Hebrews 13

Notes

Ver. 1. And, as ye have begun, let it be your earnest care and endeavour to maintain an abiding and growing exercise of brotherly love, and an affectionate temper and behaviour, in all offices of friendship one towards another, and towards all your fellow-Christians, who are members of the same spiritual family, children of the same heavenly Father, partakers of the same grace, and heirs together of the same glory. 2. Extend your brotherly compassion also to strangers, especially those who for righteousness' sake are driven from their homes, or go about voluntarily preaching the gospel: receive them into your hearts and houses, and supply them with everything needful. This conduct will at once honour God, relieve your distressed brethren, and tend to your own satisfaction and advantage; for by this generous temper Abraham, Lot, and others, had the honour and benefit of entertaining angels instead of strangers. 3. And as ye have had compassion on me in my bonds, I earnestly recommend to you to bear on your hearts, sympathize with, pray for, and, as far as in you lies, contribute to the relief and comfort of those faithful ministers or professors who are imprisoned, or otherwise persecuted, for righteousness' sake, considering yourselves as members of the same mystical body, and still liable to the like afflictions in your present mortal state. 4. Marriage, when duly entered into by proper persons, ought to be reckoned an honourable ordinance of God, for producing a lawful offspring, for connecting families, and for the good of society, and as a proper remedy against all uncleanness; but fearful are the punishments which they who indulge themselves in whoredom and adultery may expect from God in this world, and especially in the last judgment and eternal state. 5. And to promote your exact performance of the duties which I have mentioned, see that none of you indulge immoderate desires or pursuits after the things of this world, either in excessive or unjust eagerness to obtain them, or in grudging proper expenses for the reasonable support of yourselves and families, or in unwillingness to communicate to the necessities of others; and study always to be heartily pleased with and thankful for the circumstances, however mean and afflicted, into which God, your infinitely wise and gracious Father, puts you; for he himself, who is almighty, all-sufficient, and unchangeable in faithfulness, has, for your encouragement in troubles and temptations, solemnly promised that he will at no time, and on no account, leave you to yourselves or your enemies; but will be with you to strengthen, help, uphold, guide, and bring you to glory. 6. So that, resting by faith upon this comprehensive promise, as applicable to ourselves, we may, and ought, each for himself, with humble confidence, sweet composure, and holy boldness, to avow that, in all our straits, wants, and troubles, the almighty and all-gracious Jehovah is our support, succour, and defence, and on our side, to take our part, revive our soul, and overrule everything for our good; and therefore we will not be afraid of the very worst that our most powerful, subtle, and inveterate enemies on earth can do against us. 7. And to promote your performance of such duties, and assured faith in such promises, see that ye pay a due regard to them who have been your faithful ministers and spiritual guides, under Christ their great Lord and Master; and in imitation of their faith and faithfulness, keep in mind, embrace, and adhere to those doctrines, commands, and promises which they, according to the Word of God, delivered to you, as the only rule of your faith, worship, and obedience—seriously reflecting on the peaceful and joyous manner in which they finished their course of holiness, and obtained a happy dismission from and victory over every trouble and danger by death, and on the glorious scope and object of their ministration and walk. 8. Even Jesus Christ, our anointed Saviour, who, in his divine person, offices, and saving virtue, is unchangeably the same in all the periods of the church, past, present, and to come. 9. Take heed therefore, lest, by departing from this unchangeable Saviour, as preached and exemplified to you by your former pastors, ye should, like ships in a storm, or clouds in the air, be carried away with notions about Jewish ceremonies different from, foreign to, and inconsistent with the simplicity of the gospel of Christ; for it is incomparably better to have your souls fully persuaded of and steadfastly fixed in a dependence on the free favour of God in Christ, revealed in the gospel, for the remission of sin, peace of conscience, and acceptance with God, unto eternal life, and your heart fortified against wavering about the truth and importance of this doctrine by an experience of its renewing, quickening, and comforting efficacy, than to expect that blessings can be obtained by ceremonial ordinances relative to sacrifices, meats, and drinks, which never, even under the Old Testament, were of any spiritual and saving advantage to those that were most occupied therein. 10. We members of the New Testament church have an incomparably better altar and sacrifice in our Lord Jesus Christ, which furnishes an incomparable feast of spiritual and eternal blessings to our faith, which they who still cleave to and rely on ceremonial observances have no authority or claim to partake of, any more than the priests had to eat any part of the more noted sin-offerings. 11. For, according to the appointment of God, the bodies of those sacrificed animals, the blood of which was carried by the high-priest into the holy of holies on the great day of national atonement, were wholly burned without the camp. 12. In evident fulfilment of which type, as well as to prefigure his leaving the Jewish nation to miserable ruin, Jesus Christ, our great High-priest, that he might really make atonement for the sins of the whole world, and consecrate all who accept Christ to God by the shedding of his blood, suffered his painful and ignominious crucifixion on Mount Calvary, without the gates of Jerusalem. 