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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Hebrews III].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1721)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>H E B R E W S.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. III.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this chapter the apostle applies what he had said in the chapter
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foregoing concerning the priesthood of Christ,
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I. In a serious pathetic exhortation that this great high priest, who
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was discovered to them, might be seriously considered by them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+3:1-6">ver. 1-6</A>.
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II. He then adds many weighty counsels and cautions,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+3:7-19">ver. 7, to the end</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Heb3_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb3_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb3_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb3_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb3_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb3_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Attention Due to Christ.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 62.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling,
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consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ
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Jesus;
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2 Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses
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<I>was faithful</I> in all his house.
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3 For this <I>man</I> was counted worthy of more glory than Moses,
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inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than
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the house.
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4 For every house is builded by some <I>man;</I> but he that built
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all things <I>is</I> God.
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5 And Moses verily <I>was</I> faithful in all his house, as a
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servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken
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after;
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6 But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we,
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if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm
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unto the end.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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In these verses we have the application of the doctrine laid down in
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the close of the last chapter concerning the priesthood of our Lord
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Jesus Christ. And observe,</P>
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<P>
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I. In how fervent and affectionate a manner the apostle exhorts
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Christians to have this high priest much in their thoughts, and to make
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him the object of their close and serious consideration; and surely no
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one in earth or heaven deserves our consideration more than he. That
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this exhortation might be made the more effectual, observe,</P>
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<P>
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1. The honourable compellation used towards those to whom he wrote:
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<I>Holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling.</I>
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(1.) Brethren, not only my brethren, but the brethren of Christ, and in
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him brethren to all the saints. All the people of God are brethren, and
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should love and live like brethren.
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(2.) Holy brethren; holy not only in profession and title, but in
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principle and practice, in heart and life. This has been turned by some
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into scorn: "These," say they, "are the holy brethren;" but it is
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dangerous jesting with such edge-tools; <I>be not mockers, lest your
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bands be made strong.</I> Let those that are thus despised and scorned
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labour to be holy brethren indeed, and approve themselves so to God;
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and they need not be ashamed of the title nor dread the scoffs of the
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profane. The day is coming when those that make this a term of reproach
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would count it their greatest honour and happiness to be taken into
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this sacred brotherhood.
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(3.) <I>Partakers of the heavenly calling</I>--partakers of the means
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of grace, and of the Spirit of grace, that came from heaven, and by
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which Christians are effectually called out of darkness into marvelous
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light, that calling which brings down heaven into the souls of men,
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raises them up to a heavenly temper and conversation, and prepares them
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to live for ever with God in heaven.</P>
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<P>
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2. The titles he gives to Christ, whom he would have them consider,
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(1.) As the apostle of our profession, the prime-minister of the gospel
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church, a messenger and a principal messenger sent of God to men, upon
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the most important errand, the great revealer of that faith which we
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profess to hold and of that hope which we profess to have.
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(2.) Not only the apostle, but the high priest too, of our profession,
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the chief officer of the Old Testament as well as the New, the head of
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the church in every state, and under each dispensation, upon whose
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satisfaction and intercession we profess to depend for pardon of sin,
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and acceptance with God.
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(3.) As Christ, the Messiah, anointed and every way qualified for the
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office both of apostle and high priest.
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(4.) As Jesus, our Saviour, our healer, the great physician of souls,
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typified by the brazen serpent that Moses lifted up in the wilderness,
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that those who were stung by the fiery serpents might look to him, and
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be saved.</P>
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<P>
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II. We have the duty we owe to him who bears all these high and
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honourable titles, and that is to consider him as thus characterized.
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Consider what he is in himself, what he is to us, and what he will be
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to us hereafter and for ever; consider him, fix your thoughts upon him
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with the greatest attention, and act towards him accordingly; look unto
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Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. Here observe,
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1. Many that profess faith in Christ have not a due consideration for
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him; he is not so much thought of as he deserves to be, and desires to
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be, by those that expect salvation from him.
