INSIGHTS & NOTES FROM
CHAPTER 3
"The children of Israel would not regard the words of counsel & comfort that God had many a time spoken to them, & now they shall be made to hear the word of reproof & threatening that the Lord has spoken against them; for he will act as he has spoken." "God's church in the world is a family dignified above all the families of the earth." "The distinguishing favours of God to us, if they do not serve to restrain us from sin, shall not serve to exempt us from punishment... ...the nearer any are to God in profession, & the kinder notice he has taken of them, the more surely, the more quickly, & the more severely will he reckon with them" "...they shall be punished, because their sins dishonour him, affront him, & grieve him, more than the sins of others" "Judgment must begin at the house of God, begins at the sanctuary; for God will be sanctified either by or upon those that come nigh unto him. Leviticus 10:3." "We cannot expect that God should be present with us, or act for us, unless we be reconciled to him. God & man cannot walk together except they be agreed." "It is nothing but their own repentance that can disentangle them" "If our hearts be duly humbled, & we are brought by our afflictions to confess & forsake our sins, then the snare has taken something, then the point is gained, the end is answered, & then, & not till then, the snare is broken, is taken up from the earth, & we are delivered in love & mercy." "The fair warning given to a careless world, if it be not taken, will aggravate its condemnation another day." "Those known not to do right who think to enrich themselves by doing wrong." "When God's judgments come forth against a people with commission it will be in vain to think of escaping them." "If men will not destroy idolatrous altars, God will" "The pomp or pleasantness of men's houses will be so far from fortifying them against God's judgments that it will make them the more grievous & vexatious, as their extravagance about them will be put to the score of their sins & follies." CHAPTER 4 "Those to whom God has given a good pasture, if they are wanton in it, will justly be turned out of it; & those who will not be kept within the hedge of God's precept forfeit the benefit of the hedge of God's protection" "What is got by oppression cannot long be enjoyed with satisfaction." "...as sure as God is a holy God, those that plough iniquity & sow wickedness shall reap the same." "...if they had returned to their God, they would have been accepted, he would have bidden them welcome, & the troubles they were in would have been removed." "...God was grieved at their obstinacy" "Nothing but reformation will prevent the ruin of a sinful people. If they turn not to him, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still." "Let us humble ourselves before this God, prepare to meet him, & give all diligence to make him our God, for happy are the people whose God he is, who have all this power engaged for them." CHAPTER 5 "They are told of their faults, that they might see what occasion there was for them to repent & reform" "Oh what a multitude of vain & vile thoughts lodge within us! What a multitude of idle, foolish, wicked words have been spoken by us! In what a multitude of instances have we gratified & indulged our corrupt appetites & passions! And how many are our omissions of duty & in duty!" "Those that hate reproof love ruin." "...those that make an idol of the world will find it insufficient to protect them when God comes to reckon with them for their spiritual idolatry." "What is not honestly got is not likely to be long enjoyed." "God is not sought truly if he be not sought exclusively, for he will endure no rivals" "...good must be loved & sought, evil must be hated & no longer sought. We must love good principles & adhere to them, love to do good & abound in doing it, love good people, & good converse & good duties; &, whatever good we do, we must do it from a principle of love, do it of choice & with delight." "Those who are not reformed by the judgments of God will be pursued by them" "...to love God & our neighbour is better than all burnt offering & sacrifice." "...those that retain an affection for false gods cannot expect the favour of the true God." CHAPTER 6 "Woe to those that are at ease!" "Many are puffed up with pride, & rocked asleep in carnal security, by their church-privileges, & the place they have in Zion." "Great nations & great men are apt to overvalue themselves, & to overlook their neighbours..." "The examples of others' ruin forbid us to be secure." "...they placed their happiness in the gratification of their carnal appetites" "They were lazy, & humoured themselves in the love of ease." "...they were willingly slothful, & took a pride in doing nothing" "They had no concern at all for the interests of the church of God, & of the nation, that were sinking & going to decay" "Those who give themselves to mirth, when God calls them to mourning, will find it is a sin that shall not go unpunished, Isaiah 23:14." "God abhors that form of godliness which hypocrites keep up" "...those heap up wrath who cry not when God binds them." "Those who will not be cultivated as fields & vineyards shall be rejected as barren rocks & deserts." "Prosperity & success commonly make men secure & haughty" "But those who trust in their own strength rejoice in a thing of nought, & so they will find." Matthew Henry's Commentary: Isaiah to Malachi, Mac Donald, pgs. 1217 - 1254.
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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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