Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hebrews 13:9
Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For [it is] a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.
9. Be not carried about ] Lit. “With teachings various and strange be ye not swept away.” From the allusion to various kinds of food which immediately follows we infer that these “teachings” were not like the Gnostic speculations against which St Paul and St John had to raise a warning voice (Eph 4:14; Col 2:8; 1Jn 4:1), but the minutiae of the Jewish Halachah with its endless refinements upon, and inferences from, the letter of the Law. This is the sort of teaching of which the Talmud is full, and most of it has no real connection with true Mosaism.
it is a good ] “a beautiful, or excellent thing” ( kalon).
with grace ] By the favour or mercy of God as a pledge of our real security.
not with meats ] Not by minute and pedantic distinctions between various kinds of clean and unclean food (Heb 9:10). The word bromata, “kinds of food,” was never applied to sacrifices. On the urgency of the question of “meats” to the Early Christians see my Life of St Paul, 1. 264.
which have not profited them that have been occupied therein ] These outward rules were of no real advantage to the Jews under the Law. As Christianity extended the Rabbis gave a more and more hostile elaboration and significance to the Halachoth, which decided about the degrees of uncleanness in different kinds of food, as though salvation itself depended on the scrupulosities and micrologies of Rabbinism. The reader will find some illustrations of these remarks in my Life of St Paul, i. 264. The importance of these or analogous questions to the early Jewish Christians may be estimated by the allusions of St Paul (Romans 14.; Col 2:16-23; 1Ti 4:3, &c.). No doubt these warnings were necessary because the Jewish Christians were liable to the taunt “You are breaking the law of Moses; you are living Gentile-fashion ( ) not Jewish-wise ( ); you neglect the Kashar (rules which regulate the slaughter of clean and unclean animals, which the Jews scrupulously observe to this day); you feed with those who are polluted by habitually eating swines’ flesh.’ These were appeals to “the eternal Pharisaism of the human heart,” and the intensity of Jewish feeling respecting them would have been renewed by the conversions to Christianity. The writer therefore reminds the Hebrews that these distinctions involve no real advantage (Heb 7:18-19).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines – That is, they should have settled and fixed points of belief, and not yield to every new opinion which was started. The apostle does not exhort them to adhere to an opinion merely because they had before held it, or because it was an old opinion, nor does he forbid their following the leadings of truth though they might be required to abandon what they had before held; but he cautions them against that vacillating spirit, and that easy credulity, which would lead them to yield to any novelty, and to embrace an opinion because it was new or strange. Probably the principal reference here is to the Judaizing teachers, and to their various doctrines about their ceremonial observances and traditions. But the exhortation is applicable to Christians at all times. A religious opinion, once embraced on what was regarded a good evidence, or in which we have been trained, should not be abandoned for slight causes. Truth indeed should always be followed, but it should be only after careful inquiry.
For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace – This is the proper foundation of adherence to the truth. The heart should be established with the love of God, with pure religion, and then we shall love the truth, and love it in the right manner. If it is the head merely which is convinced, the consequence is bigotry, pride, narrowmindedness. If the belief of the truth has its seat in the heart, it will be accompanied with charity, kindness, good-will to all people. In such a belief of the truth it is a good thing to have the heart established. It will produce:
(1)Firmness and stability of character;
(2)Charity and kindness to others;
(3)Consolation and support in trials and temptations.
When a man is thrown into trials and temptations, he ought to have some settled principles on which he can rely; some fixed points of belief that will sustain his soul.
Not with meats – The meaning is, that it is better to have the heart established with grace, or with the principles of pure religion, than with the most accurate knowledge of the rules of distinguishing the clean from the unclean among the various articles of food. Many such rules were found in the Law of Moses, and many more had been added by the refinements of Jewish rulers and by tradition. To distinguish and remember all these, required no small amount of knowledge, and the Jewish teachers, doubtless, prided themselves much on it. Paul says that it would be much better to have the principles of grace in the heart than all this knowledge; to have the mind settled on the great truths of religion than to be able to make the most accurate and learned distinctions in this matter. The same remark may be made about a great many other points besides the Jewish distinctions respecting meats. The principle is, that it is better to have the heart established in the grace of God than to have the most accurate knowledge of the distinctions which are made on useless or unimportant subjects of religion. This observation would extend to many of the shibboleths of party; to many of the metaphysical distinctions in a hair-splitting theology; to many of the points of controversy which divide the Christian world.
Which have not profited … – Which have been of no real benefit to their souls; see the notes on 1Co 8:8.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Heb 13:9
Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines
Evils of a state of scepticism
It would seem hardly to be expected, where ample means of religious knowledge are enjoyed, that such a state of mind should be a common thing.
Of those who are educated under religious light, and who are led in early life to accept Christianity, a very considerable number sooner or later reach a state in which they are disposed to question almost anything pertaining to religion. More commonly this crisis arrives in advanced youth, or on the verge of manhood. Up to that time the mind has been content to take as truth, on the authority of others, and with but little question, whatever may have been taught it. It has acquiesced, without serious difficulty, in the statements of parents and teachers as to what were the claims of duty. But now there comes a change. Of the views and impressions which childhood entertained on a variety of subjects, advancing years and knowledge have shown many to be erroneous. In this state of mind the inquirer is inclined to question everything, as he once was to believe everything. He has found a few things, or, if you please, many things, to be false, and so he is afraid to believe that anything is true. He passes, by a not unnatural process, from the extreme of credulity to the extreme of scepticism. At this point one of three things must happen: either the mind must become utterly lost to truth, and settle itself on the ultimately fatal grounds of false opinion; or it must drift on unfixed, full of uncertainty, or, it must lay hold of the strong cable of sound evidence, and deliberately cast anchor on the sure foundations of the truth. There are doubtless some who do succeed in confirming themselves in falsehood beyond the chance of recovery. We are sure, also, that there are those who gain a hold on truth which nothing can relax, and which permanently sets their hearts at rest. But how large a number fall into the intermediate class, the class of perpetual doubters!–and are carried about by diverse and strange doctrines, always catching at a new absurdity to relieve the weariness of dwelling on the last. What can be more deplorable than this unnatural, this morbid bewilderment of the soul? Such a state is, of all things, to be dreaded.
1. For, in the first place, it must needs be an exceedingly unhappy state. To all minds that have received even a moderate degree of cultivation, it is a source of positive pleasure to have, on all important subjects, clear views and well-defined opinions. So, on the contrary, it is painful to the sound mind to grope about in the everlasting fog–to be threading backward and forward the mazy labyrinths of vague inquiry, which chases shadows and catches at emptiness, finding nothing solid on which it can rely. This, we say, is the constitutional law of the mind, let the subject about which it inquires be what it may. But if the matter in question be one on the right understanding of which great consequences are depending, there must be, in addition to the doubtfulness, the pain of anxious apprehension. The fear of what calamities may soon or late, result from failure to ascertain the truth, will often haunt the mind and mingle more or less with all its thoughts. Religion, it is clearly seen, if it be anything, is of the highest imaginable interest; and to miss the truth in such an affair, may, it cannot but be felt, involve irreparable loss, disaster that nothing can retrieve. Here is a most effectual cause of disquiet to the soul.
2. It is also evident, still further, that a state of chronic scepticism tends greatly to enfeeble both the character and the mind. A strong mind presses on to a decision. It is content only when getting at results, A sceptical habit–observe I do not say a season of temporary questioning, but a chronic habit of doubting–most generally indicates a want of mental energy to lay hold of evidence and to appreciate its force; a lack of the strength of mind required in order to rise above the prejudices that tend to warp the judgment. It betrays an intellectual feebleness already existing and likely to perpetuate itself. For when the mind has been allowed, and rather encouraged, to wander among the mists of doubt; to look rather after difficulties, than after proofs; it seems to become incapable of logical deduction and unsusceptible to the effect of evidence. It will also be true that in proportion to this loss of force and intellect, there will be likewise a loss of general force of character. He who is unable to decide with promptness, will not be able to execute with vigour. The habitual vacillation of the mind will be sure to exhibit itself in a feeble, time-serving, irresolute course of action. There is yet another evil result of the habit of mind in question.
3. It is very liable to impair the love of truth, and to lower the estimate set on it by the judgment. Truth has been well defined to be the reality of things. To know truth is to know things as they are. On having a right understanding especially of those things that directly relate to us, our highest welfare essentially depends. Nothing therefore, in fact, is so precious to us as truth. God has, accordingly, given the mind an instinctive love of truth, a natural desire to know things as they are. It is an important end of education to strengthen this desire, and give it a right direction: and observation and experience show that, in respect to many subjects at least, it is, on the other hand, capable of being weakened, and almost or quite destroyed. It is found, for example, especially easy to repress the instinctive desire to know, when there is occasion to apprehend that the knowledge of the truth might be for any reason painful; and this is the case invariably in respect to sinful man when he inquires about religion. While on this, as on other subjects, he feels the natural desire for knowledge, there are conscious reasons growing out of his own character which prompt him to resist this desire, and rather to shrink from full and certain knowledge, than to seek it. He is inclined to indulge himself in something. The question, Is it right? suggests itself. If he presses the inquiry, he may find himself obliged to deny his inclination; and he will be very likely for this reason not to press it. The appetite for truth may yield to the stronger appetite for self-indulgence which now has possession of the mind. In every such case, of course, the love of truth must necessarily be weakened. There will be less appreciation of its value than before; and if the oftener the love of truth is repressed for such a reason, the feebler it becomes, it must finally be destroyed. But this is what is happening all the while in the unsettled, wavering, and doubtful mind.
4. It remains only to say finally, that a state of sceptical uncertainty is attended with great danger as regards its last result. To doubt about anything is, of course, to admit the possibility that it is true. To doubt about the claims and obligations of religion is to allow that we are not sure that these are not founded in reality. But while those who are floating on the sea of doubt, confess, by their very uncertainty, that the teachings of religion may quite possibly be true, they are sure to act, in the main, as though certain they were false. It needs no words to show that if you live as though the truths of religion were mere dreams, and it shall finally turn out that they are great realities, you are undone inevitably, and that for ever. This, then, is the amazing peril of resting in a dubious, unestablished frame. Even those who do this cannot but perceive that they run the unspeakably awful hazard of a wretched, lost eternity. Religion and godliness, according to their view of things, hang trembling in equal balance. How much to be deprecated and dreaded is a position that involves continually the danger of a fall from which there is no recovery I Here, then, are weighty reasons for regarding it as a very serious evil to be in habitual doubt in regard to the truths and duties of religion–reasons which make it appear in the highest degree desirable that the heart should be established. Of course it follows that nothing should be done by any thoughtful person to favour such a state, but that, on the contrary, diligent and resolute effort should be made to avoid or escape it. Do any of you find the impressions of your childhood giving way, in some degree, so that you feel disposed to question them and to demand on what foundation they are based? You see with what seriousness you should regard the crisis. Never, in all your life, has there been a time when you so greatly needed the counsel of your kindest, most faithful, and judicious friends. Yes! Believe it, my intelligent young friend–the poor wayfaring man, who wanders homeless and friendless over the wide world, finding never a voice of greeting nor a resting-place in which he may take up his abode, is far less an object of compassion than he whose soul is driven about perpetually in the chaos of confused and dubious thought, where all is dim and shadowy, and can find nothing that is stable; who as to the highest and most vital questions of his being, has established nothing, and positively believes nothing! Rather than suffer yourselves to slide into such a state, it were wisdom to suspend all other business, to shut yourselves up in the chamber of meditation and research, and to bend the undivided energies of your minds on this one work of reaching conclusions which will satisfy; and this with humble, earnest prayer to the Father of lights for that Divine illumination without which spiritual things are never clearly seen by any of mankind. You can have satisfaction on all really vital questions if you will. You may plant yourselves, if you will do it, where, though floods come, and the tempests beat, and the refuges of error are all swept away, you can stand calmly and in serenity of soul, and feel your foundations firm. Believe it–nay rather, make the experiment for yourselves, and know it with a happiness that cannot be described. There is light–and you were made to see it. There is reality–and you were made to find it. There is religious truth–and you, you may grasp the inestimable treasure, and make it your own blessed and permanent possession. (R. Palmer, D. D.)
The true doctrinal foundation
I. THERE IS A REVELATION OF TRUTH GIVEN TO THE CHURCH IN THE WORD OF GOD, WHICH IS ITS ONLY DOCTRINAL FOUNDATION AND RULE OF FAITH.
II. THIS DOCTRINE IS COGNATE, AND EVERY WAY SUITED TO THE PROMOTION OF THE GRACE OF GOD IN BELIEVERS, AND THE ATTAINMENT OF THEIR OWN SALVATION.
III. DOCTRINES UNSUITED TO THIS FIRST REVELATION BY CHRIST AND HIS APOSTLES, AS RECORDED IN THE SCRIPTURE, ALIEN AND FOREIGN FROM THEM, DID SOON SPRING UP UNTO THE TROUBLE OF THE CHURCH; they had done so in those days, and continued to do so in all ensuing ages.
IV. USUALLY SUCH DOCTRINES ARE AS EMPTY OF TRUTH AND SUBSTANCE, USELESS AND FOREIGN TO THE NATURE AND GENIUS OF EVANGELICAL GRACE AND TRUTH, ARE IMPOSED BY THEIR AUTHORS AND ABETTORS, WITH A GREAT NOISE AND VEHEMENCE ON THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN INSTRUCTED IN THE TRUTH.
V. WHERE SUCH DOCTRINES ARE ENTERTAINED, THEY MAKE MEN DOUBLE-MINDED, UNSTABLE, TURNING THEM FROM THE TRUTH, AND DRAWING THEM AT LENGTH INTO PERDITION.
VI. THE RUIN OF THE CHURCH IN AFTER AGES AROSE FROM THE NEGLECT OF THIS APOSTOLICAL CAUTION, IN GIVING HEED UNTO VARIOUS AND STRANGE DOCTRINES, which at length overthrew and excluded the fundamental doctrines of the gospel.
VII. HEREIN LIES THE SAFETY OF ALL BELIEVERS, AND OF ALL CHURCHES; NAMELY, TO KEEP THEMSELVES PRECISELY UNTO THE FIRST COMPLETE REVELATION OF DIVINE TRUTH IN THE WORD OF GOD. Let men pretend what they will, and bluster as they please, in an adherence to this principle we are safe; and if we depart from it, we shall be hurried and carried about through innumerable uncertainties unto rain.
VIII. That those who decline in anything from grace, as the only means to establish their hearts in peace with God, SHALL LABOUR AND EXERCISE THEMSELVES IN OTHER THINGS AND WAYS TO THE SAME END, WHEREBY THEY SHALL RECEIVE NO ADVANTAGE. (John Owen, D. D.)
Evils of inconstancy:
An inconstant and wavering mind, as it makes a man unfit for society (for that there can be no assurance of his words or purposes, neither can we build on them without deceit), so, besides that, it makes a man ridiculous, it hinders him from ever attaining any perfection in himself (for a rolling stone gathers no moss, and the mind, while it would be everything, proves nothing. Oft changes cannot be without loss); yea, it keeps him from enjoying that which he hath attained. For it keeps him ever in work, building, pulling down, selling, changing, buying, commanding, forbidding. So, whilst he can be no other mans friend, he is the least his own. It is the safest course for a mans profit, credit, and ease, to deliberate long, to resolve surely; hardly to alter, not to enter upon that whose end he foresees not answerable; and when he is once entered, not to surcease till he have attained the end he foresaw. (Bp. Hall.)
Fixed religious convictions helpful to growth
Stand fast in the faith. There are some men who, because they want to grow, are continually being transplanted; and they think that because they keep moving from place to place, they are gaining; but they gain nothing at all. Trees that grow fastest stand stillest. Running after every new thing that presents itself does not increase the growth of Christian graces, or anything else that is good. If a man would grow spiritually, he must have a standpoint, a fixed root-place, for his religious convictions. (H. W. Beecher.)
True doctrine
The question is not whether a doctrine is beautiful, but whether it is true. When we want to go to a place, we dont ask whether the road leads through a pretty country, but whether it is the right road, the road pointed out by authority, the turnpike-road. (J. C. Hare.)
The heart be established with grace
Confirmation in the doctrines of the gospel an effect of Divine grace
I. WHO ARE THE SUBJECTS OF GRACE? All men are naturally destitute of grace, and under the entire dominion of a depraved heart. In this state they remain until they are awakened, convinced, and converted, by the special influences of the Divine Spirit. They now become conformed to the moral image of God, reconciled to His character, to His laws, and to the terms of salvation proposed in the gospel.
II. WHAT ARE THE ESSENTIAL DOCTRINES OF THE GOSPEL?
III. Having specified the essential doctrines of the gospel, it remains to show THAT REAL CHRISTIANS, WHO ARE THE SUBJECTS OF GRACE, ARE ACTUALLY ESTABLISHED IN THEM. The apostle represents them so established, as not to be carried about by divers and strange doctrines; and this we find verified by the conduct of real saints under both the Old and New Testament. And it is well-known that since their day, multitudes have sacrificed their lives in testimony of the truth and importance of the essential doctrines of the gospel. And this leads me to say that they not only may be, but must be so established; for several reasons:
1. Because they know that the essential doctrines of the gospel are true.
2. Because they love them.
3. Because they feel the infinite importance of them.
Conclusion:
1. If the subjects of grace are established in the essential doctrines of the gospel, then it is easy to distinguish religious orthodoxy from religious heterodoxy.
2. If the subjects of grace are established in the essential doctrines of the gospel, then real Christians see the propriety and importance of forming and subscribing creeds, or confessions of faith.
3. If the subjects of grace are established in the doctrines of the gospel; then they are constrained to consider mens religious sentiments as a test of their religious character.
4. If ministers of the gospel are established in the great and fundamental doctrines of it; they will not fail to preach those doctrines to the people. (N. Emmons, D. D.)
An established heart
I. How GOOD IT IS. What else is it that communicates to the Saviour such nobility but this immovable firmness of a spirit resting in God, from which words and deeds proceed, pure, calm, and self-consistent, like rays which the sun emits? The establishment of heart of which we speak is the union of Divine freedom and Divine power. We call him free who is not dependent on anything outside himself. Are you free in this sense? Where there is this freedom, there is also Divine power. Power is the capability of executing what we have set our minds on doing. Let me determine, moved by nothing without me, and all my action is subordinate to a single aim, and this aim stands unmoved before my eyes. But that is just what gives emphasis to all action. For such power we long, we should like to reign over nature, over our body, over everything outside us. Now it is the unity of such Divine power and freedom that makes establishment of heart so precious. Do you long after it? I know you do: you who see before you a life in which are seducers and tempters on the right hand and on the left, bent on bringing about your fall, oh, I know you long for it.
II. How SUCH FIRMNESS IS BROUGHT ABOUT–with grace, says the apostle. He adds:–Not with meats, intending to say, not through dependence on any outward work. When he says, with grace, it is as if he said, through faith in the grace which is offered in Christ. Therefore, being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have also access by faith into this grace, wherein we stand; if there is not this, then establishment of heart is impossible. (J. Tholuck.)
The established heart
It is a good thing to have an established heart. With too many of us the inner life is variable and fickle. Sometimes we have days of deep religious earnestness, when it seems impossible for us to spend too long a time in prayer and fellowship with God. The air is so clear that we can see across the waters of the dividing sea, to the very outlines of the heavenly coasts. But a very little will mar our peace, and bring a veil of mist over our souls, to enwrap us perhaps for long weeks. Oh, for an established heart! Now there is one thing which will not bring about this blessed state of establishment. And this is indicated by the expression, meats; which stands for the ritualism of the Jewish law. Another obstruction to an established heart arises from the curiosity which is ever running after divers and strange doctrines. A condition which is the very antipodes to the established heart. There is only one foundation which never rocks, one condition which never alters. It is good that the heart be established with grace. Primarily, of course, the established heart is the gift of God. (2Co 1:21; 1Pe 5:10; Deu 28:9). But there are certain conditions also indicated in this context with which we do well to comply.
I. WE MUST FEED ON CHRIST. Eating consists of three processes: apprehension, mastication, and assimilation; and each of these has its spiritual counterpart in that feeding upon Christ which is the very life of our life. We, too, must apprehend Him, by the careful reading of the Word of God. We, too, must fulfil the second part of the process of eating by meditating long and thoughtfully on all that is revealed to us in the word of the person and work of the Lord Jesus. We, too, must assimilate Christ, until He becomes part of our very being, and we begin to live, yet not we, because Christ lives in us, and has become our very life.
II. IF WE WOULD FEED ON CHRIST, WE MUST GO WITHOUT THE CAMP. There are plenty who argue that the wisest policy is to stop within the camp, seeking to elevate its morals. They do not realise that, if we adopt their advice, we must remain there alone, for our Lord has already gone. ]t is surely unbefitting that we should find a home where He is expelled. What is there in us which makes us so welcome, when our Master was cast out to the fate of the lowest criminals? Besides, it will not be long before we discover that, instead of our influencing the camp for good, the atmosphere of the camp will infect us with its evil. Instead of our levelling it up, it will level us down. The only principle of moving the world is to imitate Archimedes in getting a point without it. All the men who have left a mark in the elevation of their times have been compelled to join the pilgrim host which is constantly passing through the city gates, and taking up its stand by the Cross on which Jesus died. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
An established heart:
Turned into modern English the writers meaning is that the merely intellectual religion, which is always occupied with propositions instead of with Jesus Christ, Who is the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever, is worthless, and the merely ceremonial religion, which is always occupied with casuistries about questions of meats, or external observance of any sort, is as valueless. There is no fixity; there is no rest of soul, no steadfastness of character to be found in either of these two directions. The only thing that ballasts and fills and calms the heart is what the writer here calls grace, that is to say, the living personal experience of the love of God bestowed upon me and dwelling in my heart. So, then, the main theme of these words is the possible stability of a fluctuating human life, the means of securing it, and the glory and beauty of the character which has secured it.