13. Let us therefore who profess his name and look for salvation through him, go forth, by faith and hope, desire and love, to him, leaving the Jewish temple, altars, and all the legal institutions pertaining to them, and all the concernments, allurements, and enjoyments of this present world, behind us, as things which we have no further expectations from or concern with, and cheerfully and boldly own and confess a crucified Redeemer, notwithstanding all the shame, contempt, and scorn we may suffer for his sake. 14. For as the city of Jerusalem, which succeeded the camp in the wilderness as the seat of ceremonial worship and political ordinances, will quickly be destroyed by the Romans, so we believers have no durable state of happiness or settled residence in this lower world; but, as strangers and pilgrims on earth, we realize by faith, earnestly desire, look, and long for, and, by all the ways and means of God's appointment, seek for a state of everlasting rest and peace, honour and safety, harmony and delight, in the future blessedness of heaven. 15. In consideration therefore of Christ's having redeemed and consecrated us to God by his own blood, let us at all times, in all circumstances, and for everything, especially for the blessings of redemption, offer up—through him as our only High-priest, Sacrificer, Advocate, and Altar that sanctifies our gifts—the sacrifices of grateful acknowledgments, praises, and thanksgivings. 16. And while your hearts and lips are full of gratitude and praise to God through Christ, be careful to cultivate a merciful, kind, and generous temper, and to abound in all acts of beneficence towards your fellow-creatures, especially the poor; for this, as well as thankful praise, is, through Christ and his only meritorious oblation, very acceptable to God as your reconciled Father. 17. And as ever ye would improve the appointed means of evangelically discharging the above-mentioned duties, not only regard the faith and holiness of your deceased pastors, but religiously regard the doctrines and precepts of those who are, or may hereafter be, your spiritual guides; and, as far as the Word of God permits, receive and submit to their instructions, exhortations, admonitions, and reproofs; for, if faithful, they, with all diligence, watch over you in the Lord, that they may inspect your principles, tempers, and behaviour, and guard and caution you against all iniquity, error, and spiritual danger, and apply themselves to promote the edification and eternal salvation of your souls, in the affecting view of giving an account to Christ, in the last judgment, of their faithfulness, diligence, and success—which they wish to do with joy, that their labours have issued in your eternal welfare; not with grief, that they have issued in your aggravated condemnation and ruin. 18. Sensible of the awfulness and difficulty of our work, and of our insufficiency for it, we ministers of the gospel earnestly request your continual importunate prayers for us—that whatever our success be, we may be found faithful in the day of Christ; for, notwithstanding our sufferings, and the suggestions of our enemies, our consciences bear us witness that we uprightly intend the honour of Christ and the good of souls, and are heartily desirous, and determined, through his strengthening us, to live soberly, righteously, and godly, suitably to our Christian and ministerial character, in all our behaviour towards God or man. 19. And I particularly beg your united prayers for my own direction, support, and protection under my present trials, and for the blessing of God upon the services in which I am now engaged; and that, if it be for his honour, he may deliver me from my present confinement, and allow me an opportunity of paying you another visit, to our mutual comfort and edification.—20. And for this, and all other useful purposes, may our reconciled God, Father, and Friend, the author and giver of all true peace and prosperity—who, by an act of supreme authority, judicially discharged, and raised from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, as a public person, who had represented and fully satisfied his law and justice for all the world, and whom, in all his offices, he constituted the great Shepherd of his ransomed people, to gather, guard, lead, feed, and bring them safe to eternal glory, through faith in his sufferings and death, whereby he fulfilled the condition, secured the blessings, and confirmed the promises of the new and everlasting covenant of grace; 21. Rectify every disorder of your souls and of your society, that ye may be thoroughly prepared, disposed, and enabled to perform every good work relative to himself, yourselves, or others, in a holy, spiritual, and evangelical manner, from principles of faith and love, according to the rule of his Word, in obedience to his command, and for his glory; and work in you to will and to do everything as in his sight, conformably to his image, agreeably to his holy nature and will, and acceptably to him, as the effects of his own grace through the merits and mediation of Christ.—22. And now let me beseech you, my dear countrymen and fellow-Christians, that, laying aside all prejudice, ye readily receive, consider, and improve these exhortations, consolations, instructions, and cautions which I have given you in this letter, as briefly as the number and importance of the contents, and my ardent concern for your real advantage, could permit. 23. And know, for your comfort, that Timothy, who was for a time my fellow-prisoner in Christ, is now released, and gone from this place upon important business; and, if he come quickly back, I intend, if the Lord grant me a release, to come along with him to visit you. 24. Meanwhile, let such of you to whom this letter comes present my affectionate and Christian respects to all your church-rulers and fellow-Christians who behave as sanctified by the Spirit of God. 25. And may the free love and favour of God through Jesus Christ, with all the blessed manifestations, fruits, and effects of it, attend all and every one of you, for your growth in grace and in the knowledge of Christ, and for your direction, preservation, and comfort, till ye arrive at his heavenly kingdom.