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2. Close and serious consideration of Christ would be of great
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advantage to us to increase our acquaintance with him, and to engage
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our love and our obedience to him, and reliance on him.
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3. Even those that are holy brethren, and partakers of the heavenly
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calling, have need to stir up one another to think more of Christ than
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they do, to have him more in their minds; the best of his people think
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too seldom and too slightly of him.
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4. We must consider Christ as he is described to us in the scriptures,
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and form our apprehensions of him thence, not from any vain conceptions
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and fancies of our own.</P>
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<P>
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III. We have several arguments drawn up to enforce this duty of
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considering Christ the apostle and high priest of our profession.</P>
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<P>
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1. The first is taken from his fidelity,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+3:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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He was faithful to him that appointed him, as Moses was in all his
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house.
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(1.) Christ is an appointed Mediator; God the Father has sent and
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sealed him to that office, and therefore his mediation is acceptable to
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the Father.
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(2.) He is faithful to that appointment, punctually observing all the
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rules and orders of his mediation, and fully executing the trust
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reposed in him by his Father and by his people.
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(3.) That he is as faithful to him that appointed him as Moses was in
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all his house. Moses was faithful in the discharge of his office to the
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Jewish church in the Old Testament, and so is Christ under the New;
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this was a proper argument to urge upon the Jews, who had so high an
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opinion of the faithfulness of Moses, and yet his faithfulness was but
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typical of Christ's.</P>
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<P>
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2. Another argument is taken from the superior glory and excellence of
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Christ above Moses
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+3:3-6"><I>v.</I> 3-6</A>);
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therefore they were more obliged to consider Christ.
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(1.) Christ was a maker of the house, Moses but a member in it. By the
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house we are to understand the church of God, the people of God
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incorporated together under Christ their maker and head, and under
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subordinate officers, according to his law, observing his institutions.
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Christ is the maker of this house of the church in all ages: Moses was
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a minister in the house, he was instrumental under Christ in governing
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and edifying the house, but Christ is the maker of all things; for he
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is God, and no one less than God could build the church, either lay the
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foundation or carry on the superstructure. No less power was requisite
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to make the church than to make the world; the world was made out of
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nothing, the church made out of materials altogether unfit for such a
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building. Christ, who is God, drew the ground-plan of the church,
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provided the materials, and by almighty power disposed them to receive
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the form; he has compacted and united this his house, has settled the
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orders of it, and crowned all with his own presence, which is the true
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glory of this house of God.
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(2.) Christ was the master of this house, as well as the maker,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+3:5,6"><I>v.</I> 5, 6</A>.
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This house is styled his house, as the Son of God. Moses was only a
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faithful servant, for a testimony of those things that were afterwards
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to be revealed. Christ, as the eternal Son of God, is the rightful
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owner and sovereign ruler of the church. Moses was only a typical
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governor, for a testimony of all those things relating to the church
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which would be more clearly, completely, and comfortably revealed in
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the gospel by the Spirit of Christ; and therefore Christ is worthy of
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more glory than Moses, and of greater regard and consideration. This
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argument the apostle concludes,
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[1.] With a comfortable accommodation of it to himself and all true
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believers
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+3:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>).
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<I>Whose house we are:</I> each of us personally, as we are the temples
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of the Holy Ghost, and Christ dwells in us by faith; all of us jointly,
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as we are united by the bonds of graces, truths, ordinances, gospel
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discipline, and devotions.
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[2.] With a characteristic description of those persons who constitute
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this house: "<I>If we hold fast the confidence, and the rejoicing of
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the hope, firmly to the end;</I> that is, if we maintain a bold and
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open profession of the truths of the gospel, upon which our hopes of
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grace and glory are built, and live upon and up to those hopes, so as
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to have a holy rejoicing in them, which shall abide firm to the end,
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notwithstanding all that we may meet with in so doing." So that you see
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there must not only be a setting out well in the ways of Christ, but a
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stedfastness and perseverance therein unto the end. We have here a
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direction what those must do who would partake of the dignity and
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privileges of the household of Christ. <I>First,</I> They must take
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the truths of the gospel into their heads and hearts. <I>Secondly,</I>
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They must build their hopes of happiness upon those truths.
