Aphoristic Commentary: Numbers 27:16-17

What Moses said to God when looking for a successor: Numbers 27:16-17, Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, Which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and which may lead them out, and which may bring them in; that the congregation of the LORD be not as sheep which have no shepherd.

Moses was a shepherd over the flocks of Jethro in Midian (Exodus 3:1) before becoming the shepherd of Israel (Exodus 3:10). Moses was a true shepherd, he was concerned that the flock would still be shepherded when he was gone.

Aphoristic Commentary: Isaiah 59:21

Isaiah 59:21, As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.

Generational blessings, that.

Aphoristic Commentary: Isaiah 43:1

Isaiah 43:1, But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.

By the Incarnation, the Creator said to creation, "Mine!"

Aphoristic Commentary: Psalm 120:6-7 and 1 John 4:4-6 & 13

Psalm 120:6-7, My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace. I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.

1 John 4:4-6 & 13, Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error....Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.

We can have an optimistic/postmillennial eschatology, so long as we allow it to organically flow from and bend before Scripture: even with an optimistic/postmillennial eschatology, we must never forget the antithetical relationship between Christ and his enemies, between the Church and the world. Thus, we must always remember, not in spite of, but because of our optimistic/postmillennial eschatology, that we are separated unto God by the Holy Spirit!

Aphoristic Commentary: 1 John 4:9-11

1 John 4:9-11, In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

Penal-Substitutionary-Atonement = Love of God

Aphoristic Commentary: 1 John 4:2-3

1 John 4:2-3, Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

The Spirit of God is a Christmas-Spirit, teaching men to confess Advent, the incarnate Christ!

Aphoristic Commentary: Isaiah 33:22

Isaiah 33:22, For the LORD [lit. Jehovah] is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.

John Calvin said, "Let us only yield to his [God's] authority, hear his voice, and obey him; and, on the other hand, he will shew that he is our protector and most faithful guardian."

John Calvin on Isaiah 33:22 (abstracted into bullet points):

• On the one hand
• Yield to God's authority
• Hear God's voice
• Obey God
• And on the other hand
• God will shew that he is our protector and most faithful guardian
• i.e., "God will save us"

Aphoristic Commentary: James 3:5-6

James 3:5-6, Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

God's tongue is the Holy Spirit, a fire that cleanses the whole body, but a sinner's tongue lacks the Holy Spirit, so it is a fire that defiles the whole body.

Aphoristic Commentary: Romans 5:19 & Psalm 111:1-3

Romans 5:19,  For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

Imputed Righteousness = "By the obedience of one [Jesus Christ] shall many be made righteous."

Psalm 111:1-3, Praise ye the LORD. I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation. The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. His work is honourable and glorious: and his righteousness endureth for ever.

The doctrine of the imputation of Christ's righteousness is praise-worthy and comforting: a Christian knows their righteousness is Christ's righteousness imputed to them, and, since Christ is Lord, that righteousness will endure for ever. Praise-worthy and comforting, indeed.

Aphoristic Commentary: 2 Cor. 3:2-5

2 Corinthians 3:2-5, Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God . . . 

This, "Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: . . . our sufficiency is of God,"  is an example of incarnational thinking: to be evangelical one must be incarnationally minded.