Ver. 1. An exhortation peculiarly necessary to the Jews, who had many prejudices against the Gentiles, and also suitable to the Jewish converts, who, being persecuted by their former friends, were in danger of supposing themselves set free from the ties of charity. C.

Ver. 7. Remember them, &c. A distinct evidence that the apostle recognizes the preachers of the Word as 'rulers' over their brethren in the Lord, and that spiritual discipline in the hands of such rulers is an essential mark of an apostolic church.—Whose faith follow, &c. 'Whose faith follow' (considering the end of their conversation)—which faith is, 'Jesus Christ the same,' &c. This seems to be the true connection, though some eminent modern expositors consider ver. 8 not a reference to ver. 7, but a preface to ver. 9. C.

Ver. 20. This does not signify that our Lord Jesus Christ was brought from the dead through the blood of the everlasting covenant, but that he was constituted 'the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant.' Some connect ver. 20, 21 thus—'Make you perfect, &c., through the blood, &c.;' but the construction of the original seems unfavourable to this arrangement. C.

Reflections.—It is very delightful when professed Christians are remarkable for mutual and fervent charity; for kind hospitality, tender sympathy, seasonable liberality; for untainted chastity; for contentedly living on God as their portion; for imitation of deceased ministers; obedience to and fervent prayer for living ministers of Christ; and for steadfast adherence to truth, and readiness to suffer for and serve their dying Redeemer.—What an all-sufficient Saviour is he to, and what marvellous things hath he done for us, to lead us to love, trust in, and cleave to him!—Awful is the office, work, and account of gospel ministers, and infinite is the mercy that a reconciled God of grace, and a risen Saviour and chief Shepherd, have, by the new covenant, provided proper furniture and assistance, as well as rewards, for both ministers and people who uprightly aim at his honour.

Concluding Remarks on the Epistle to the Hebrews.

The epistles to the Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews, furnish three great gospel lights for illuminating the dark pages of the law. That to the Hebrews seems to have been directed to parties exclusively Jews, for all its arguments are drawn from purely scriptural sources; and while they evidence the intimate familiarity of the writer with the most minute ordinances of the law, they imply an equal acquaintance with them in the parties to whom they are addressed. The great object of the epistle seems reducible to three points:—1. Christ was superior to angels in nature; 2. To Moses as a lawgiver; 3. To Aaron as a priest; and, if proved superior to them, the conclusion must be inevitable with a Jew—he must therefore be the only true God. C.