I. First, then, mark WHAT THIS WRITER CONCEIVES TO BE THE ONE SOURCE OF HUMAN STABILITY. What the New Testament means by this familiar and frequently reiterated word grace, which, I suspect, is oftener pronounced than it is understood by a great many people. To begin with, then, the root meaning of that word, which runs all through the New Testament, is simply favour, benignity, kindness, or, to put all into a better and simpler form, the active love of God. Now, if we look at the various uses of the expression we find, for instance, that it is contrasted with a number of other things. Sometimes it is set in opposition to sin–sin reigns to righteousness, grace reigns to life. Sometimes it is contrasted with debt, and put sometimes in opposition to works, as, for instance, by Paul when he says, If it be of works then is it no more grace. Sometimes it is opposed to law, as in the same apostles words, Ye are not under law, but under grace. Now, if we keep these various uses and contrasts in view we just come to this thought, that that active love of God is conditioned, not by any merit on our part–bubbles up from the depths of His own infinite heart, not because of what we are, but because of what He is, transcends all the rigid retributions of law, is not turned away by any sin, but continues to flood the world, simply because it wells up from the infinite and changeless fountain of love in the heart of God. And then, from this central, deepest meaning of active love manifesting itself irrespective of what we deserve, there comes a second great aspect of the word. The name of the cause is extended to all the lustrous variety of its effects. So the complex whole of the blessings and gifts which Jesus Christ brings to us, and which are sometimes designated in view of what they do for us, as salvation or eternal life, are also designated in view of that in God from which they come, as being collectively His grace. And then there is a final application of the expression which is deduced from that second one–viz., the specific excellences of character which result from the communication to men of the blessings that flow to him from the love of God. So these three: first, the fountain, the love undisturbed and unalterable; second, the stream, the manifold gifts and blessings that flow to us through Christ; and, third, the little cupfuls that each of us have, the various excellences of character which are developed under the fertilizing influences of the sunshine of that love–these three are all included in this great Christian word. There are other phases of its employment in the New Testament which I do not need to trouble you with now. But thus far we just come to this, that the one ground on which all steadfastness of nature and character can be reared is that we shall be in touch with God, shall be conscious of His love, and shall be receiving into our hearts the strength that He bestows. Man is a dependent creature; his make and his relationships to things round him render it impossible that the strength by which he is strong, and the calmness by which he is established, can be self-originated.
II. And so I come, in the second place, to LOOK AT SOME OF THE VARIOUS WAYS IN WHICH THIS ESTABLISHING GRACE CALMS AND STILLS THE LIFE. We men are like some of the islands in the Eastern Tropics, fertile and luxuriant, but subject to be swept by typhoons, to be shaken by earthquakes, to be devastated by volcanoes. Around us there gather external foes assailing our steadfastness, and within us there lie even more formidable enemies to an established and settled peace. How are such creatures ever to be established? My text tells us by drawing into themselves the love, the giving love of God. I would note, as one of the aspects of the tranquillity and establishment that comes from this conscious possession of the giving love of God, how it delivers men from all the dangers of being carried away by divers strange doctrines. I do not give much for any orthodoxy which is not vitalised by personal experiences of the indwelling love of God. I do not care much what a man believes, or what he denies, or how he may occupy himself intellectually with the philosophical and doctrinal aspect of Christian revelation. The question is, how much of it has filtered from his brain into his heart, and has become part of himself, and verified to himself by his own experience? So much as you have lived out, so much you are sure of because you have not only thought it but felt it, and cannot for a moment doubt, because your hearts have risen up and witnessed to its truth. About these parts of your belief there will be no fluctuation. Still further, this conscious possession of the grace of God will keep a man very quiet amidst all the occasions for agitation which changing circumstances bring. Such there are in every life. Nothing continues in one stay. Is it possible that amidst this continuous fluctuation, in which nothing is changeless but the fact of change, we can stand fixed and firm? Yes! There is shelter only in one spot, and that is when we have God between us and the angry blast. An empty heart is an easily agitated heart. A full heart, like a full sack, stands upright, and it is not so easy for the wind to whirl it about as if it were empty. They who are rooted in God will have a firm bole, which will be immovable, howsoever branches may sway and creak, and leaves may flutter and dance, or even fall, before the power of the storm. Further, another field of the stability communicated by that possessed love of God is in regard of the internal occasions for agitation. Passion, lust, hot desires, bitter regrets, eager clutching after uncertain and insufficient and perishable good, all these will be damped down if the love of God lives in our hearts.
III. Lastly, my text suggests HOW BEAUTIFUL A THING IS THE CHARACTER OF THE MAN THAT IS ESTABLISHED IN GRACE, The word translated good in my text would be better rendered fair, or lovely, or beautiful. Is there anything fairer than the strong, steadfast, calm, equable character, unshaken by the storms of passion, unaffected by the blasts of calamity, undevastated by the lava from the hellish, subterranean fires that are in every soul; and yet not stolidly insensible, nor obstinately conservative, but open to the inspiration of each successive moment, and gathering the blessed fruit of all mutability in a more profound and unchanging possession of the unchanging good? So do you see to it that you rectify your notions of what makes the beauty of character. Then, my brother, if we keep ourselves near Jesus Christ, and let His grace flow into our hearts, then we, too, shall be able to say, Because I set Him at my right hand I shall not be moved. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Established in grace:
The vendors of flowers in the streets of London are wont to commend them to customers by crying, All a blowing and a growing. It would be no small praise to Christians if we could say as much for them, but, alas! of too manyprofessors the cry would truthfully be, All a stunting and a withering. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 9. Be not carried about] . Be not whirled about. But ABCD, and almost every other MS. of importance, with the Syriac, Coptic, Arabic, Vulgate, and several of the Greek fathers, have , be not carried away, which is undoubtedly the true reading, and signifies here, do not apostatize; permit not yourselves to be carried off from Christ and his doctrine.
Divers and strange doctrines.] , . Variegated doctrines; those that blended the law and the Gospel, and brought in the Levitical sacrifices and institutions in order to perfect the Christian system. Remember the old covenant is abolished; the new alone is in force.
Strange doctrines, , foreign doctrines; such as have no apostolical authority to recommend them.
That the heart be established with grace] It is well to have the heart, the mind, and conscience, fully satisfied with the truth and efficacy of the Gospel; for so the word should be understood here, which is put in opposition to , meats, signifying here the Levitical institutions, and especially its sacrifices, these being emphatically termed meats, because the offerers were permitted to feast upon them after the blood had been poured out before the Lord. See Le 7:15; De 12:6; De 12:7.
Which have not profited them] Because they neither took away guilt, cleansed the heart, nor gave power over sin.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines: the doctrine of Christ being immutable, it is but necessary to dehort his subjects from deserting it, which the apostle doth here; that they should not be wheeling or whirling about with an unstable and inconstant motion of judgment, faith, and practice, about such human doctrines which are vain rules to lead to God, such as are different in nature from Christ, one and the same rule, and those very numerous and various, strange and untrue, taught by false apostles and teachers, taken out of Gentilism and Judaism, and added to the Gospel by them, as necessary, together with Christ, to justification and salvation, Mat 15:9; 2Co 11:3; Eph 4:14; 2Th 2:10,12; 1Ti 4:1-3; 2Ti 4:3,4; 2Pe 2:1,18,19; Jude 1:12.
For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; for the goodness of heart establishment unto God is no less than full and complete salvation of the soul, 1Co 15:58; 2Pe 3:17,18. And this is only wrought by grace, the free love of God put out in Christ, for regeneration and preservation of souls unto life eternal, carried in the simple doctrine of Christ, which is always the same, 2Th 2:16,17; 1Pe 5:10.
Not with meats; doctrines of meats and ceremonies, which are divers, and strange from Christs, cannot make the heart agreeable to God, but only distract and divide it from him; for whatsoever is not in and from Christ, is strange to God, and abhorred by him, Gal 5:2; Col 2:18,19,23; 2Ti 2:16; Jam 1:8.
Which have not profited them that have been occupied therein: those who did converse in these various and strange doctrines, professing and constantly practising them, observed times, and meats, and ceremonies, have not been profited by them; for being carnal and eartidy, they could not justify them as to their state God-ward, nor could they renew or sanctify their souls, nor yield any advantage to their spiritual life; and being perishing, could not profit to the attaining of eternal life, Rom 14:17,18; compare 1Co 6:13.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. aboutrather, as oldestmanuscripts read, “carried aside“; namely, compareEph 4:14.
diversdiffering fromthe one faith in the one and the same Jesus Christ, as taught by themwho had the rule over you (Heb13:7).
strangeforeign to thetruth.
doctrines“teachings.”
established with grace; notwith meatsnot with observances of Jewish distinctions betweenclean and unclean meats, to which ascetic Judaizers added inChristian times the rejection of some meats, and the use of others:noticed also by Paul in 1Co 8:8;1Co 8:13; 1Co 6:13;Rom 14:17, an exact parallel tothis verse: these are some of the “divers and strange doctrines”of the previous sentence. Christ’s body offered once for all for us,is our true spiritual “meat” to “eat” (Heb13:10), “the stay and the staff of bread” (Isa3:1), the mean of all “grace.”
which have notprofitedGreek, “in which they who walked were notprofited”; namely, in respect to justification, perfectcleansing of the conscience, and sanctification. Compare on “walked,”Ac 21:21; namely, withsuperstitious scrupulosity, as though the worship of God in itselfconsisted in such legal observances.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines,…. The word “divers” may denote the variety and multitude of other doctrines; referring either to the various rites and ceremonies of the law, or to the traditions of the elders, or to the several doctrines of men, whether Jews or Gentiles; whereas the doctrine of the Scriptures, of Christ, and his apostles, is but one; it is uniform, and all of a piece; and so may likewise denote the disagreement of other doctrines with the perfections of God, the person and offices of Christ, the Scriptures of truth, the analogy of faith, and even with themselves: and “strange” doctrines may design such as were never taught by God, nor are agreeable to the voice of Christ, nor to be found in the word of God; and which are new, and unheard of, by the apostles and churches of Christ; and appear in a foreign dress and habit: wherefore the apostle exhorts the believing Hebrews not to be “carried about with them”; as light clouds and meteors in the air, by every wind: for so to be, is to be like children; and discovers great ignorance, credulity, levity, inconstancy, uncertainty, fluctuation, and inconsistency:
for it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; with the doctrine of grace, which is food for faith, and does not leave men at uncertainties about things; but establishes the heart, with respect to the love and favour of God, and builds souls upon the foundation, Christ; so that they are not at a loss about the expiation of sin, justification, and salvation; but firmly look for, and expect eternal happiness by Christ, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God:
not with meats; referring to the distinction of meats among the Jews; or the sacrifices ate both by the priests and by the people; or the whole ceremonial law which stood in divers meats and drinks:
which have not profited them that have been occupied therein; they were only profitable to the body; and could be of no other use to the soul, when they were in force, than as they led to Christ, and were regarded by believers; for they were of no advantage to hypocrites and carnal men; they could not sanctify, nor justify, nor cheer the spirits, nor establish the heart; and are of no manner of service at all, since the death of Christ, whereby the whole ceremonial law is abolished.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Be not carried away ( ). Prohibition with and present passive imperative of , old verb to lead along (Jude 1:12), to carry past (Mr 14:36), to lead astray as here.
By divers and strange teachings ( ). For (many coloured) see 2:4. for guest we have had in 11:13, but here as adjective meaning unheard of (1Pe 4:12) as in older Greek also. The new is not always wrong any more than the old is always right (Mt 13:52). But the air was already full of new and strange teachings that fascinated many by their very novelty. The warning here is always needed. Cf. Gal 1:6-9; 2Tim 3:16.
That the heart be established by grace ( ). Present passive infinitive of (from ) to make stable with the instrumental case (by grace) and the accusative of general reference ( ). How true it is that in the atmosphere of so many windy theories only the heart is stable that has an experience of God’s grace in Christ.
That occupied themselves ( ). “That walked” in the ritualistic Jewish rules about meats.
Were not profited ( ). First aorist passive indicative of , to help. Mere Jewish ceremonialism and ritualism failed to build up the spiritual life. It was sheer folly to give up Christ for Pharisaism or for Moses.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Be not carried about [ ] . A. V. follows T. R. periferesqe. Rend. “carried away.” The present tense indicates a present and active danger.
With divers and strange doctrines [ ] . For “doctrines” rend. “teachings.” These teachings represent various phases of one radical error – the denial of Jesus ‘s messiahship and of his messianic economy as superseding Judaism and all other means of salvation. Among them the writer’s mind would naturally turn to the prescriptions concerning clean and unclean meats and sacrificial festivals. See next clause. These teachings were various as contrasted with the one teaching of the gospel; they were strange as they differed from that teaching. Comp. Gal 1:6 – 9. For poikilaiv see on 2Ti 3:16. That the heart be established [ ] . There is an emphasis on heart as well as on grace. These strange teachings all emphasized externalism, in contrast with Christianity, which insisted upon the purification of the heart and conscience. The contrast is strongly stated in ch. 9 9, 14, and the Epistle constantly directs the readers to the heart as the true point of contact with God, and the source of all departures from him. See ch. Heb 3:8, 10, 12, 15; Heb 4:7, 12; Heb 8:10; especially Heb 10:22. Hence, the writer says, “it is good that the solid basis of your assurance before God be in the heart, purged from an evil conscience, so that you can draw near to God with a firmly – established confidence, with a true heart, in full assurance of faith” : ch. 10 22; comp. 1Th 3:13; 2Ti 2:22.
With grace, not with meats [ ] . The heart is the proper seat of the work of grace. Free grace is the motive – power of Christ ‘s sacrifice (2Co 8:9; Gal 1:15); it is behind the blood of the new covenant, and is the energetic principle of its saving operation. See Rom 5:2, 15; 1Co 14:10; Eph 2:5, 7, 8; 2Th 2:16; Heb 2:9; Heb 4:16; Heb 10:29. With meats stands for the whole system of ceremonial observances, in contrast with grace, working on the heart. See ch. Heb 9:10. This ceremonial system yielded no permanent benefit to those who lived under it. See ch. Heb 7:25; Heb 9:9, 13, 14; Heb 10:1, 2, 4. Which have not profited them that have been occupied therein [ ] . Lit. in the which they who walked were not profited. Peripatein to walk about is often used to express habitual practice or general conduct of life. See Rom 6:4; 2Co 10:3; Eph 2:10; Col 3:7; Col 4:5.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines,” (didachais poikilais kai kenais me parapheresthe) “Do not be carried off, off from Christ, (away) as by a flood, by means of varying and strange teachings,” Gal 1:6-9; Eph 4:14; Col 2:8; 1Jn 4:1; such as the independent, self-appointed, truth-squad, of Jewish apostates who went out from the Jerusalem church of their own accord, without sanction of the church, and went up to the church at Antioch in Syria, teaching that men had to keep the law of Moses and be circumcised to be or to stay saved, Act 15:1-3; Act 15:5; Act 15:24-29.
2) “For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; (kalon gar chariti bebaiousthai ten kardian) “Because it is a good (ideal) thing that the heart be confirmed (stabilized) by grace,” not by rituals and ceremonies, especially of the Law of Moses. They had been admonished to go not to the sacrificial altar for grace to help, but to go boldly to the mercy seat, before the Father, to talk to, to petition Jesus, who awaits the petition of his children, Heb 4:16; Eph 2:18; Eph 3:12; Heb 10:19; Heb 10:21-22.
3) “Not with meats,” (ou bromasin) “Not by foods,” things, clean or unclean, that merely satisfy physical hunger. These do not give strength to spiritual emotions, the heart of the soul of man, 1Ti 4:1-3; Rom 14:17; Rom 4:3-5; Tit 3:5-6.
4) “Which have not profited,” (en ois ouk ophelethesan) “By which they were not profited,” The blood of bulls and of goats and the eating of the sacrifices could not save the soul from hell; to depend on it, rejecting Jesus Christ was to be damned, Heb 10:4; Heb 10:14; Joh 8:24; Mar 16:16; Act 4:12.
5) “Them that have been occupied therein,” (hoi peripatountes) “Those walking around ceremonially pursuing, chasing, or going after merely food to satisfy this physical body,” and those seeking to acquire or retain salvation by the outward morals, ethics, and rites of the Law of Moses, as the Pharisees, Sadducees, Paul and Jesus had done, Mat 5:20; Rom 1:15-16; Rom 10:1-4.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
9. Diverse doctrines, etc. He concludes that we ought not to fluctuate, since the truth of Christ, in which we ought to stand firm, remains fixed and unchangeable. And doubtless, variety of opinions, every kind of superstition, all monstrous errors, in a word, all corruptions in religion, arise from this, that men abide not in Christ alone; for it is not in vain that Paul teaches us, that Christ is given to us by God to be our wisdom.
The import then of this passage is that in order that the truth of God may remain firm in us, we must acquiesce in Christ alone. We hence conclude that all who are ignorant of Christ are exposed to all the delusions of Satan; for apart from him there is no stability of faith, but innumerable tossings here and there. Wonderful then is the acuteness of the Papists, who have contrived quite a contrary remedy for driving away errors, even by extinguishing or burying the knowledge of Christ! But let this warning of the Holy Spirit be fixed in our hearts, that we shall never be beyond the reach of danger except we cleave to Christ.
Now the doctrines which lead us away from Christ, he says, are divers or various, because there is no other simple and unmixed truth but the knowledge of Christ; and he calls them also strange or foreign, because whatever is apart from Christ is not regarded by God as his own; and we are hereby also reminded how we are to proceed, if we would make a due proficiency in the Scripture, for he who takes not a straight course to Christ, goes after strange doctrines. The Apostle farther intimates that the Church of God will always have to contend with strange doctrines and that there is no other means of guarding against them but by being fortified with the pure knowledge of Christ. (282)
For it is a good thing, etc. He now comes from a general principle to a particular case. The Jews, for instance, as it is well known, were superstitious as to distinctions in meats; and hence arose many disputes and discords; and this was one of the strange doctrines which proceeded from their ignorance of Christ. Having then previously grounded our faith on Christ, he now says that the observance of meats does not conduce to our salvation and true holiness. As he sets grace in opposition to meats, I doubt not but that by grace he means the spiritual worship of God and regeneration. In saying that the heart may be established, he alludes to the word, carried about, as though he had said, “It is the spiritual grace of God, and not the observance of meats, that will really establish us. (283)
Which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. It is uncertain to whom he here refers; for the fathers who lived under the Law had no doubt a useful training, and a part of it was the distinction as to meats. It seems then that this is to be understood rather of the superstitious, who, after the Gospel had been revealed, still perversely adhered to the old ceremonies. At the same time were we judiciously to explain the words as applied to the fathers, there would be no inconsistency; it was indeed profitable for them to undergo the yoke laid on them by the Lord, and to continue obediently under the common discipline of the godly and of the whole Church; but the Apostle means that abstinence from meats was in itself of no avail. And no doubt it is to be regarded as nothing, except as an elementary instruction at the time when God’s people were like children as to their external discipline. To be occupied in meats is to be taken as having a regard to them, so as to make a distinction between clean and unclean. But what he says of meats may be extended to the other rites of the Law.
(282) “Doctrines” were said to be “various” because of their number; there were then as now many false doctrines; and “strange” because they were new or foreign to the truth, not consistent with the faith, but derived from abroad as it were, borrowed from traditions, ceremonies, or other foreign sources. Stuart gives another meaning to the first word, that is “different” from Christian doctrine; but it has no such meaning. Still less warranted is Macknight in saying that it means what is “discordant.” What is meant by “diverse diseases” and “diverse lusts” is that they were of various kinds, or that they were many. The same author gives an unprecedented meaning to the second word. “foreign,” that is, taught by unauthorized teachers! Stuart says, that it means “foreign” to Christian doctrine. The word is indeed used in Act 17:18, and in 1Pe 4:12, in the sense of “new,” a thing unusual, not heard of before; nor is this meaning unsuitable here. See Eph 4:14, where the same subject is handled. See also Mat 15:9. — Ed.
(283) See Appendix F 3.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES
Heb. 13:10.This and the following verses form a little episode of argument in the midst of moral exhortations. Reference is made to the feasts which followed sacrifices, in which parts of the animal sacrificed were eaten. When the writer says, that Christians have a sacrifice of which those who pay their service at the altar have no right to partake, he means, that the benefits procured by the atoning sacrifice of Christ do not belong, or will not be granted, to such as rest their hopes of salvation on the ritual sacrifices of the Jewish law, i.e. to such as continue to be disciples of Judaism, or turn back from Christianity to Judaism, and thus renounce the blessings procured for believers by the death of Christ (Stuart).
Heb. 13:11. Burned without the camp.Lev. 16:11; Lev. 16:14-16; Lev. 16:27. Notice that the writers figures are mostly taken from the times of the tabernacle, and of the wilderness life.