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<I>Thirdly,</I> They must make an open profession of those truths.
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<I>Fourthly,</I> They must live so up to them as to keep their
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evidences clear, that they may rejoice in hope, and then they must in
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all persevere to the end. In a word, they must walk closely,
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consistently, courageously, and constantly, in the faith and practice
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of the gospel, that their Master, when he comes, may own and approve
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them.</P>
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<A NAME="Heb3_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb3_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb3_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb3_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb3_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb3_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb3_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb3_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb3_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb3_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb3_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb3_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb3_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Cautions against Apostasy.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 62.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear
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his voice,
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8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of
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temptation in the wilderness:
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9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works
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forty years.
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10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They
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do alway err in <I>their</I> heart; and they have not known my ways.
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11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)
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12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil
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heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
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13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day;
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lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
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14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the
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beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
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15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden
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not your hearts, as in the provocation.
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16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all
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that came out of Egypt by Moses.
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17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? <I>was it</I> not with
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them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?
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18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his
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rest, but to them that believed not?
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19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here the apostle proceeds in pressing upon them serious counsels and
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cautions to the close of the chapter; and he recites a passage out of
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+95:7">Ps. xc. 7</A>,
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&c., where observe,</P>
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<P>
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I. What he counsels them to do--to give a speedy and present attention
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to the call of Christ. "Hear his voice, assent to, approve of, and
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consider, what God in Christ speaks unto you; apply it to yourselves
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with suitable affections and endeavours, and set about it this very
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day, for to-morrow it may be too late."</P>
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<P>
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II. What he cautions them against--hardening their hearts, turning the
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deaf ear to the calls and counsels of Christ: "When he tells you of the
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evil of sin, the excellency of holiness, the necessity of receiving him
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by faith as your Saviour, do not shut your ear and heart against such a
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voice as this." Observe, The hardening of our hearts is the spring of
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all our other sins.</P>
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<P>
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III. Whose example he warns them by--that of the Israelites their
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fathers in the wilderness: <I>As in the provocation and day of
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temptation;</I> this refers to that remarkable passage at Massah
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Meribah,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+17:2-7">Exod. xvii. 2-7</A>.
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Observe,</P>
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<P>
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1. Days of temptation are often days of provocation.</P>
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<P>
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2. To provoke God, when he is trying us, and letting us see that we
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entirely depend and live immediately upon him, is a provocation with a
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witness.</P>
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<P>
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3. The sins of others, especially our relations, should be a warning to
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us. Our fathers' sins and punishments should be remembered by us, to
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deter us from following their evil examples. Now as to the sin of the
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fathers of the Jews, here reflected upon, observe,</P>
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<P>
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(1.) The state in which these fathers were, when they thus sinned: they
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were in the wilderness, brought out of Egypt, but not got into Canaan,
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the thoughts whereof should have restrained them from sin.</P>
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<P>
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(2.) The sin they were guilty of: they tempted and provoked God; they
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distrusted God, murmured against Moses, and would not attend to the
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voice of God.</P>
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<P>
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(3.) The aggravations of their sin: they sinned in the wilderness,
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where they had a more immediate dependence upon God: they sinned when
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God was trying them; they sinned when they saw his works--works of
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wonder wrought for their deliverance out of Egypt, and their support
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and supply in the wilderness from day to day. They continued thus to
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sin against God for forty years. These were heinous aggravations.</P>
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<P>
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(4.) The source and spring of such aggravated sins, which were,
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[1.] They erred in their hearts; and these heart-errors produced many
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other errors in their lips and lives.
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[2.] They did not know God's ways, though he had walked before them.
