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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. XII.</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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The apostle, in this chapter, applies what he has collected in the
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chapter foregoing, and makes use of it as a great motive to patience
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and perseverance in the Christian faith and state, pressing home the
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argument,
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I. From a greater example than he had yet mentioned, and that is Christ
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himself,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:1-3">ver. 1-3</A>.
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II. From the gentle and gracious nature of the afflictions they endured
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in their Christian course,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:4-17">ver. 4-17</A>.
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III. From the communion and conformity between the state of the
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gospel-church on earth and the triumphant church in heaven,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:18-29">ver. 18, to the end</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Heb12_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb12_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb12_3"> </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>Christ the Great Exemplar.</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 seeing we also are compassed about with so great a
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cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin
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which doth so easily beset <I>us,</I> and let us run with patience the
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race that is set before us,
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2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of <I>our</I> faith;
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who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
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despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the
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throne of God.
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3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners
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against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here observe what is the great duty which the apostle urges upon the
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Hebrews, and which he so much desires they would comply with, and that
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is, to <I>lay aside every weight, and the sin that did so easily beset
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them, and run with patience the race set before them.</I> The duty
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consists of two parts, the one preparatory, the other perfective.</P>
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<P>
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I. Preparatory: <I>Lay aside every weight, and the sin,</I> &c.
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1. <I>Every weight,</I> that is, all inordinate affection and concern
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for the body, and the present life and world. Inordinate care for the
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present life, or fondness for it, is a dead weight upon the soul, that
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pulls it down when it should ascend upwards, and pulls it back when it
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should press forward; it makes duty and difficulties harder and heavier
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than they would be.
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2. <I>The sin that doth so easily beset us;</I> the sin that has the
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greatest advantage against us, by the circumstances we are in, our
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constitution, our company. This may mean either the damning sin of
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unbelief or rather the darling sin of the Jews, an over-fondness for
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their own dispensation. <I>Let us lay aside</I> all external and
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internal hindrances.</P>
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<P>
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II. Perfective: <I>Run with patience the race that is set before
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us.</I> The apostle speaks in the gymnastic style, taken from the
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Olympic and other exercises.</P>
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<P>
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1. Christians have a race to run, a race of service and a race of
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sufferings, a course of active and passive obedience.</P>
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<P>
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2. This race is set before them; it is marked out unto them, both by
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the word of God and the examples of the faithful servants of God, that
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cloud of witnesses with which they are compassed about. It is set out
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by proper limits and directions; the mark they run to, and the prize
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they run for, are set before them.</P>
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<P>
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3. This race must be run with patience and perseverance. There will be
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need of patience to encounter the difficulties that lie in our way, of
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perseverance to resist all temptations to desist or turn aside. Faith
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and patience are the conquering graces, and therefore must be always
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cultivated and kept in lively exercise.</P>
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<P>
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4. Christians have a greater example to animate and encourage them in
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their Christian course than any or all who have been mentioned before,
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and that is the Lord Jesus Christ: <I>Looking unto Jesus, the author
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and finisher of our faith,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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Here observe,</P>
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<P>
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(1.) What our Lord Jesus is to his people: he is <I>the author and
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finisher of</I> their <I>faith</I>--the beginning, perfecter, and
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rewarder of it.
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[1.] He is the author of their faith; not only the object, but the
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author. He is the great leader and precedent of our faith, <I>he
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trusted in God;</I> he is the purchaser of the Spirit of faith, the
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publisher of the rule of faith, the efficient cause of the grace of
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faith, and in all respects the author of our faith.
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[2.] He is <I>the finisher of our faith;</I> he is the fulfiller and
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the fulfilling of all scripture-promises and prophecies; he is the
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perfecter of the canon of scripture; he is the finisher of grace, and
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of the work of faith with power in the souls of his people; and he is
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the judge and the rewarder of their faith; he determines who they are
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that reach the mark, and from him, and in him, they have the prize.</P>
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<P>
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(2.) What trials Christ met with in his race and course.
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[1.] He <I>endured the contradiction of sinners against himself</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>);
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he bore the opposition that they made to him, both in their words and
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behaviour. They were continually contradicting him, and crossing in
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upon his great designs; and though he could easily have both confuted
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and confounded them, and sometimes gave them a specimen of his power,
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yet he endured their evil manners with great patience. Their
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contradictions were levelled against Christ himself, against his person
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as God-man, against his authority, against his preaching, and yet he
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endured all.
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[2.] He <I>endured the cross</I>--all those sufferings that he met with
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in the world; for he took up his cross betimes, and was at length
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nailed to it, and endured a painful, ignominious, and accursed death,
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in which he was numbered with the transgressors, the vilest
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malefactors; yet all this he endured with invincible patience and
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resolution.
