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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Hebrews XIII].</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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[<A HREF="MHC58012.HTM">Previous</A>]
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<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1721)
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</TD></TR></TABLE>
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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. XIII.</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, having treated largely of Christ, and faith, and free
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grace, and gospel privileges, and warned the Hebrews against apostasy,
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now, in the close of all, recommends several excellent duties to them,
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as the proper fruits of faith
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:1-17">ver. 1-17</A>);
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he then bespeaks their prayers for him, and offers up his prayers to
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God for them, gives them some hope of seeing himself and Timothy, and
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ends with the general salutation and benediction,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:18-25">ver. 18, to the end</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Heb13_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb13_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb13_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb13_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb13_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb13_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb13_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb13_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb13_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb13_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb13_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb13_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb13_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb13_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb13_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb13_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb13_17"> </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>Various Duties.</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 Let brotherly love continue.
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2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some
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have entertained angels unawares.
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3 Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; <I>and</I>
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them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the
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body.
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4 Marriage <I>is</I> honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but
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whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
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5 <I>Let your</I> conversation <I>be</I> without covetousness; <I>and be</I>
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content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will
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never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
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6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord <I>is</I> my helper, and I
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will not fear what man shall do unto me.
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7 Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken
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unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end
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of <I>their</I> conversation.
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8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
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9 Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For
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<I>it is</I> a good thing that the heart be established with grace;
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not with meats, which have not profited them that have been
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occupied therein.
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10 We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which
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serve the tabernacle.
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11 For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into
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the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the
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camp.
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12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with
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his own blood, suffered without the gate.
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13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing
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his reproach.
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14 For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to
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come.
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15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God
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continually, that is, the fruit of <I>our</I> lips giving thanks to
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his name.
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16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such
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sacrifices God is well pleased.
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17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit
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yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give
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account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for
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that <I>is</I> unprofitable for you.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The design of Christ in giving himself for us is that he may purchase
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<I>to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.</I> Now the
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apostle calls the believing Hebrews to the performance of many
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excellent duties, in which it becomes Christians to excel.</P>
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<P>
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I. To brotherly love
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
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by which he does not only mean a general affection to all men, as our
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brethren by nature, all made of the same blood, nor that more limited
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affection which is due to those who are of the same immediate parents,
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but that special and spiritual affection which ought to exist among the
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children of God.
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1. It is here supposed that the Hebrews had this love one for another.
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Though, at this time, that nation was miserably divided and distracted
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among themselves, both about matters of religion and the civil state,
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yet there was true brotherly love left among those of them who believed
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on Christ; and this appeared in a very eminent manner presently after
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the shedding forth of the Holy Ghost, when they had all things common,
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and sold their possessions to make a general fund of subsistence to
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their brethren. The spirit of Christianity is a spirit of love. Faith
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works by love. The true religion is the strongest bond of friendship;
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if it be not so, it has its name for nothing.
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2. This brotherly love was in danger of being lost, and that in a time
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of persecution, when it would be most necessary; it was in danger of
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being lost by those disputes that were among them concerning the
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respect they ought still to have to the ceremonies of the Mosaic law.
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Disputes about religion too often produce a decay of Christian
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affection; but this must be guarded against, and all proper means used
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to preserve brotherly love. Christians should always love and live as
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brethren, and the more they grow in devout affection to God their
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heavenly Father the more they will grow in love to one another for his
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sake.</P>
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<P>
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II. To hospitality: <I>Be not forgetful to entertain strangers for his
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sake,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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We must add to brotherly kindness charity. Here observe,
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1. The duty required--<I>to entertain strangers,</I> both those that
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are strangers to the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to our
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persons, especially those who know themselves to be strangers here and
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are seeking another country, which is the case of the people of God,
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and was so at this time: the believing Jews were in a desperate and
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distressed condition. But he seems to speak of strangers as such;
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though we know not who they are, nor whence they come, yet, seeing they
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are without any certain dwelling place, we should allow them room in
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our hearts and in our houses, as we have opportunity and ability.