Heb. 13:13. Without the camp.A figure of speech, meaning, Let us leave the camp, i.e. the dwellings of the Jews, or the profession of Judaism, and go over to the place where Christians dwell, although it be without the city.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Heb. 13:9-17
The Reproach of the Spiritual.Though anxious about many things appertaining to life and godliness, the mind of the writer readily returns upon his one great anxiety. He cannot close his letter without one more earnest appeal on behalf of that spiritual dispensation which was entered on accepting Jesus as Messiah and Saviour. Recalling other old figures with which the Jewish Christians were familiar, he pleads again with them, not to be carried away by strange doctrines; not to be distressed because they were excommunicated and reproached; but to enter so fully into their spiritual privileges and duties, that, having their interest wholly engaged, they might cease to trouble over the loss of old relationships. This is the general idea of the passage, but it needs a more careful and detailed attention. It is a difficult passage if its language be treated apart from its connections, and from the purpose of the writer. The difficulties readily pass when we understand the anxiety of the writer, and the conditions of those who were directly addressed. It appears that the epistle was not sent to the Jewish Church in Jerusalemthat was under apostolic guidancebut to the Churches of Jewish Christians in other parts; away from Jerusalem, perhaps through persecutions, perhaps through business exigencies. Then, and through all the ages since then, the Jews had an intense, passionate love for their holy city, a love which we can but very imperfectly estimate. It was a great strain on patriotic and religious feeling to live away, so that access to Jerusalem for the feast-times was practically impossible. This feeling for the city was matched by the Jewish feeling for the Mosaic ceremonial, which was still, at least partly, represented by the Temple worship. They lived indeed in the past rather than the present; and this writer meets the cherished feeling of the more pious Jews by referring so entirely to the times of the tabernacle, when the ceremonials were observed strictly according to the Mosaic pattern. Jews, in becoming Christians, in no sense lost their patriotic love for Jerusalem, or for that old system of rites and sacrifices which had been the religion of their fathers, and their own religion until they had been called into the spiritual religion of the Son of God. We must understand their feelings in order to realise how they were affected by the persecutions under which they were brought, and how severely they felt the threatenings and enticements of their old Judaic friends. In naming the name of Christ they had been virtually, perhaps actually, put out of the synagogues, excommunicated, and no longer allowed to take part in sacrifice and feast. The Christian teachers never required them to break with their old Temple associations. Both our Lord Himself and His apostles, throughout their lives, preserved their Jewish relations, and observed their Mosaic customs. It was not the policy of early Christianity to break with Judaism. In good time, in the providence of God, the Jewish ceremonial would fall away; the system was decaying; almost all the life was already gone out of it; and soon the Romans would put the final stroke to it and bury it for ever. But the Jewsthe intense, bigoted Jewsforced the separation, and compelled the Jewish Christians to take a definite attitude, and satisfy themselves, if they could, with the spiritual religion which they had chosen. Those Jewish Christians had to endure the enticements of friends, who would use all kinds of arguments to induce them to return back to the old formal religious system of their fathers. And, among other things, we may be quite sure they would sneer at the spirituality of the Christian religion, and say: See, you have no tabernacle, no altar, no sacrifice, no feast, no day of atonement, no priest. You have nothing but a sentimental notion that Jesus of Nazareth is alive; and all that you and we really know is that He was crucified. How ridiculous such a vague and unsubstantial religion looks beside such a formal and stately system as Mosaism, which has the imprint of Divine authority, and the testimony of efficiency from saintly souls through the long ages! The allurements and persuasions were seriously affecting the Christians, and filling the hearts of the Christian teachers with grave anxiety. This epistle throughout bears on this perilous condition of the Jewish Christian Churches. And the argument is thisthe spiritual alone is the real. We do not want to spiritualise those old ceremonials. We want to bring to light the spiritual things that were inpictured inthose old ceremonies. The time has come when men can have the spiritual realities, and may be willing to let the pictures fade away. Do not be unduly moved when they say that, because the religion of Christ is spiritual, it can have no tabernacle, no altar, no sacrifice, no priest. It has the spiritual reality of all these things that was at the heart of all the old formality. Christianity has a spiritual tabernacle, a spiritual sacrifice, a spiritual Priest. If you would enter fully into the spiritual, you would be wholly satisfied, you would find that you were lifted up to a higher plane, and could not possibly go back to the weak and beggarly elements, as St. Paul calls them. Danger always lies in half-heartedness. When professing Christians did not enter fully into the spiritual truth and spiritual privilege, they were exposed to the full force of temptations, which had no force at all on whole-hearted men and women. In the midst of a series of practical counsels concerning the Christian life and relationships, the writer is reminded again of the one great message he had been trying so variously to present to them. Ere he closes his letter he will state his point once again, and then end with some kindly greetings. His message all through has been, Be not carried away by divers and strange teachings. His plea all through isEnter fully into the spiritual apprehension of that religion whose tabernacle is not made with hands, whose sacrifice is the surrender of an obedient will, and whose Priest is the risen, ascended, glorified Son of God.
I. The inefficiency of the merely material in religion.Because forms and ceremonies are found useful, men easily get to say that they are essential. The truth is that, like fire and water, they are good servants, but bad masters. The old Mosaic system had for a long time been a mere automaton, a machine that kept up a routine working. There was no ark, and no mercy-seat, and no Shekinah glory in the Holy Place. That is the difficulty of all ritual religion. It is good while the life is in it, but it is always in peril of losing its life, and then becoming worse than worthless. The writer has already urged that formal ceremony could not make the comers thereunto perfect, as pertaining to the conscience. No sacrificial or sacramental system can ever touch the conscience. He reminds of all the former teachings when he says of the meats and drinks and divers washings of Judaism, that they did not profit those who were occupied therewith. Those who stood up so valiantly for the old Mosaic system had no real ground for their over-confidence. The real value of the material system was the spiritual truth which was in it, and found temporary expression by means of it. If it be said that there must be a material element in the religion that is adapted to man, still it must be anxiously and persistently urgedKeep the material element in its place, and in strictest limitations. It has a strange power of encroaching; it can cover over, hide, and even stifle the spiritual. The material form of doctrine has often stifled spiritual truth; and the material form of services and sacraments has often stifled spiritual life. It cannot be too constantly urged that religion becomes inefficient in proportion as it becomes formal and outward, a matter of postures, and garments, and rites, and services, and self-restraints. On Christianity this sign is fixed: God is a spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
II. The exclusiveness of spiritual religion.To use a colloquialism, we may say that the writer turns the tables upon the mischievous Judaising teachers. They had pleaded that the Jewish Christians, even if they kept up association with Judaism, could have no real part or lot in it. Its altar was not for them. Its sacrifices could be of no avail for them. This writer saysTell them that we have an altar, of which they, who serve the tabernacle, have no right to eat. They will not let you share their privileges, which lie on but a low level. You take high ground with them, and sayYou cannot share our spiritual privileges. Your material-mindedness makes it impossible. The exclusiveness of spiritual religion is something which belongs to the very nature of things. The carnally, materially-minded cannot know them; they are spiritually discerned. No judicial act is necessary; he simply cannot. The spiritual man can, on all fitting occasions, and in all wise ways, use ceremonials, but the ceremonial man can do nothing with the spiritual. He is necessarily shut out, excluded. He cannot eat at this altar. Becoming spiritual-minded creates no stand-offness of the Pharisee, who says, I am holier than thou. But the spiritual-minded become exclusive, in the very nature of the case. They breathe another atmosphere, and move in another sphere. They are exclusive, as Christ was when He moved to and fro among men.
III. Then the writer recalls to mind a feature of the old ceremony of atonement, and, after the Rabbinical method of treating Scripture, makes it illustrate his point. Instead of being troubled by their excommunication from material Jewish privileges, they might remember something very suggestive in old covenant ceremony. Cast out were they?
1. So were the bodies of the animals who had given their life-blood as atonement for the redemption of Israel; and
2. So was Christ, who gave His bloodHis lifea ransom for many, but was turned out of Jerusalem, and crucified outside the city. Cast out were they Let them take place with the burnt bodies outside the camp. They had given their life for men. They were turned out because of the work they had done; and there was high honour in their burning. Let them take place outside Jerusalemif they were in any sense turned out of Jerusalemwith Jesus, whose body hung on the cross, outside the city wall. He had given His life for men. He was turned out because of the work He had done. And there was sublime honour resting on Him who died without the camp. The point of the illustration lies in the bodies of the beasts being those beasts whose blood had been taken for the sin-offering of atonement, and in the body of Jesus being the body in which He had offered to God the sacrifice of the obedient will as the spiritual atonement. The plea is full of most gracious persuasiveness: Let us therefore go forth unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach. It is as if he had said: In Christ you are giving yourselves to the salvation of men; your life is the spiritual life of men. Do not hesitate then, if it comes to this; you are burned like the bodies of the beasts; you are crucified like the body of your Lord. Go forth to Him without the camp. Be excommunicated, if you must be. Bear His reproach. You are after Him, and for Him, the saviours of the world. Your spiritual life is the light and hope of men. Bear His reproach, the earth-strain of Him who gave His life for us, and is the Life and Light of men.
IV. The persuasion to enter fully into spiritual religion.This teacher saw clearly enough that the mistake of the Jewish Christians, and the thing which put their Christian faith in peril, was their temporising. They were trying to keep in with Judaism, and at the same time to keep in with Christianity. Their heart was divided. Their attitude was represented by the proverbial two stools. And in pressing them to go forth with Christ, outside the camp, bearing His reproach, he is really pressing them to give up Judaism altogether. Let go those old ties to a formal religion; enter fully into the spiritual standing in Christ Jesus; realise fully your spiritual privileges in Christ Jesus; use freely all the spiritual agenciestabernacle, altar, sacrifice, priestprovided in Christ Jesus. Breathe the spiritual atmosphere; feed on the spiritual food; live out the spiritual life; enjoy the spiritual fellowships. You will find them so soul-satisfying, that the reproach which may come to you will seem no more to you than it seemed to Christ, who, for the spiritual joy, that was set before Him, endured the crossthe highest form of reproachdespising the shame. Let us go forth outside all formal religion, as Christ went forth out of formal, material, continuing Jerusalem. Let us go forth into the city to comethe spiritual city, the new Jerusalem, the Jerusalem that is aboveto the age which has been so long anticipated, the spiritual age. Say it out once for all, Weve no abiding city hereno abiding material city, no formal ceremonial religion, centred in a tabernacle or in a city made with hands. We seek the city to come, the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from Godthe city that is always coming to souls spiritually quickened. An altar do we want? Christ is our altar. A priest do we want? Christ is our priest. A sacrifice do we want? Christ is our sacrifice. Do you ask, How shall we respond to the spiritual sphere into which, with the quickened and regenerate life, we enter? The answer is given us at once, Through Him then let us offer up a sacrifice of praisethat is, a spiritual sacrificeto God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, which make confession to His name. Can he be misunderstood in pleading so earnestly that they would enter into spiritual religion? Would they think that he urged them to go away from the world, and form communities like the Essenes of those times, and the hermits and monks of later times? He would correct the mistake at once by showing them
V. The satisfying sphere of earthly activities, relations, and services which spiritual religion provides.But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Never let us make the mistake of thinking that spiritual religion is unearthly. Our Divine Lord taught us better than this when, interceding with God for His disciples, He said, I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil. What we have to affirm persistently is, that man is not man until he is spiritual man; and when he is spiritual man, he is the most truly human being, and the best fitted to sustain all earthly responsibilities. I knew a man in Christ. That man was most truly and most worthily a man in the world. The spiritual man is the Christly man, who is ever going about doing good, and prepared to do it up to measures of self-sacrifice. Bearing His reproach. Can we put in a word what the reproach of Christ is,what it was in those early times; what it has been in every age since then; what it is, in appropriate forms, for us to-day? It is the reproach cast on the spiritual by the carnal. It always will be cast.
1. It is the reproach always cast on those who persist in seeking spiritual truth. (Heretics, Mystics, Quakers.)
2. It is the reproach always cast on those who persist in doing spiritual service to humanity. Jesus, the miraculous Healer and Provider, everybody wants. Jesus, the Life and Light of men, only the few babe-souls ever seem to want.
3. It is the reproach always cast on those who persist that life, at its best, is the culture of spiritual character. They follow Christ, who was in Himself, in His character, the Saviour of the world; Reproach of the spiritual! We do but bear it with Christ.
SUGGESTIVE NOTES AND SERMON SKETCHES
Heb. 13:10; Heb. 13:15. Our AltarWe have an altar. There is a certain militant emphasis on the words in the original, as if they were an assertion of something that had been denied. Who the deniers are is plain enough. They were the adherents of Judaism, who naturally found Christianity a strange contrast to their worship, of which altar and sacrifice were prominent features. Just as to heathen nations the ritual of Judaism, its empty shrine, and Temple without a God, were a puzzle and a scoff, so to heathen and Jew the bare, starved worship of the Church, without temple, priest, sacrifice, or altar, was a mystery and a puzzle. The writer of this letter in these words, then, in accordance with the central theme of his whole epistle, insists that Christianity has more truly than heathenism or Judaism altar and sacrifice. And he is not content with alleging its possession of the reality of the altar, but he goes further, and insists upon the superiority even in that respect of the Christian system. He points to the fact that the great sin-offering of the Jewish ritual was not partaken of by the offerers, but consumed by fire without the camp, and he implies, in the earlier words of my text, that the Christian sacrifice differs from, and is superior to, the Jewish in this particularthat on it the worshippers feasted and fed. Then, in the last words of my text, he touches upon another point of superiority, viz. that all Christian men are priests of this altar, and have to offer upon it sacrifices of thanksgiving. And so he lifts up the purely spiritual worship of Christianity as not only possessed of all which the gorgeous rituals round about it presented, but as being high above them even in regard to that which seemed their special prerogative.
I. Our Christian altar.Two explanations are open to us. One is that the cross is the altar. But that seems to me too gross and material, and savouring too much of the very error which this whole epistle is written to destroy, viz. that the material is of moment, as measured against the spiritual. The other explanation is much to be preferred, according to which, if the altar has any special significance, it means the Divine-human personality of Jesus Christ, on and in which the sacrifice is offered. But the main thing to be laid hold of here is, as I take it, that the central fact of Christianity is an altar, on which lies a sacrifice. If we are to accept the significance that I have suggested as possible for the emblem of my text, then the altar expresses the great mystery and gospel of the Incarnation, and the sacrifice expresses the great mystery and gospel of the passion of Christs life and death, which is the atonement for our sins. But that possibly is too much of a refinement, and so I confine myself here to the general ideas suggestedthat the very living heart of the gospel is an altar and a sacrifice. That idea saturates the whole New Testament, from the page where John the forerunners proclamation is, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world, to the last triumphant visions in which the apocalyptic seer beheld a Lamb as it had been slain, the eternal Co-regnant of the universe, and the Mediator through whom the whole surrounding Church for ever worships the Father.
II. Our feast on the Sacrifice.From this altar, says the writer, the adherents of the ancient system have no right to partake. That implies that those who have left the ancient system have the right to partake, and do partake. Now the writer is drawing a contrast, which he proceeds to elaborate, between the great sacrifice on the Day of Atonement and the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. The former was not, as many other sacrifices were, partaken of by priests and worshippers, but simply the blood was brought within the Holy Place, and the whole of the rest of the sacrifice consumed in a waste spot without the camp. And this contrast is in the writers mind. We have a Sacrifice on which we feast. That is to say, the Christ who died for my sins is not only my means of reconciliation with God, but His sacrifice and death are the sustenance of my spiritual life. We live upon the Christ that died for us. That this is no mere metaphor, but goes penetratingly and deep down to the very basis of the spiritual life, is attested sufficiently by many a word of Scripture on which I cannot now dwell. The life of the Christian is the indwelling Christ. For he whose heart hath not received that Christ within him is dead while he lives, and has no possession of the one true life for a human spirit, viz. the life of union with God. Christ in us is the consequence of Christ for us; and that Christianity is all imperfect which does not grasp with equal emphasis the thought of the sacrifice on the cross and of the feast on the Sacrifice.
III. Our Christian offerings on the altar.By Him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. What are these offerings? Christs death stands alone, incapable of repetition, needing no repetition, the eternal, sole, sufficient obligation and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world. But there be other kinds of sacrifice. There are sacrifices of thanksgiving as well as of propitiation. And we, on the footing of that great Sacrifice to which we can add nothing, and on which alone we must rest, may bring the offerings of our thankful hearts. These offerings are of a twofold sort, says the writer. There are words of praise; there are works of beneficence. The service of man is sacrifice to God. That is a deep saying and reaches far. Such praise and such beneficence are only possible on the footing of Christs sacrifice, for only on that footing is our praise acceptable; and only when moved by that infinite mercy and love shall we yield ourselves thank-offerings to God. And thus, brethren, the whole extent of the Christian life, in its inmost springs, and in its outward manifestations, is covered by these two thoughtsthe feast on the Sacrifice once offered, and the sacrifices which we in our turn offer on the altar. There is one Christ that can thus hallow and make acceptable our living and our dying, and that is the Christ that has died for us, and lives that in Him we may be priests to God. There is only one Christianity that will do for us what we all need, and that is the Christianity whose centre is an altar on which the Son of God, our Passover, is slain for us.A. Maclaren, D.D.
Heb. 13:14. No Continuing City.The truth presented in the text is one to which we at once give our consent, taught by many a sad experience.
I. The uncertainty of all earthly things.Most persons experience a feeling of melancholy when the principle of the text is forced on their attention. There are times when, amid the changing scenes of earth, we cast about for something solid and enduring; but the more we search the more deeply we become convinced of the uncertainty of all human relationships. In vain we seek for something that knows no change, and will abide. The earth itself teaches its inhabitants this unsatisfying truth. As it gradually took form, passing through its various eras, change, unceasing change, was its abiding characteristic. In all its history; in its seasons, and soil, and scenery, and climate; and in the story of man upon it, is the same constant change. A mother fondles you as an infant; then through a long season of anxiety and care she watches from childhood into youth, and from youth to manhood; and by-and-by, in turn, you watch her gliding down the slope of life, and presently follow in her steps. A few years pass, and it becomes evident that this very body of ours has been changing, and in manhood every element of the bodily constitution has been renewed. The same change marks the advance of the soul from the first dawn of intelligence to the full development of mental vigour. The mind never can stay long unchanged, either in the condition of its mental powers or its spiritual faculties. The history of men and the history of nations repeats for us the same fact. Simple and natural was the mode of life pursued by the patriarchs of old. The grass sprang up fresh around them, and they fed their flocks. Then pastures were bared and the wells dried up, and they struck their tents and wandered forth. They had no continuing city. When the nomadic life was over, they built settled habitations, and raised their families, only to see them scattered far and wide over the earth. Man lays the foundations of empires; slowly and through many conflicts the kingdom rises toward perfection in constitution and order and developed civilisation, at last to find the fires of discontent imperilling it, and leaving it a prey to some strong and aggressive neighbour. For even the empire has no continuing city. The language of a people is always changing forms and meanings. The wants of a nation may keep the same, but the modes of supplying them are ever changing. The earth must be tilled and her fruits gathered in; the ocean must be swept of her treasures, and land knit to land across her; but the agencies for effecting these ends are ever varying. The vesture that adorns the human figure was once slowly produced by the human hand, and now it is rushed into existence on the wings of steam. The journey, once accomplished with difficulty and exertion, is now the simple act of rest. The message once communicated at the quickest by swift runners now flashes from mind to mind as does the lightning. Here we have no continuing city; and when we have passed away, the marvellous discoveries of our age will excite the smile of new generations that shall have tamed yet new and mightier nature-forces to do their bidding. There is, perhaps, no truth with which we are more familiar. All around us everything is speaking of decay and change; the story is written on the wasting rock and crumbling peak, on the old tower and the ivied wall. The flowing river and the gurgling stream, the tints of autumn, and the falling leaves, all tell it out, with no uncertain sound.
II. The permanence of all Divine and heavenly things.The previous verses give admonitions concerning a true, spiritual life, and direct us from the change, dissatisfaction, and sorrow of our earthly life to Him who is the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever. By the exercise of Christian love, by charity and a heart open to the sufferings of those around us, by a happy contentment and a simple trust in God, and above all by having our heart ever reposing on Christ in every circumstance of joy or sorrow, we are taught to live in this world as though we were not of it. If we are cherishing this life, our hearts will be gradually lifted up above this earth, and we shall be able so to fix our affections on things here as not to rely on them for our happiness. Even before we have left our earthly abode the foundations of our future habitation may be laid. Our lives should be pilgrimages. Footsore and weary the traveller plods homeward; the clear sky, the rich sunset, the fruits by the wayside, the cool leafy shades, tempt him to stay, but his soul is full of the thought of home, and onward, still onward, he must go. What is that city which we seek? Its walls rise high; its mansions are secure; no aching heart dwells there; no tearful eye, no bent and drooping form, no withered or suffering frame, is seeking it. There shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, for the former things have passed away. It is that spiritual and eternal city, whose builder and maker is God. We are pilgrims and strangers here, as indeed all our fathers were. But we do not unduly heed the changes of earth, or unrestrainedly weep over its uncertainties. We are travelling through; what matters a little discomfort on the way! We are going homehome to God. He is our city yet to come. And He changeth never.A. Thomson, B.A.
Remindings of our Mortality.If any one has visited Rome, he will rememberfor none who have travelled thither can forget the scenethe long street of tombs which forms one of the approaches to the Eternal City. For miles on the road these monuments erected over the departed stand on either side of the way, at brief but uncertain intervals, until the traveller reaches the gate. Exactly thus it is with us on our pilgrimage to that city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God; on every hand we are reminded of our mortality, until we in our turn fall by the wayside, and swell the number of the dead.Archbishop Trench.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(9) Be not carried about.The better reading of the Greek gives a meaning somewhat different, Be not carried away by divers and strange teachings. The ordinary reading may have come in from Eph. 4:14. The teachings by which they were in danger of being led astray were various, and were all foreign to the one true word. The contrasts expressed in the second part of this verse and in Heb. 13:10-11, throw light on the nature and source of the erroneous doctrine. Its subject was not grace, but meats; its promoters were connected with those who serve the Tabernacle. Hence the writer is probably speaking of doctrines and practices similar to those censured by St. Paul in Col. 2:16-23. (See the introductory Note on Romans 14; also 1Ti. 4:3.) In Heb. 9:10 we read of meats and drinks in connection with the Law of Moses; here the divers and strange teachings must include human additions to that Law and perversions of its spirit.
With grace; not with meats.Better, by grace, not by meats. Instead of being carried away by strange teachings, let your hearts be made firm and sure by grace. As the whole system of ceremonial observance is alluded to under the one term meats, so the blessings of the Christian faith are comprised under grace, a word used throughout this Epistle with peculiar significance. (See especially Heb. 10:29; Heb. 12:15; Heb. 12:28.) One human system of teaching will but lead on to another; grace will keep the heart firm in its loyal love to Jesus Christ, who is ever the same (Heb. 13:8).