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[3.] He <I>despised the shame.</I> All the reproaches that were cast
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upon him, both in his life and at his death, he despised; he was
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infinitely above them; he knew his own innocency and excellency, and
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despised the ignorance and malice of his despisers.</P>
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<P>
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(3.) What it was that supported the human soul of Christ under these
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unparalleled sufferings; and that was <I>the joy that was set before
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him.</I> He had something in view under all his sufferings, which was
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pleasant to him; he rejoiced to see that by his sufferings he should
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make satisfaction to the injured justice of God and give security to
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his honour and government, that he should make peace between God and
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man, that he should seal the covenant of grace and be the Mediator of
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it, that he should open a way of salvation to the chief of sinners, and
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that he should effectually save all those whom the Father had given
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him, and himself be the first-born among many brethren. This was the
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joy that was set before him.</P>
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<P>
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(4.) The reward of his suffering: he <I>has sat down at the right hand
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of the throne of God.</I> Christ, as Mediator, is exalted to a station
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of the highest honour, of the greatest power and influence; he is at
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the right hand of the Father. Nothing passes between heaven and earth
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but by him; he does all that is done; <I>he ever lives to make
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intercession for</I> his people.</P>
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<P>
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(5.) What is our duty with respect to this Jesus. We must,
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[1.] Look unto him; that is, we must set him continually before us as
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our example, and our great encouragement; we must look to him for
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direction, for assistance, and for acceptance, in all our sufferings.
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[2.] We must consider him, meditate much upon him, and reason with
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ourselves from his case to our own. We must <I>analogize,</I> as the
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word is; compare Christ's sufferings and ours; and we shall find that
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as his sufferings far exceeded ours, in the nature and measure of them,
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so his patience far excels ours, and is a perfect pattern for us to
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imitate.</P>
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<P>
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(6.) The advantage we shall reap by thus doing: it will be a means to
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prevent our weariness and fainting
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
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<I>Lest you be weary and faint in your minds.</I> Observe,
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[1.] There is a proneness in the best to grow weary and to faint under
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their trials and afflictions, especially when they prove heavy and of
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long continuance: this proceeds from the imperfections of grace and the
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remains of corruption.
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[2.] The best way to prevent this is to look unto Jesus, and to
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consider him. Faith and meditation will fetch in fresh supplies of
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strength, comfort, and courage; for he has assured them, if <I>they
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suffer with him, they shall also reign with him:</I> and this hope will
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be their helmet.</P>
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<A NAME="Heb12_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb12_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb12_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb12_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb12_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb12_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb12_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb12_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb12_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb12_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb12_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb12_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb12_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb12_17"> </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>The Benefit of Afflictions; The Use of Afflictions; 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>4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
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5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you
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as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the
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Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
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6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every
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son whom he receiveth.
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7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons;
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for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
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8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers,
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then are ye bastards, and not sons.
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9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected
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<I>us,</I> and we gave <I>them</I> reverence: shall we not much rather be
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in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
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10 For they verily for a few days chastened <I>us</I> after their
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own pleasure; but he for <I>our</I> profit, that <I>we</I> might be
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partakers of his holiness.
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11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but
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grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit
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of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
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12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble
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knees;
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13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is
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lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
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14 Follow peace with all <I>men,</I> and holiness, without which no
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man shall see the Lord:
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15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God;
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lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble <I>you,</I> and
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thereby many be defiled;
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16 Lest there <I>be</I> any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau,
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who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
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17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited
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the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of
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repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here the apostle presses the exhortation to patience and perseverance
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by an argument taken from the gentle measure and gracious nature of
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those sufferings which the believing Hebrews endured in their Christian
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course.</P>
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<P>
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I. From the gentle and moderate degree and measure of their sufferings:
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<I>You have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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Observe,</P>
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<P>
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1. He owns that they had suffered much, they had been striving to an
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agony against sin. Here,
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(1.) The cause of the conflict was sin, and to be engaged against sin
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is to fight in a good cause, for sin is the worst enemy both to God and
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man. Our spiritual warfare is both honourable and necessary; for we are
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only defending ourselves against that which would destroy us, if it
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should get the victory over us; we fight for ourselves, for our lives,
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and therefore ought to be patient and resolute.
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(2.) Every Christian is enlisted under Christ's banner, to strive
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against sin, against sinful doctrines, sinful practices, and sinful
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habits and customs, both in himself and in others.</P>
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<P>
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2. He puts them in mind that they might have suffered more, that they
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had not suffered as much as others; for they had <I>not yet resisted
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unto blood,</I> they had not been called to martyrdom as yet, though
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they knew not how soon they might be. Learn here,
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(1.) Our Lord Jesus, <I>the captain of our salvation,</I> does not call
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his people out to the hardest trials at first, but wisely trains them
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up by less sufferings to be prepared for greater. He will not put new
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wine into weak vessels, he is <I>the gentle shepherd,</I> who will not
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overdrive <I>the young ones of the flock.</I>
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(2.) It becomes Christians to take notice of the gentleness of Christ
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in accommodating their trial to their strength. They should not magnify
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their afflictions, but should take notice of the mercy that is mixed
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with them, and should pity those who are called to the fiery trials to
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<I>resist to blood;</I> not to shed the blood of their enemies, but to
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seal their testimony with their own blood.
