INSIGHTS & NOTES FROM
CHAPTER 36
"There are some who are noted for talkers, that have something to say of every body, but cannot find in their hearts to speak well of any body" "Increasing wealth, by right or wrong, is all the joy of a worldly heart" "The righteous God, to whom vengeance belongs, will render shame for shame. Those that put contempt & reproach upon God's people will, sooner or later, have it turned upon themselves" "It is a blessing to the earth, to be made serviceable to men, especially to good men, that will serve God with cheerfulness in the use of those good things which the earth serves up to them." "Their own sin had unsettled them, but now God's favour shall resettle them." "When God returns in mercy to a people that return to him in duty, all their grievances will be soon redressed & their honour retrieved." "The sin of a people defiles their land, renders it abominable to God, & uncomfortable to themselves" "Sin is that abominable thing which the Lord hates, & which he cannot endure to look upon." "God will magnify his name as a holy name, for he will sanctify it: I will sanctify my name which you have profaned. When God performs that which he has sworn by his holiness, then he sanctifies his name." "The heathen shall know that I am the Lord when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes & yours." "We cannot sanctify God's name unless he sanctify our hearts, nor live to his glory, but by his grace." "All that have an interest in the new covenant, & a title to the new Jerusalem, have a new heart & a new spirit, & these are necessary in order to their walking in newness of life." "God does not force men to walk in his statutes by external violence, but causes them to walk in his statutes by an internal principle." "God's promises must drive us to his precepts as our rule, & then his precepts must send us back to his promises for strength, for without his grace we can do nothing." "Even promised mercies must be laboured for; for the promise is not to supersede, but to quicken & encourage our industry & endeavour." "Self-love is at the bottom of sin, which we cannot but blush to see the absurdity of" "The goodness of God should overcome our badness & lead us to repentance. The more we see of God's readiness to receive us unto favour upon our repentance the more reason we shall see to be ashamed of ourselves that we could ever sin against so much love." "They must own that the mercies they receive from God are not only not merited, but that they are a thousand times forfeited; & therefore they must be so far from boasting of their good works that they must be ashamed & confounded for their evil ways, & then they are best prepared for mercy." "What is the matter of God's promises must be the matter of our prayers." "Our communion with God must be kept up by the word & prayer in all the operations of his providence concerning us & in both he must be enquired of." CHAPTER 37 "God is perfectly acquainted with his own power & his own purposes, & will have us to refer all to them, & to see & own that his wondrous works are such as could not be effected by any counsel or power but his own." "Ezekiel... ...[1.] He must preach, & he did so; & the dead bones lived by a power that went along with the word of God which he preached. [2.] He must pray, & he did so; & the dead bones were made to live in answer to prayer; for a spirit of life entered into them. See the efficacy of the word & prayer, & the necessity of both, for the raising of dead souls." "...we must discharge our trust, must prophesy as we are commanded, in the name of him who raises the dead & is the fountain of life." "...the spirit of life is from God; he at first in the creation breathed into man the breath of life, & so he will at last in the resurrection." "With God nothing is impossible. He can out of stones raise up children unto Abraham & out of dead & dry bones levy an exceedingly great army to fight his battles & plead his cause." "God can bring his people up from the depths of the earth, Psalms 71:20." "Then God puts spirit in us to good purpose, & so that we shall indeed live, when he puts his Spirit in us." "Those are best united that are one in God's hand whose union with each other results from their union with Christ & their communion with God through him. Ephesians 1:10." "All believers unite in one Lord, one faith, & one baptism." "It is our wisdom to avoid the places where we have been overcome by temptations to sin, not to remain in them, or return to them, but to save ourselves out of them, as we would out of infected places; see Zechariah 2:7; Revelation 18:4." "Those whom God has cleansed he will keep clean." "God's covenant with them shall be an everlasting covenant; so the covenant of grace is, for it secures to us an everlasting happiness." "God designs the sanctification of those among whom he sets up his sanctuary. And blessed & holy are those who, enjoying the privileges of the sanctuary, give such proofs & evidences of their sanctification that the heathen may know it is no less than the almighty grace of God that sanctifies them." CHAPTER 38 "God does not only see those that are now the enemies of his church & set himself against them, but he foresees those that will be so & lets them know by his word that he is against them too, & yet is pleased to make use of them to serve his own purposes, for the glory of his own name; surely their wrath shall praise him, & the remainder thereof he will restrain. Psalms 76:10." "All the mischief men do, & particularly the mischief they do to the church of God, arises from evil thoughts that come into their mind, ambitious thoughts, covetous thoughts, spiteful thoughts against those that are good, for the sake of their goodness." "God brings his people into danger & distress that he may have the honour of bringing about their deliverance, & suffers the enemies of his church to prevail awhile, though they profane his name by their sin, that he may have the honour of prevailing at last & sanctifying his own name in their ruin." "There is an amiable admirable harmony & agreement between the Lord's prophets, though they lived in several ages, for they were all guided by one & the same Spirit." "God can, & often does, make the destroyers of his people to be their own destroyers & the destroyers of one another." "In the destruction of sinners, God makes it to appear that he is a great & holy God, & he will do so to eternity. And, if men do not magnify & sanctify him as they ought, he will magnify himself, & sanctify himself; & this we should desire & pray for daily, Father, glorify thy own name." CHAPTER 39 "Those that cast in their lot among wicked people (Proverbs 1:14), that they may have one purse with them, must expect to take their lot with them, & fare as they fare, taking the worse with the better." "Those who invade other people's rights justly lose their own. 4. God will by all this advance the honour of his own name." "Those that rightly know God's holy name will not dare to profane it; for it is through ignorance of it that men make light of it & make bold with it." "Every one should contribute the utmost he can in his place towards the cleansing of the land from the pollutions of it, & from every thing that is a reproach to it. Sin is a common enemy, which every man should take up arms against." "When good work is to be done every one should lend a hand to further it" "If God evidence to us that he is our God he assures us that he will never leave us. This God is our God for ever and ever." "...God punishes sin even in his own people, because he hates it most in those that are nearest & dearest to him, Amos 3:2." "When sinners repent, & take shame to themselves, God will be reconciled & put honour upon them." "The providences of God concerning his people, that are designed for their good, have the grace of God going along with them to teach them to eye God as the Lord, & their God, in all; & then they do them good. They shall eye him as the Lord & their God." "The indwelling of the Spirit is an infallible pledge of the continuance of God's favour. He will hide his face no more from those on whom he has poured out his Spirit. When therefore we pray that God would never cast us away from his presence we must as earnestly pray that, in order to that, he would never take his Holy Spirit away from us, Psalms 51:11." Matthew Henry's Commentary: Isaiah to Malachi, Mac Donald, pgs. 957 - 980.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorCross Preaching Pentecostal Pastor. Husband to Tonia, Father to 3 beautiful girls, Monica, Zoe & Briana, & Grandfather to Wesley & Elliott Archives
September 2023
Categories |