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2. The motive: <I>Thereby some have entertained angels unawares;</I>
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so Abraham did
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+18:1-32">Gen. xviii.</A>),
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and Lot
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+19:1-38">Gen. xix.</A>),
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and one of those that Abraham
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entertained was the Son of God; and, though we cannot suppose this will
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ever be our case, yet what we do to strangers, in obedience to him, he
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will reckon and reward as done to himself.
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+25:35">Matt. xxv. 35</A>,
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<I>I was a stranger, and you took me in.</I> God has often bestowed
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honours and favours upon his hospitable servants, beyond all their
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thoughts, <I>unawares.</I></P>
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<P>
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III. To Christian sympathy: <I>Remember those that are in bonds,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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Here observe,</P>
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<P>
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1. The duty--to <I>remember those that are in bonds</I> and in
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<I>adversity.</I>
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(1.) God often orders it so that while some Christians and churches are
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in adversity others enjoy peace and liberty. All are not called at the
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same time to resist unto blood.
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(2.) Those that are themselves at liberty must sympathize with those
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that are in bonds and adversity, as if they were bound with them in the
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same chain: they must fell the sufferings of their brethren.</P>
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<P>
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2. The reason of the duty: <I>As being yourselves in the body;</I> not
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only in the body natural, and so liable to the like sufferings, and you
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should sympathize with them now that others may sympathize with you
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when your time of trial comes; but in the same mystical body, under the
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same head, <I>and if one member suffer all the rest suffer with it,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+12:26">1 Cor. xii. 26</A>.
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It would be unnatural in Christians not to bear each other's
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burdens.</P>
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<P>
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IV. To purity and chastity,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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Here you have,
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1. A recommendation of God's ordinance of marriage, that it <I>is
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honourable in all,</I> and ought to be so esteemed by all, and not
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denied to those to whom God has not denied it. It is honourable, for
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God instituted it for man in paradise, knowing it was not good for him
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to be alone. He married and blessed the first couple, the first parents
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of mankind, to direct all to look unto God in that great concern, and
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to marry in the Lord. Christ honoured marriage with his presence and
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first miracle. It is honourable as a means to prevent impurity and a
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defiled bed. It is <I>honourable</I> and happy, when persons come
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together pure and chaste, and preserve the marriage bed undefiled, not
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only from unlawful but inordinate affections.
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2. A dreadful but just censure of impurity and lewdness:
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<I>Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.</I>
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(1.) God knows who are guilty of such sins, no darkness can hide them
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from him.
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(2.) He will call such sins by their proper names, not by the names of
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love and gallantry, but of whoredom and adultery, whoredom in the
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single state and adultery in the married state.
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(3.) He will bring them into judgment, he will judge them, either by
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their own consciences here, and <I>set their sins in order before
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them</I> for their deep humiliation (and conscience, when awakened,
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will be very severe upon such sinners), or he will set them at his
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tribunal at death, and in the last day; he will convict them, condemn
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them, and cast them out for ever, if they die under the guilt of this
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sin.</P>
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<P>
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V. To Christian contentment,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:5,6"><I>v.</I> 5, 6</A>.
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Here observe,
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1. The sin that is contrary to this grace and
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duty--<I>covetousness,</I> an over eager desire of the wealth of this
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world, envying those who have more than we. This sin we must allow no
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place in our conversation; for, though it be a secret lust lurking in
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the heart, if it be not subdued it will enter into our conversation,
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and discover itself in our manner of speaking and acting. We must take
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care not only to keep this sin down, but to root it out of our souls.
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2. The duty and grace that is contrary to covetousness--being satisfied
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and pleased <I>with such things as we have;</I> present things, for
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past things cannot be recalled, and future things are only in the hand
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of God. What God gives us from day to day we must be content with,
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though it fall short of what we have enjoyed heretofore, and though it
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do not come up to our expectations for the future. We must be content
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with our present lot. We must bring our minds to our present condition,
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and this is the sure way to contentment; and those who cannot do it
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would not be contented though God should raise their condition to their
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minds, for the mind would rise with the condition. Haman was the great
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court-favourite, and yet not contented--Ahab on the throne, and yet not
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contented--Adam in paradise, and yet not contented; yea, the angels in
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heaven, and yet not contented; but Paul, though abased and empty, had
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<I>learned in</I> every <I>state, in</I> any <I>state, therewith to be
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content.</I>
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3. What reason Christians have to be contented with their lot.