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(3.) Christians should be ashamed to faint under less trials, when they
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see others bear up under greater, and do not know how soon they may
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meet with greater themselves. If we have run with the footmen and they
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have wearied us, how shall we contend with horses? If we be wearied in
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a land of peace, what shall we do in the swellings of Jordan?
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:5">Jer. xii. 5</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. He argues from the peculiar and gracious nature of those sufferings
|
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that befall the people of God. Though their enemies and persecutors may
|
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be the instruments of inflicting such sufferings on them, yet they are
|
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divine chastisements; their heavenly Father has his hand in all, and
|
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his wise end to serve by all; of this he has given them due notice, and
|
|
they should not forget it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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Observe,</P>
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<P>
|
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1. Those afflictions which may be truly persecution as far as men are
|
|
concerned in them are fatherly rebukes and chastisements as far as God
|
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is concerned in them. Persecution for religion is sometimes a
|
|
correction and rebuke for the sins of professors of religion. Men
|
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persecute them because they are religious; God chastises them because
|
|
they are not more so: men persecute them because they will not give up
|
|
their profession; God chastises them because they have not lived up to
|
|
their profession.</P>
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<P>
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2. God has directed his people how they ought to behave themselves
|
|
under all their afflictions; they must avoid the extremes that many run
|
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into.
|
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(1.) They must not despise the chastening of the Lord; they must not
|
|
make light of afflictions, and be stupid and insensible under them, for
|
|
they are the hand and rod of God, and his rebukes for sin. Those who
|
|
make light of affliction make light of God and make light of sin.
|
|
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(2.) They must not faint when they are rebuked; they must not despond
|
|
and sink under their trial, nor fret and repine, but bear up with faith
|
|
and patience.
|
|
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(3.) If they run into either of these extremes, it is a sign they have
|
|
forgotten their heavenly Father's advice and exhortation, which he has
|
|
given them in true and tender affection.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
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|
3. Afflictions, rightly endured, though they may be the fruits of God's
|
|
displeasure, are yet proofs of his paternal love to his people and care
|
|
for them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:6,7"><I>v.</I> 6, 7</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he
|
|
receiveth.</I> Observe,
|
|
|
|
(1.) The best of God's children need chastisement. They have their
|
|
faults and follies, which need to be corrected.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Though God may let others alone in their sins, he will correct sin
|
|
in his own children; they are of his family, and shall not escape his
|
|
rebukes when they want them.
|
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|
|
(3.) In this he acts as becomes a father, and treats them like
|
|
children; no wise and good father will wink at faults in his own
|
|
children as he would in others; his relation and his affections oblige
|
|
him to take more notice of the faults of his own children than those of
|
|
others.
|
|
|
|
(4.) To be suffered to go on in sin without a rebuke is a sad sign of
|
|
alienation from God; such are bastards, not sons. They may call him
|
|
Father, because born in the pale of the church; but they are the
|
|
spurious offspring of another father, not of God,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:7,8"><I>v.</I> 7, 8</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. Those that are impatient under the discipline of their heavenly
|
|
Father behave worse towards him than they would do towards earthly
|
|
parents,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:9,10"><I>v.</I> 9, 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
Here,
|
|
|
|
(1.) The apostle commends a dutiful and submissive behaviour in
|
|
children towards their earthly parents <I>We gave them reverence,</I>
|
|
even when they corrected us. It is the duty of children to give the
|
|
reverence of obedience to the just commands of their parents, and the
|
|
reverence of submission to their correction when they have been
|
|
disobedient. Parents have not only authority, but a charge from God, to
|
|
give their children correction when it is due, and he has commanded
|
|
children to take such correction well: to be stubborn and discontented
|
|
under due correction is a double fault; for the correction supposes
|
|
there has been a fault already committed against the parent's
|
|
commanding power, and superadds a further fault against his chastening
|
|
power. Hence,
|
|
|
|
(2.) He recommends humble and submissive behavior towards our heavenly
|
|
Father, when under his correction; and this he does by an argument from
|
|
the less to the greater.
|
|
|
|
[1.] Our earthly fathers are but <I>the fathers of our flesh,</I> but
|
|
God is <I>the Father of our spirits.</I> Our fathers on earth were
|
|
instrumental in the production of our bodies, which are but flesh, a
|
|
mean, mortal, vile thing, formed out of the dust of the earth, as the
|
|
bodies of the beasts are; and yet as they are curiously wrought, and
|
|
made parts of our persons, a proper tabernacle for the soul to dwell in
|
|
and an organ for it to act by, we owe reverence and affection to those
|
|
who were instrumental in their procreation; but then we must own much
|
|
more to him who is the Father of our spirits. Our souls are not of a
|
|
material substance, not of the most refined sort; they are not <I>ex
|
|
traduce--by traduction;</I> to affirm it is bad philosophy, and worse
|
|
divinity: they are the immediate offspring of God, who, after he had
|
|
formed the body of man out of the earth, breathed into him a vital
|
|
spirit, and so he became a living soul.
