CHAP. XII. 1. Wherefore, let us also, being encompassed with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and the sin which easily besetteth us, and 2 run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of 3 the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction from sinners against himself, lest ye be 4 weary and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted 5 unto blood, striving against sin. And yet ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh to you as to sons, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, 6 nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom The receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father 8 chasteneth not? But if ye are without chastening, of which all are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons. 9 Now if we have had fathers of our flesh who corrected us, * Prov. iii. 11, &c. CHAP. XII. Ver. 1. Wherefore, being encompassed with a cloud-A great multitude, tending upward with a holy swiftness, of witnesses-Of the power of faith; let us lay aside every weight-As all who run a race take care to do. Let us throw off whatever weighs us down, or damps the vigour of our soul, and the sin which easily besetteth us-As doth the sin of our constitution, the sin of our education, the sin of our profession. V. 2. Looking-From all other things, to Jesus-As the wounded Israelites to the brazen serpent. Our crucified Lord was prefigured by the lifting up of this; our guilt, by the stings of the fiery serpents; and our faith, by their looking up to the miraculous remedy: the author and finisher of our faithWho begins it in us, carries it on, and perfects it; who, for the joy that was set before him-Patiently and willingly, endured the cross-With all the pains annexed thereto, and is set down-Where there is fulness of joy. V. 3. Consider Draw the comparison, and think: the Lord bore all this: and shall his servants bear nothing? Him that endured such contradiction from sinners-Such enmity and opposition of every kind, lest ye be weary→→ Dull and languid, and so actually faint in your course. V. 4. Unto blood-Unto wounds and death. V. 5. And yet ye seem already to have forgotten the exhortation-Wherein God speaketh to you with the utmost tenderness, Despise not thou the chastening of the Lord-Do not slight or make little of it, do not impute any affliction to chance or second causes; but see and revere the hand of God in it: neither faint when thou art rebuked of him-But endure it patiently and fruitfully. V. 6. For all springs from love: therefore neither despise nor faint. V. 8. Of which all sons are partakers-More or less.. V. 9. And we reverenced them-We neither despised, nor fainted under their correction: Shall we not much rather-Submit with reverence and meekness to the Father of spirits, that we may live with him for ever? Perhaps these and we reverenced them: shall we not much rather be in 10 subjection to the Father of spirits, and live? For they, verily, for a few days chastened us as they thought good: but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of his 11 holiness. Now all chastening for the present is assuredly not joyous, but grievous; yet afterwards it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby. 12 Wherefore, * Lift up the hands that hang down, and 13 the feeble knees; And make strait paths for your feet, that the lame be not turned out of the way, but rather 14 healed. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, with15 out which no man shall see the Lord; Looking diligently, lest any one fall from the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many 16 be defiled: Lest there be any fornicator or profane person, as Esau, who for one meal gave away his birth-right: 17 For ye know that afterward, even when he desired to * Isaiah xxxv. 3. expressions, Fathers of our flesh, and Father of spirits, intimate, that our earthly fathers are only the parents of our bodies, our souls not being originally derived from them; but all created by the immediate power of God, perhaps at the beginning of the world. V. 10. For they verily for a few days-How few are even all our days on earth! chastened us as they thought good-Though frequently they erred therein, by too much either of indulgence or severity; but he-Always, unquestionably, for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness-That is, of himself, and his glorious image. V. 11. Now all chastening-Whether from our earthly or heavenly Father, is for the present grievous, yet it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness Holiness and happiness, to them that are exercised thereby-That receive this exercise as from God, and improve it according to his will. V. 12. Wherefore, lift up the hands-Whether your own or your brethren's, that hang down-Unable to continue the combat, and the feeble knees-Unable to continue the race. V. 13. And make strait paths both for your own and for their feet-Remove every hindrance, every offence: that the lame-They who are weak, scarce able to walk, be not turned out of the way-Of faith and holiness. V. 