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(1.) <I>God hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:5,6"><I>v.</I> 5, 6</A>.
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This was said to Joshua
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+1:5"><I>ch.</I> i. 5</A>),
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but belongs to all the faithful servants of God. Old-Testament promises
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may be applied to New-Testament saints. This promise contains the sum
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and substance of all the promises. <I>I will never,</I> no, <I>never
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leave thee, nor</I> ever <I>forsake thee.</I> Here are no fewer than
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five negatives heaped together, to confirm the promise; the true
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believer shall have the gracious presence of God with him in life, at
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death, and for ever.
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(2.) From this comprehensive promise they may assure themselves of help
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from God: <I>So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper; I will
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not fear what man shall do unto me,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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Men can do nothing against God, and God can make all that men do
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against his people to turn to their good.</P>
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<P>
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VI. To the duty Christians owe to their ministers, and that both to
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those that are dead and to those that are yet alive.</P>
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<P>
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1. To those that are dead: <I>Remember those that have had the rule
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over you,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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Here observe,</P>
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<P>
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(1.) The description given of them. They were such as had the rule over
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them, and had spoken to them the word of God; their guides and
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governors, who had spoken to them the word of God. Here is the dignity
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to which they were advanced--to be rulers and leaders of the people, not
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according to their own will, but the will and word of God; and this
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character they filled up with suitable duty: they did not rule at a
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distance, and rule by others, but they ruled by personal presence and
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instruction, according to the word of God.</P>
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<P>
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(2.) The duties owing to them, even when they were dead.</P>
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<P>
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[1.] "<I>Remember them</I>--their preaching, their praying, their
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private counsel, their example."</P>
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<P>
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[2.] "<I>Follow</I> their <I>faith;</I> be stedfast in the profession
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of the faith they preached to you, and labour after the grace of faith
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by which they lived and died so well. <I>Consider the end of their
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conversation,</I> how quickly, how comfortably, how joyfully, they
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finished their course!" Now this duty of following the same true faith
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in which they had been instructed the apostle enlarges much upon, and
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presses them earnestly to it, not only from the remembrance of their
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faithful deceased guides, but from several other motives.</P>
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<P>
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<I>First,</I> From the immutability and eternity of the Lord Jesus
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Christ. Though their ministers were some dead, others dying, yet the
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great head and high priest of the church, <I>the bishop of their
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souls,</I> ever lives, and is ever the same; and they should be
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stedfast and immovable, in imitation of Christ, and should remember
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that Christ ever lives to observe and reward their faithful adherence
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to his truths, and to observe and punish their sinful departure from
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him. Christ is the same in the Old-Testament day, in the gospel day,
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and will be so to his people for ever.</P>
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<P>
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<I>Secondly,</I> From the nature and tendency of those erroneous
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doctrines that they were in danger of falling in with.</P>
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<P>
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<I>a.</I> They were divers and various
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
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different from what they had received from their former faithful
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teachers, and inconsistent with themselves.</P>
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<P>
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<I>b.</I> They were strange doctrines: such as the gospel church was
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unacquainted with foreign to the gospel.</P>
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<P>
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<I>c.</I> They were of an unsettling, distracting nature, like the wind
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by which the ship is tossed, and in danger of being driven from its
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anchor, carried away, and split upon the rocks. They were quite
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contrary to that grace of God which fixes and establishes the heart,
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which is an excellent thing. These strange doctrines keep the heart
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always fluctuating and unsettled.</P>
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<P>
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<I>d.</I> They were mean and low as to their subject. They were about
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external, little, perishing things, such as <I>meats and drinks,</I>
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&c.</P>
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<P>
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<I>e.</I> They were unprofitable. Those who were most taken with them,
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and employed about them, got no real good by them to their own souls.