|
|
|
|
[2.] Our earthly parents <I>chastened us for their own pleasure.</I>
|
|
Sometimes they did it to gratify their passion rather than to reform
|
|
our manners. This is a weakness the fathers of our flesh are subject
|
|
to, and this they should carefully watch against; for hereby they
|
|
dishonour that parental authority which God has put upon them and very
|
|
much hinder the efficacy of their chastisements. But the Father of our
|
|
spirits never grieves willingly, nor afflicts the children of men, much
|
|
less his own children. It is always <I>for our profit;</I> and the
|
|
advantage he intends us thereby is no less than our being partakers of
|
|
his holiness; it is to correct and cure those sinful disorders which
|
|
make us unlike to God, and to improve and to increase those graces
|
|
which are the image of God in us, that we may be and act more like our
|
|
heavenly Father. God loves his children so that he would have them to
|
|
be as like himself as can be, and for this end he chastises them when
|
|
they need it.
|
|
|
|
[3.] The fathers of our flesh corrected us for <I>a few days,</I> in
|
|
our state of childhood, when minors; and, though we were in that weak
|
|
and peevish state, we owed them reverence, and when we came to maturity
|
|
we loved and honoured them the more for it. Our whole life here is a
|
|
state of childhood, minority, and imperfection, and therefore we must
|
|
submit to the discipline of such a state; when we come to a state of
|
|
perfection we shall be fully reconciled to all the measures of God's
|
|
discipline over us now.
|
|
|
|
[4.] God's correction is no condemnation. His children may at first
|
|
fear lest affliction should come upon that dreadful errand, and we cry,
|
|
<I>Do not condemn me,</I> but <I>show me wherefore thou contendest with
|
|
me,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+10:2">Job x. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
But this is so far from being the design of God to his own people that
|
|
he therefore chastens them now <I>that they may not be condemned with
|
|
the world,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+11:32">1 Cor. xi. 32</A>.
|
|
|
|
He does it to prevent the death and destruction of their souls, that
|
|
they may live to God, and be like God, and for ever with him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
5. The children of God, under their afflictions, ought not to judge of
|
|
his dealings with them by present sense, but by reason, and faith, and
|
|
experience: <I>No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but
|
|
grievous; nevertheless afterwards it yieldeth the peaceable fruits of
|
|
righteousness,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
Here observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) The judgment of sense in this case--Afflictions are not grateful to
|
|
the sense, but grievous; the flesh will feel them, and be grieved by
|
|
them, and groan under them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) The judgment of faith, which corrects that of sense, and declares
|
|
that a sanctified affliction produces the fruits of righteousness;
|
|
these fruits are peaceable, and tend to the quieting and comforting of
|
|
the soul. Affliction produces peace, by producing more righteousness;
|
|
for the fruit of righteousness is peace. And if the pain of the body
|
|
contribute thus to the peace of the mind, and short present affliction
|
|
produce blessed fruits of a long continuance, they have no reason to
|
|
fret or faint under it; but their great concern is that the chastening
|
|
they are under may be endured by them with patience, and improved to a
|
|
greater degree of holiness.
|
|
|
|
[1.] That their affliction may be endured with patience, which is the
|
|
main drift of the apostle's discourse on this subject; and he again
|
|
returns to exhort them that for the reason before mentioned they should
|
|
<I>lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
A burden of affliction is apt to make the Christian's hands hang down,
|
|
and his knees grow feeble, to dispirit him and discourage him; but this
|
|
he must strive against, and that for two reasons:--
|
|
|
|
<I>First,</I> That he may the better run his spiritual race and course.
|
|
Faith, and patience, and holy courage and resolution, will make him
|
|
walk more steadily, keep a straighter path, prevent wavering and
|
|
wandering.
|
|
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> That he may encourage and not dispirit others that are
|
|
in the same way with him. There are many that are in the way to heaven
|
|
who yet walk but weakly and lamely in it. Such are apt to discourage
|
|
one another, and hinder one another; but it is their duty to take
|
|
courage, and act by faith, and so help one another forward in the way
|
|
to heaven.
|
|
|
|
[2.] That their affliction may be improved to a greater degree of
|
|
holiness. Since this is God's design, it ought to be the design and
|
|
concern of his children, that with renewed strength and patience they
|
|
may <I>follow peace with all men, and holiness,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
If the children of God grow impatient under affliction, they will
|
|
neither walk so quietly and peaceably towards men, nor so piously
|
|
towards God, as they should do; but faith and patience will enable them
|
|
to follow peace and holiness too, as a man follows his calling,
|
|
constantly, diligently, and with pleasure. Observe,
|
|
|
|
<I>First,</I> It is the duty of Christians, even when in a suffering
|
|
state, <I>to follow peace with all men,</I> yea, even with those who
|
|
may be instrumental in their sufferings. This is a hard lesson, and a
|
|
high attainment, but it is what Christ has called his people to.