Which have not profited.Literally, in which they that walked were not profited. To the English reader the mode of expression must appear peculiar; in the Greek, however, there is little or no incongruity, for the word which we render walk is used most freely to denote a course or manner of life. Comp. Eph. 2:10, unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Here the meaning is, that those who have made these external observances the rule of their life have failed of the profit which they sought. (Comp. Heb. 7:18-19.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. Fixed on Christ, the immutable, be not carried about like a wind-whirled ship. The winds by which, as coming from different quarters, the ship is whirled and hurled about, are divers and strange doctrines. Probably the true reading is, Be not carried away; and then it suggests a being driven to an unknown destiny. Divers refers to their number and variety, strange to their unnatural and unchristian character.
Established Firmly based on the ever same Jesus Christ. With, or, rather, by grace, and not by meats. It is debated whether reference is here made to sacrificial meats eaten in idol temples or to meats ascetically avoided by religious vegetarians. But the altar of Heb 13:10 is undoubtedly suggested by the word meats in this verse, and so indicates a reference to sacrificial meats. And, as Lunemann well argues, profited seems to refer not to abstaining, but to the eating of meats.
An altar We Christians discard all Jewish controversy touching sacrificial meats, for we have a sacrificial altar apart from all Jews. To the question, What is it that our author designates by the term altar? an obvious answer is, “The table of the Lord,” whereon the emblem of the Victim is partaken, and from which all but the believing Christian are excluded. And, knowing as we do that the “table” existed in the full knowledge of our author, we cannot imagine that there should not have been in his mind some reference to it. Others have understood by altar the cross on which the real sacrifice was offered. But the real altar, or the deep reality symbolized by the word altar, has no material shape or nature. The “table,” the cross, and the altar, are all but terms and images by which the saving power of the atonement is represented, the participation of which is limited to living faith. The propitiatory merits of Christ are at once the table, the altar, and the food by which the sinner lives.
No right to eat For they possess not the faith by which that aliment is received.
Serve the tabernacle The tabernacle built by Moses in the wilderness, which was the scene and emblem of Hebrew sacrifices; and was succeeded, when Jerusalem became the capital, by the temple built by Solomon, and rebuilt by Zerubbabel, and re-rebuilt by Herod. The tabernacle was in the desert in the centre of the camp of the hosts of Israel, and our author, as matter of doctrine, refers to it as the primitive institution rather than to the later temple. Yet, while he uses the primitive words tabernacle and camp, he uses the word city in Heb 13:14, both being the same thing so far as the symbol was concerned.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Do not be not carried away by divers and strange teachings: for it is good that the heart be established by grace, not by foods, wherein those who occupied themselves (literally ‘those who walked’) were not profited.’
Sixthly, especially therefore are they to beware of ‘many-coloured’ and unusual teachings not established by God’s word, teachings which are foreign to the Gospel. For Jesus Christ does not change and has come as God’s final revelation (Heb 1:1-3). Any further ‘new revelation’, or revelation contrary to the Scriptures, is therefore not to be countenanced.
And this especially applies to regulations concerning food. In the days of the early church false teachers of all kinds abounded, wandering from city to city and bringing strange ideas on religious matters. Many of these related to the eating of foods which connected with religious rituals of various kinds, and to various food regulations. Such teachings were prevalent in those days, as they are among some today. Paul had to combat them constantly (Rom 14:16-17; 1Co 8:8). Such regulations accomplish nothing spiritually, the writer assured his readers, they are of no profit to the spirit.
Let them therefore recognise that the heart and spirit are fed by what comes to them through the gracious activity of God, through His Holy Spirit working within them. Let them feed on such things as he has taught them (Heb 5:14).
And he now goes on to apply this to their own circumstances. For their danger clearly lay in their desiring to receive meat from the ritual sacrificial meals which were connected with the levitical priesthood, when the peace or thankoffering having been made, the meat would be made available to the worshippers. There was the danger of them looking to this rather than to receiving the gracious provision of God through the Spirit as previously described in the letter. They are to remember that those who look to such sacrificial meals are not ultimately profited by them spiritually. Eating such food cannot ‘establish’ them and make them impregnable, wherever the meat comes from. Food can strengthen the body but it cannot strengthen the heart and spirit. However, the grace of God, God’s freely given mercies, revealed in Jesus Christ, can do exactly that, “for the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men” (Tit 2:11). It is the grace of God revealed in salvation that can affect the whole man. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.
It would appear from the mention of these as ‘strange teachings’ that some who had come to them had come with their own particular views concerning the importance and significance of partaking of sacrifices. There was not just one view in Judaism about such things. Many differing views were in fact being canvassed among the Jews at this time, e.g. among the Essenes and the Qumran Community to name but two, and among the Apocalyptists, as well as among the Rabbis and the leading Sadducees.
So there may well be that these words are an indication that certain types of Jews had come among them decrying their stance and pointing out that as Christians they now had no altar on which sacrifices could be offered, that they had no sacred meal resulting from those sacrifices, by which they could directly participate of their sacrifice and thus enjoy a physical contact with the numinous, and that they were even losing out in not participating in the Passover at Jerusalem. It would seem that this had deeply impressed them. His reply will now be that they can easily dismiss such suggestions because they have something better, for their ‘meat’ is found in being established in the grace of God, in other words in partaking of what is provided by God’s gracious action through His Spirit, spiritual participation in Christ and Him crucified. And that is something that is not dependent on Jerusalem. It is ‘outside the camp’ of Israel. It is universally available.
These words would strike a chord with many. Offering sacrifices and partaking of sacred meat was widely known both among Jews and Gentiles (compare 1Co 10:18-21). And many who had come to Christ might well have looked back in wistful longing for those physical ritual acts which had meant so much to them. But the writer’s answer is clear. As he has been pointing out all along they are to look to the heavenly and not to the earthly, and he now expands on the point.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
How to Make Spiritual Sacrifices Under the New Covenant – Heb 13:9-17 makes a contrast between the ordinances of the New Covenant and the Old Covenant as it teaches us how to make spiritual sacrifices today. We are to bear the reproaches of men as Jesus bore them, and we offer the sacrifice of praise from our lips as well as the sacrifice of good works with our actions.
Heb 13:9 Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.
Heb 13:9
Heb 4:16, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
Heb 13:9 Comments Heb 13:9 refers to the ceremonial meats that the priests were commanded to eat under the Mosaic Law. The author mentioned these ceremonies earlier in Heb 9:9-10, “Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.”
Heb 13:10 We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.
Heb 13:10
Heb 13:10 Comments The priests and his family were to partake of, or eat of the offerings given unto the Lord. Note:
Lev 6:16, “And the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat: with unleavened bread shall it be eaten in the holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation they shall eat it.”
Lev 10:13-14,” And ye shall eat it in the holy place, because it is thy due, and thy sons’ due, of the sacrifices of the LORD made by fire: for so I am commanded. And the wave breast and heave shoulder shall ye eat in a clean place; thou, and thy sons, and thy daughters with thee: for they be thy due, and thy sons’ due, which are given out of the sacrifices of peace offerings of the children of Israel.”
Num 18:10-11,” In the most holy place shalt thou eat it; every male shall eat it: it shall be holy unto thee. And this is thine; the heave offering of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the children of Israel: I have given them unto thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: every one that is clean in thy house shall eat of it.”
Num 18:31, “And ye shall eat it in every place, ye and your households: for it is your reward for your service in the tabernacle of the congregation.”
Deu 18:1-5, “The priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel: they shall eat the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and his inheritance. Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren: the LORD is their inheritance, as he hath said unto them. And this shall be the priest’s due from the people, from them that offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep; and they shall give unto the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw. The firstfruit also of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the first of the fleece of thy sheep, shalt thou give him. For the LORD thy God hath chosen him out of all thy tribes, to stand to minister in the name of the LORD, him and his sons for ever.”
1Co 9:13, “Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?”
Heb 13:11 For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp.
Heb 13:11
Lev 16:27, “And the bullock for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall one carry forth without the camp; and they shall burn in the fire their skins, and their flesh, and their dung.”
We also see the body of the slain bull being carried without the camp in the sin offering under the Mosaic Law (Lev 4:1-12).
Lev 4:12, “Even the whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn him on the wood with fire: where the ashes are poured out shall he be burnt.”
Heb 13:12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
Heb 13:12
Lev 24:23, “And Moses spake to the children of Israel, that they should bring forth him that had cursed out of the camp, and stone him with stones. And the children of Israel did as the LORD commanded Moses.”
Num 15:36, “And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the LORD commanded Moses.”
Jos 7:24-25, “And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.”
Heb 13:13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.
Heb 13:13
“bearing his reproach” Comments – This is a reference to the enduring of man’s reproach upon us as Christians. Within the context of the epistle of Hebrews, it tells the Jewish converts that such separation from their traditions most certainly meant reproach from their Jewish brothers. Not only from their Jewish brothers, but those Jewish converts in the Diaspora would feel the persecutions from the Greek and Roman world system of pagan worship. But this phrase can have a broader application to Gentile believers as an exhortation to endure all reproaches for Christ’s sake (1Pe 4:14).
1Pe 4:14, “ If ye be reproached for the name of Christ , happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.”
Heb 13:14 For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
Heb 13:14
A city in ancient times was a place of rest and refuge.
Heb 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
Heb 13:15
Lev 7:12, “If he offer it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mingled with oil, of fine flour, fried.”
God’s original intent was for such praises and sacrifices to come from man’s heart, out of love and devotion to God. Jeremiah refers to the “sacrifice of praise” in the house of the Lord (Jer 33:11).
Jer 33:11, “The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD . For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the LORD.”
Other Old Testament passages reflect God’s command to give thanksgiving and praise unto God from the heart.
Psa 50:14, “Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:”
Psa 100:4-5, “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.”
Hos 14:2, “Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.”
“By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God” – The author provides an immediate answer in anticipation of this Jewish mindset; for he explains how the believers perform their sacrifices and worship without the physical Temple. For Christians, the sacrifice of praise is done by the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name, rather than by bringing an offering to the priests (Lev 7:12).
“continually” The word “continually” means, “constantly, always.” As God’s children who have been redeemed, we can give Him thanks in all things, knowing that God is working in our lives in all circumstances to perfect us for His glory.
Eph 5:20, “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;”
1Th 5:18, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
“that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name” Word Study on “giving thanks” Note the following modern English translations:
Thayer, BDAG – “praising”
NASB, NIV, KJV – “giving thanks”
RSV – “acknowledging”
Comments – Those who do not offer unto God thanksgiving are identified as “unthankful.” This contrast is clearly made in Luk 6:35 and 2Ti 3:1-2.
Luk 6:35, “But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.”
2Ti 3:1-2, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful , unholy,”
Heb 13:15 Comments – God is preparing a heavenly hallelujah choir with His people, and auditions begin right now.
Psa 34:1, “I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
Your choir robes are garments of praise:
Isa 61:3, “To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.”
The choir director the Lord Jesus Christ.
How long is the show? Forever.
Psa 145:2, “Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.”
1Pe 4:11, “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen .”
Who is the audience? You may not be able to carry a tune or even read music, but you need a song in your heart. God can put it there. One song the angels will sing is in Rev 15:3, “The song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb.”
Now long will this go on? It has been going on forever and will go on forever.
Heb 13:16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
Heb 13:16
Heb 13:16 “for with such sacrifices God is well pleased” Scripture Reference – Note:
Rom 12:1-2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice , holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
Heb 13:16 Comments – In Heb 13:16 the author continues to contrast the Jewish system of Temple sacrifices under the old covenant with those done under the new covenant.
Heb 13:17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
Heb 13:17
Heb 13:17 “as they that must give an account” Comments – We read a similar statement in Jas 3:1, which tells us that church leaders will give a greater account of their office than laity.
Jas 3:1, “My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.”
Heb 13:17 Comments – It is a grief for fathers to have unruly children; but it is a joy for them to be obedient. It is the same way with a pastor ruling over his flock.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Heb 13:9-10. Be not carried about, &c. Be not seduced or led away. Heylin. The connection of this verse is thus: “Remember the faithful pastors you have had, the end and object of that faith which they have taught,the eternal and immutable power of Jesus Christ; and, in this view, see to it that you be not led away by such doctrines relating to Christianity as are different from what your deceased pastors taught you, and are new and strange among Christians; as ‘there is no virtue in meats offered on the Jewish altar:’ for it is better that the heart should be established in the grace of the gospel, than in a regard to such meats; inasmuch as they who have paid a regard to them, have not thereby received any advantage (see Act 15:13; Act 15:41.). Nor let them boast (Heb 13:10.) of their having an altar at Jerusalem, whereof no Gentile has a right to partake: for we have, what is infinitely better than this,an altar of which the Jewish priests who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat; that is, their Jewish worship gives them no interest in the sacrifice of Christ.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Heb 13:9 . The exhortation itself, for which preparation was made at Heb 13:8 , now follows.
] By manifold and strange doctrines do not be seduced, borne aside from the right path . As is shown by the connecting of the two halves of the verse by the , expressive of the reason or cause, the are related to the mentioned immediately after as the genus to a species coming under particular notice; and, as is manifest from Heb 13:10 ff., both belong to the specifically Jewish domain. By , therefore, the ordinances of the Mosaic law in general are to be understood, the observance of which was proclaimed among the readers as necessary to the attainment of salvation, while then under a special group of the same is mentioned. the same are called, because they consist in commands and prohibitions of manifold kind; , however, because they are opposed to the spirit of Christianity.
] for it is a fair thing, i.e. praiseworthy and salutary.
] that by grace the heart be made stedfast , in it seek and find its support. For no other thing than the grace of God is that which determines the character of the New Covenant, as the law that of the Old, Rom 6:14 , al . Erroneously, therefore, Castellio and Bhme, means by thanksgiving or gratitude towards God ; yet more incorrectly Bisping and Maier: by the Christian sacrificial food, the Holy Communion.
] not by meats . This is referred by the majority, lastly by Bhme, Stengel, Tholuck, Bloomfield, Delitzsch, Riehm ( Lehrbegr. des Hebrerbr . p. 158), Alford, Moll, Ewald, and Hofmann, to the Levitical ordinances concerning pure and impure food. But only of the sacrificial meals can be understood. For rightly have Schlichting, Bleek, and others called attention to the fact that (1) the expression, Heb 13:9 , is more applicable to the enjoyment of sacred meats than to the avoiding of unclean meats. Schlichting: Cor non reficitur cibis non comestis, sed comestis. Ciborum ergo usui, non abstinentiae, opponitur hic gratia; that (2) it is said of the Christians, at Heb 13:10 , in close conjunction with Heb 13:9 , that they possess an altar of which the servants of the Jewish sanctuary have no right to eat; that, finally, (3) at the close of this series of thoughts, Heb 13:15 , the reference to the sacrifices is retained, inasmuch as there, in opposition to the Levitical sacrifices, it is made incumbent on Christians through Christ continually to offer sacrifices of praise unto God. Tholuck, it is true, objects to this reasoning: (1) that may denote “the clean, legally permitted meats, with (the mention of) which is at the same time implied the abstinence from the unclean.” But this expedient is artificial and unnatural; since, if we had in reality to think of the Levitical precepts with regard to food, in the exact converse of that which happens the avoiding of unclean meats would be the main idea brought under consideration. (2) That the connection of Heb 13:10 with Heb 13:9 would only apparently be lost, since one may warrantably assume the following line of thought: “Do not suffer yourselves to be led astray by a variety of doctrines alien to the pure truth surely it is a fairer thing to assure the conscience by grace than by meats, by means of which no true appeasement is obtained; we Christians have an altar with such glorious soul-nourishment, of which no priest may eat.” But this supposed thought of Heb 13:10 would be highly illogical. For how does it follow from the fact that Christians have an altar of most glorious soul-nourishment, that no priest may partake of the same? Logically correct, certainly, would be only the thought: for we Christians possess an altar with such glorious soul-nourishment, that we have no need whatever of the Levitical ordinances regarding food. Then again, at Heb 13:10 , nothing at all is written about “glorious soul-nourishment;” but, on the contrary, the design of this verse can only be to make good the incompatibility of the Christian altar with the Jewish. (3) That the exhortation to the spiritual sacrifices, Heb 13:15 , may be more immediately referred back to Heb 13:10 . But Heb 13:10 stands to Heb 13:9 , in which the theme of the investigation, Heb 13:8-15 , is expressed, in the relation of subordination. The following , Heb 13:15 , may therefore serve for the introducing of the final result from the whole preceding investigation. (4) Finally, that it cannot be perceived how the participation in sacrificial meals could have been looked upon as a means of justification. But the participation in the sacrificial meals was certainly a public avouchment of participation in the sacrifices themselves. Comp. 1Co 10:18 . Very easily, therefore, might the author be led finally to take up this preference of his readers for the Jewish sacrificial cultus in this particular form of manifestation, which had hitherto remained unnoticed in the epistle.
The supports, too, which Delitzsch has more recently sought to give to the referring of to ordinances regarding clean and unclean meats, are weak. For that is a word unheard of in the sacrificial thora , but familiar in the legislation regarding food, and that is used elsewhere in the N. T. of that which is prohibited or permitted for eating, does not in any way fall under consideration; because our passage claims before everything to be intelligible per se , nothing thus can be determinative of its meaning which is opposed to its expression and connection. That, however, the author cannot by have meant the ordinances of the law in general, because he has recognised their divine origin, and therefore could not have indicated them with so little reverence, is a mere prepossession. For the Apostle Paul, too, speaks of them, as is already shown by Gal 4:9 f., Heb 5:2 , with no greater reverence. We are prevented from thinking, with Delitzsch, of “erroneous doctrines invented in accordance with one’s own will, though it may be attaching themselves to the O. T. law,” by the relation in which stands to , Heb 13:9 , and this again to , Heb 13:10 .
] from which those busied therein have derived no profit , inasmuch, namely, as by such partaking of the sacrifice they did not attain to true blessedness.
belongs to , since these words cannot stand alone, not to .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 2345
CAUTION AGAINST FALSE DOCTRINES
Heb 13:9. Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace.
TRUTH lieth not on the surface, but must be sought after with diligence. This is true in every science; but most of all true in religion. In all other sciences, intellectual powers only are required: in religion, there must be integrity of heart, and a sincere desire to do, as well as to know, the will of God. To other knowledge there is no obstruction from within: if only there be a sufficiency of information and of capacity to comprehend it, truth will make its way into the mind of those who seek it. But to the progress of religious truth there are many obstacles in the heart of man; many prejudices, many passions, many interests present a barrier to obstruct its entrance into the soul: and these must be in a great measure removed, before the light of truth can break through the clouds which intercept its rays. Yet in one respect is religious truth of easier attainment than any other: for to the acquisition of it great intellectual powers are not necessary: nor is general erudition necessary. All that is wanting is, a humble, teachable spirit, that will seek instruction from God, and receive with child-like simplicity all that God has spoken in his word. Such an one, provided he seek with diligence, and with a determination of heart to fulfil the will of God as far as he can learn it, will assuredly be guided into all truth. But that very simplicity of mind which is necessary to the attainment of truth, subjects a person, if he be not much upon his guard, to be imposed upon by those, who, by good works and fair speeches, deceive the hearts of the simple. Against such teachers St. Paul felt it necessary to caution his converts frequently [Note: Rom 16:17-18.]; since, though agents only of the prince of darkness, they put on the appearance of angels of light [Note: 2Co 11:13-15.]. Against such he here cautions the Hebrew Christians, entreating them to bear in mind what they had been taught by those who had been over them in the Lord, and not to suffer themselves to be turned aside from the truth which they had received.
In the words here addressed to them, we see,
I.
A caution given
There were, even in the apostolic age, many vain-talkers and deceivers, and especially amongst the circumcision, who by their subtle disputations subverted whole houses [Note: Tit 1:10-11.], and caused the way of truth to be evil spoken of [Note: 2Pe 2:1-3.]. In this day likewise there are not wanting teachers of a similar description, who bring forward some favourite notions of their own, in order to draw away disciples after them [Note: Act 20:29-30.]. Against these we must at all times be on our guard, lest at any time we be carried away,
1.
By legal doctrines
[It was against these more particularly that the Apostle here cautioned the Hebrews. The great scope of his epistle was to shew, that the rites and ceremonies, on which the Jews laid so great a stress, were abrogated, and superseded by a better dispensation. And the strange doctrines hinted at in the text are put in immediate connexion with meats, (such as were enjoined or prohibited under the Mosaic dispensation,) which had not profited those who had been occupied therein. To such an extent were the ceremonies of the law insisted on by some, that they affirmed that no one could be saved without a strict observance of them [Note: Act 15:1. Col 2:16.]. Thus they perverted the Gospel of Christ, by uniting with the blood of Christ another ground of dependence for our justification before God [Note: Gal 1:7.].
And though Judaism is not now insisted on as it then was, there is the same disposition in men to combine something of their own with faith in Christ, as a joint ground of their hope. Men are still as averse as ever to a free salvation that is all of grace. They would have it to be in some measure of works; not aware, that it must be wholly either of works, or of grace [Note: Rom 4:4; Rom 11:6.]: they do not see that the very instant any works of ours are admitted as meriting salvation, either in whole or in part, salvation is no more of grace, and man has to all eternity a ground of boasting before God [Note: Rom 3:27.].
Be on your guard then that you be not carried away by such legal statements as too commonly prevail even in the present enlightened age: for it is not necessary to go to Papists in order to hear such doctrines: they are still heard amongst us, notwithstanding this error formed the chief ground of our separation from the Church of Rome, and of our protesting against their fatal heresies. But know, that, if you add any thing to the work of Christ as a joint ground of your hope, you make void the Gospel of Christ, and must inevitably and eternally perish [Note: Rom 9:30-33 and Gal 5:2; Gal 5:4.].]