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They did not make them more holy, nor more humble, nor more thankful,
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nor more heavenly.</P>
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<P>
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<I>f.</I> They would exclude those who embraced them from the
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privileges of the Christian altar
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>We have an altar.</I> This is an argument of the great weight, and
|
|
therefore the apostle insists the longer upon it. Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(<I>a.</I>) The Christian church has its altar. It was objected against
|
|
the primitive Christians that their assemblies were destitute of an
|
|
altar; but this was not true. <I>We have an alter,</I> not a material
|
|
altar, but a personal one, and that is Christ; he is both our altar,
|
|
and our sacrifice; he sanctifies the gift. The altars under the law
|
|
were types of Christ; the brazen altar of the sacrifice, the golden
|
|
altar of his intercession.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(<I>b.</I>) This altar furnishes out a feast for true believers, a
|
|
feast upon the sacrifice, a <I>feast of fat things,</I> spiritual
|
|
strength and growth, and holy delight and pleasure. The Lord's table is
|
|
not our altar, but it is furnished with provision from the altar.
|
|
<I>Christ our passover is sacrificed for us</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+5:7">1 Cor. v. 7</A>),
|
|
|
|
and it follows, <I>therefore let us keep the feast.</I> The Lord's
|
|
supper is the feast of the gospel passover.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(<I>c.</I>) Those who adhere to the tabernacle or the Levitical
|
|
dispensation, or return to it again, exclude themselves from the
|
|
privileges of this altar, from the benefits purchased by Christ. If
|
|
they serve the tabernacle, they are resolved to subject themselves to
|
|
antiquated rites and ceremonies, to renounce their right to the
|
|
Christian altar; and this part of the argument he first proves and then
|
|
improves.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[<I>a.</I>] He proves that this servile adherence to the Jewish state
|
|
is a bar to the privileges of the gospel altar; and he argues
|
|
thus:--Under the Jewish law, no part of the sin-offering was to be
|
|
eaten, but all must be burnt without the camp while they dwelt in
|
|
tabernacles, and without the gates when they dwelt in cities: now, if
|
|
they will still be subject to that law, they cannot eat at the
|
|
gospel-altar; for that which is eaten there is furnished from Christ,
|
|
who is the great sin-offering. Not that it is the very sin-offering
|
|
itself, as the papists affirm; for then it was not to be eaten, but
|
|
burnt; but the gospel feast is the fruit and procurement of the
|
|
sacrifice, which those have no right to who do not acknowledge the
|
|
sacrifice itself. And that it might appear that Christ was really the
|
|
antitype of the sin-offering, and, as such, might sanctify or cleanse
|
|
his people with his own blood, he conformed himself to the type, in
|
|
suffering without the gate. This was a striking specimen of his
|
|
humiliation, as if he had not been fit either for sacred or civil
|
|
society! And this shows how sin, which was the meritorious cause of the
|
|
sufferings of Christ, is a forfeiture of all sacred and civil rights,
|
|
and the sinner a common plague and nuisance to all society, if God
|
|
should be strict to mark iniquity. Having thus shown that adherence to
|
|
the Levitical law would, even according to its own rules, debar men
|
|
from the Christian altar, he proceeds,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[<I>b.</I>] To improve this argument
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:13-15"><I>v.</I> 13-15</A>)
|
|
|
|
in suitable advices.
|
|
|
|
<I>First, Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp;</I> go
|
|
forth from the ceremonial law, from sin, from the world, from
|
|
ourselves, our very bodies, when he calls us.
|
|
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> Let us be willing to <I>bear his reproach,</I> be
|
|
willing to be accounted the offscouring of all things, not worthy to
|
|
live, not worthy to die a common death. This was his reproach, and we
|
|
must submit to it; and we have the more reason because, whether we go
|
|
forth from this world to Christ or no, we must necessarily go forth in
|
|
a little time by death; for <I>here we have no continuing city.</I>
|
|
Sin, sinners, death, will not suffer us to continue long here; and
|
|
therefore we should go forth now by faith, and seek in Christ the rest
|
|
and settlement which this world cannot afford us,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Thirdly,</I> Let us make a right use of this altar; not only partake
|
|
of the privileges of it, but discharge the duties of the altar, as
|
|
those whom Christ has made priests to attend on this altar. Let us
|
|
bring our sacrifices to this altar, and to this our high priest, and
|
|
offer them up by him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:15,16"><I>v.</I> 15, 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
Now what are the sacrifices which we must bring and offer on this
|
|
altar, even Christ? Not any expiatory sacrifices; there is no need of
|
|
them. Christ has offered the great <I>sacrifice of atonement,</I> ours
|
|
are only the sacrifices of acknowledgment; and they are,
|
|
|
|
1. The sacrifice of praise to God, which we should offer up to God
|
|
continually. In this are included all adoration and prayer, as well as
|
|
thanksgiving; this is <I>the fruit of our lips;</I> we must speak forth
|
|
the praises of God from unfeigned lips; and this must be offered only
|
|
to God, not to angels, nor saints, nor any creature, but to the name of
|
|
God alone; and it must be by Christ, in a dependence upon his
|
|
meritorious satisfaction and intercession.
