those that with an upright heart put their trust in God shall never want matter for thanksgiving to him." CHAPTER 74 "...it is our wisdom & duty to apply to God by faithful & fervent prayer, & we shall not find it in vain to do so." "The desolation of God's house should grieve us more than the desolation of our own houses" "God spoke once, yes, twice, good words & comfortable words, but they perceived them not." "When the power of enemies is most threatening, it is comfortable to fly to the power of God." "The breaking of the heads of the church's enemies is the joy & strength of the hearts of the church's friends." "We have as much reason to expect affliction as to expect night & winter. But we have then no more reason to despair of the return of comfort than we have to despair of day & summer." "God needs not to be put in remembrance by us of what he has to do, but thus we must show our concern for his honour & believe that he will vindicate us." "Appear, Lord, for those that will praise thy name, against those that blaspheme it." Matthew Henry's Commentary: Job To Song Of Solomon, Mac Donald, pgs. 501 - 521. CHAPTER 67
"...all our happiness comes from God's mercy & takes rise in that" "We need desire no more to make us happy than to have God's face shine upon us, to have God love us, & let us know that he loves us" "If we by faith walk with God, we may hope that his face will shine with us" "If God make known his way to us, & we walk in it, he will show us his saving health." "Those that delight in praising God themselves cannot but desire that others also may be brought to praise him, that he may have the honour of it, & they may have the benefit of it." "Let us all be glad that we are not to be one another's judges, but that he that judges us is the Lord, whose judgment we are sure is according to truth." "Those who through grace call God their own may with a humble confidence expect a blessing from him." "The blessings God bestows upon us call upon us not only to love him, but to fear him, to keep up high thoughts of him, & to be afraid of offending him." "It is good to cast in our lot with those that are the blessed of the Lord." CHAPTER 68 "God is the joy of his people; let them rejoice whenever they come before God, yes, let them exceedingly rejoice, let them rejoice with gladness." "He brings out those that are bound with chains, & sets those at liberty who were unjustly imprisoned & brought into servitude. No chains can detain those whom God will make free." "Fresh mercies should put us in mind of former mercies & revive our grateful sense of them." "By the resurrection of Christ our spiritual enemies were made to flee, their power was broken, & they were for ever disabled to hurt any of God's people." "It is much more honourable to be holy to God than to be high & great in the world." "There is no kingdom in the world, comparable to the kingdom of the Redeemer" "The gracious intention of Christ's undertaking was to rear up the tabernacle of God among men, that he might dwell with them & they might themselves be living temples to his praise. Ezekiel 37:27." "So many, so weighty, are the gifts of God's bounty to us that he may be truly said to load us with them; he pours out blessings till there is not room to receive them. Malachi 3:10." "Those who go on still in their trespasses, & hate to be reformed, God looks upon as his enemies & will treat them accordingly." "The former appearance of God's power & goodness for his people should encourage their faith & hope in him for the future, that what he has done he will do again." "'Strengthen, O God! that which thou hast wrought for us.'" "What God has wrought he will strengthen; where he has given true grace, he will give more grace." "Ascribe you strength unto God; acknowledge him to be a God of such irresistible power that it is folly to contend with him & wisdom to submit to him; acknowledge that he has power sufficient both to protect his faithful subjects & to destroy his stubborn adversaries; & give him the glory of all the instances of his omnipotence." "Nor is any attribute of God more dreadful to sinners than his holiness." "...all our sufficiency for our spiritual work & warfare is from the grace of God. It is through Christ strengthening us that we can do all things, & not otherwise; & therefore he must have the glory of all we do & our humble thanks for enabling us to do it & accepting the work of his own hands in us." CHAPTER 69 "...it instructs us, when we are in affliction, to commit the keeping of our souls to God, that we may be neither soured with discontent nor sink into despair." "We must not think it strange if we be ill spoken of for that which is well done, & in which we have reason to hope that we are accepted of God." "Those that are evil spoken of for well-doing may with a humble confidence leave it to God to bring forth their righteousness as the light." "The tokens of God's favour to us, & the light of his countenance shining upon us, are enough to keep our spirits from sinking in the deepest mire of outward troubles, nor need we desire any more to make us safe & easy." "If we think well of God, & continue to do so under the greatest hardships, we need not fear but God will do well for us; for he takes pleasure in those that hope in his mercy" "Their sin was that they would not see, but shut their eyes against the light, loving darkness rather; their punishment was that