INSIGHTS & NOTES FROM
CHAPTER 21
"Those that put the evil day far from them will be the more terrified when it comes upon them; & those who before slighted God's ministers may then perhaps be glad to court an acquaintance with them." "Those that will not take the direction of God's grace how to get clear of their sins would yet be glad of the directions of his providence how to get clear of their troubles." "Those that slight the prayers of God's people & ministers when they are in prosperity may perhaps be glad of an interest in them when they come to be in distress." "It is folly to think that God should do for us while we hold fast our iniquity as he did for those that held fast their integrity." "If that place which should have been a centre of devotion be made a centre of wickedness, it is not strange if God make it a rendezvous of destroyers." "...it will soon be found what a fearful thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God." "Let not those expect to find mercy with men who have forfeited God's compassions, & shut themselves out from his mercy." "It was the evil of their doings that kindled the fire of God's wrath." "...those that would have the benefit of a prophet's prayers must thankfully take a prophet's reproofs." "If God be for us, who can be against us? But, if he be against us, who can be for us, to stand us in any stead?" "...our God is himself a consuming fire; and who is able to stand in his sight when once he is angry?" CHAPTER 22 "Sin has often been the ruin of royal palaces, though ever so stately, ever so strong." "Sin will be the ruin of the houses of princes as well as of mean men." "See how easily God's judgments can ruin a nation, & how certainly sin will do it." "They forsook the covenant of Jehovah, their own God, revolted from their allegiance to him & from the duty which their covenant with him bound them to, & they worshipped other gods & served them, in contempt of him; & therefore he gave them up to this destruction." "God never casts any off, until they first cast him off." "Those therefore that are enlarging their houses, & making them more sumptuous, have need to look well to the frame of their own spirits in the doing of it, & carefully to watch against all the workings of vain-glory." "Those wretchedly deceive themselves who think their present prosperity is a lasting security" "It is but in his own conceit that the rich man's wealth is his strong city." "The right knowledge of God consists in doing our duty, particularly that which is the duty of our place & station in the world." "While we do well we may expect it will be well with us." "It is sad for any to live so that , when they die, none will be sorry to part with them." "Those that are lifted up with great pride are commonly reserved for some great disgrace in life or death." "It is common for those that live at ease to live in contempt of the word of God." "When thou art overthrown in stony places thou wilt be glad to hear those words which in thy prosperity thou wouldest not hear." "Let it be our care that we die in Christ, & then it will be well with us, wherever we die, though it should be in a far country." "What is idolized will, first or last, be despised & broken; what is unjustly honoured will be justly contemned & rivals with God will be the scorn of men. Whatever we idolize we shall be disappointed in & then shall despise." "...those who take no care to do good in their days cannot expect to prosper in their days." CHAPTER 23 "Woe be to those therefore who are commanded to feed God's people, & pretend to do it, but who, instead of that, scatter the flock, & drive them away by their violence & oppression, & have not visited them, nor taken any care for their welfare, nor concerned themselves at all to do them good." "If some have abused a sacred office, that is no good reason why it should be abolished." "As an advocate, he is Jesus Christ the righteous." "Those that shall be saved hereafter from the wrath to come may dwell safely now; for if God be for us, who can be against us?" "He is a sovereign, all-sufficient, eternal righteousness. All our righteousness has its being from him, & by him it subsists, & we are made the righteousness of God in him." "The dishonour done to God's name, & the profanation of his holy word, are the greatest grief imaginable to a gracious soul." "Even those that have God for them cannot but tremble to think of the misery of those that have God against them." "They make use of the name of the God of truth, & yet walk in lies" "They speak a vision of their own heart; it is the product of their own invention, & agrees with their own inclination, but it is not out of the mouth of the Lord" "Those that are resolved to go on in their evil ways will justly be given up to believe the strong delusions of those who tell them that they shall have peace though they go on." "Nothing more effectually debauches a nation than the debauchery of ministers." "Those that will not consider in time will be made to consider when it is too late." "No arts of concealment can hide men from the eye of God, nor deceive his judgment of them." "The great thing Satan aims at is to make people forget God" "...let the true prophet, that has my word, speak my word faithfully, speak it closely to his instructions, & you will soon perceive a vast difference between the dreams that the false prophets tell & the divine dictates which the true prophets deliver." "Those that have spiritual senses exercised will be able to distinguish; for what is the chaff to the wheat?" "The word God is like fire." "Fire has different effects, according as the matter is on which it works; it hardens clay, but softens wax; it consumes the dross, but purifies the gold. So the word of God is to some a savour of life unto life, to others of death unto death." "Those that corrupt the word of God, while they pretend to preach it, are so far from edifying the church that they do it the greatest mischief imaginable." "It is an impudent thing to abuse him that is the living God, the Lord of hosts, & our God." "We must always speak of the things of God reverently & seriously, & as becomes the oracles of God." "Those shall be severely reckoned with that thus pervert the words of God, that put a wrong construction on them & make a bad use of them" "Perverting God's word, & ridiculing the preachers of it, are sins that bring ruining judgments upon families & entail a curse upon a house." "Those are miserable indeed that are forsaken & forgotten of God" "God's word will be magnified & made honourable when those that mock at it shall be vilified & made contemptible. Those that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." CHAPTER 24 "Sinners are the worst of men, hypocrites the worst of sinners." "The sooner the child is corrected the better effect the correction is likely to have." "Even this disgraceful uncomfortable captivity God intended for their benefit" "I have sent them into the land of the Chaldeans for their good." "By their afflictions they were convinced of sin, humbled under the hand of God, weaned from the world, made serious, taught to pray, & turned from their iniquity; particularly they were cured of their inclination to idolatry; & thus it was good for them that they were afflicted." "I will set my eyes upon them for good, to order every thing for the best" "Their captivity was to square the rough stones & make them fit for his building, to prune up the young trees & make them fit for his planting." "Those that have backslidden from God, if they do in sincerity return, to him, are admitted as freely as any to all the privileges & comforts of the everlasting covenant" Matthew Henry's Commentary: Isaiah to Malachi, Mac Donald, pgs. 541 - 565.
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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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