|
|
|
|
2. The sacrifice of alms-deeds, and Christian charity: <I>To do good,
|
|
and to communicate, forget now; for with such sacrifices God is well
|
|
pleased,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
We must, according to our power, <I>communicate</I> to the necessities
|
|
of the souls and bodies of men; not contenting ourselves to offer the
|
|
sacrifice of our lips, mere words, but the sacrifice of good deeds; and
|
|
these we must lay down upon this altar, not depending upon the merit of
|
|
our good deeds, but of our great high priest; and with such sacrifices
|
|
as these, adoration and alms thus offered up, God is well pleased; he
|
|
will accept the offering with pleasure, and will accept and bless the
|
|
offers through Christ.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Having thus told us the duty Christians owe to their deceased
|
|
ministers, which principally consists in following their faith and not
|
|
departing from it, the apostle tells us what is the duty that people
|
|
owe to their living ministers
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>)
|
|
|
|
and the reasons of that duty:
|
|
|
|
(1.) The duty--to obey them, and submit themselves to them. It is not an
|
|
implicit obedience, or absolute submission, that is here required, but
|
|
only so far as is agreeable to the mind and will of God revealed in his
|
|
word; and yet it is truly obedience and submission, and that not only
|
|
to God, but to the authority of the ministerial office, which is of God
|
|
as certainly, in all things belonging to that office, as the authority
|
|
of parents or of civil magistrates in the things within their sphere.
|
|
Christians must submit to be instructed by their ministers, and not
|
|
think themselves too wise, too good, or too great, to learn from them;
|
|
and, when they find that ministerial instructions are agreeable to the
|
|
written word, they must obey them.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The motives to this duty.
|
|
|
|
[1.] They have the rule over the people; their office, though not
|
|
magisterial, yet is truly authoritative. They have no authority to lord
|
|
it over the people, but to lead them in the ways of God, by informing
|
|
and instructing them, explaining the word of God to them, and applying
|
|
it to their several cases. They are not to make laws of their own, but
|
|
to interpret the laws of God; nor is their interpretation to be
|
|
immediately received without examination, but the people must search
|
|
the scriptures, and so far as the instructions of their minister are
|
|
according to that rule they ought to receive them, <I>not as the word
|
|
of men, but, as they are indeed, the word of God, that works
|
|
effectually in those that believe.</I>
|
|
|
|
[2.] They watch for the souls of the people, not to ensnare them, but
|
|
to save them; to gain them, not to themselves, but to Christ; to build
|
|
them up in knowledge, faith, and holiness. They are to watch against
|
|
every thing that may be hurtful to the souls of men, and to give them
|
|
warning of dangerous errors, of the devices of Satan, of approaching
|
|
judgments; they are to watch for all opportunities of helping the souls
|
|
of men forward in the way to heaven.
|
|
|
|
[3.] They must give an account how they have discharged their duty, and
|
|
what has become of the souls committed to their trust, whether any have
|
|
been lost through their neglect, and whether any of them have been
|
|
brought in and built up under their ministry.