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They did not know his ways; neither those ways of his providence in
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which he had walked towards them, nor those ways of his precept in
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which they ought to have walked towards God; they did not observe
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either his providences or his ordinances in a right manner.</P>
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<P>
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(5.) The just and great resentment God had at their sins, and yet the
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great patience he exercised towards them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+3:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
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<I>Wherefore I was grieved with that generation.</I> Note,
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[1.] All sin, especially sin committed by God's professing privileged
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people, does not only anger and affront God, but it grieves him.
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[2.] God is loth to destroy his people in or for their sin, he waits
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long to be gracious to them.
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[3.] God keeps an exact account of the time that people go on in
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sinning against him, and in grieving him by their sins; but at length,
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if they by their sins continue to grieve the Spirit of God, their sins
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shall be made grievous to their own spirits, either in a way of
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judgment or mercy.</P>
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<P>
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(6.) The irreversible doom passed upon them at last for their sins. God
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swore in his wrath that they should not enter into his rest, the rest
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either of an earthly or of a heavenly Canaan. Observe,
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[1.] Sin, long continued in, will kindle the divine wrath, and make it
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flame out against sinners.
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[2.] God's wrath will discover itself in its righteous resolution to
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|
destroy the impenitent; he will swear in his wrath, not rashly, but
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|
righteously, and his wrath will make their condition a restless
|
|
condition; there is no resting under the wrath of God.</P>
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|
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<P>
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|
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IV. What use the apostle makes of their awful example,
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|
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+3:12,13"><I>v.</I> 12, 13</A>,
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&c. He gives the Hebrews a proper caution, and enforces it with an
|
|
affectionate compellation.</P>
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|
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<P>
|
|
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1. He gives the Hebrews a proper caution; the word is, <I>Take
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|
heed,</I> <B><I>blepete</I></B>--<I>look to it.</I> "Look about you; be
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|
upon your guard against enemies both within and without; be
|
|
circumspect. You see what kept many of your forefathers out of Canaan,
|
|
and made their carcasses fall in the wilderness; take heed lest you
|
|
fall into the same sin and snare and dreadful sentence. For you see
|
|
Christ is head of the church, a much greater person than Moses, and
|
|
your contempt of him must be a greater sin than their contempt of
|
|
Moses; and so you are in danger of falling under a severer sentence
|
|
than they." Observe, The ruin of others should be a warning to us to
|
|
take heed of the rock they split upon. Israel's fall should for ever be
|
|
a warning to all who come after them; for <I>all these things happened
|
|
to them for ensamples</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+10:11">1 Cor. x. 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
and should be remembered by us. Take heed; all who would get safely to
|
|
heaven must look about them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He enforces the admonition with an affectionate compellation:
|
|
"<I>Brethren,</I> not only in the flesh, but in the Lord; brethren whom
|
|
I love, and for whose welfare I labour and long." And here he enlarges
|
|
upon the matter of the admonition: <I>Take heed, brethren, lest there
|
|
be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living
|
|
God.</I> Here observe,
|
|
|
|
(1.) A heart of unbelief is an evil heart. Unbelief is a great sin, it
|
|
vitiates the heart of man.
|
|
|
|
(2.) An evil heart of unbelief is at the bottom of all our sinful
|
|
departures from God; it is a leading step to apostasy; if once we allow
|
|
ourselves to distrust God, we may soon desert him.
|
|
|
|
(3.) Christian brethren have need to be cautioned against apostasy.
|
|
<I>Let those that think they stand take heed lest they fall.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. He subjoins good counsel to the caution, and advises them to that
|
|
which would be a remedy against this evil heart of unbelief--that they
|
|
should <I>exhort one another daily, while it is called to-day,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+3:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
Observe,
|
|
|
|
(1.) We should be doing all the good we can to one another while we are
|
|
together, which will be but a short and uncertain time.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Since to-morrow is none of ours, we must make the best improvement
|
|
of to-day.
|
|
|
|
(3.) If Christians do not exhort one another daily, they will be in
|
|
danger of being hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Note,
|
|
|
|
[1.] There is a great deal of deceitfulness in sin; it appears fair,
|
|
but is filthy; it appears pleasant, but is pernicious; it promises
|
|
much, but performs nothing.