2.
By Antinomian doctrines
[To these also there is a reference in the preceding context. Many converts, and especially from amongst the Gentiles, had but very imperfect views of that holiness which the Gospel enjoins. The great degree of criminality which attaches to fornication and adultery, was, through the influence of opinions imbibed in their Gentile state, but indistinctly seen: and hence, for the purpose of rectifying their views, the Apostle shews them, that, though marriage was honourable in all, having been ordained by God himself, that species of intercourse, which they were disposed to justify, was most dishonourable, and most offensive in the sight of God, who would judge both whoremongers and adulterers with the utmost severity [Note: ver. 4.]. Many indeed would plead for such indulgences; as we see in the Ephesian Church: but St. Paul, warning the Ephesian converts, says, Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience [Note: Eph 5:5-6. Rev 2:14; Rev 2:20.].
Thus at this time also there are not wanting persons who teach, that the law is not a rule of life to believers; and that Christs righteousness being perfect, they have a sanctification in him, and need not seek to have any sanctification in their own souls. From a professed zeal for the honour of Christ, they would set aside all need of personal holiness, and bring men to their heavenly inheritance without putting them to the trouble of seeking a meetness for it.
But this is an awful delusion. It is very specious indeed, because it pretends to exalt the honour of Christ: but, in reality, it greatly dishonours him, inasmuch as it makes him, not a friend of sinners, but of sin; which, if unmortified and unsubdued, would incapacitate the sinner for the enjoyment of heaven, even if he were admitted there [Note: Rev 21:27.].
But be on your guard against this doctrine also, a doctrine foreign to the whole tenour of Scripture, from the beginning to the end; a doctrine most injurious to Gods honour, directly repugnant to the great end for which Christ came into the world; (which was to save his people from their sins [Note: Mat 1:21.];) and utterly subversive of the whole work of the Spirit in the souls of men [Note: Eze 36:25-27. 1Pe 1:2.]. Whatever stress we may lay on the work of Christ, (and we cannot possibly rely too much or too simply upon it for our justification before God,) it is an unalterable truth, that without holiness, (real, personal, universal holiness,) no man shall see the Lord [Note: Heb 12:14.].]
3.
By erroneous doctrines of whatever kind
[It were endless to attempt to enumerate all the heresies which have arisen, and are yet found, in the Christian Church. Some are entirely subversive of Christianity itself, being nothing less than a denial of the Lord who bought us [Note: Jude, ver. 3.]. Others are founded upon some truth which is carried to excess, and held to the exclusion of other truths which are equally important in their place. Of this kind are the tenets of those who fiercely contend for human systems, whether Calvinistic or Arminian, taking only partial views of divine truth, and wresting every passage of Scripture which seems to militate against their favourite scheme. The truth is, that the way of salvation, if we will only submit to be taught of God, is very plain and simple: it is all comprehended in these few words, Faith working by love. But if, instead of taking the plain declarations of Scripture for our guide, we will refine upon them, and invent modes of speaking which are widely different from them, and insist upon our own subtilties as if they were the very word of God himself, it is no wonder that heresies arise, and divisions ensue. But against all dogmas of mans invention we should be on our guard. In order to our preservation from them, we have in our text,]
II.
An antidote recommended
We should seek to be established with grace; or, as that expression imports, we should be established in the Gospel; (for that is the grace to which Jewish ceremonies are opposed, and it is the grace wherein we stand [Note: Rom 5:2.];)
1.
As a revelation of grace in itself
[It is so: it is so altogether: the whole plan, as devised by Almighty God, was formed in his eternal counsels without any reference to human merit, or to any recompence which the whole universe could ever confer. It was undertaken by the Son, purely from his own love and mercy, to die in the place of sinners, and to expiate their guilt by his own blood. The Holy Spirit also engaged to apply that redemption to Gods chosen people, and to bring them to the possession of all its blessings by his sovereign and all-sufficient grace. All was the free gift of God to man: and there is not a Christian in the universe who must not say, By the grace of God I am what I am.
Now to be established in these views is a grand preservative against error of every kind: and a man well grounded in them is incapable of being moved by all the artifices of the most subtle deceivers. Tell the man that he does not deserve the wrath of God; or that he may save himself by the merit of his works; or that, if he cannot save himself entirely, he may in part, by some good works and righteousness of his own; you may perplex him perhaps, especially if he be unaccustomed to weigh the arguments of sophists; but you can no more convince him, than you can persuade him that he is an angel, or that he is able to create a world. He has within himself the witness of the truths which he maintains; and as complete a consciousness of his need of the Gospel, and of its suitableness to his necessities, as he has of his need of food for his body, and of the suitablenesss of food to recruit his strength. Hence, as a security against their being beguiled by enticing words, the Apostle says to the Colossian Church, As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him, rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving [Note: Col 2:4; Col 2:6-7.].]
2.
As a dispensation of grace to the soul
[The same covenant, which says, I will forgive their iniquity, and their sins will I remember no more, says, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts [Note: Jer 31:33-34. Heb 10:16-17.]. It even engages to do this so effectually, that, notwithstanding all their outward temptations and inward corruptions, they shall never finally depart from God [Note: Jer 32:38-41.]. In this light then should the Gospel be viewed, namely, as a provision for the turning of men, not only from darkness unto light, but from the power of Satan unto God. For this end is all fulness of grace treasured up in Christ, that out of it all his people might receive, and that the grace so conferred may be sufficient for them.
Now if once we are established in this view of the Gospel, we may bid defiance to all the sophistries that would relax our obligation to holiness. We shall see that holiness is the grand constituent of salvation, inasmuch as it is the restoration of Gods image to the soul, even of that image which alone can fit us for the enjoyment of his presence, and without which we must remain everlasting objects of his utter abhorrence. Indeed, if once we are established in this grace, all the subtilties of controversialists will lose their power. We shall see that a perfect conformity to Gods likeness is the only thing which we need to be concerned about; and the only end for which even the purest principles are of any value. This well fixed in the mind, our walk will be steadfast; nor, however violent the assaults of heretics may be upon us, shall any of them prevail to carry us away.]
We are yet further called to notice,
III.
The recommendation enforced
It is a good thing that the heart be established with grace: yes truly, it is a good thing: for it brings,
1.
Peace into the soul
[Those who are tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine, or who are entering deeply into controversies of any kind, are for the most part strangers to peace. They are distracted and disquieted, and not unfrequently filled with envy, and strife, and railings, and evil surmisings, and all manner of unhallowed dispositions [Note: 1Ti 4:3-5.]. Their very contentions are for the most part not so much for truth, as for victory. But the man whose heart is established with grace, dwells, as it were, in the higher regions of the air, where he is not subject to those storms and tempests which agitate our lower world. His mind is kept in perfect peace, because it is fixed, trusting in the Lord. He is content to be ignorant of things which God has not revealed; and to let people entertain different sentiments from himself on matters of doubtful disputation. He knows assuredly, that, whilst his faith in Christ is firm and operative, he cannot materially err; and that he shall not be ashamed or confounded world without end.]
2.
Stability into the life and conversation
[He leaves others to enter into controversies; he is concerned only about the maintenance of the divine life in his soul. Others are espousing different sentiments, and joining with different parties; and some are running the whole round of Christian profession, one day holding communion with one Church or people, and another day anathematizing them as heretics and fanatics. But the Christian who is established with grace, moves on in one even tenour, and makes his profiting daily to appear. He grows in grace, he makes visible attainments in holiness, he runs with patience the race that is set before him. Like the sun in its course, he diffuses blessings all around him: and, having finished his course, he sets, to rise in another hemisphere, where he shall shine with undiminished lustre for ever and ever [Note: Mat 13:43.].]
Address
1.
Be not ignorant of the Gospel of Christ
[It is quite a mistake to imagine, that, because there is a great diversity of sentiment upon some points, there is nothing certain: for on the points which are of fundamental importance, all true Christians are agreed. They are all agreed, that we are guilty, helpless, and undone: that it is in and through the Lord Jesus Christ alone that any human being can be saved: that we need his righteousness to justify us, and his grace to sanctify our corrupt nature: and that, whatever attainments in holiness any man may reach, he will still be indebted to the free, and sovereign, and undeserved grace of God for all from first to last. Get the knowledge, the practical knowledge of this; and all will be well. You may clearly see that much human learning is not necessary for this: on the contrary, human learning, if unsanctified, is rather an impediment to this, especially if it be relied upon, as it too often is, as a sufficient instructor, and a safe guide [Note: 1Co 1:18-21.]. There is no safe guide but the Holy Spirit: and he often reveals unto babes and sucklings the things which are hid from the wise and prudent [Note: Mat 11:25.]. The way to seek divine knowledge is, to study the Holy Scriptures with humility and prayer [Note: Pro 2:1-6.]: and if you do so study them, you shall be guided into all truth, and be made wise unto salvation through faith that is in Christ Jesus.]
2.
Be not satisfied with indistinct and narrow views of it
[There are in the Gospel heights and depths that can never be explored. We may not indeed have different truths brought to our view: but the same truths will be brought with ten-fold clearness and power to the soul. It is the same sun which lights us amidst the gloom of winter, and in the height of summer: but how different are the sensations it excites, and the effects it produces! Yet of these feelings and these effects the peasant is as sensible as the greatest monarch upon earth. Know ye then your privilege, every one of you, and seek the enjoyment of it: and let every one of you labour and pray, that his light be as that of the sun, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day [Note: Pro 4:18.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
9 Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.
Ver. 9. Be not carried about ] . Error is a precipice, a vortex, or whirlpool, which first turns men round, and then sucks them in. Islebius Agricola, that first Antinomian, did many times promise amendment; and yet afterwards not only fell to his error again, but turned Papist, fell into the other extreme. So hard a thing it is to get poison out when once swallowed down. See Trapp on “ Eph 4:14 “
With divers and strange doctrines ] That agree neither with themselves nor with the truth.
That the heart be established ] Ballasted as a ship, balanced as the bee with a little stone taken up by her, when she hath far to fly in a high wind, Ne leve alarum remigium praecipitent flabra ventorum, as Ambrose observeth, lest the bigger blast should dash her to the ground.
Not with meats ] As if they were holy, or helpful to salvation. By meats understand all the legal ceremonies, opposed here to the gospel, that doctrine of grace.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
9 .] Be not carried away (the rec. . is probably from Eph 4:14 . , as the prep. indicates, is to be carried out of the right course. So Plato, Phdr. p. 265 B, , : Plut. Timoleon 6, . , . lian has . c. says, . . The fixed point from which they are not to be carried away, is clearly that given in the last verse, viz. Jesus Christ) by various ( , , . Chrys. Thl. says, . , . The reference, from what follows, is to teachings about various meats) and strange ( , , Thl. The use of is similar, from which has its technical sense) doctrines (teachings: so , Mat 15:9 ; Col 2:22 ; 1Ti 4:1 ): for it is good that the heart be confirmed (reff.) with grace (God’s grace, working on us by faith: , , Chrys.), not with meats (it is a question whether be meant of meat eaten after sacrifices, or of “meats” as spoken of so much by St. Paul, meats partaken of or abstained from as a matter of conscience: cf. 1Co 8:8 , ; 1Co 8:13 ; ib. 1Co 6:13 ; Rom 14:15 ; Rom 14:20 , . The former view is taken by Schlichting, Bleek, Lnemann, al., on the grounds, 1. that the expression will not suit meats abstained from , only those partaken of: “Cor non reficitur cibis non comestis, sed comestis. Ciborum ergo usui, non abstinenti, opponitur hic gratia,” Schlicht.; 2. that Heb 13:10 , which is in close connexion with this, speaks of an altar and of partaking of meats sacrificed: and, 3. that this same reference, to meats offered in sacrifice, is retained throughout, to Heb 13:15 . The other view is taken by Chrys., Thdrt., c., Thl., Primas., Faber Stap., Erasm., Calv., Beza, the great body of later Commentators, and recently by Bhme, Tholuck, and Delitzsch. It is defended against the above objections, 1. by remembering that in the other passages where occurs with this reference, it is used not merely in the concrete, for meats absolutely partaken of, but in the abstract, for the whole department or subject of , to be partaken of or abstained from: 2. see below on the verse: (3) stands or falls with (2). And besides, it is supported by the following considerations: 4. that is a word not found in the law where offerings are spoken of (in Lev 19:6 ; Lev 22:30 , we have of peace-offerings and thank-offerings): but in the distinction of clean and unclean, Lev 11:34 ; 1Ma 1:63 . Mal 1:5 . that in all N. T. places, where is used in a similar connexion, it applies to clean and unclean meats. 6. that must refer, not to meats eaten after sacrifices, but to some doctrines in which there was variety and perplexity, as to those concerning clean and unclean. And I own these reasons incline me strongly to this view, to the exclusion of the other. Two ‘monstra interpretationis’ need only be mentioned: that of the R.-Cath. Bisping, who interprets “by the eucharist:” and that of Ebrard, who renders , “ cling fast to ,” and and as datives), in which (the observance of which, , as above, being used for the observance of rules concerning meats and drinks &c.) they who walked were not profited (the belongs, not to , but to , according to the very usual construction, , for to observe, to live in the practice of any thing: see reff. and Act 21:21 . So Chrys., , . These, who walked in such observances, are the whole people of God under the O. T. dispensation (notice the historic aorists), to whom they were of themselves useless and profitless, though ordained for a preparatory purpose: so that Calvin’s objection is answered, “Certe patribus qui sub lege vixerunt utilis fuit pdagogia cujus pars erat ciborum discrimen.” Yes, and so was the shedding of the blood of bulls and goats part of the pdagogia: but it was useless to take away sin. Cf. Thl., , . But he understands it of ).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Hebrews
AN ESTABLISHED HEART Heb 13:9 .
This saying immediately follows the exhortation with which it is contrasted: ‘Be not carried away with divers and strange doctrines.’ Now, it is quite clear that the unsettlement and moving past some fixed point which are suggested in the word ‘carried away’ are contrasted with the fixedness which is implied in the main word of our text. They who are established, ‘rooted and grounded,’ are not apt to be swept away by the blasts of ‘divers and strange doctrines.’ But there is another contrast besides this, and that is the one which exists between doctrines and grace; and there is a still further subsequent contrast in the words that follow my text, ‘It is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats. Now I need not trouble you with the question as to what was the original reference of either of these two expressions, ‘doctrines’ and ‘meats,’ or whether they both point to some one form of teaching. What I rather want to emphasise here, in a sentence, is how, in these three principal words of three successive clauses, we get three aspects of the religious life – two of them spurious and partial, one of them sufficing and complete -’teachings’; ‘grace’; ‘meats.’ Turned into modern English, the writer’s meaning is that the merely intellectual religion, which is always occupied with propositions instead of with Jesus Christ, ‘Who is the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever,’ is worthless, and the merely ceremonial religion, which is always occupied with casuistries about questions of meats, or external observance of any sort, is as valueless. There is no fixity; there is no rest of soul, no steadfastness of character to be found in either of these two directions. The only thing that ballasts and fills and calms the heart is what the writer here calls ‘grace,’ that is to say, the living personal experience of the love of God bestowed upon me and dwelling in my heart. You may have doctrines chattered to all eternity, and you may be so occupied about the externals of religion as that yon never come near its centre, and its centre is that great thing which is here called ‘grace,’ which alone has power to establish the man’s heart. So, then, the main theme of these words is the possible stability of a fluctuating human life, the means of securing it, and the glory and beauty of the character which has secured it. Let us turn to then thoughts for a moment. I. First, then, mark what this writer conceives to be the one source of human stability. ‘It is a good thing that the heart be established with grace.’ Now I have a strong suspicion that a great deal of preaching goes over the heads of the hearers, because preachers have not gauged the ignorance of their auditory, and that, howsoever familiar to the ear the key-words of Christian revelation may be, it by no means follows that there is any definite and clear idea attached to these. So I do not think that it will be a waste of time for just a minute or two to try and put, as plainly as I can, what the New Testament means by this familiar and frequently reiterated word ‘grace,’ which, I suspect, is oftener pronounced than it is understood by a great many people. To begin with, then, the root meaning of that word, which runs all through the New Testament, is simply favour, benignity, kindness, or to put all into a better and simpler form, the active love of God. Now, if we look at the various uses of the expression we find, for instance, that it is contrasted with a number of other things. Sometimes it is set in opposition to sin – sin reigns to righteousness, grace reigns to life. Sometimes it is contrasted with ‘debt,’ and sometimes put in opposition to ‘works,’ as, for instance, by Paul when he says, ‘If it be of works then is it no more grace.’ Sometimes it is opposed to law, as in the same apostle’s words, ‘Ye are not under law, but under grace.’ Now, if we keep these various uses and contrasts in view we just come to this thought, that that active love of God is conditioned, not by any merit on our part – bubbles up from the depths of His own infinite heart, not because of what we are, but because of what He is, transcends all the rigid retributions of law, is not turned away by my sin, but continues to flood the world, simply because it wells up from the infinite and changeless fountain of love in the heart of God. And then, from this central, deepest meaning of active love manifesting itself irrespective of what we deserve, there comes a second great aspect of the word. The cause gives its name to the effect, and the communicated blessings and gifts which flow to men from the love of God are designated by this great name. You know we have the same kind of idiom in our own tongue. ‘Kindness’ is the disposition; ‘a kindness’ is a single deed which flows from that disposition. ‘Favour’ is the way in which we regard a man; ‘a favour’ is the act or gift which manifests and flows from the regard. The water in the pitchers is the same as the water in the spring. The name of the cause is extended to all the lustrous variety of its effects. So the complex whole of the blessings and gifts which Jesus Christ brings to us, and which are sometimes designated in view of what they do for us, as salvation or eternal life, are also designated in view of that in God from which they come, as being collectively His ‘grace.’ All the gifts that Christ brings are, we may say, but the love of God made visible in its bestowal upon us. The meteor that rushes through space catches fire when it passes into our atmosphere. The love of God, when it comes into our manifold necessities, is made visible in the large gifts which it bestows upon them.
And then there is a final application of the expression which is deduced from that second one – viz., the specific and individual excellences of character or conduct which result from the communication to men of the blessings that flow to Him from the love of God. So these three: first the fountain, the love undisturbed and unalterable; second, the stream, the manifold gifts and blessings that flow to us through Christ; and third, the little cupfuls that each of us have, the various beauties and excellences of character which are developed under the fertilising influences of the sunshine of that love-these three are all included in this great Christian word. There are other phases of its employment in the New Testament which I do not need to trouble you with now. But thus far we just come to this, that the one ground on which all steadfastness and calm tranquillity and settlement of nature and character can be reared is that we shall be in touch with God, shall be conscious of His love, and shall be receiving into our hearts the strength that He bestows. Man is a dependent creature; his make and his relationships to things round him render it impossible that the strength by which he is strong and the calmness by which he is established can be self-originated. They must come from without. There is only one way by which we can be kept from being drifted away by the currents and blown away by the tempests that run and range through every life, and that is that we shall anchor ourselves on God. His grace, His love possessed, and the sufficing gifts for all our hungry desires which come through that love possessed, these, and these alone, are the conditions of human stability. II. And so I come, in the second place, to look at some of the various ways in which this establishing grace calms and stills the life. We men are like some of the islands in the Eastern Tropics, fertile and luxuriant, but subject to be swept by typhoons, to be shaken by earthquakes, to be devastated by volcanoes. Around us there gather external foes assailing our steadfastness, and within us there He even more formidable enemies to an established and settled peace. We are like men carrying powder through a conflagration; bearing a whole magazine of combustibles within us, upon which at any moment a spark may alight. How are such creatures ever to be established? My text tells us by drawing into themselves the love, the giving love of God; and in the consciousness of that love, and in the rest of spirit that comes from the true possession of its gifts, there will be found the secret of tranquillity for the most storm- ridden life.
I would note, as one of the aspects of the tranquillity and establishment that comes from this conscious possession of the giving love of God, how it delivers men from all the dangers of being ‘carried away by divers strange doctrines.’ I do not give much for any orthodoxy which is not vitalised by personal experiences of the indwelling love of God. I do not care much what a man believes, or what he denies, or how he may occupy himself intellectually with the philosophical and doctrinal aspect of Christian revelation. The question is, how much of it has filtered from his brain into his heart, and has become part of himself, and verified to himself by his own experience? So much, and not one hairbreadth more, of the Christian creed is your creed. So much as you have lived out, so much you are sure of because you have not only thought it but felt it, and cannot for a moment doubt, because your hearts have risen up and witnessed to its truth. About these parts of your belief there will be no fluctuation. There is no real and permanent grasp of any parts of religious truth except such as is verified by personal experience. And that sturdy blind man in the gospels had got hold of the true principle of the most convincing Christian apologetics when he said, ‘You may talk as long as you like about the question whether this man is a sinner or not; settle it anyhow you please. One thing I know, that whereas I was blind now I see.’ The ‘grace’ that had come to him in a purely external form established as a foundation axiom for his thinking, that the man who had done that for him was a messenger from God. That is the way by which you will come to a hold worth calling so of Christian truth, and unless you come to it by that hold it does not matter much whether you believe it or deny it all. But, if there be such a living consciousness of the true possession of God’s love giving you these blessings, then with great equanimity and openness of mind you can regard the discussion that may be raging about a great many so-called ‘burning’ questions. If I know that Jesus Christ died for me, and that my soul is saved because He did, it does not matter very much to me who wrote the Pentateuch, or whether the Book of Jonah is a parable or a history. I can let all such questions-and I only refer to these as specimens – be settled by appropriate evidence, by the experts, without putting myself in a fluster, and can say, ‘I am not going to be carried away. My heart is established in grace.’ Still further, this conscious possession of the grace of God will keep a man very quiet amidst all the occasions for agitation which changing circumstances bring. Such there are in every life. Nothing continues in one stay. Thunder-claps, earthquakes, tempests, shocks of doom come to every one of us. Is it possible that amidst this continuous fluctuation, in which nothing is changeless but the fact of change, we can stand fixed and firm? Yes! As they say on the other side of the Border, there is a ‘low,’ place at the back of the wall. There is shelter only in one spot, and that is when we have God between us and the angry blast. And oh, brother, if there steal into a man’s heart, and be faithfully kept there, the quiet thought that God is with him, to bless and keep and communicate to him all that he needs, why should he be troubled? ‘He shall not be afraid of evil tidings.’ What?
