INSIGHTS & NOTES FROM
CHAPTER 40
"...it is through Christ that we have both acquaintance with & access to the benefits & privileges of God's house." "What we see of the works of God, & what we hear of the word of God , will do us no good unless we set our hearts upon it, as those that reckon ourselves nearly concerned in it, & expect advantage to our souls by it." "Those who are to preach God's word to others ought to study it well themselves & set their hearts upon it." "Some draw nearer to God than others & have a more intimate acquaintance with divine things; but to a child of God a day in any of his courts is better than a thousand elsewhere." "Those that do the work of his (God's) house shall enjoy the comforts of it." "Christ is both our altar & our sacrifice, to whom we must look with an eye of faith in all our approaches to God, & he is salvation in the midst of the church (Psalms 74:12), to be looked unto from all quarters." CHAPTER 41 "The higher we build up ourselves in our most holy faith the more should our hearts, those living temples, be enlarged." "...the living temples are adorned, not with gold, or silver, or costly array, but with the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible." CHAPTER 42 "We must not only worship in the courts of God's house, but must, both before & after our attendance there, enter into our chambers, enter into our closets, & read & meditate, & pray to our Father in secret; & a great deal of comfort the people of God have found in their communion with God in solitude." "Those that have public work to do for God & the souls of men have need to be much in private, to fit themselves for it. Ministers should spend much time in their chambers, in reading, meditation & prayer, that their profiting may appear" "A difference is to be put between common & sacred things, between God's name & other names, between his day & other days, his book & other books, his institutions & other observances" CHAPTER 43 "The idols of the heathen have no glory but what they owe to the goldsmith or the painter" "Christ's gospel, in the glory of which he shines, as to be proclaimed aloud, the report of it to be heard far: to some it is a savour of life, to others of death, according as they are." "...God's glory filled the house as it had filled the tabernacle which Moses set up & the temple of Solomon, Exodus 40:34; I Kings 8:10." "Here is no mention of a cloud filling the house as formerly, for we now with open face behold the glory of the Lord, in the face of Christ, & not as of old through the cloud of types." "See what an indignity sinners do to God, setting up their walls in opposition to his, & thrusting him out from what is his right; & see what injury they do to themselves, for the nearer any come to God with their sins the further they set him at a distance from them." "Those that pollute God's holy name fall under his just displeasure." "The goodness of God to us should lead us to repentance, especially to a penitential shame." "...with the privileges of God's house we must acquaint ourselves with the rules of it." "Therefore we are made to know our duty, that we may do it, & be blessed in our deed." "God secures to us his good-will by confirming in us his good work. If we do not defile his name, we may be sure that he will not depart from us." "Neither our persons nor our performances can be acceptable to God unless sin be taken away, & they cannot be taken away but by the blood of Christ" "Before we minister to the Lord in holy things we must consecrate ourselves by getting our hands & hearts filled with those things." "...if God now accept our works, if our services be pleasing to him, it is enough, we need no more. Those that give themselves to God shall be accepted of God, their persons first & then their performances, through the Mediator." Matthew Henry's Commentary: Isaiah to Malachi, Mac Donald, pgs. 980 - 994.
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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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