Bible Heaven/Bible Heaven.iso/online/mhcc24/v26600

Text File | 1994-03-02 | 9KB | 169 lines

26601
 #7-12 The Father is the Lord, the Redeemer, and Holy One of
 Israel, as sending the Son to be the Redeemer. Man, whom he came
 to save, put contempt upon him. To this he submitted for our
 salvation. He is a pledge for all the blessings of the covenant;
 in him God was reconciling the world to himself. Pardoning mercy
 is a release from the curse of the law; renewing grace is a
 release from the dominion of sin: both are from Christ. He saith
 to those in darkness, Show yourselves. Not only see, but be
 seen, to the glory of God, and your own comforts. Though there
 are difficulties in the way to heaven, yet the grace of God will
 carry us over them, and make even the mountains a way. This
 denotes the free invitations and the encouraging promises of the
 gospel, and the outpouring of the Spirit.

26607
 #13-17 Let there be universal joy, for God will have mercy upon
 the afflicted, because of his compassion; upon his afflicted,
 because of his covenant. We have no more reason to question his
 promise and grace, than we have to question his providence and
 justice. Be assured that God has a tender affection for his
 church and people; he would not have them to be discouraged.
 Some mothers do neglect their children; but God's compassions to
 his people, infinitely exceed those of the tenderest parents
 toward their children. His setting them as a mark on his hand,
 or a seal upon his arm, denotes his being ever mindful of them.
 As far as we have scriptural evidence that we belong to his
 ransomed flock, we may be sure that he will never forsake us.
 Let us then give diligence to make our calling and election
 sure, and rejoice in the hope and glory of God.

26612
 #18-23 Zion is addressed as an afflicted widow, bereaved of her
 children. Numbers flock to her, and she is assured that they
 come to be a comfort to her. There are times when the church is
 desolate and few in number; yet its desolations shall not last
 for ever, and God will repair them. God can raise up friends for
 returning Israelites, even among Gentiles. They shall bring
 their children, and make them thy children. Let all deal
 tenderly and carefully with young converts and beginners in
 religion. Princes shall protect the church. It shall appear that
 God is the sovereign Lord of all. And those who in the exercise
 of faith, hope, and patience, wait on God for the fulfilment of
 his promises, shall never be confounded.

26618
 #24-26 We were lawful captives to the justice of God, yet
 delivered by a price of unspeakable value. Here is an express
 promise: Even the prey of the terrible shall be delivered. We
 may here view Satan deprived of his prey, bound and cast into
 the pit; and all the powers that have combined to enslave,
 persecute, or corrupt the church, are destroyed; that all the
 earth may know that our Saviour and Redeemer is Jehovah, the
 mighty One of Jacob. And every effort we make to rescue our
 fellow-sinners from the bondage of Satan, is, in some degree,
 helping forward that great change.
26621
 * The rejection of the Jews. (1-3) The sufferings and exaltation
 of the Messiah. (4-9) Consolation to the believer, and warning
 to the unbeliever. (10,11)

 #1-3 Those who have professed to be people of God, and seem to
 be dealt severely with, are apt to complain, as if God had been
 hard with them. Here is an answer for such murmurings; God never
 deprived any of their advantages, except for their sins. The
 Jews were sent into Babylon for their idolatry, a sin which
 broke the covenant; and they were at last rejected for
 crucifying the Lord of glory. God called on them to leave their
 sins, and prevent their own ruin. Last of all, the Son came to
 his own, but his own received him not. When God calls men to
 happiness, and they will not answer, they are justly left to be
 miserable. To silence doubts concerning his power, proofs of it
 are given. The wonders which attended his sufferings and death,
 proclaimed that he was the Son of God, #Mt 27:54|.