In this world full of evil? Yes. ‘He shall not be afraid of evil tidings. His heart is fixed; trusting in the Lord.’ An empty heart is an easily agitated heart. A full heart, like a full sack, stands upright, and it is not so easy for the wind to whirl it about as if it were empty. They who are rooted in God will have a firm bole, which will be immovable, howsoever branches may sway and creak, and leaves may flutter and dance, or even fall, before the power of the storm. They who have no hold upon that grace are like the chaff which the wind drives from the threshing-floor. The storms of life will sweep you away unless the heart be ‘established in grace.’ Further, another form of the stability communicated by that possessed love of God is in regard to the internal occasions for agitation. Passion, lust, hot desires, bitter regrets, eager clutching after uncertain and insufficient and perishable good, all these will be damped down if the love of God lives in our hearts. Oh, brethren, it is ourselves that disturb ourselves, and not the world that disturbs us. ‘There is no joy hut calm’; and there is no calm but in the possession of the grace which is the giving love of God. III. Lastly, my text suggests how beautiful a thing is the character of the man that is established in grace. The word translated ‘good’ in my text would be better rendered ‘fair,’ or ‘lovely,’ or ‘beautiful,’ or some such expression conveying the idea that the writer was thinking, not so much about the essential goodness as about the beauty, in visible appearance, of a character which was thus established by grace. Is there anything fairer than the strong, steadfast, calm, equable character, unshaken by the storms of passion, unaffected by the blasts of calamity, un-devastated by the lava from the hellish subterranean fires that are in every soul; and yet not stolidly insensible nor obstinately conservative, but open to the inspiration of each successive moment, and gathering the blessed fruit of all mutability in a more profound and unchanging possession of the unchanging good? Surely the gospel which brings to men the possibility of being thus established brings to them the highest ideal of fair human character. So do you see to it that you rectify your notions of what makes the beauty of character. There is many a poor old woman in a garret who presents, if not to men, at any rate to angels and to God, a far fairer character than the vulgar ideals which most people have. The beauty of meek patience, of persistent endeavour, of calm, steadfast trust, is fairer than all the ‘purple patches’ which the world admires because they are gaudy, and which an eye educated by looking at Jesus turns from with disgust, And do you see to it that you cultivate that type of excellence. It is a great deal easier to cultivate other kinds. It is hard to be quiet, hard to rule one’s stormy nature, hard to stand ‘foursquare to every wind that blows.’ But it is possible – possible on one condition, that we drive our roots through all the loose shingle on the surface, ‘the things seen and temporal,’ and penetrate to the eternal substratum that lies beneath it all. Then, my brother, if we keep ourselves near Jesus Christ, and let His grace flow into our hearts, then we, too, shall be able to say, ‘Because I set Him at my right hand I shall not be moved,’ and we may be able to carry, by His grace, even through the storms of life and amidst all the agitations of our own passions and desires, a steady light, neither blown about by tempests without, nor pulsating with alternations of brightness and dimness by reason of intermittent supplies from within, but blazing with the steadfast splendour of the morning star. ‘ He that believeth shall not make haste.’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
carried about. Greek. periphero. See Eph 4:14. The texts read “carried away”.
divers. Greek. poikilos. See Heb 2:4.
strange. Greek. xenos. See Act 17:18.
established. Same as “confirm”, Heb 2:3.
with = by. No preposition: dative case.
grace. App-184.
meats. By Figure of speech Synecdoche of species (App-6) = for various and “strange doctrines” of no profit to those who practice them.
which, &c. = in (Greek. en) which they who walked have not been profited. See Heb 4:2.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
9.] Be not carried away (the rec. . is probably from Eph 4:14. , as the prep. indicates, is to be carried out of the right course. So Plato, Phdr. p. 265 B, , : Plut. Timoleon 6, . , . lian has . c. says, . . The fixed point from which they are not to be carried away, is clearly that given in the last verse, viz. Jesus Christ) by various (, , . Chrys. Thl. says, . , . The reference, from what follows, is to teachings about various meats) and strange (, , Thl. The use of is similar, from which has its technical sense) doctrines (teachings: so , Mat 15:9; Col 2:22; 1Ti 4:1): for it is good that the heart be confirmed (reff.) with grace (Gods grace, working on us by faith: , , Chrys.), not with meats (it is a question whether be meant of meat eaten after sacrifices, or of meats as spoken of so much by St. Paul, meats partaken of or abstained from as a matter of conscience: cf. 1Co 8:8, ; 1Co 8:13; ib. 1Co 6:13; Rom 14:15; Rom 14:20, . The former view is taken by Schlichting, Bleek, Lnemann, al., on the grounds, 1. that the expression will not suit meats abstained from, only those partaken of: Cor non reficitur cibis non comestis, sed comestis. Ciborum ergo usui, non abstinenti, opponitur hic gratia, Schlicht.; 2. that Heb 13:10, which is in close connexion with this, speaks of an altar and of partaking of meats sacrificed: and, 3. that this same reference, to meats offered in sacrifice, is retained throughout, to Heb 13:15. The other view is taken by Chrys., Thdrt., c., Thl., Primas., Faber Stap., Erasm., Calv., Beza, the great body of later Commentators, and recently by Bhme, Tholuck, and Delitzsch. It is defended against the above objections, 1. by remembering that in the other passages where occurs with this reference, it is used not merely in the concrete, for meats absolutely partaken of, but in the abstract, for the whole department or subject of , to be partaken of or abstained from: 2. see below on the verse: (3) stands or falls with (2). And besides, it is supported by the following considerations: 4. that is a word not found in the law where offerings are spoken of (in Lev 19:6; Lev 22:30, we have of peace-offerings and thank-offerings): but in the distinction of clean and unclean, Lev 11:34; 1Ma 1:63. 5. that in all N. T. places, where is used in a similar connexion, it applies to clean and unclean meats. 6. that must refer, not to meats eaten after sacrifices, but to some doctrines in which there was variety and perplexity, as to those concerning clean and unclean. And I own these reasons incline me strongly to this view, to the exclusion of the other. Two monstra interpretationis need only be mentioned: that of the R.-Cath. Bisping, who interprets by the eucharist: and that of Ebrard, who renders , cling fast to, and and as datives), in which (the observance of which, , as above, being used for the observance of rules concerning meats and drinks &c.) they who walked were not profited (the belongs, not to , but to , according to the very usual construction, , for to observe, to live in the practice of any thing: see reff. and Act 21:21. So Chrys., , . These, who walked in such observances, are the whole people of God under the O. T. dispensation (notice the historic aorists), to whom they were of themselves useless and profitless, though ordained for a preparatory purpose: so that Calvins objection is answered, Certe patribus qui sub lege vixerunt utilis fuit pdagogia cujus pars erat ciborum discrimen. Yes, and so was the shedding of the blood of bulls and goats part of the pdagogia: but it was useless to take away sin. Cf. Thl., , . But he understands it of ).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Heb 13:9. , with doctrines) So Paul, Eph 4:14.-, various) which differ from the one faith in the one and the same Jesus Christ. There was variety in the Levitical worship; ch. Heb 9:10.-, strange) which differ from the faith of your ministers ( ). The Levitical rites were now also strange to their present faith, Heb 13:9-14; and the apostle was now forgetful of their oldness (The Old Testament). He does not therefore call them old, but strange.- ) be not carried away [Neben hin.-Not. Crit.] So in composition, ch. Heb 2:1. The antithesis, , to be established, 1Sa 21:13 (14), , LXX. . Ecc 1:17, Theodotion translates .- , for it is good for the heart to be established with grace) A categorical sentence: () , we have the heart established by grace; to which the antithesis corresponds, not with meats; but the modal expression, good, is added from the feeling of the apostle, to give a point to the admonition. So Paul, Rom 6:17, note. , good, beautiful (becoming), salutary: also pleasant, without strange variety; and profitable. The antithesis, have not profited.-, with grace) grace, which becomes ours through Christ, who offered His body.-) to be established. , to be supported, is a kindred word, just as the heart, according to the Hebrew phraseology, is supported by bread or the staff of bread; Jdg 19:5; Isa 3:1; Psa 104:15, etc. That is here denied of meats, and is claimed for grace.-, not) Judaism and Christianity do not agree.-, with meats) An Extenuation,[91] as ch. Heb 9:10. Those meats are also denoted which were eaten in the holy place. The antithesis is, to eat, Heb 13:10. The Jews have their own meat; and we have ours, which is most healthful to us.- , in which) Construed with .- ) comp. , ch. Heb 7:18.- , they who have walked) long and much.
[91] See App. The same as Litotes.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
The ensuing context, from hence unto the 17th verse, seems abstruse, and the reasonings of the apostle in it not easy to be apprehended. But expositors do generally overlook it, and attend only unto the exposition of the parts of it severally by themselves. To find out the mind of the Holy Ghost in the whole, we must consider the design of the apostle in it, and how he deduces one thing from another. These things, therefore, we must inquire into; and thereby the way will be prepared for the exposition of the several parts of the discourse itself. And we must take our rise from the occasion of it.
1. There was at this time not only an obstinate adherence unto Mosaical ceremonies amongst many of the Jews who professed the gospel, but also an endeavor to re-enforce their necessity, and to impose their observation upon others. These things the apostle opposeth in the whole epistle; and on the occasion of the mention of Christ with his unchangeableness in the church, he adds in this place a dehortation in general from a continuance in the observance of those rites, or reaching after doctrines concerning them; such as were taught amongst the Gentiles by some out of Judea, Act 15:1.
2. He adds a reason of this dehortation and warning; which is, their inconsistency with the gospel, the nature of Christian religion, and that great principle of it, namely, that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to- day, and for ever. And he proceedeth herein on sundry acknowledged principles, which he supposeth or expresseth.
(1.) He supposeth that the spring of all their observances about meats, eating or not eating, and consequently of the other rites of the same nature, was from the altar. With respect thereunto was the determination of things clean and unclean. For what might be offered on the altar, was clean; and what might not, was not so. And sundry laws there are of what may be eaten of the sacrifices by the priests, and what might not.
(2.) That the foundation of religion lies in an altar; for it doth so in an atonement for sin made in it, or upon it. And by it is all our worship to be offered unto God; nor can it be otherwise accepted with him. Wherefore he affirms that we also have an altar; yet not of such a nature as that from thence any distinction of meats should ensue, Heb 12:10.
(3.) That whatever be the benefits of this altar of ours, the way of the participation of them is not the administration of the services of the old tabernacle; nor could they who administered therein claim a title or right unto them by virtue of any divine institution, but if they rested in that administration, they were excluded from them.
3. He adds the reason hereof, taken from the nature of our altar, and the sacrifice thereon; which is a sacrifice of expiation, to sanctify the people by blood. And in the very type of it, it was declared that there was no right of eating or distinction of meats to ensue thereon. For in the solemn sacrifices of expiation and atonement, as we shall see, the blood of them was carried into the holy place, and the bodies of them were burned entirely without the camp, so as that the priests themselves had no right to eat any thing of them, Heb 12:11-12.
4. In answer hereunto, the Lord Christ, who is himself both our altar and our sacrifice, in the offering of himself, carried his own blood, in the efficacy of it for atonement, into the holy place of heaven; and suffered in his body without the gate, or in the place answering unto that without the camp wherein the bodies of the beasts that were sacrificed were burned, Heb 12:12. So that there is no place now left for eating, or distinction of meats. Yea,
5. Hereby a new state of religion, answerable unto the nature of this altar and sacrifice, is introduced, wherewith those observances which depended on the nature and use of the altar at the tabernacle were utterly inconsistent. Wherefore, whoever adhered unto them did therein renounce this altar of ours, and the religion founded thereon; for none can have an interest in two altars at the same time, of such different natures, and drawing after them such different religious observations. And,
6. He adds, in the last place, what we are to learn from the nature and use of our altar and sacrifice, in opposition unto the meats which belonged to the old typical altar. And hereof he instanceth in patient bearing of the cross, or suffering for Christ, verse 13; self-denial, as unto any interest in temporal enjoyments, verse 14; the continual worship of God in and by spiritual sacrifices, made acceptable in Christ, our altar, priest, and sacrifice, verse 15; and usefulness amongst men in all good works of piety and charity, verse 16; these being the only sacrifices that we are now called unto.
I hope we have not missed the apostles design and reasoning in this analysis of his discourse; which makes his sublime way of arguing in this great mystery plain and evident, and gives us a safe rule for the interpretation of every particular passage in it.
Heb 13:9. , , .
Heb 13:9. Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines; for [it is] good that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have walked in them.
There is an inference in these words from what was before asserted concerning the immutability of Christ, and his continuing the same in the church forever; and several things are included in it.
1. A supposition that the truth concerning the person and office of Christ, whereon all other evangelical truths and duties do depend, had been once delivered unto the Hebrews, by them that had spoken unto them the word of God; of whom mention is made Heb 13:7.
2. That this doctrine is one; whence in the church there is but one faith, Eph 4:3-6; and that once delivered unto the saints, Jud 1:3, in the revelation made of it by Christ and the apostles, Heb 2:3-4. Hence whatever agrees not with it, that proceeds not from it, is uncertain, foreign and alien unto the faith of the church.
3. That by this doctrine the hearts of believers were established in peace with God, and assurance of their acceptance with him.
4. That as there were direct oppositions made unto this doctrine by the obstinate Jews at that time, so there were amongst those who outwardly professed the Christian religion sundry doctrines broached and maintained that were indeed inconsistent with that one faith, and served to no end but to entangle the minds of believers, and at length to turn them off from the gospel.
5. That experience had already evinced the folly of those new doctrines, inasmuch as the things which they led unto were of no use unto the souls of men. And,
6. In particular, this was the state of those doctrines about Mosaical institutions in the distinction of meats, and things of an alike nature, which many false teachers did then press upon them with great noise and earnestness.
This is the design and substance of the apostles discourse in this verse, which we shall now consider in particular.
The words contain a dehortation from an evil, with the reason or enforcement of it.
First, The dehortation is in these words, Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. And we must inquire what these strange doctrines were; and what it is to be carried about with them.
1. It is evident that the doctrines intended were such as did then infest the churches of the Hebrews; others they were not in present danger of. And this is manifest in the especial instance given about meats. And they are called various, as it may be on other accounts, (as we shall see,) so because they were not reducible unto that one faith which was once delivered unto the saints. And they are called strange, or alien, as being of another kind than they, no way related unto them.
And it may be they are said to be various, because they had no consistency nor agreement among themselves. For so some think that the apostle had respect unto the doctrines which were controverted in the schools of the Jews, between the followers of Hillel on the one side, and Shammai on the other. But these they kept within themselves, and never troubled the Christian churches withal. Howbeit, because the Jews placed much of their religion in these doctrines, and their contests about them, it may be the apostle here reflects on them, as he doth in other places, Tit 1:14; Tit 3:9; 1Ti 1:4. But I rather think he calls them various from their object. They were about various things. So he calls, by another word of the same signification, the Jewish rites, divers or various washings, Heb 9:10. The things were many and various, and so were the doctrines concerning them; which are since multiplied in their Talmud and other writings, into such a heap of confusion as is inexpressible. Or he calls them various, as those which took off the mind from its stability, tossing it up and down in all uncertainties; as variety of doctrines is apt to do. When once men begin to give ear unto such doctrines, they lose all the rest and composure of their minds; as we see by experience.
And they are strange, as being concerning things foreign to the gospel, that are uncompliant with the nature and genius of it. Such are all doctrines about religious ceremonies, and the scrupulous observation of them; for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, Rom 14:17.
2. With respect unto these doctrines, the charge in the dehortation is, that they should not be carried about with them. To the same purpose he useth the same word, Eph 4:14, Tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine. There is an allusion unto ships, and the impression of the wind upon them; for the word joined with this here used, , signifies one that is tossed on the waves of the sea when they are agitated by the wind. And a similitude it is lively expressing both the nature of these strange doctrines, the way of spreading of them, and their effects on the minds of men. In themselves they are light and vain as the wind, or clouds without water, carried about of winds. And those who would impose them on others commonly do it with a great and vehement blustering. You must be circumcised, or you cannot be saved! as Act 15:1. Unless you believe and practice these things, you are heretics, or schismatics, and cannot be saved!All imposition of doctrine is with such a noise and wind. And the effects of them on the minds of men are as those of contrary winds at sea. They toss men up and down; they turn them out of their course, and endanger their destruction. So is it with these doctrines: First, they fill the minds of men with uncertainties, as unto what they have believed, and as unto what is proposed unto them; and then, for the most part, they alter the whole course of their profession; and lastly, endanger their eternal ruin. All these are fully exemplified in the instance of the Galatian churches, which were carried about with these strange doctrines. See Gal 1:6-7; Gal 3:1; Gal 4:9-11; Gal 5:1-5. Throughout that whole epistle the evil here cautioned against is evidently exemplified.
And there are many weighty directions intimated and included in these words, for the use of the church at all seasons; as,
Obs. 1. That there is a revelation of truth given unto the church in the word of God; which is the only doctrinal foundation and rule of faith unto it.
Obs. 2. That this doctrine is cognate, and every way suited unto the promotion of the grace of God in believers, and the attainment of their own salvation.
Obs. 3. That doctrines unsuited unto this first revelation by Christ and his apostles, as recorded in the Scripture, alien and foreign from them, did soon spring up, unto the trouble of the church; they had done so in those days, and continued to do so in all ensuing ages.
Obs. 4. That usually such doctrines as are empty of truth and substance, useless and foreign to the nature and genius of evangelical grace and truth, are imposed by their authors and abettors with great noise and vehemency on those who have been instructed in the truth.
Obs. 5. Where such doctrines are entertained, they make men double-minded, unstable, turning them from the truth, and drawing them at length into perdition.
Obs. 6. The ruin of the church in after ages arose from the neglect of this apostolical caution, in giving heed unto various and strange doctrines; which at length overthrew and excluded the fundamental doctrines of the gospel.
Obs. 7. Herein lies the safety of all believers, and all churches, namely, to keep themselves precisely unto the first complete revelation of divine truth in the word of God. Let men pretend what they will, and bluster whilst they please, in an adherence unto this principle we are safe; and if we depart from it, we shall be hurried and carried about through innumerable uncertainties unto ruin.
Secondly, The remaining words give a reason and enforcement of this charge. So the conjunctive particle, for, doth declare. And a particular instance is given of those doctrines which he had warned them about, namely, meats. And in the words there is,
1. An end proposed which ought to be aimed at in the profession of religion; and that is, the establishment of the heart.
2. Two ways mentioned whereby, as is pleaded, it may be attained; and they are grace and meats.
3. A preference given herein unto grace: It is good that the heart be established with grace, not with meats.
4. A reason is added hereof from the insufficiency of meats unto that purpose: They have not profited them that walked in them. All which must be opened.
1. The end to be aimed at in the profession of religion, is, that the heart be established. The heart, that is, of every believer, and so of them all is to confirm, to establish; and is applied both to things and persons. So the word of the gospel is said to be confirmed or established by signs, Mar 16:20; and the testimony of Christ, 1Co 1:6; and the promises, by their accomplishment, Rom 15:8. And so it is applied unto persons, 1Co 1:8, confirm or establish you; he that stablisheth us, 2Co 1:21; and we are said to be established in the faith, Col 2:7 : in all which places the same word is used. And the heart is here taken for the mind, the soul or spirit, as is usual in the Scripture. Wherefore, to have the established, is to be so confirmed in the faith, as to have these two effects wrought thereby:
(1.) A fixed persuasion of the mind in the truth; a just, firm settlement of mind in the assurance of it. This is opposed unto a being tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine Eph 4:14. And hereunto it is required that the pure doctrine of the gospel be embraced.
(2.) That through the truth the heart do enjoy peace with God; which alone will establish it, giving it firmitude and rest in every condition. It is to be kept in perfect peace, with the mind stayed on God. This is that which we ought to aim at in and by religion Hereby the mind comes to assured peace; which nothing can give but grace, as we shall see. And hereby the heart is rendered unmovable, 1Co 15:58.
2. The heart is thus established by grace. Grace is a word of various significations. There is one who hath reckoned up a great number of places to prove that by grace the gospel is signified, whereof scarce any one doth prove it. The gospel is indeed sometimes called the word of Gods grace; and sometimes it may be metonymically grace, as being the means of the revelation of the grace of God, and the instrument of the communication of it unto believers, the power of God unto salvation. Wherefore grace here, is the free grace of God in Christ Jesus, for the justification and sanctification of the church, as it is revealed in the gospel. The revelation of it in the gospel is included, but it is the grace of God himself that is principally intended. In brief, grace here is to be taken comprehensively, for the grace, good-will, and love of God towards men, as it came by Jesus Christ, as it is revealed in the gospel as the cause of our justification and acceptance with God, in opposition unto the works of the law and the observance of Mosaical rites unto that end. This is the most eminent signification of grace, with respect unto the expiation of our sins in the blood of Christ, and the pardon of them thereon, revealed and tendered unto us in the gospel. This is that alone which doth, which can, which will, establish the heart of a sinner in peace with God, Rom 5:1; which will keep it from being moved or tossed up and down with a sense of the guilt of sin, or divine displeasure.