|
|
Sufferings are apt to sour the spirit and sharpen the passions; but the
|
|
children of God must follow peace with all men.
|
|
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> Peace and holiness are connected together; there can
|
|
be no true peace without holiness. There may be prudence and discreet
|
|
forbearance, and a show of friendship and good-will to all; but this
|
|
true Christian peaceableness is never found separate from holiness. We
|
|
must not, under pretence of living peaceably with all men, leave the
|
|
ways of holiness, but cultivate peace in a way of holiness.
|
|
|
|
<I>Thirdly, Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.</I> The vision
|
|
of God our Saviour in heaven is reserved as the reward of holiness, and
|
|
the stress of our salvation is laid upon our holiness, though a placid
|
|
peaceable disposition contributes much to our meetness for heaven.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
6. Where afflictions and sufferings for the sake of Christ are not
|
|
considered by men as the chastisement of their heavenly Father, and
|
|
improved as such, they will be a dangerous snare and temptation to
|
|
apostasy, which every Christian should most carefully watch against
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:15,16"><I>v.</I> 15, 16</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God,</I>
|
|
&c.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) Here the apostle enters a serious caveat against apostasy, and
|
|
backs it with an awful example.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[1.] He enters a serious caveat against apostasy,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
Here you may observe,
|
|
|
|
<I>First,</I> The nature of apostasy: it is <I>failing of the grace of
|
|
God;</I> it is to become bankrupts in religion, for want of a good
|
|
foundation, and suitable care and diligence; it is <I>failing of the
|
|
grace of God,</I> coming short of a principle of true grace in the
|
|
soul, notwithstanding the means of grace and a profession of religion,
|
|
and so coming short of the love and favour of God here and hereafter.
|
|
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> The consequences of apostasy: where persons fail of
|
|
having the true grace of God, a root of bitterness will spring up,
|
|
corruption will prevail and break forth. A <I>root of bitterness,</I> a
|
|
bitter root, producing bitter fruits to themselves and others. It
|
|
produces to themselves corrupt principles, which lead to apostasy and
|
|
are greatly strengthened and radicated by apostasy--damnable errors (to
|
|
the corrupting of the doctrine and worship of the Christian church) and
|
|
corrupt practices. Apostates generally grow worse and worse, and fall
|
|
into the grossest wickedness, which usually ends either in downright
|
|
atheism or in despair. It also produces bitter fruits to others, to the
|
|
churches to which these men belonged; by their corrupt principles and
|
|
practices many are troubled, the peace of the church is broken, the
|
|
peace of men's minds is disturbed, and <I>many are defiled,</I> tainted
|
|
with those bad principles, and drawn into defiling practices; so that
|
|
the churches suffer both in their purity and peace. But the apostates
|
|
themselves will be the greatest sufferers at last.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[2.] The apostle backs the caution with an awful example, and that is,
|
|
that of Esau, who though born within the pale of the church, and having
|
|
the birthright as the eldest son, and so entitled to the privilege of
|
|
being prophet, priest, and king, in his family, was so profane as to
|
|
despise these sacred privileges, and to sell his birthright for a
|
|
morsel of meat. Where observe,
|
|
|
|
<I>First,</I> Esau's sin. He profanely despised and sold the
|
|
birthright, and all the advantages attending it. So do apostates, who
|
|
to avoid persecution, and enjoy sensual ease and pleasure, though they
|
|
bore the character of the children of God, and had a visible right to
|
|
the blessing and inheritance, give up all pretensions thereto.
|
|
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> Esau's punishment, which was suitable to his sin. His
|
|
conscience was convinced of his sin and folly, when it was too late:
|
|
<I>He would afterwards have inherited the blessing,</I> &c. His
|
|
punishment lay in two things:
|
|
|
|
1. He was condemned by his own conscience; he now saw that the blessing
|
|
he had made so light of was worth the having, worth the seeking, though
|
|
with much carefulness and many tears.
|
|
|
|
2. He was rejected of God: <I>He found no place of repentance</I> in
|
|
God or in his father; the blessing was given to another, even to him to
|
|
whom he sold it for a mess of pottage. Esau, in his great wickedness,
|
|
had made the bargain, and God in his righteous judgment, ratified and
|
|
confirmed it, and would not suffer Isaac to reverse it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) We may hence learn,
|
|
|
|
[1.] That apostasy from Christ is the fruit of preferring the
|
|
gratification of the flesh to the blessing of God and the heavenly
|
|
inheritance.
|
|
|
|
[2.] Sinners will not always have such mean thoughts of the divine
|
|
blessing and inheritance as now they have. The time is coming when they
|
|
will think no pains too great, no cares no tears too much, to obtain
|
|
the lost blessing.