26624
 #4-9 As Jesus was God and man in one person, we find him
 sometimes speaking, or spoken of, as the Lord God; at other
 times, as man and the servant of Jehovah. He was to declare the
 truths which comfort the broken, contrite heart, those weary of
 sin, harassed with afflictions. And as the Holy Spirit was upon
 him, that he might speak as never man spake; so the same Divine
 influence daily wakened him to pray, to preach the gospel, and
 to receive and deliver the whole will of the Father. The Father
 justified the Son when he accepted the satisfaction he made for
 the sin of man. Christ speaks in the name of all believers. Who
 dares to be an enemy to those unto whom he is a Friend? or who
 will contend with those for whom he is an Advocate? Thus St. Paul
 applies it, #Ro 8:33|.

26630
 #10,11 A child of God is afraid of incurring his displeasure.
 This grace usually appears most in believers when in darkness,
 when other graces appear not. Those that truly fear God, obey
 the voice of Christ. A sincere servant of God may for a long
 time be without views of eternal happiness. What is likely to be
 an effectual cure in this sad case? Let him trust in the name of
 the Lord; and let him stay himself upon the promises of the
 covenant, and build his hopes on them. Let him trust in Christ,
 trust in that name of his, The Lord our Righteousness; stay
 himself upon God as his God, in and through a Mediator.
 Presuming sinners are warned not to trust in themselves. Their
 own merit and sufficiency are light and heat to them.
 Creature-comforts are as sparks, short-lived, and soon gone; yet
 the children of this world, while they last, seek to warm
 themselves by them, and walk with pride and pleasure in the
 light of them. Those that make the world their comfort, and
 their own righteousness their confidence, will certainly meet
 with bitterness in the end. A godly man's way may be dark, but
 his end shall be peace and everlasting light. A wicked man's way
 may be pleasant, but his end and abode for ever will be utter
 darkness.
26632
 * Exhortations to trust the Messiah. (1-3) The power of God, and
 the weakness of man. (4-8) Christ defends his people. (9-16)
 Their afflictions and deliverances. (17-23)

 #1-3 It is good for those privileged by the new birth, to
 consider that they were shapen in sin. This should cause low
 thoughts of ourselves, and high thoughts of Divine grace. It is
 the greatest comfort to be made serviceable to the glory of God.
 The more holiness men have, and the more good they do, the more
 gladness they have. Let us seriously reflect upon our guilt. To
 do so will tend to keep the heart humble, and the conscience
 awake and tender. They make Christ more precious to the soul,
 and give strength to our attempts and prayers for others.

26635
 #4-8 The gospel of Christ shall be preached and published. How
 shall we escape if we neglect it? There is no salvation without
 righteousness. The soul shall, as to this world, vanish like
 smoke, and the body be thrown by like a worn-out garment. But
 those whose happiness is in Christ's righteousness and
 salvation, will have the comfort of it when time and days shall
 be no more. Clouds darken the sun, but do not stop its course.
 The believer will enjoy his portion, while revilers of Christ
 are in darkness

26640
 #9-16 The people whom Christ has redeemed with his blood, as
 well as by his power, will obtain joyful deliverance from every
 enemy. He that designs such joy for us at last, will he not work
 such deliverance in the mean time, as our cases require? In this
 world of changes, it is a short step from joy to sorrow, but in
 that world, sorrow shall never come in view. They prayed for the
 display of God's power; he answers them with consolations of his
 grace. Did we dread to sin against God, we should not fear the
 frowns of men. Happy is the man that fears God always. And
 Christ's church shall enjoy security by the power and providence
 of the Almighty.

26648
 #17-23 God calls upon his people to mind the things that belong
 to their everlasting peace. Jerusalem had provoked God, and was
 made to taste the bitter fruits. Those who should have been her
 comforters, were their own tormentors. They have no patience by
 which to keep possession of their own souls, nor any confidence
 in God's promise, by which to keep possession of its comfort.
 Thou art drunken, not as formerly, with the intoxicating cup of
 Babylon's idolatries, but with the cup of affliction. Know,
 then, the cause of God's people may for a time seem as lost, but
 God will protect it, by convincing the conscience, or
 confounding the projects, of those that strive against it. The
 oppressors required souls to be subjected to them, that every
 man should believe and worship as they would have them. But all
 they could gain by violence was, that people were brought to
 outward hypocritical conformity, for consciences cannot be
 forced.