That which is opposed hereunto, with respect unto the same end, is meats, Not with meats. Not that the heart may be established by meats also; for this the apostle denies in the next words. The meaning is, not that there are indeed two ways whereby the heart may be established, the one by grace, the other by meats; but that grace is the only way thereof, though some foolishly pretended that it might be done by meats. That by meats, in this case, the apostle doth constantly intend the religious distinction of meats among the Jews, is openly evident. See Rom 14:17; 1Co 8:8; Col 2:16; Heb 9:10. There is no reason, therefore, to question but that this is the sense of it in this place. And as in other places, so here, by a synecdoche, the whole system of Mosaical institutions is intended, but expressed by meats, because of their immediate relation unto the altar, whereof the apostle designs to speak.
All distinction of meats among the Jews, as was before observed, arose from the altar. And those meats were of two sorts; such as were enjoined or prohibited by way of duty, and such as were obtained by way of privilege. Of the first sort was the distinction of meats, clean and unclean. For when the apostle speaks of meats, he doth not intend only the eating of meats in a particular way and manner, (though, as we shall see, he intends that also,) but an abstinence also from eating of meats, by virtue of divine prohibition; concerning which were those legal institutions which the apostle expresseth by Touch not, taste not, handle not, Col 2:21. And in these abstinences from meats the Jews placed so much of their religion, that they would rather die by the cruelest tortures than eat flesh prohibited by the law; and that justly and according to their duty, whilst the divine prohibition was yet in force. And this distinction of meats arose from the altar. The beasts that might be offered at the altar in sacrifice were clean: for therein the first-fruits, or principal part, being dedicated unto God, the whole of the kind became clean unto the people. And what had not the privilege of the altar, was prohibited unto the people. Again, there were meats that were obtained by privilege; and such were the portions taken from the sacrifices, that the priests, and in some cases (as of the thank-offering, Lev 7:11-15) other clean persons, might and did eat, by divine institution. And these kinds of meats depended solely on the altar. This institution is mentioned only to show the ground of the apostles rejecting all these kinds of meats on this consideration, that we have an altar of another sort, whereon no such institutions do depend, nor can any such differences in meats arise.
And hence we may see the reason why the Jews laid so much weight on these meats, namely, because the taking of them away, the distinction about them and the privilege of them, did declare that their altar, which was the life and center of their religion, was of no more use. And hence we may also see the reason of the apostles different treating with them in this matter. For speaking of meats in themselves, and in their own nature, he declares that the use or forbearing of them is a thing indifferent, wherein every one is to be left unto his own liberty, to be regulated only by offense or scandal (see Romans 14 throughout); but when he treats of them as unto a necessary observation, as deriving from the altar, he utterly condemns them, and shows that their observance did evacuate the gospel, Galatians 2; Col 2:16-23.
From this apprehension of their derivation from the altar, the Judaizing Christians had a conceit that they were of use to establish the heart; that is, had an influence into our justification and peace with God. This the apostle here rejects; as he vehemently disputes against it in his whole epistle to the Galatians.
3. The next thing in the words is the way whereby the apostle assigns this whole effect of establishing the heart unto grace, and wholly takes it away from meats, or the manner of the expression used by him, It is good, etc. The meaning is, the heart is to be established; and that not only as unto the essence of that duty, or grace, but as unto such degrees of it as may safeguard and preserve it from being carried about with various and strange doctrines, or otherwise shaken as unto its peace. This is good, this is excellent,saith the apostle, when it is done by grace; this is approved of God; this it is our duty to labor after.And in this positive the comparative is included (the Vulgate renders it by the superlative, optimus), it is so good and excellent as to be far better than a false, pretended settlement by meats. And this the apostle proves in the last place, from the insufficiency of meats unto that end, taken from experience.
4. Which have not profited them who have walked in them. To walk in meats, is to assent unto and observe the doctrine concerning them Touch not, taste not, handle not. And he speaketh of the time past, both whilst the distinction of meats was in force, and since it was taken away. For of themselves they profited not those who observed them, even whilst the institutions concerning them were in force; for they were a part of the
yoke that was imposed on them until the time of reformation, Heb 9:10. And so far as they were trusted unto as a means of acceptance with God, they were pernicious unto them: which the apostle by a common figure intimates, in that they did not profit them; that is, they tended to their hurt. And it was much more so with them who continued to walk in them after the obligation thereunto did cease. They were so far from having their hearts established, as that they received no benefit or advantage, but much hurt and prejudice, by them. And we see,
Obs. 8. That those who decline in any thing from grace, as the only means to establish their hearts in peace with God, shall labor and exercise themselves in other things and ways unto the same end, whereby they shall receive no advantage. And this is the state of all false worshippers in the world, especially in the papal church, and those that follow its example.
Heb 13:10. , .
Heb 13:10. We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat who serve the tabernacle. The design of the context and the coherence of the words have in general been spoken unto before. The introduction of them, at first view, seems to be abrupt; but whereas he had spoken in the foregoing verse about meats, treating here about a right to eat or not, it is evident that he hath a respect thereunto. Wherefore, having asserted the only way of the establishment of the heart in peace with God, and the uselessness of all distinctions of meats unto that purpose, he here declareth the foundation of the truth on the one side and the other. For whereas the sole ground of all distinction of meats and other ceremonies among the Jews, was the altar in the tabernacle, with its nature, use, and services; he lets them know that that altar being now removed, and taken away, we have an altar of another nature, which requireth and produceth services quite of another kind than those which arose from the altar of old, such as he describes, Heb 13:13-15. This is the direct design of the apostle in this place, and the proper analysis of his words.
There is in the words,
1. An assertion, We have an altar.
2. A. limitation of its use, by a rejection of them who had a right unto the privileges of the old altar, Whereof those have no right, etc.
1. We have; that is, We also, who believe in Christ according to the gospel, and worship God in spirit and truth, we also have an altar; we have every thing in the sub stance, whereof they of old had only the name and shadow.
What this altar is which the Christian church hath and useth, there have been some disputes, occasioned by the superstition of latter ages. For some would have it a material altar made of stone, whereon an unbloody sacrifice of the flesh and blood of Christ is offered by priests every day; plainly of the same kind, nature, and use, with that in the tabernacle. And thence this altar also hath been made the spring of many ceremonial observances, distinction of meats, with such an eating of flesh from it as is indeed destructive of all religion. And some think that the table which the church useth in the celebration of the supper of the Lord is here metaphorically called an altar, because of the communication of the sacrifice of Christ which is made at it. But these things are wholly foreign to the design of the apostle. The altar which we now have is Christ alone, and his sacrifice. For he was both priest, altar, and sacrifice, all in himself; and continueth still so to be unto the church, as unto all the use and efficacy of them. And this is evident in the context. For,
(1.) This altar here is, in its nature, use, and efficacy, opposed unto the altar in the tabernacle, as it is express in the words of this verse; but that which throughout this whole discourse the apostle opposeth unto all the utensils, services, and sacrifices of the tabernacle, is Christ alone, and the sacrifice of himself, as is manifest and undeniable. Besides, the opposition he makes is between signs and things signified, shadows and the substance, types and the reality of the things themselves; but it is fond to imagine that the altar of old was a type, a sign, a shadow of a table in the church, or that any thing but Christ was so [signified].
(2.) The apostle doth declare who and what it is that he intends by the altar which we have; namely, that it is Jesus, who, to sanctify the people with his blood, which was to be done at or on the altar, suffered without the gate, Heb 13:12. And by him, as our altar, we are to offer our sacrifices unto God, Heb 13:15. This is Christ and his sacrifice alone.
(3.) The sacrifices which we are obliged unto by virtue of this altar are such as have no respect unto any material altar, but are such as are to be offered unto God through Christ alone, as all the Scripture testifieth, Heb 13:15; namely, the sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of our lips, confessing unto his name; which leads us off from all thoughts and conceptions of any material altar.
(4.) In those days, and in some ages after, the Christians had no material altars; and they denied on all occasions that they had any.
Estius, one of the soberest expositors of the Roman church, concludes that it is Christ and his sacrifice alone that is intended in this place. But he adds withal, that because the fathers (that is, some of them, for all do not) do expound it of the altar for the sacrament in the church, the heretics are to be urged with their authority for a material altar and sacrifice in the church! wherein he extremely departs from his wonted modesty. For can any man in his wits suppose that the authority of men asserting a confessed untruth, can be of any weight in way of testimony? If a man should produce witnesses in any cause, and after he hath declared of what credit they are, and how they deserve to be believed, should add, that what they bear witness unto is undoubtedly false, would not his plea of testimonies be weak and contemptible? Yea, is not this sufficient to warrant any man to question their bare authority in other things, when, as it seems, they agree so well in that which is untrue? But thus it falls out frequently with this Estius in his commentaries. When he hath (which he doth frequently, in things of great importance) come nearer the truth than the current expositions of the Roman church will bear, he is forced to countenance himself by some impertinent reflections on Calvin, or Beza, or the sectaries in general, which he hath neither occasion nor countenance for from the context; so vile a thing is ecclesiastical bondage.
The truth is, this place is so far from giving countenance unto the altar and sacrifice on it in the church of Rome, that it sufficiently testifieth that the apostle knew not of any such thing; but proposeth a scheme of Christian profession and worship, utterly inconsistent with them, as we shall see in the ensuing exposition. For whereas their altar, with its sacrifice, is the life and soul of their religion, without which they profess they have none, and contend that there can be none, and that all the mystery and solemnity of their sacred worship consist in the observances and veneration of and at this altar, whereon they have slain or burned to ashes innumerable Christians for their non-compliance with them in the faith and worship of this altar and its sacrifice, the apostle here, where, if anywhere, he had occasion to make mention of it, yea, to declare its whole nature and use in the church, and at least give some intimation of its way of observance, wherein all the glory of their worship doth consist, doth not only pass it by in silence, but also, avowing Christ himself to be our altar, and asserting a worship or service thereon of no alliance, as we shall see, unto their altar service, he leaves their altar, its sacrifice, and services, quite out of the compass of our Christian profession. But I return. And we may observe,
Obs. 1. That the Lord Christ, in the one sacrifice of himself, is the only altar of the church of the new testament.
Obs. 2. That this altar is every way sufficient in itself for the end of an altar, namely, the sanctification of the people; as Heb 13:12.
Obs. 3. The erection of any other altar in the church, or the introduction of any other sacrifice requiring a material altar, is derogatory to the sacrifice of Christ, and exclusive of him from being our altar.
Obs. 4. Whereas the design of the apostle, in the whole of his discourse, is to declare the glory of the gospel and its worship above that of the law, of our priest above theirs, of our sacrifice above theirs, of our altar above theirs; it is fond to think, that by our altar, he intends such a material fabric as is every way inferior unto that of old.
Obs. 5. When God appointed a material altar for his service, he himself enjoined the making of it, prescribed its form and use, with all its utensils, services, and ceremonies, allowing of nothing in it, or about it, but what was by himself appointed; it is not therefore probable, that under the new testament there should be a material altar of equal necessity with that under the old, accompanied in its administrations with various utensils, ceremonies, and services, neither itself nor any of them being of divine appointment. But,
Obs. 6. Sinners under a sense of guilt have in the gospel an altar of atonement, whereunto they may have continual access for the expiation of their sins. He is the propitiation.
2. The limitation of the use of this altar ensues: Whereof they have no right to eat who serve the tabernacle. The persons excluded from the right mentioned are those who serve the tabernacle. The apostle speaks in the present tense, those who do serve, or who are serving at the tabernacle. For he hath respect unto the original institution of divine worship, and that was in and under the tabernacle; and he takes no notice of the things that ensued on the erection of the temple, which made no alteration in the worship itself. And supposing them in the state wherein they were at first appointed, he expresseth it in the present tense, that do serve.
That do serve: The word is used constantly for the services that are used in sacred worship. So it is here; those who administered the things belonging unto divine worship in the tabernacle. These were the priests and Levites, in their several orders and degrees.
These had a right to eat of the altar in the tabernacle; that is, of the things that were consecrated thereby, and a part whereof was offered thereon. Hereunto they had a right by divine institution. For they who minister about holy things, eat the things of the temple; and they that wait at the altar, partake with the altar, 1Co 9:13. So also 1Co 10:18; wherein the apostle had respect unto the institutions of the law giving right unto the priests to eat of things sanctified by the altar. And it was a right which did appropriate this privilege unto them. It was not lawful for any others to eat any thing from the altar, unless it were in the case of the thank-offering, by especial indulgence, or in case of extreme necessity, Mat 12:3-4.
This right, or any other of an alike nature, they had not, to eat of that altar which we have.
Whereof, of which; the altar, and all the things which are sanctified thereby.
To eat: Eating was the only way of the participation of meats from the altar; what was every ones portion was to be eaten. Hence the apostle useth to eat here, for any kind of participation. He doth not intend that we have an altar whereof some may eat, namely, of meats taken from it and consecrated by it, which they had no right to do; but only that they have no right to participate of the benefits of our altar in any way or kind. Hereunto they had no right or title; that is, they had not by virtue of any divine institution. He doth not absolutely exclude such persons from ever attaining an interest in our altar. But he doth it in two respects:
(1.) They had no such right by virtue of their office and relation unto the tabernacle:
(2.) That whilst they adhered unto that privilege, and the use of meats thereby for the establishment of their hearts in peace with God, they could have no interest in this altar of ours And we may see,
Obs. 7. That all privileges, of what nature soever, without a participation of Christ, as the altar and sacrifice of the church, are of no advantage unto them that enjoy them.
Heb 13:11-12. . , , .
Heb 13:11-12. For the bodies of those beasts whose blood, [being] a sin-offering, is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest, are burnt without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate The apostle in these words proceeds to the confirmation of his whole present design, in all the parts of it; and they are three:
1. To declare of what nature our altar and sacrifice are; and thereon of what nature and kind the duties of religion are which proceed from them and depend upon them.
2. To testify that the removal of all distinction of meats, by virtue of this altar, was signified in the old institutions, which had their accomplishment in this altar and sacrifice.
3. To show the necessity of the suffering of Christ without the gate of the city, from the typical representation of it; so to make way for the declaration of the use that we are to make of it. All which will be evidenced in the exposition of the words.
Heb 13:11. For the bodies of those beasts whose blood, [being] a sin-offering, is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest, are burnt without the camp.
1. An instance is given unto the end mentioned, in a sacrifice typical of the sacrifice of Christ. And this is , that is, a sin-offering. See Heb 10:6, with the exposition.
2. Two things are affirmed concerning this sacrifice:
(1.) That the blood of the beasts was brought into the sanctuary by the high priest.
(2.) That the bodies of the beasts whose blood was so offered for sin were burnt without the camp.
1. The sacrifice intended is the sin-offering. For concerning this kind of sacrifice, and this alone, the institution is plain, Lev 6:30, And no sin-offering, whereof any of the blood is brought into the tabernacle of the congregation, to reconcile withal in the holy place, shall be eaten, it shall be burnt in the fire, And that the whole body of the beast was to be carried out of the camp, and burnt in a clean place, is ordained, Lev 4:12. But the apostle hath especial respect unto the sin-offering on the great day of atonement, which was appointed, by an everlasting statute, to make an atonement for the children of Israel, for all their sins, once a-year, Lev 16:34; for it was the blood of that sacrifice alone that was carried into the most holy place by the high priest, Lev 16:14-16. And there was an especial institution for the burning of the bodies of the beasts whose blood was then offered, without the camp, the words whereof the apostle doth here repeat: Lev 16:27, And the bullock for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin-offering, (that is, the bodies of the beasts whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place by the high priest,) shall one carry forth without the camp; and they shall burn in the fire their skins, and their flesh, and their dung.
2. It is therefore evident both what sacrifice is intended, and what are the things affirmed of it; wherein the apostle repeats two divine institutions, the one concerning the blood, the other concerning the bodies, of the beasts that were sacrificed.
(1.) For the first of these, or the way and manner of the high priests carrying the blood into the holy place to make atonement, see the exposition on Heb 9:6-7.
(2.) The burning of the bodies was ordained to be without the camp; namely, whilst the Israelites were in the wilderness, and abode in tents encamped round about the tabernacle, after the priests and Levites, who pitched immediately about it, Num 1:53 : the order and manner of which encamping is appointed and described, Numbers 2; which took up some miles in compass. Unto this camp of the Israelites the city of Jerusalem did afterwards answer, and all the institutions about it were applied thereunto. Wherefore, when this sacrifice was observed in the temple, the bodies of the beasts were carried out of the city to be burned. Hence the apostle makes the suffering of Christ without the gate, to answer unto the burning of the bodies of the beasts without the camp, the city and the camp being the same thing in this institution.
And sundry things we may here observe, as unto the purpose of the apostle in this place; as,
[1.] That this sin-offering on the day of atonement was the principal type of Christ and his sacrifice, among all the sacrifices of the law, as hath been before fully demonstrated.
[2.] That the matter of this sacrifice was totally anathematized and devoted, as that which had all the sins and uncleannesses of the church upon it; whence he that burned the bodies of the beasts was legally unclean, Lev 16:28; to manifest how fully the Lord Christ was made a curse for us.
[3.] That in this sacrifice there was no eating, no meats, or distinction of them, or privilege about them; all was consumed.
Hence the apostle proves that meats did never contribute any thing towards the establishment of the heart before God. For there was no use of them in or about that sacrifice whereby atonement was made for sin, whereon the establishment of the heart doth depend. Yea, there was herein a clear prefiguration, that when the great atonement was made, there should be no use of the distinction of meats left in the church.
And hereby further way is made for the description of our altar and sacrifice, with the nature of the divine worship ensuing thereon.
Heb 13:12. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
This is the altar which we have, this is the sacrifice on that altar, and this is the effect of it, namely, the sanctification of the people.
And the first thing in the words is the note of inference from what was spoken before: Wherefore Jesus also, what he did was in compliance with the legal institution mentioned.There was no obligation on him from that institution; but the end of it being a prefiguration of what he was to do and suffer, it was necessary that he should comply therewith. So, although he did nothing but by his own will and choice, yet this reason of what he did is frequently assigned, namely, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. Being to fulfill all righteousness, and the whole law, what he did was regulated by the predictions of the Scripture, and the typical representations of what was to be done. See Heb 3:5, with the exposition. This is the ground of the inference here: Wherefore Jesus also; It must so be, because divine wisdom had given this prefiguration of it.And,
Obs. 1. The complete answering and fulfilling of all types in the person and office of Christ, testifieth the sameness and immutability of the counsel of God in the whole work of the redemption and salvation of the church, notwithstanding all the outward changes that have been in the institutions of divine worship. For hence it is manifest, that in the whole Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.
And there is not only an inference in this expression, but an intimation of a similitude also, such as is between the type and the thing typified: As was that sacrifice or sin-offering under the law, so was this of Christ; Wherefore Jesus also.
There are sundry truths of great importance in these words, the consideration whereof will give us the just exposition of them; as,
1. That Jesus in his sufferings did offer himself unto God. This is plain in the words. That he might sanctify the people with his blood, he suffered; for in that suffering his blood was shed, whereby the people were sanctified: which utterly overthrows the Socinian figment of his oblation in heaven.
2. That in his sufferings he offered himself a sin offering, in answer unto those legal sacrifices whose blood was carried into the holy place, and their bodies burned without the camp; which were sin-offerings only. It answered, indeed, unto all offerings made by blood (for blood was never used but to make atonement, Lev 17:11,) yet it had a peculiar representation in the Sin-offering on the day of expiation, Leviticus xvi., as hath been before declared.
3. The end of this offering of Christ was, that he might sanctify the people. This was finis operis et operantis; the end of what was done, and of him who did it. hath respect to the final cause; and the object of the work wrought is the people: not the church and people of the Jews in general, for the most of them were rejected from the benefit of this sacrifice; and to show that he left them herein, he suffered and offered himself without the gate. In the typical sacrifice of expiation, the bodies of the beasts were carried out of the camp, and burned, to show that they were absolutely anathematized; but the blood was shed and offered at the tabernacle, in the midst of the congregation, because the whole congregation was to be sanctified thereby. But the Lord Jesus offered himself and his blood without the city, or the camp, because he designed not either to confine the benefit of his offering unto that people, or to take them in unto it as a camp, a city, a church, or congregation. But this people are elsewhere called his people, Mat 1:21, and church, or body, Eph 5:25-27, that is, all the elect of God, both Jews and Gentiles, 1Jn 2:1-2.
4. That which he designed and accomplished for this people, was their sanctification. What it is to be sanctified by blood, as offered, hath been before declared; and it is here manifest, by the respect that his had unto the great sacrifice of expiation. It is to have atonement made, or an expiation of the guilt of their sins; an acquitment obtained from the defilement of it, as separating from the favor of God; and a sacred dedication unto him.
5. This is that which the Lord Jesus designed for his church; and he did effect it by his own blood. When the blood of Christ is mentioned in this matter, it is emphatically called his own blood: Purchased his church with his own blood, Act 20:28 : Washed us from our sins in his own blood, Rev 1:5. Heb 9:12, as in this place. And three things are included therein.
(1.) An opposition unto the sacrifices of the high priests under the law, which were of the blood of beasts, and not their own. See Heb 9:12, with the exposition.
(2.) An evidence of the unspeakable worth and value of this offering, whereon all its efficacy doth depend. Hence it is called Gods own blood, Act 20:28. See Heb 9:15.
(3.) A testimony of what it cost the Lord Jesus to sanctify the people, even his own blood.
6. The last thing in the words, is the circumstance of the suffering of Christ, namely, that it was without the gate, that is of the city, namely, of Jerusalem; which answered the camp in the wilderness, after the tabernacle was fixed therein. And sundry things are herein included:
(1.) That he left the city and church-state of the Jews; whence he denounced their destruction as he went out of the gate, Luk 23:28-30.
(2.) He put an end unto all sacrificing in the city and temple, as unto divine acceptation. All was now finishing.
(3.) He declared that his sacrifice and the benefits of it were not included in the church of the Jews, but were equally extended unto the whole world, 1Jn 2:2, Joh 11:52.