|
|
|
|
[3.] When the day of grace is over (as sometimes it may be in this
|
|
life), they will find no place for repentance: they cannot repent
|
|
aright of their sin; and God will not repent of the sentence he has
|
|
passed upon them for their sin. And therefore, as the design of all,
|
|
Christians should never give up their title, and hope of their Father's
|
|
blessing and inheritance, and expose themselves to his irrevocable
|
|
wrath and curse, by deserting their holy religion, to avoid suffering,
|
|
which, though this may be persecution as far as wicked men are
|
|
concerned in it, is only a rod of correction and chastisement in the
|
|
hand of their heavenly Father, to bring them near to himself in
|
|
conformity and communion. This is the force of the apostle's arguing
|
|
from the nature of the sufferings of the people of God even when they
|
|
suffer for righteousness' sake; and the reasoning is very strong.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Heb12_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Heb12_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Heb12_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Heb12_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Heb12_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Heb12_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Heb12_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Heb12_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Heb12_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Heb12_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Heb12_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Heb12_29"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Nature of the Christian Economy.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 62.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>18 For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched,
|
|
and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and
|
|
tempest,
|
|
19 And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which
|
|
<I>voice</I> they that heard intreated that the word should not be
|
|
spoken to them any more:
|
|
20 (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if
|
|
so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or
|
|
thrust through with a dart:
|
|
21 And so terrible was the sight, <I>that</I> Moses said, I
|
|
exceedingly fear and quake:)
|
|
22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the
|
|
living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company
|
|
of angels,
|
|
23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which
|
|
are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the
|
|
spirits of just men made perfect,
|
|
24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the
|
|
blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than <I>that of</I>
|
|
Abel.
|
|
25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they
|
|
escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more <I>shall
|
|
not</I> we <I>escape,</I> if we turn away from him that <I>speaketh</I> from
|
|
heaven:
|
|
26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised,
|
|
saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also
|
|
heaven.
|
|
27 And this <I>word,</I> Yet once more, signifieth the removing of
|
|
those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that
|
|
those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
|
|
28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let
|
|
us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence
|
|
and godly fear:
|
|
29 For our God <I>is</I> a consuming fire.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here the apostle goes on to engage the professing Hebrews to
|
|
perseverance in their Christian course and conflict, and not to relapse
|
|
again into Judaism. This he does by showing them how much the state of
|
|
the gospel church differs from that of the Jewish church, and how much
|
|
it resembles the state of the church in heaven, and on both accounts
|
|
demands and deserves our diligence, patience, and perseverance in
|
|
Christianity.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. He shows how much the gospel church differs from the Jewish church,
|
|
and how much it excels. And here we have a very particular description
|
|
of the state of the church under the Mosaic dispensation,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:18-21"><I>v.</I> 18-21</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. It was a gross sensible state. Mount Sinai, on which that
|
|
church-state was constituted, was a <I>mount that might be touched</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>),
|
|
|
|
a gross palpable place; so was the dispensation. It was very much
|
|
external and earthly, and so more heavy. The state of the gospel church
|
|
on mount Zion is more spiritual, rational, and easy.
|
|
|
|
2. It was a dark dispensation. Upon that mount there were blackness and
|
|
darkness, and that church-state was covered with dark shadows and
|
|
types: the gospel state is much more clear and bright.
|
|
|
|
3. It was a dreadful and terrible dispensation; the Jews could not bear
|
|
the terror of it. The thunder and the lightning, the trumpet sounding,
|
|
the voice of God himself speaking to them, struck them with such dread
|
|
that they <I>entreated that the word might not be so spoken to them any
|
|
more,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
Yea, Moses himself said, <I>I exceedingly fear and quake.</I> The best
|
|
of men on earth are not able to converse immediately with God and his
|
|
holy angels. The gospel state is mild, and kind, and condescending,
|
|
suited to our weak frame.
|
|
|
|
4. It was a limited dispensation; all might not approach to that mount,
|
|
but only Moses and Aaron. Under the gospel we have all access with
|
|
boldness to God.
|
|
|
|
5. It was a very dangerous dispensation. The mount burned with fire,
|
|
and whatever man or beast touched the mount must <I>be stoned, or
|
|
thrust through with a dart,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is true, it will be always dangerous for presumptuous and brutish
|
|
sinners to draw night to God; but it is not immediate and certain
|
|
death, as here it was. This was the state of the Jewish church, fitted
|
|
to awe a stubborn and hard-hearted people, to set forth the strict and
|
|
tremendous justice of God, to wean the people of God from that
|
|
dispensation, and induce them more readily to embrace the sweet and
|
|
gentle economy of the gospel church, and adhere to it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. He shows how much the gospel church represents the church
|
|
triumphant in heaven, what communication there is between the one and
|
|
the other. The gospel church is called <I>mount Zion, the heavenly
|
|
Jerusalem, which is free,</I> in opposition to mount Sinai, which
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tendeth to bondage,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+4:24">Gal. iv. 24</A>.
