The one who Kills you will Think he is Offering Service to God - George Hutcheson http://www.puritanaudiobooks.net/ Commentary on John 16:2 2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the hour cometh, that whosoever killeth you shall think that he offereth service unto God. "They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service." "Such followers of Christ as would be armed, indeed, ought to resolve that they will meet with, not one, but many trials of all sorts, and that they may be essayed with the utmost violence that men’s malice can invent, or their power in church or state can reach, either in an orderly or a tumultuous way; therefore doth he forewarn them of a variety of particular trials, and that in the greatest extremity." George Hutcheson (1618-1674) was another of the great Scottish expositors which David Dickson selected to do commentaries that would be brief, but without leaving anything important out. Besides Hutcheson in this select group of Puritan commentators were James Durham on the Song, James Ferguson on the Epistles of Paul, and Hutcheson on Job, The Minor Prophets, and on John. It will be a great day for Bible students when his work on the Minor Prophets and Job could be back in print. Besides commenting in general on a verse, Hutcheson has a separate section entitled ''Doctrines,'' to show what doctrines appear in that verse. In every verse he has a number of differing comments. For instance, on 12:48 he discusses 9 facets of truth, and on verse 49 six. 48: ''He that rejects Me and receives not My words, has one that judges him, My Word that I have spoken.'' 49: ''For I have not spoken of Myself, but the Father . . . gave me a commandment, what I should say and what I should speak'' Even Christ could speak no other words than what the Father commanded Him. Why? Because the Scriptures were eternally formulated in eternity by the Holy Three. Those words are fixed; by those very eternal words all men will be judged. No one is free to report any other words as God’s Holy Word, for even Christ did not vary them in any way. His words were THE Word. ‘Excellent; beyond all praise. It is a full-stored treasury of sound theology, holy thought, and marrowy doctrine’ (C. H. Spurgeon). ‘Vast in scope, rich in background information, and warm in devotional emphasis’ (The Minister’s Library, Cyril J. Barber). Anyone who has used this commentary will testify that Hutcheson gives succinct comments, but you will seldom find a fine point in any other commentary which Hutcheson has not already explained. Gordon Clark pointed out that Hutcheson spent a great deal of time teaching doctrine, rather than taking the text word by word, and connecting it with what went before. In other words, you may need to look at other expositions of this Gospel for full explanation of the text. But you will be richer by studying Hutcheson, and poorer if you do not study Hutcheson. Hutcheson had a reputation as a great preacher, and his commentaries continue to be highly prized for their combination of orthodoxy and practicality. None will find any exposition any more helpful or thorough.