|
|
|
|
[2.] The deceitfulness of sin is of a hardening nature to the soul; one
|
|
sin allowed prepares for another; every act of sin confirms the habit;
|
|
sinning against conscience is the way to sear the conscience; and
|
|
therefore it should be the great concern of every one to exhort himself
|
|
and others to beware of sin.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. He comforts those who not only set out well, but hold on well, and
|
|
hold out to the end
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+3:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>We are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our
|
|
confidence stedfast to the end.</I> Here observe,
|
|
|
|
(1.) The saints' privilege: they are made partakers of Christ, that is,
|
|
of the Spirit, nature, graces, righteousness, and life of Christ; they
|
|
are interested in all that is Christ's, in all that he is, in all that
|
|
he has done, or can do.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The condition on which they hold that privilege, namely, their
|
|
perseverance in the bold and open profession and practice of Christ and
|
|
Christianity unto the end. Not but they shall persevere, being kept by
|
|
the mighty power of God through faith to salvation, but to be pressed
|
|
thus to it is one means by which Christ helps his people to persevere.
|
|
This tends to make them watchful and diligent, and so keeps them from
|
|
apostasy. Here observe,
|
|
|
|
[1.] The same spirit with which Christians set out in the ways of God
|
|
they should maintain and evidence to the end. Those who begin
|
|
seriously, and with lively affections and holy resolutions and humble
|
|
reliance, should go on in the same spirit. But,
|
|
|
|
[2.] There are a great many who in the beginning of their profession
|
|
show a great deal of courage and confidence, but do not hold them fast
|
|
to the end.
|
|
|
|
[3.] Perseverance in faith is the best evidence of the sincerity of our
|
|
faith.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
5. The apostle resumes what he had quoted before from
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+95:7">Ps. xc. 7</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c., and he applies it closely to those of that generation,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+3:15,16"><I>v.</I> 15, 16</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c. While it is said, <I>To-day if you will hear,</I> &c.; as if he
|
|
should say, "What was recited before from that scripture belonged not
|
|
only to former ages, but to you now, and to all who shall come after
|
|
you; that you take heed you fall not into the same sins, lest you fall
|
|
under the same condemnation." The apostle tells them that though some
|
|
who had heard the voice of God did provoke him, yet all did not so.
|
|
Observe,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Though the majority of hearers provoked God by unbelief, yet some
|
|
there were who believed the report.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Though the hearing of the word be the ordinary means of salvation,
|
|
yet, if it be not hearkened to, it will expose men more to the anger of
|
|
God.
|
|
|
|
(3.) God will have a remnant that shall be obedient to his voice, and
|
|
he will take care of such and make mention of them with honour.
|
|
|
|
(4.) If these should fall in a common calamity, yet they shall partake
|
|
of eternal salvation, while disobedient hearers perish for ever.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
6. The apostle puts some queries upon what had been before mentioned,
|
|
and gives proper answers to them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+3:17-19"><I>v.</I> 17-19</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>But with whom was he grieved forty years? With those that sinned.
|
|
And to whom did he swear?</I> &c. Whence observe,
|
|
|
|
(1.) God is grieved only with those of his people who sin against him,
|
|
and continue in sin.
|
|
|
|
(2.) God is grieved and provoked most by sins publicly committed by the
|
|
generality of a nation; when sin becomes epidemic, it is most
|
|
provoking.
|
|
|
|
(3.) Though God grieves long, and bears long, when pressed with the
|
|
weight of general and prevailing wickedness, yet he will at length ease
|
|
himself of public offenders by public judgments.
|
|
|
|
(4.) Unbelief (with rebellion which is the consequent of it) is the
|
|
great damning sin of the world, especially of those who have a
|
|
revelation of the mind and will of God. This sin shuts up the heart of
|
|
God, and shuts up the gate of heaven, against them; it lays them under
|
|
the wrath and curse of God, and leaves them there; so that in truth and
|
|
justice to himself he is obliged to cast them off for ever.</P>
|
|
|
|
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