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This was the hill on which God set his king the Messiah. Now, in coming
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to mount Zion, believers come into heavenly places, and into a heavenly
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society.</P>
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|
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<P>
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1. Into heavenly places.
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(1.) <I>Unto the city of the living God.</I> God has taken up his
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gracious residence in the gospel church, which on that account is an
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|
emblem of heaven. There his people may find him ruling, guiding,
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|
sanctifying, and comforting them; there he speaks to them by the gospel
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|
ministry; there they speak to him by prayer, and he hears them; there
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|
he trains them up for heaven, and gives them the earnest of their
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|
inheritance.
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|
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(2.) To <I>the heavenly Jerusalem</I> as born and bred there, as free
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|
denizens there. Here believers have clearer views of heaven, plainer
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evidences for heaven, and a greater meetness and more heavenly temper
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|
of soul.</P>
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|
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<P>
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|
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2. To a heavenly society.
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(1.) <I>To an innumerable company of angels,</I> who are of the same
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family with the saints, under the same head, and in a great measure
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|
employed in the same work, ministering to believers for their good,
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|
keeping them in all their ways, and pitching their tents about them.
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|
These for number are innumerable, and for order and union are a
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|
company, and a glorious one. And those who by faith are joined to the
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|
gospel church are joined to the angels, and shall at length be like
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|
them, and equal with them.
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(2.) <I>To the general assembly and church of the first-born, that are
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|
written in heaven,</I> that is, to the universal church, however
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|
dispersed. By faith we come to them, have communion with them in the
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|
same head, by the same Spirit, and in the same blessed hope, and walk
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|
in the same way of holiness, grappling with the same spiritual enemies,
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|
and hasting to the same rest, victory, and glorious triumph. Here will
|
|
be the general assembly of the first-born, the saints of former and
|
|
earlier times, who saw the promises of the gospel state, but received
|
|
them not, as well as those who first received them under the gospel,
|
|
and were regenerated thereby, and so were the first-born, and the
|
|
first-fruits of the gospel church; and thereby, as the first-born,
|
|
advanced to greater honours and privileges than the rest of the world.
|
|
Indeed all the children of God are heirs, and every one has the
|
|
privileges of the first-born. The names of these are written in heaven,
|
|
in the records of the church here: they have a name in God's house, are
|
|
written among the living in Jerusalem; they have a good repute for
|
|
their faith and fidelity, and are enrolled in the Lamb's book of life,
|
|
as citizens are enrolled in the livery-books.
|
|
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|
(3.) <I>To God the Judge of all,</I> that great God who will judge both
|
|
Jew and Gentile according to the law they are under: believers come to
|
|
him now by faith, make supplication to their Judge, and receive a
|
|
sentence of absolution in the gospel, and in the court of their
|
|
consciences now, by which they know they shall be justified hereafter.
|
|
|
|
(4.) <I>To the spirits of just men made perfect;</I> to the best sort
|
|
of men, the righteous, who are more excellent than their neighbours; to
|
|
the best part of just men, their spirits, and to these in their best
|
|
state, made perfect. Believers have union with departed saints in one
|
|
and the same head and Spirit, and a title to the same inheritance, of
|
|
which those on earth are heirs, those in heaven possessors.
|
|
|
|
(5.) <I>To Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of
|
|
sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.</I> This is
|
|
none of the least of many encouragements there are to perseverance in
|
|
the gospel state, since it is a state of communion with Christ the
|
|
Mediator of the new covenant, and of communication of his blood, that
|
|
speaketh better things than the blood of Abel.
|
|
|
|
[1.] The gospel covenant is the new covenant, distinct from the
|
|
covenant of works; and it is now under a new dispensation, distinct
|
|
from that of the Old Testament.
|
|
|
|
[2.] Christ is the Mediator of this new covenant; he is the middle
|
|
person that goes between both parties, God and man, to bring them
|
|
together in this covenant, to keep them together notwithstanding the
|
|
sins of the people and God's displeasure against them for sin, to offer
|
|
up our prayers to God, and to bring down the favours of God to us, to
|
|
plead with God for us and to plead with us for God, and at length to
|
|
bring God and his people together in heaven, and to be a Mediator of
|
|
fruition between them for ever, they beholding and enjoying God in
|
|
Christ and God beholding and blessing them in Christ.
|
|
|
|
[3.] This covenant is ratified by the blood of Christ sprinkled upon
|
|
our consciences, as the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled upon the
|
|
altar and the sacrifice. This blood of Christ pacifies God and
|
|
purifies the consciences of men.
|
|
|
|
[4.] This is speaking blood, and it speaks better things than that of
|
|
Abel.
|
|
|
|
<I>First,</I> It speaks to God in behalf of sinners; it pleads not for
|
|
vengeance, as the blood of Abel did on him who shed it, but for mercy.