14. Follow peace with all men-This second branch of the exhortation concerns our neighbours, the third, God. And holiness-The not following after all holiness, is the direct way to fall into sin of every kind. V. 15. Looking diligently, lest any one-If he do not lift up the hands that hang down, fall from the grace of God: lest any root of bitterness-Of envy, anger, suspicion, springing up, destroy the sweet peace: lest any, not following after holiness, fall into fornication or profaneness. In general, any corruption either in doctrine or practice, is a root of bitterness, and may pollute many. V. 16. Esau was profane, for so slighting the blessing which went along with the birth-right. V. 17. He was rejected-He could not obtain it: for he found no place for repentance-There was no room for any such repentance as would regain what he had lost, though he sought it-The blessing of the birth-right, diligently with tears-He sought too late. Let us use the present time! 18 inherit the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears. For ye are not come to the mountain that could be touched, and the burning fire, and the thick cloud, and 19 darkness, and tempest, And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words: which they that heard entreated, 20 that no more might be spoken to them. For they could not bear that which was commanded, * If even a beast 21 touch the mountain, let it be stoned. And so terrible was the appearance, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear 22 and tremble. But ye are come to Mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an 23 innumerable company, To the general assembly of angels, and to the church of the first-born, who are inrolled in * Exod. xix. 12, &c. V. 18. For-A strong reason this, why they ought the more to regard the whole exhortation drawn from the priesthood of Christ: because both salvation and vengeance are now nearer at hand: ye are not come to the mountain that could be touched-That was of an earthy, material nature. V. 19. The sound of a trumpet-Formed, without doubt, by the ministry of angels, and preparatory to the words-That is, the ten commandments, which were uttered with a loud voice, Deut. v. 22. V. 20. For they could not bear-The terror which seized them, when they heard those words proclaimed, If even a beast, &c. V. 21. Even Moses-Though admitted to so near an intercourse with God, who spake to him as a man speaketh to his friend. At other times he acted as a mediator between God and the people. But while the ten commandments were pronounced, he stood as one of the hearers, Exod. xix. 25, xx. 19. V. 22. But ye-Who believe in Christ, are come-The apostle does not here speak of their coming to the church militant, but of that glorious privilege of New Testament believers, their communion with the church triumphant. But this is far more apparent to the eyes of celestial spirits, than to ours which are yet veiled. St. Paul here shews an excellent knowledge of the heavenly economy, worthy of him who had been caught up into the third heaven, to Mount Sion-A spiritual mountain, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem-All these glorious titles belong to the New Testament church, and to an innumerable company-Including all that are afterwards mentioned. V. 23. To the general assembly-The word properly signifies a stated convention on some festival occasion: and church-The whole body of true believers, whether on earth or in paradise, of the first-born-The first-born of Israel were inrolled by Moses: but these are inrolled in heaven, as citizens there. It is observable, that in this beautiful gradation, these first-born are placed nearer to God than the angels, see James i. 18: and to God the judge of all-Propitious to you, adverse to your enemies: and to the spirits-The separate souls, of just men-It seems to mean, of New Testament believers. The number of these, being not yet large, is mentioned distinct from the innumerable company of just men-Whom their judge hath acquitted. These are now made perfect, in a higher sense than any who are still alive. Accordingly St. Paul, while yet on earth, denies that he was thus made perfect, Phil. iii. 12. heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of 24 just men made perfect, And to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, which 25 speaketh better things than that of Abel. See that ye refuse not him that speaketh: for if they escaped not who refused him that delivered the oracle on earth, much more shall not we, who turn away from him that speaketh 26 from heaven: Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he has promised, saying, * Yet once more I will 27 shake, not only the earth, but also the heaven. And this word, Yet once more, sheweth the removal of the things which are shaken, as being made, that the things which 28 are not shaken may remain. Therefore let us, receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, hold fast the grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably, with reverence 29 and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire. CHAP. XIII. 