Bible Heaven/Bible Heaven.iso/online/mhcc24/v24050

Text File | 1994-03-02 | 13KB | 241 lines

24053
 #6-9 Those who can do nothing else for the peace of Jerusalem,
 may pray for it. Let us consider all who seek the glory of the
 Redeemer, as our brethren and fellow-travellers, without
 regarding differences which do not affect our eternal welfare.
 Blessed Spirit of peace and love, who didst dwell in the soul of
 the holy Jesus, descend into his church, and fill those who
 compose it with his heavenly tempers; cause bitter contentions
 to cease, and make us to be of one mind. Love of the brethren
 and love to God, ought to stir us up to seek to be like the Lord
 Jesus in fervent prayer and unwearied labour, for the salvation
 of men, and the Divine glory.
24057
 * Confidence in God under contempt.

 - Our Lord Jesus has taught us to look unto God in prayer as our
 Father in heaven. In every prayer a good man lifts up his soul
 to God; especially when in trouble. We desire mercy from him; we
 hope he will show us mercy, and we will continue waiting on him
 till it come. The eyes of a servant are to his master's
 directing hand, expecting that he will appoint him his work. And
 also to his supplying hand. Servants look to their master or
 their mistress for their portion of meat in due season. And to
 God we must look for daily bread, for grace sufficient; from him
 we must receive it thankfully. Where can we look for help but to
 our Master? And, further, to his protecting hand. If the servant
 is wronged and injured in his work, who should right him, but
 his master? And to his correcting hand. Whither should sinners
 turn but to him that smote them? They humble themselves under
 God's mighty hand. And lastly, to his rewarding hand. Hypocrites
 look to the world's hand, thence they have their reward; but
 true Christians look to God as their Master and their Rewarder.
 God's people find little mercy with men; but this is their
 comfort, that with the Lord there is mercy. Scorning and
 contempt have been, are, and are likely to be, the lot of God's
 people in this world. It is hard to bear; but the servants of
 God should not complain if they are treated as his beloved Son
 was. Let us then, when ready to faint under trials, look unto
 Jesus, and by faith and prayer cast ourselves upon the mercy of
 God.
24061
 * The deliverance of the church. (1-5) Thankfulness for the
 deliverance. (6-8)

 #1-5 God suffers the enemies of his people sometimes to prevail
 very far against them, that his power may be seen the more in
 their deliverance. Happy the people whose God is Jehovah, a God
 all-sufficient. Besides applying this to any particular
 deliverance wrought in our days and the ancient times, we should
 have in our thoughts the great work of redemption by Jesus
 Christ, by which believers were rescued from Satan.

24066
 #6-8 God is the Author of all our deliverances, and he must have
 the glory. The enemies lay snares for God's people, to bring
 them into sin and trouble, and to hold them there. Sometimes
 they seem to prevail; but in the Lord let us put our trust, and
 we shall not be put to confusion. The believer will ascribe all
 the honour of his salvation, to the power, mercy, and truth of
 God, and look back with wonder and thanksgiving on the way in
 which the Lord has led him. Let us rejoice that our help for the
 time to come is in him who made heaven and earth.
24069
 * The security of the righteous. (1-3) Prayer for them, The ruin
 of the wicked. (4,5)

 #1-3 All those minds shall be truly stayed, that are stayed on
 God. They shall be as Mount Zion, firm as it is; a mountain
 supported by providence, much more as a holy mountain supported
 by promise. They cannot be removed from confidence in God. They
 abide for ever in that grace which is the earnest of their
 everlasting continuance in glory. Committing themselves to God,
 they shall be safe from their enemies. Even mountains may
 moulder and come to nothing, and rocks be removed, but God's
 covenant with his people cannot be broken, nor his care of them
 cease. Their troubles shall last no longer than their strength
 will bear them up under them. The rod of the wicked may come,
 may fall upon the righteous, upon their persons, their estates,
 their liberties, their families names, on any thing that falls
 to their lot; only it cannot reach their souls. And though it
 may come upon their lot, it shall not rest thereon. The Lord
 will make all work together for their good. The wicked shall
 only prove a correcting rod, not a destroying sword; even this
 rod shall not remain upon them, lest they distrust the promise,
 thinking God has cast them off.

24072
 #4,5 God's promises should quicken our prayers. The way of
 holiness is straight; there are no windings or shiftings in it.
 But the ways of sinners are crooked. They shift from one purpose
 to another, and turn hither and thither to deceive; but
 disappointment and misery shall befall them. Those who cleave to
 the ways of God, though they may have trouble in their way,
 their end shall be peace. The pleading of their Saviour for
 them, secures to them the upholding power and preserving grace
 of their God. Lord, number us with them, in time, and to
 eternity.
24074
 * Those returned out of captivity are to be thankful. (1-3)
 Those yet in captivity are encouraged. (4-6)

 #1-3 It is good to observe how God's deliverances of the church
 are for us, that we may rejoice in them. And how ought
 redemption from the wrath to come, from the power of sin and of
 Satan, to be valued! The sinner convinced of his guilt and
 danger, when by looking to a crucified Saviour he receives peace
 to his conscience, and power to break off his sins, often can
 scarcely believe that the prospect which opens to him is a
 reality.

24077
 #4-6 The beginnings of mercies encourage us to pray for the
 completion of them. And while we are in this world there will be
 matter for prayer, even when we are most furnished with matter
 for praise. Suffering saints are often in tears; they share the
 calamities of human life, and commonly have a greater share than
 others. But they sow in tears; they do the duty of an afflicted
 state. Weeping must not hinder sowing; we must get good from
 times of affliction. And they that sow, in the tears of godly
 sorrow, to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life
 everlasting; and that will be a joyful harvest indeed. Blessed
 are those that mourn, for they shall be for ever comforted. When
 we mourn for our sins, or suffer for Christ's sake, we are
 sowing in tears, to reap in joy. And remember that God is not
 mocked; for whatever a man soweth that shall he reap, #Ga
 6:7-9|. Here, O disciple of Jesus, behold an emblem of thy
 present labour and future reward; the day is coming when thou
 shalt reap in joy, plentiful shall be thy harvest, and great
 shall be thy joy in the Lord.
24080
 * The value of the Divine blessing.