|
|
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> To sinners, in the name of God. It speaks pardon to
|
|
their sins, peace to their souls; and bespeaks their strictest
|
|
obedience and highest love and thankfulness.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The apostle, having thus enlarged upon the argument to
|
|
perseverance taken from the heavenly nature of the gospel church state,
|
|
closes the chapter by improving the argument in a manner suitable to
|
|
the weight of it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c.): <I>See then that you refuse not him that speaketh</I>--that
|
|
speaketh by his blood; and not only speaketh after another manner than
|
|
the blood of Abel spoke from the ground, but than God spoke by the
|
|
angels, and by Moses spoke on mount Sinai; then he spoke on earth, now
|
|
he speaks from heaven. Here observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. When God speaks to men in the most excellent manner he justly
|
|
expects from them the most strict attention and regard. Now it is in
|
|
the gospel that God speaks to men in the most excellent manner. For,
|
|
|
|
(1.) He now speaks from a higher and more glorious seat and throne, not
|
|
from mount Sinai, which was on this earth, but from heaven.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He speaks now more immediately by his inspired word and by his
|
|
Spirit, which are his witnesses. He speaks not now any new thing to
|
|
men, but by his Spirit speaks the same word home to the conscience.
|
|
|
|
(3.) He speaks now more powerfully and effectually. Then indeed his
|
|
voice shook the earth, but now, by introducing the gospel state, he
|
|
hath shaken not only the earth, but the heavens,--not only shaken the
|
|
hills and mountains, or the spirits of men, or the civil state of the
|
|
land of Canaan, to make room for his people,--not only shaken the
|
|
world, as he then did, but he hath shaken the church, that is, the
|
|
Jewish nation, and shaken them in their church-state, which was in
|
|
Old-Testament times a heaven upon earth; this their heavenly spiritual
|
|
state he hath now shaken. It is by the gospel from heaven that God
|
|
shook to pieces the civil and ecclesiastical state of the Jewish
|
|
nation, and introduced a new state of the church, that cannot be
|
|
removed, shall never be changed for any other on earth, but shall
|
|
remain till it be made perfect in heaven.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. When God speaks to men in the most excellent manner, the guilt of
|
|
those who refuse him is the greater, and their punishment will be more
|
|
unavoidable and intolerable; there is no escaping, no bearing it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
The different manner of God's dealing with men under the gospel, in a
|
|
way of grace, assures us that he will deal with the despisers of the
|
|
gospel after a different manner than he does with other men, in a way
|
|
of judgment. The glory of the gospel, which should greatly recommend it
|
|
to our regard, appears in these three things:--
|
|
|
|
(1.) It was by the sound of the gospel trumpet that the former
|
|
dispensation and state of the church of God were shaken and removed;
|
|
and shall we despise that voice of God that pulled down a church and
|
|
state of so long standing and of God's own building?
|
|
|
|
(2.) It was by the sound of the gospel trumpet that a new kingdom was
|
|
erected for God in the world, which can never be so shaken as to be
|
|
removed. This was a change made once for all; no other change shall
|
|
take place <I>till time shall be no more.</I> We have now <I>received a
|
|
kingdom that cannot be moved,</I> shall never be removed, never give
|
|
way to any new dispensation. The canon of scripture is now perfected,
|
|
<I>the Spirit of prophecy has ceased,</I> the mystery of God is
|
|
finished, he has put his last hand to it. The gospel church may be made
|
|
more large, more prosperous more purified from contracted pollution,
|
|
but it shall never be altered for another dispensation; those who
|
|
perish under the gospel perish without remedy. And hence the apostle
|
|
justly concludes,
|
|
|
|
[1.] How necessary it is for us to obtain <I>grace from God, to serve
|
|
him acceptably:</I> if we be not accepted of God under this
|
|
dispensation, we shall never be accepted at all; and we lose all our
|
|
labour in religion if we be not accepted of God.
|
|
|
|
[2.] We cannot worship God acceptably, unless we worship him with
|
|
<I>godly reverence and fear.</I> As faith, so holy fear, is necessary
|
|
to acceptable worship.
|
|
|
|
[3.] It is only the grace of God that enables us to worship God in a
|
|
right manner: nature cannot come up to it; it can produce neither that
|
|
precious faith nor that holy fear that is necessary to acceptable
|
|
worship.
|
|
|
|
[4.] God is the same just and righteous God under the gospel that he
|
|
appeared to be under the law. Though he be our God in Christ, and now
|
|
deals with us in a more kind and gracious way, yet he is in himself a
|
|
consuming fire; that is, a God of strict justice, who will avenge
|
|
himself on all the despisers of his grace, and upon all apostates.
|
|
Under the gospel, the justice of God is displayed in a more awful
|
|
manner, though not in so sensible a manner as under the law; for here
|
|
we behold divine justice seizing upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and making
|
|
him a propitiatory sacrifice, his soul and body an offering for sin,
|
|
which is a display of justice far beyond what was seen and heard on
|
|
mount Sinai when the law was given.</P>
|
|
|
|
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