"Despise not thou the chastening of the Lord nor faint when thou are rebuked of him" (HEBREWS 12:5). It is of first importance that we learn to draw a sharp distinction between Divine punishment and Divine chastisement - important for maintaining the honour and glory of God, and for the peace of min... Read More
PRACTICAL CHRISTIANITY Part 4: God’s Best in the Christian Life Chapter 13 ENJOYING GOD’S BEST Introduction Since God has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass, to speak of an enjoying of His best (rather than His second or third best) and missing His best, strikes some as meaningless if not erroneo... Read More
David is the principal object before the mind of the Spirit of God in both the 1st and the 2nd books of Samuel. In the 1st book we see him brought from obscurity into honour and praise, and there standing, by the good hand of God, in full righteousness amid the persecutions of the wicked. In the 2nd... Read More
As the first book gave us Israel tired of their original relationship with God, and the trial of the king of their choice, ending in the destruction of himself and his house, the second contains the establishment of David as the king, according to God, though failing far more in ease and exaltation ... Read More
A Musick-Lector: OR, The Art of MUSICK (that is so much vindicated in Christendome) Discoursed of, by way of Dialogue between three men of several Judgments: The one a MUSICIAN, and Master of that Art, and zealous for the Church of England; who calls Musick The gift of God. The other a BAPTIST, who ... Read More
There is a great need in the body of Christ for consistent reading of the Holy Scriptures in their entirety, book by book, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. In this case we are encouraging a chronological reading of the Scriptures. Most of the confusion is created when certain teachers, groups, or... Read More
Abstain (868) (aphistemi from apo = separation of one thing from another + histemi = stand and is the root of our English = apostasy) literally means to stand off from means to withdraw, to stand off, to forsake, to depart from or to remove oneself from. To apostatize or to fall away from. To withdr... Read More
Exalt (5312) (hupsoo from hupsos = height, elevation) means to lift up spatially, to raise high. Figuratively, it can describe lifting one up to a place of honor, fame, power, or position (to exalt). Hupsoo is used as a reference to the crucifixion in Jn 3:14, 8:28, 12:32, 34 (cp use in Lxx of Ps 9:... Read More
It is therefore surely worth the effort to try and answer the following questions: What attitude is Christian ethics going to adopt towards war? Does war have a place in the Christian world-and-life view? Or must war at all times and in all places be condemned and opposed as a crime? Does war make a... Read More
Ordinance (1345) (dikaioma from dikaióo = to justify <> díkaios = just, righteous <> dike = right) refers to what God has declared to be right and here referring to His decree of retribution which has the force of law. Dikaioma is used elsewhere in this Epistle with its other meaning of “righteousne... Read More
Divine Chastisement
PRACTICAL CHRISTIANITY Part 4: God’s Best in the Christian Life Chapter 13 ENJOYING GOD’S BEST
Absalom
Thoughts on 2 Samuel
A Musick-Lector
76 - Chronological Bible Reading of Scriptures
Abstain (depart, desert, fall or draw away, withdraw) (868) aphistemi
Exalt (lift up) (5312) hupsoo
The Law--Gospel Distinction and Preaching
Ordinance (1345) dikaioma