 - Let us always look to God's providence. In all the affairs and
 business of a family we must depend upon his blessing. 1. For
 raising a family. If God be not acknowledged, we have no reason
 to expect his blessing; and the best-laid plans fail, unless he
 crowns them with success. 2. For the safety of a family or a
 city. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchmen, though they
 neither slumber nor sleep, wake but in vain; mischief may break
 out, which even early discoveries may not be able to prevent. 3.
 For enriching a family. Some are so eager upon the world, that
 they are continually full of care, which makes their comforts
 bitter, and their lives a burden. All this is to get money; but
 all in vain, except God prosper them: while those who love the
 Lord, using due diligence in their lawful callings, and casting
 all their care upon him, have needful success, without
 uneasiness or vexation. Our care must be to keep ourselves in
 the love of God; then we may be easy, whether we have little or
 much of this world. But we must use the proper means very
 diligently. Children are God's gifts, a heritage, and a reward;
 and are to be accounted blessings, and not burdens: he who sends
 mouths, will send meat, if we trust in him. They are a great
 support and defence to a family. Children who are young, may be
 directed aright to the mark, God's glory, and the service of
 their generation; but when they are gone into the world, they
 are arrows out of the hand, it is too late to direct them then.
 But these arrows in the hand too often prove arrows in the
 heart, a grief to godly parents. Yet, if trained according to
 God's word, they generally prove the best defence in declining
 years, remembering their obligations to their parents, and
 taking care of them in old age. All earthly comforts are
 uncertain, but the Lord will assuredly comfort and bless those
 who serve him; and those who seek the conversion of sinners,
 will find that their spiritual children are their joy and crown
 in the day of Jesus Christ.
24085
 * The blessings of those who fear God.

 - Only those who are truly holy, are truly happy. In vain do we
 pretend to be of those that fear God, if we do not make
 conscience of keeping stedfastly to his ways. Blessed is every
 one that fears the Lord; whether he be high or low, rich or poor
 in the world. If thou fear him and walk in his ways, all shall
 be well with thee while thou livest, better when thou diest,
 best of all in eternity. By the blessing of God, the godly shall
 get an honest livelihood. Here is a double promise; they shall
 have something to do, for an idle life is a miserable,
 uncomfortable life, and shall have health and strength, and
 power of mind to do it. They shall not be forced to live upon
 the labours of other people. It is as much a mercy as a duty,
 with quietness to work and eat our own bread. They and theirs
 shall enjoy what they get. Such as fear the Lord and walk in his
 ways, are the only happy persons, whatever their station in life
 may be. They shall have abundant comfort in their family
 relations. And they shall have all the good things God has
 promised, and which they pray for. A good man can have little
 comfort in seeing his children's children, unless he sees peace
 upon Israel. Every true believer rejoices in the prosperity of
 the church. Hereafter we shall see greater things, with the
 everlasting peace and rest that remain for the Israel of God.
24091
 * Thankfulness for former deliverances. (1-4) A believing
 prospect of the destruction of the enemies of Zion. (5-8)

 #1-4 The enemies of God's people have very barbarously
 endeavoured to wear out the saints of the Most High. But the
 church has been always graciously delivered. Christ has built
 his church upon a rock. And the Lord has many ways of disabling
 wicked men from doing the mischief they design against his
 church. The Lord is righteous in not suffering Israel to be
 ruined; he has promised to preserve a people to himself.

24095
 #5-8 While God's people shall flourish as the loaded palm-tree,
 or the green and fruitful olive, their enemies shall wither as
 the grass upon the house-tops, which in eastern countries are
 flat, and what grows there never ripens; so it is with the
 designs of God's enemies. No wise man will pray the Lord to
 bless these mowers or reapers. And when we remember how Jesus
 arose and reigns; how his people have been supported, like the
 burning but unconsumed bush, we shall not fear.
24099
 * The psalmist's hope in prayer. (1-4) His patience in hope.
 (5-8)

 #1-4 The only way of relief for a sin-entangled soul, is by
 applying to God alone. Many things present themselves as
 diversions, many things offer themselves as remedies, but the
 soul finds that the Lord alone can heal. And until men are
 sensible of the guilt of sin, and quit all to come at once to
 God, it is in vain for them to expect any relief. The Holy Ghost
 gives to such poor souls a fresh sense of their deep necessity,
 to stir them up in earnest applications, by the prayer of faith,
 by crying to God. And as they love their souls, as they are
 concerned for the glory of the Lord, they are not to be wanting
 in this duty. Why is it that these matters are so long uncertain
 with them? Is it not from sloth and despondency that they
 content themselves with common and customary applications to
 God? Then let us up and be doing; it must be done, and it is
 attended with safety. We are to humble ourselves before God, as
 guilty in his sight. Let us acknowledge our sinfulness; we
 cannot justify ourselves, or plead not guilty. It is our
 unspeakable comfort that there is forgiveness with him, for that
 is what we need. Jesus Christ is the great Ransom; he is ever an
 Advocate for us, and through him we hope to obtain forgiveness.
 There is forgiveness with thee, not that thou mayest be presumed
 upon, but that thou mayest be feared. The fear of God often is
 put for the whole worship of God. The only motive and
 encouragement for sinners is this, that there is forgiveness
 with the Lord.