|
|
|
|
[4.] They would be glad to give a good account of themselves and their
|
|
hearers. If they can then give in an account of their own fidelity and
|
|
success, it will be a joyful day to them; those souls that have been
|
|
converted and confirmed under their ministry <I>will be their joy, and
|
|
their crown, in the day of the Lord Jesus.</I>
|
|
|
|
[5.] If they give up their account with grief, it will be the people's
|
|
loss as well as theirs. It is the interest of hearers that the account
|
|
their ministers give of them may be with joy, and not with grief. If
|
|
faithful ministers be not successful, the grief will be theirs, but the
|
|
loss will be the people's. Faithful ministers have delivered their own
|
|
souls, but a fruitless and faithless people's blood and ruin will be
|
|
upon their own heads.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Heb13_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Heb13_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Heb13_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Heb13_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Heb13_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Heb13_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Heb13_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Heb13_25"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Conclusion.</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 Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all
|
|
things willing to live honestly.
|
|
19 But I beseech <I>you</I> the rather to do this, that I may be
|
|
restored to you the sooner.
|
|
20 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our
|
|
Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood
|
|
of the everlasting covenant,
|
|
21 Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working
|
|
in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus
|
|
Christ; to whom <I>be</I> glory for ever and ever. Amen.
|
|
22 And I beseech you, brethren, suffer the word of exhortation:
|
|
for I have written a letter unto you in few words.
|
|
23 Know ye that <I>our</I> brother Timothy is set at liberty; with
|
|
whom, if he come shortly, I will see you.
|
|
24 Salute all them that have the rule over you, and all the
|
|
saints. They of Italy salute you.
|
|
25 Grace <I>be</I> with you all. Amen.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here,
|
|
|
|
I. The apostle recommends himself, and his fellow-sufferers, to the
|
|
prayers of the Hebrew believers
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Pray for us;</I> for me and Timothy" (mentioned
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>),
|
|
|
|
"and for all those of us who labour in the ministry of the gospel."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. This is one part of the duty which people owe to their ministers.
|
|
Ministers need the prayers of the people; and the more earnestly the
|
|
people pray for their ministers the more benefit they may expect to
|
|
reap from their ministry. They should pray that God would teach those
|
|
who are to teach them, that he would make them vigilant, and wise, and
|
|
zealous, and successful--that he would assist them in all their labours,
|
|
support them under all their burdens, and strengthen them under all
|
|
their temptations.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. There are good reasons why people should pray for their ministers;
|
|
he mentions two:--</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) <I>We trust we have a good conscience,</I> &c.,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
Many of the Jews had a bad opinion of Paul, because he, being a Hebrew
|
|
of the Hebrews, had cast off the Levitical law and preached up Christ:
|
|
now he here modestly asserts his own integrity: <I>We trust we have a
|
|
good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly. We trust!</I>
|
|
he might have said, <I>We know;</I> but he chose to speak in a humble
|
|
style, to teach us all not to be too confident of ourselves, but to
|
|
maintain a godly jealousy over our own hearts. "We trust we have a
|
|
<I>good conscience,</I> an enlightened and well-informed conscience, a
|
|
clean and pure conscience, a tender and faithful conscience, a
|
|
conscience testifying for us, not against us: a good conscience <I>in
|
|
all things,</I> in the duties both of the first and second table,
|
|
towards God and towards men, and especially in all things pertaining to
|
|
our ministry; we would act honestly and sincerely in all things."
|
|
Observe,
|
|
|
|
[1.] A good conscience has a respect to all God's commands and all our
|
|
duty.
|
|
|
|
[2.] Those who have this good conscience, yet need the prayers of
|
|
others.
|
|
|
|
[3.] Conscientious ministers are public blessings, and deserve the
|
|
prayers of the people.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) Another reason why he desires their prayers is that he hoped
|
|
thereby to be the sooner restored to them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
intimating that he had been formerly among them,--that, now he was
|
|
absent from them, he had a great desire and real intention to come
|
|
again to them,--and that the best way to facilitate his return to them,
|
|
and to make it a mercy to him and them, was to make it a matter of
|
|
their prayer. When ministers come to a people as a return of prayer,
|
|
they come with greater satisfaction to themselves and success to the
|
|
people. We should fetch in all our mercies by prayer.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. He offers up his prayers to God for them, being willing to do for
|
|
them as he desired they should do for him: <I>Now the God of peace,</I>
|
|
&c.,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
In this excellent prayer observe,
|
|
|
|
1. The title given to God--<I>the God of peace,</I> who was found out a
|
|
way for peace and reconciliation between himself and sinners, and who
|
|
loves peace on earth and especially in his churches.