they should not see, but be given up to their own hearts' lusts, which were hardening, & the god of this world should be permitted to blind their minds. II Corinthians 4:4." "Those that are bad, if they be given up to their own hearts' lusts, will certainly be worse; they will add sin to sin, nay, they will add rebellion to their sin." "...those that that are so proud & self-willed that they will not come into God's righteousness shall have their doom accordingly" "It is better to be poor & sorrowful, with the blessing of God, than rich & jovial & under his curse." CHAPTER 70 "...this psalm was designed to ...put God in remembrance of his mercy & promises" "Poverty & necessity are very good pleas in prayer to a God of infinite mercy, who despises not the sighing of a contrite heart, who has pronounced a blessing upon the poor in spirit, who fills the hungry with good things." "Let us make the service of God our great business & the favour of God our great delight & pleasure, for that is seeking him & loving his salvation. Let the pursuit of a happiness in God be our great care & the enjoyment of it our great satisfaction." "Those that seek God, if they seek him early & seek him diligently, shall rejoice & be glad in him" "...God is the rewarder of all those that diligently seek him." Matthew Henry's Commentary: Job To Song Of Solomon, Mac Donald, pgs. 482 - 501. Insights From "Church, Read The Book Of Acts, & Get Ready!" by Donnie Swaggart - Chapter 510/19/2020 "THE SPIRIT OF FEAR, THE SPIRIT OF POWER, THE SPIRIT OF LOVE, THE SPIRIT OF A SOUND MIND"
II Timothy 1:7 "...the apostle Paul distinguishes between what Satan desires to do & what God can do." "No matter what you are facing in your life, the Lord is with you if you belong to Him." "THE SPIRIT OF FEAR" "Fear is Satan's work." "...he will try to get us to believe the situation is hopeless." "FEAR & FAITH" "The opposite of fear is faith. Fear worries over what tomorrow may bring, but faith understands that whatever happens to a Christian is either caused or allowed by God." "...proper faith is understanding what the object of our faith must be, which is the Cross. Properly understanding the atonement then guarantees the help of the Holy Spirit" "THE SPIRIT OF POWER" "1. The answer to fear of any question of life is found only in the Cross (Rom. 6:3-5, 11, 14, Gal. 6:14)." "2. Our faith is to be placed exclusively in the finished work of the Cross (I Cor. 1:18, 2:2)." "3. Once our faith is exclusively anchored in the Cross, then the Holy Spirit begins to work in our lives (Rom. 8:1-2)." "...a power source within us that is greater than anything Satan has." "THE SPIRIT OF LOVE" "This love is divine love or the God kind of love. The Greek word for this kind of love is agape. This is the love that the world cannot possess." Galatians 5:22 "...agape love cannot be developed in one's heart unless the believer has a proper understanding of the Cross." "THE SPIRIT OF A SOUND MIND" "When it comes to the will of the believer, we have one of two choices: We can will to go God's way, which is the way of the Cross, or we can will to do otherwise. If the Christian chooses to live one's life outside of the Cross regarding sanctification, then one's will will be overcome by Satan. So, a sound mind is a mind-set focused on Christ & His victory won for us at Calvary, which brings self-control." Church, Read The Book Of Acts, & Get Ready!, by Donnie Swaggart, pgs. 39 - 42. Insights From "Church, Read The Book Of Acts & Get Ready!" by Donnie Swaggart - Chapter 410/17/2020 "THE WIND & THE FIRE"
Acts 2:1-4 "There are several symbols used in the Bible for the Holy Spirit."
"WIND" "The rushing mighty wind of Acts, Chapter 2, is symbolic of the power of the Holy Spirit." "...power greater than the powers of Satan." "...with the power, sinners are saved, & believers are healed & filled." "JESUS & THE HOLY SPIRIT" Luke 4:1, 18 "Every miracle performed by the Lord during His earthly ministry was done as a man operating within the power of the Holy Spirit. If the Lord had to have the power of the Holy Spirit, then how much more do we have to have the power of the Holy Spirit?" "THE PURPOSE OF THE POWER" "The purpose of the power of the Holy Spirit within our lives is to fulfill the Great Commission... Mark 16:15-18." "We must have the wind of the Spirit blow again as He did on the day of Pentecost." "FIRE" "Fire is symbolic of purity. This speaks of the sanctification process of the believer." "Though we are saved, still, there is much in each of us that is of the flesh & not of the Spirit." "The process of sanctification is a lifetime process, & it is a process that can be violent to the flesh but pleasing to the Spirit." "THE WORDS OF JOHN THE BAPTIST" Matthew 3:11-12 "The wheat would... be stored in the garner with the chaff then being burned by fire." "CHAFF" "The chaff attached to the grain is a type of the flesh that all of us battle. The fire of the Holy Spirit is the only way that separation can come." "WHEAT" "The wheat is the finished work of the Holy Spirit & the only thing accepted by the Lord." "I pray that your desire as a believer is to walk in holiness, a vessel of honor, purified & sanctified by the fire of the Holy Spirit." Church, Read The Book Of Acts, & Get Ready!, by Donnie Swaggart, pgs. 31 - 38. |
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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