1. Let brotherly love continue. * Hag. ii. 6. V. 24. To Jesus the Mediator-Through whom they had been perfected, and to the blood of sprinkling-To all the virtue of his precious blood shed for you, whereby ye are sprinkled from an evil conscience. This blood of sprinkling was the foundation of our Lord's mediatorial office. Here the gradation is at the highest point. Which speaketh better things than that of Abel-Which cried for vengeance. V. 25. Refuse not-By unbelief, him that speaketh-And whose speaking even now is a prelude to the final scene. The same voice which spake both by the law and in the gospel, when heard from heaven, will shake heaven and earth; for if they escaped not-His vengeance, much more shall not we-Those of us, who turn from him that speaketh from heaven-That is, who came from heaven to speak to us. V. 26. Whose voice then shook the earth-When he spoke from Mount Sinai: but now-With regard to his next speaking, he hath promised—It is a joyful promise to the saints, though dreadful to the wicked, Yet once more I will shake, not only the earth, but also the heaven-These words may refer, in a lower sense, to the dissolution of the Jewish church and state. But in their full sense, they undoubtedly look much farther, even to the end of all things. This universal shaking began at the first coming of Christ. It will be consummated at his second coming. V. 27. The things which are shaken-Namely, heaven and earth, as being made-And consequently liable to change: that the things which are not shaken may remain-Even the new heaven and the new earth-Rev. xxi. 1. V. 28. Therefore let us, receiving-By willing and joyful faith, a kingdomMore glorious than the present heaven and earth, hold fast the grace, whereby we may serve God-In every thought, word, and work, with reverence-Literally, with shame, arising from a deep consciousness of our own unworthiness, and godly fear-A tender, jealous fear of offending, arising from a sense of the gracious majesty of God. V. 29. For our God is a consuming fire-In the strictness of his justice, and purity of his holiness. CHAP. XIII. Ver. 1. Brotherly love-Is explained in the following verses. + * 2 Forget not hospitality, for hereby some bave entertained 3 angels unawares. Remember them that are in bonds, as being bound with them, and them that suffer adversity, 4 as being yourselves also in the body. Marriage is hohourable in all men, and the bed undefiled: but whore5 mongers and adulterers God will judge. Let your disposition be without covetousness; be content with the things that are present; for he hath said, + No, I will not 6 leave thee: verily, I will not forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper; I will not 7 fear what man can do unto me. Remember them that had the rule over you, who spake to you the word of God, whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and to-day, and 9 for ever. Be not carried about with various and strange doctrines; for it is good, that the heart be stablished with grace, not with meats, in which they that have walked 10 have not been profited. We have an altar, whereof they 11 have no right to eat who serve the tabernacle. For the * Gen. xviii. 2, xix. 1. + Gen. xxviii. 15. Jos. i. 5. 1 Chron. xxviii. 20. Ps. cxviii. 6. V. 2. Some-Abraham and Lot, have entertained angels unawares-So may an unknown guest, even now, be of more worth than he appears, and may have angels attending him, though unseen. V. 3. Remember-In your prayers, and by your help, them that are in bonds, as being bound with them-Seeing ye are members one of another, and them that suffer, as being yourselves in the body-And consequently liable to the same. V. 4. Marriage is honourable in, or for, all sorts of men, clergy as well as laity, though the Romanists teach otherwise: and the bed undefiled-Consistent with the highest purity; though many spiritual writers, so called, say it is only licensed whoredom: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judgeThough they frequently escape the sentence of men. V. 5. He-God, hath said—To all believers, in saying it to Jacob, Joshua, and Solomon. V. 7. Remember them-Who are now with God, considering the happy end of their conversation on earth. V. 8. Men may die: but Jesus Christ (yea, and his gospel,) is the same from everlasting to everlasting. V. 9. Be not carried about with various doctrines-Which differ from that one faith in our one unchangeable Lord; strange-To the ears and hearts of all that abide in him; for it is good-It is both honourable before God, and pleasant and profitable, that the heart be established with grace-Springing from faith in Christ, not with meats-Jewish ceremonies, which, indeed, can never stablish the heart. V. 10. On the former part of this verse, the 15th and 16th depend; on the latter, the intermediate verses. We have an altar-The cross of Christ, whereof they have no right to eat-To partake of the benefits which we receive therefrom, who serve the tabernacle-Who adhere to the Mosaic law. V. 11. For-According to their own law, the sin-offerings were wholly con |