|
|
|
|
2. The great work ascribed to him: <I>He hath brought again from the
|
|
dead our Lord Jesus,</I> &c. Jesus raised himself by his own power;
|
|
and yet the Father was concerned in it, attesting thereby that justice
|
|
was satisfied and the law fulfilled. He rose again for our
|
|
justification; and that divine power by which he was raised is able to
|
|
do every thing for us that we stand in need of.
|
|
|
|
3. The titles given to Christ--our Lord Jesus, our sovereign, our
|
|
Saviour, and the great shepherd of the sheep, promised in
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:11">Isa. xl. 11</A>,
|
|
|
|
declared by himself to be so,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+10:14,15">John x. 14, 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
Ministers are under-shepherds, Christ is the great shepherd. This
|
|
denotes his interest in his people. They are the flock of his pasture,
|
|
and his care and concern are for them. He feeds them, and leads them,
|
|
and watches over them.
|
|
|
|
4. The way and method in which God is reconciled, and Christ raised
|
|
from the dead: <I>Through the blood of the everlasting covenant.</I>
|
|
The blood of Christ satisfied divine justice, and so procured Christ's
|
|
release from the prison of the grace, as having paid our debt,
|
|
according to an eternal covenant or agreement between the Father and
|
|
the Son; and this blood is the sanction and seal of an everlasting
|
|
covenant between God and his people.
|
|
|
|
5. The mercy prayed for: <I>Make you perfect in every good work,</I>
|
|
&c.,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
Observe,
|
|
|
|
(1.) The perfection of the saints in every good work is the great thing
|
|
desired by them and for them, that they may here have a perfection of
|
|
integrity, a clear mind, a clean heart, lively affections, regular and
|
|
resolved wills, and suitable strength for every good work to which they
|
|
are called now, and at length a perfection of degrees to fit them for
|
|
the employment and felicity of heaven.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The way in which God makes his people perfect; it is by working in
|
|
them always what is pleasing in his sight, and that <I>through Jesus
|
|
Christ, to whom be glory for ever.</I> Observe,
|
|
|
|
[1.] There is no good thing wrought in us but it is the work of God; he
|
|
works in us, before we are fit for any good work.
|
|
|
|
[2.] No good thing is wrought in us by God, but through Jesus Christ,
|
|
for his sake and by his Spirit. And therefore,
|
|
|
|
[3.] Eternal glory is due to him, who is the cause of all the good
|
|
principles wrought in us and all the good works done by us. To this
|
|
every one should say, <I>Amen.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. He gives the Hebrews an account of Timothy's liberty and his hopes
|
|
of seeing them with him in a little time,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
It seems, Timothy had been a prisoner, doubtless for the gospel, but
|
|
now he was set at liberty. The imprisonment of faithful ministers is an
|
|
honour to them, and their enlargement is matter of joy to the people.
|
|
He was pleased with the hopes of not only seeing Timothy, but seeing
|
|
the Hebrews with him. Opportunities of writing to the churches of
|
|
Christ are desired by the faithful ministers of Christ, and pleasant to
|
|
them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. Having given a brief account of this his letter, and begged their
|
|
attention to it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>),
|
|
|
|
he closes with salutations, and a solemn, though short benediction.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. The salutation.
|
|
|
|
(1.) From himself to them, directed to all their ministers who had rule
|
|
over them, and to all the saints; to them all, ministers and people.
|
|
|
|
(2.) From the Christians in Italy to them. It is a good thing to have
|
|
the law of holy love and kindness written in the hearts of Christians
|
|
one towards another. Religion teaches men the truest civility and
|
|
good-breeding. It is not a sour nor morose thing.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. The solemn, though short benediction
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Grace be with you all. Amen.</I> Let the favour of God be towards
|
|
you, and his grace continually working in you, and with you, bringing
|
|
forth the fruits of holiness, as the first-fruits of glory. When the
|
|
people of God have been conversing together by word or writing, it is
|
|
good to part with prayer, desiring for each other the continuance of
|
|
the gracious presence of God, that they may meet together again in the
|
|
world of praise.</P>
|
|
|
|
<!-- (End Body) -->
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1721)
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