(4.) He declared that his death and suffering were not only a sacrifice, but a punishment for sin; namely, the sins of the people that were to be sanctified by his blood. For he went out of the city as a malefactor, and died the death which by divine institution was a sign of the curse, Gal 3:13.
By all these things it appears how different our altar and sacrifice are from theirs under the law; and how necessary it is from thence that we should have a worship of another nature than what they had, wherein in particular the distinction of meats should be of no use. And we may observe,
Obs. 2. That the church could no otherwise be sanctified, but by the blood of Jesus, the Son of God. See Heb 10:4-7, with the exposition.
Obs. 3. The Lord Jesus, out of his incomprehensible love unto his people, would spare nothing, avoid nothing, deny nothing, that was needful unto their sanctification, their reconciliation, and dedication unto God. He did it with his own blood, Eph 5:25-27; Gal 2:20; Rev 1:5; Act 20:28.
Obs. 4. There was, by divine constitution, a concurrence in the same work of suffering and offering; that satisfaction unto the law and its curse might be made by it, as penal in a way of suffering; and atonement, or reconciliation with God, by the way of a sacrifice or offering.
Obs. 5. The whole church is perfectly sanctified by the offering of the blood of Christ, as unto impetration; and it shall be so actually by the virtue of the same blood in its application.
Obs. 6. When the Lord Jesus carried all the sins of his own people in his own body unto the tree, he left the city, as a type of all unbelievers, under the wrath and curse of God.
Obs. 7. Going out of the city as a malefactor, he bore all the reproach that was due to the sins of the church; which was a part of the curse.
Heb 13:13-14. , . , .
Heb 13:13-14. Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have here no abiding city, but we seek one to come.
From the account given of our altar in the suffering and offering of Christ, with the manner thereof, the apostle draws an exhortation unto that general duty which is the foundation of all our Christian profession, Heb 13:13; and gives an enforcement of the same exhortation, Heb 13:14.
1. The exhortation unto the duty is introduced by a note of inference, which we render therefore; which is the sense of the particles in conjunction. Seeing the Lord Jesus hath so suffered and offered himself, this now is our duty, that which thereon is required of us; which I therefore exhort you unto.And for the opening of the words, we must consider,
(1.) What is meant by the camp;
(2.) How we are to go forth from it;
(3.) How we go to him in our so doing;
(4.) In what manner.
(1.) The apostle in all this epistle hath respect unto the original institution of the Jewish church-state and worship in the wilderness: therefore he confines his discourse to the tabernacle and the services of it, without any mention of the temple, or the city wherein it was built; though all that he speaks be equally applicable unto them. Now the camp in the wilderness was that space of ground which was taken up by the tents of the people, as they were regularly pitched about the tabernacle. Out of this compass the bodies of the beasts for the sin-offerings were carried and burned. Hereunto afterwards answered the city of Jerusalem, as is evident in this place. For whereas in the foregoing verse Christ is said to suffer without the gate, here he is said to be without the camp; these being all one and the same, as to the purpose of the apostle. Now the camp and city was the seat of all the political and religious converse of the church of the Jews. To be in the camp,is to have a right unto all the privileges and advantages of the commonwealth of Israel, and the whole divine service of the tabernacle. For if any lost that right by any means, though but for a season, they were removed out of the camp, Lev 13:46; Lev 24:23; Num 5:2; Num 12:15.
(2.) How were the Hebrews, on the account of this sacrifice of Christ and the sanctification of the people by his own blood, to go out of this camp? For it is all one whether we read the word, go out of the camp unto him, or go forth unto him without the camp, namely, who there suffered. Now it is not a local departure out of the city which is intended in the first place; though I am apt to think, from the next verse, that the apostle had some respect also thereunto, for the season was now approaching wherein they were so to depart out of the city before its final destruction. This the apostle may now prepare them for: but that which principally is intended is a moral and religious going forth from this camp. There was nothing that these Hebrews did more value, and more tenaciously adhere unto, than that political and religious interest in the commonwealth of Israel. They could not understand how all the glorious privileges granted of old unto that church and people should so cease as that they ought to forsake them. Hereon the most continued in their unbelief of the gospel; many would have mixed the doctrine of it with their old ceremonies, and the best of them found no small difficulty in their renunciation. But the apostle shows them, that, by the suffering of Christ without the gate or camp, this they were calmed unto; as,
Obs. 1. All privileges and advantages whatever are to be foregone, parted withal, and renounced, which are inconsistent with an interest in Christ and a participation of him; as our apostle shows at large, Php 3:4-10.
(3.) They were thus to go forth unto him. He went forth at the gate, and suffered; and we must go forth after him, and unto him. And it denotes,
[1.] A relinquishment of all the privileges of the camp and city for his sake. Leave them, and go to him.
[2.] A, closing by faith with his sacrifice, and sanctification thereby, in opposition unto all the sacrifices of the law.
[3.] The owning of him under all that reproach and contempt which were cast upon him in his suffering without the gate, or a not being ashamed of his cross.
[4.] The betaking ourselves unto him in his office, as the king, priest, and prophet of the church, as unto our acceptance with God, and in his worship; as the apostle directs, Heb 12:15.
(4.) In our thus doing, we are to bear his reproach. See for the exposition hereof, Heb 11:26, where the same thing is ascribed unto Moses. In brief, the reproach of Christ, is either the reproach that was cast on his person, or the reproach that is cast on our persons for his sake. The first was in the cross, with all the shame, contempt, and reproach, wherewith it was accompanied. This was that great scandal at which the unbelieving world of Jews and Gentiles stumbled and fell. This reproach of Christ we bear, when we own him, believe in him, and make profession of his name; despising this reproach, through a spiritual view of the power of God and the wisdom of God in his cross. The reproach of Christ in the latter sense, is all that contempt, scorn, and despite, with revilings, which are cast upon us for our faith in him and profession of his name. See Heb 10:33, with the exposition. This we bear when we patiently undergo it, and are not shaken in our minds in what we suffer by it.
In these things consist the first general duties of our Christian profession, which we are called and directed unto by his offering himself, and the manner of it, namely,
(1.) In a separation from all ways of religious worship not appointed by himself.
(2.) In a relinquishment of all civil and political privileges which are inconsistent with the profession of the gospel.
(3.) In avowing the wisdom, grace, and power of God in the cross, notwithstanding the reproaches that are cast upon it.
(4.) In giving up ourselves unto him in the discharge of his whole office towards the church.
(5.) In conformity unto him in self-denial and suffering. All which are comprised in this apostolical exhortation. And we may observe unto our own instruction,
Obs. 2. That if it was the duty of the Hebrews to forsake those ways of worship which were originally of divine institution, that they might wholly give up themselves unto Christ in fall things pertaining unto God; much more is it ours to forego fall such pretenses unto religious worship as are of human invention. And,
Obs. 3. Whereas the camp contained not only ecclesiastical, but political privileges also, there ought to be a readiness to forego all civil accommodations also, in houses, lands, possessions, converse with men of the same nation, when we are called thereunto on the account of Christ and the gospel.
Obs. 4. If we will go forth unto Christ as without the camp, or separated from all the concerns of this world, we shall assuredly meet with all sorts of reproaches.
The sum of all is, that we must leave all, to go forth unto a crucified Christ.
2. An enforcement of this exhortation, or an encouragement unto this duty, the apostle adds in the next words.
Heb 12:14. For we have here no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
See the exposition on Heb 11:10; Heb 11:16.
The argument is taken from the consideration of the state of believers in this world, which is such as calls and directs them to go out of the camp unto Christ. This is our duty, seeing we have here no continuing city, unless we intend to be without rest or refuge.
Two things are asserted in this description of the present state of believers:
(1.) That they have here no continuing city.
(2.) That they seek one to come.
It seems, therefore, that a city is necessary unto all; and those who have none at present must seek for one to come. And,
(1.) It is declared,
[1.] Where they have it not; not here, that is, in this world, in this life. Their interest in the city of Jerusalem was gone after the Lord Jesus went out of the gate to suffer. And if it had continued, yet was not that an abiding city; for neither could they long continue in it, nor was itself to be of any long continuance, but was speedily to be destroyed.
[2.] They had not a city. A city is the center of mens interests and privileges, the residence and seat of their conversation. Hereby are they freed from the condition of strangers and pilgrims; and have all that rest and security whereof in this world they are capable. For those who have no higher aims or ends than this world, a city is their all. Now it is not said of believers absolutely that they belonged to no city, had none that was theirs in common with other men; for our apostle himself pleaded that he was a citizen of no mean city. And this is intimated, as we shall see, in the restriction of the assertion, a continuing city. But it is spoken on other accounts.
1st. They had no city that was the seat of divine worship, whereunto it was confined, as it was before unto Jerusalem. This the Jews boasted of, and the apostle acknowledgeth that the Christians had none such. The Roman pretenses of their sacred city were yet unforged.
2dly. They had no city wherein they did rest, or which was the seat of their polity or conversation; for that is in heaven, Php 3:20 : not such a city as should give them their state and rest; the things which they did ultimately aim at: no such city as wherein their lot and portion did lie; such as by whose laws and rules their conversation was regulated.
3dly. They had not an abiding city. Whatever conveniencies they might have here in this world for a season, yet they had no city that was to abide forever, nor which they could for ever abide in.
And probably herein the apostle shows the difference and opposition between the state of the Christian church and that under the old testament.
For they, after they had wandered in the wilderness and elsewhere for some ages, were brought to rest in Jerusalem; but saith he, With us it is not so; we have no city unto such an end; but we seek one that is to come.
See the description of the state of pilgrimage here intended, in the exposition on Heb 11:9-10; Heb 11:13-16.
(2.) The second thing in the description given of the present state of believers, is, that they are seeking one [a city] to come. They are seeking after it, not as a thing unknown or hard to be found, but endeavoring to attain it, to come unto it. The use of the way and means unto this end is intended, and that with diligence and desire, as the words import.
And it was such a city they sought as they did not yet possess, nor could do so whilst they were in this world; it was one that was yet for to come, as unto them and their enjoyment of it: , that city; not one indefinitely, but that city which was to be their eternal habitation. And it is said to be to come, not merely because it was future as unto their state and interest in it, but with respect unto their certain enjoyment of it on the account of divine designation and appointment. And it was,
[1.] Prepared for them; and what belonged thereunto. See Heb 11:16.
[2.] It was promised unto them. For in this city lies that eternal inheritance which was proposed in the promises from the foundation of the world.
[3.] The way unto it was prescribed and directed in the scripture of the Old Testament, but now laid open and made plain by Jesus Christ, who brought life and immortality to light by the gospel. In brief, it is the heavenly state of rest and glory which is intended by this city. And we are taught herein,
Obs. 5. That believers are not like to meet with any such encouraging entertainment in this world, as to make them unready or unwilling to desert it, and to go forth after Christ, bearing his reproach. For it is a motive in the apostles reasoning unto a readiness for that duty, We have here no continuing city.
Obs. 6. This world never did, nor ever will, give a state of rest and satisfaction unto believers. It will not afford them a city. It is Jerusalem above that is the vision of peace. Arise and depart; this is not your rest.
Obs. 7. In the destitution of a present satisfactory rest, God hath not left believers without a prospect of that which shall be so unto eternity. We have not, but we seek.
Obs. 8. As God hath prepared a city of rest for us, so it is our duty continually to endeavor the attainment of it in the ways of his appointment.
Obs. 9. The main business of believers in this world is diligently to seek after the city of God, or the attainment of eternal rest with him; and this is the character whereby they may be known.
Heb 12:15-17. Having declared of what nature our altar is, and the fundamental points of our religion thence arising, namely, our faith in Christ Jesus, and the profession thereof, in readiness for the cross, and conformity unto him thereby, the apostle proceeds to declare the other necessary duty of our Christian profession, proceeding from the same cause, namely, the nature of our altar and sacrifice. And this he doth still in opposition unto those doctrines and observances about meats, and other things of an alike nature, which depended on the altar in the tabernacle with its institutions. And he reduceth all our Christian duties unto three heads, giving especial instances in each kind. Now, these are such as are,
1. Spiritual, with respect unto God; whereof he gives an instance, verse 15:
2. Moral, with respect unto men of all sorts; an instance whereof, comprehensive of all duties towards others, we have, verse 16: and,
3. Ecclesiastical, in the church-state whereinto we are called by the profession of the gospel; the principal duty whereof is instanced in, verse 17.
We have therefore in these verses, which are upon the matter the close of the epistle, so far as it is instructive, a summary of the whole duty of believers, and that cast under three heads, in a most proper order. For, beginning with that duty that doth immediately concern God himself, which contains the sum of the first table, he proceeds unto that towards men, which eminently contains those of the second; and so concludes with that duty which ariseth peculiarly from divine institution, which is superadded unto the other. It is not my business to insist at large on the things themselves, but only to open the words, and declare what is the mind of the Holy Ghost in them.
First, he proposeth the duty which we owe unto God immediately, on the account of our altar and sacrifice.
Heb 13:15. , .
Heb 13:15. By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually; that is, the fruit of [our] lips, confessing to his name. The words are an exhortation unto duty, by way of inference from what was before declared concerning the Lord Christ his sufferings and offering unto the sanctification of the people: Therefore let us. Two things do follow on the due consideration thereof:
1. In general, the necessity of a return unto God in a way of duty, on the account of so great a mercy. Seeing we are sanctified and dedicated unto God, by the blood of Christ, it cannot be but that the duty of obedience unto God is required of us.
2. The especial nature of that duty, which is described in the words. And it is placed principally in praise, as that which it naturally calleth for and constraineth unto; for thankfulness is the peculiar animating principle of all gospel obedience. And,
Obs. 1. Every act of grace in God, or love in Christ, towards us, is in its own nature obligatory unto thankful obedience.
The duty itself exhorted unto is expressed two ways:
1. Positively, Let us offer the sacrifice of praise unto God continually.
2. Declaratively, as unto its especial nature, That is, the fruit of our lips, confessing unto his name.
1. The duty exhorted unto in general, is offering sacrifice to God. What it is that he peculiarly intends the next words declare. But he thus expresseth it,
(1.) To show what is the use of our altar, in opposition unto all the services of the altar in the tabernacle, which consisted in the offering of sacrifices; for we also having an altar, must have sacrifices to offer, without which an altar is of no use.
(2.) To show the immediate end and object of all gospel worship; which is God himself, as he was of all sacrifices. None might be offered but to him alone. So,
Obs. 2. The religious worship of any creatures, under what pretense soever, hath no place in our Christian profession. And,
Obs. 3. Every act and duty of faith hath in it the nature of a sacrifice to God, wherewith he is well pleased.
2. The especial nature of this sacrifice is declared, in opposition unto the carnal sacrifices of the law; and that,
(1.) In the only way and means of offering it; which is by Christ: By him let us offer. All the sacrifices of the people under the law were offered by the priests: wherefore respect is here had unto Christ in the discharge of his priestly office. How we come to God by him as our high priest, and offer our sacrifices by him, hath been fully declared in the exposition of Heb 4:14-16; Heb 10:19-22. In brief,
[1.] He sanctifies and dedicates our persons unto God, that we may be meet to offer sacrifices unto him. He sanctifieth the people with his own blood, Heb 13:12; and makes us priests unto God, Rev 1:6; an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable unto God by him, 1Pe 2:5.
[2.] He hath prepared and made a way for our access with boldness into the holy place, where we may offer these sacrifices, Heb 10:19-22.
[3.] He beareth the iniquity of our holy things, and makes our offerings acceptable through his merit and intercession.
[4.] He continues to administer in the tabernacle of his own human nature all the duties and services of the church; offering them up unto God in our stead and on our behalf, Heb 8:2; Rev 8:3-4. With respect unto these, and other the like acts of his mediation, we are said by him to offer this sacrifice to God; that is, under his guidance, trusting to him, relying on him, pleading his name and his grace for acceptance with God.
And by him, is the same with by him alone. There is a profane opinion and practice in the papal church about offering our sacrifices of prayer and praise to God by others; as by saints and angels, especially the blessed Virgin. But are they our altar? Did they sanctify us by their blood? Did they suffer for us without the gate? Are they the high priests of the church?
Have they made us priests unto God; or prepared a new and living way for our entrance unto the throne of grace? It is on the account of these things that we are said to offer our sacrifice by Christ; and it is the highest blasphemy to assign them unto any other. And,
Obs. 4. The great, yea the only, encouragement which we have to bring our sacrifices unto God, with expectation of acceptance, lieth herein, that we are to offer them by him, who can and will make them acceptable in his sight. And,
Obs. 5. Whatever we tender unto God, and not by Christ, it hath no other acceptance with him than the sacrifice of Cain.
(2.) In the especial nature of it; it is a sacrifice of praise. Praise is not a concomitant, but the matter of the sacrifice intended. There were thank- offerings under the law, which were peculiarly accompanied with praises and thanksgivings; but the matter of them was the blood of beasts. But this is such a sacrifice as consisteth in praise only, exclusively unto any other matter of it.
The nature of gospel obedience consisting in thanksgivings for Christ and grace by him, the whole of it may be called a sacrifice of praise. So the apostle describes it by presenting our bodies (that is, our persons) a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, as our reasonable service, Rom 12:1. But in the following description the apostle limits it unto the duties of worship, and our oral praising of God therein.
There were two things in the sacrifices of old:
[1.] The mactation, killing, or shedding the blood, of the beast that was to be offered;
[2.] The actual offering of the blood on the altar. And both these were required unto the completing of a sacrifice. The slaying or shedding the blood of a beast, wherever it was, was no sacrifice, unless the blood was offered on the altar; and no blood could be offered on the altar unless the beast was immediately slain at the altar in order thereunto. And there is a twofold spiritual sacrifice, in a resemblance hereunto, wherein our Christian profession doth consist. The first is of a broken spirit. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, Psa 51:17. Repentance, in mortification and crucifying of the flesh, is the first Christian sacrifice. Herein we present our bodies a living sacrifice unto God. See Rom 6:13. This answers the mactation or killing of the beast for sacrifice, as it is the death and destruction of the flesh. The other is this sacrifice of praise; which answers the offering of the blood on the altar by fire with incense, yielding a sweet savor unto God. The other sacrifices, mentioned in the next verse, are so called from the general adjunct of acceptation, though God be not their immediate object, as we shall see. There are sundry things observable in this exhortation of the apostle unto the offering of a sacrifice of praise, on the consideration of the Lord Christ as our altar and sacrifice, with the atonement made, and sanctification of the church thereby; as,
[1.] The great obligation that is upon us of continual thankfulness and praise unto God on the account thereof. The sum and glory of our Christian profession is, that it is the only way of praising and glorifying God for his love and grace in the person and mediation of Christ.
[2.] This obligation unto praise, succeeding into the room of all terrifying legal constraints unto obedience, alters the nature of that obedience from what was required under and by the law.
[3.] Where the heart is not prepared for, and disposed unto, this fundamental duty of praising God for the death and oblation of Christ, no other duty or act of obedience is accepted with God.
(3.) Again, whereas the apostle confines our sacrifices unto praise, whereunto he makes an addition in the next verse of doing good, and communicating, all which are metaphorical, it is evident that he excludeth all proper or propitiatory sacrifices from the service of the church. Here had been a place, if anywhere, for the introduction of the sacrifice of the mass, if any such thing had been of divine institution. For whereas it pretends to be, not only a representation, but a repetition of the sacrifice of Christ, and the principal duty of the church on the consideration thereof; is it not strange, and that which evinceth it to be a mere human figment, that the apostle, proposing the consideration of that sacrifice on so high an occasion and in so eminent a manner, describing thereon the entire duty of the church, and what by virtue thereof is required of it, should not only not mention this mass and its sacrifice, but also determine the duties of the church unto things quite of another nature? It is indeed absolutely and peremptorily excluded out of Christian religion in this context of the apostle. For his design is to show that the one sacrifice of Christ hath put an end unto all other altars and sacrifices in the worship of God, establishing such a way of it as hath no relation unto them, yea, as is inconsistent with them. Certainly, had there been any such thing in the church, they of Rome have great reason to take it unkindly of him, that, treating so distinctly and at large of all the sacrifices of the law, and of their accomplishment in the one sacrifice of Christ, with the whole duty of the church thereon, he should not give the least intimation of this sacrifice of the mass, which was to succeed into the room of all them of old, but leave them absurdly to seek for a sorry pretense in the bread and wine which Melchizedek brought forth unto Abraham and his soldiers. But the truth is, he hath dealt yet more unkindly with them; for he hath so declared the nature of the sacrifice of Christ, its use and efficacy, as either it or the mass must be turned out of the church, for they are inconsistent.
(4.) This sacrifice of praise we are enjoined to offer continually, : the same with , Luk 18:1, to pray always; and , 1Th 5:17, without ceasing. And two things are included in it:
[1.] Freedom from appointed times, seasons, and places. The sacrifices under the law had their times and places prescribed unto them, out of which they were not accepted; but as unto this of ours, every time and place is equally approved. For it may comprise places as well as times; 1Co 1:2.
[2.] Diligence and perseverance. This is that which we ought to attend unto and to abide in; that is, to do it continually, as occasions, opportunities, and appointed seasons, do require. A constant readiness of mind for it, with a holy disposition and inclination of heart unto it, acted in all proper seasons and opportunities, is enjoined us, And,
Obs. 6. To abide and abound in solemn praise to God for Jesus Christ, his mediation and sacrifice, is the constant duty of the church, and the best character of sincere believers.
(5.) In the last place, the apostle gives us a declaration of the nature of this sacrifice of praise, which he recommendeth unto us. It is,saith he, or it consisteth in the fruit of our lips, confessing unto his name.
It is generally granted that this expression, The fruit of our lips; for the sense is the same in both places, and praise unto God is intended in them both. But the design of the apostle in alleging this place is peculiar. For the prophet is praying in the name of the church for mercy, grace, and deliverance; and hereon he declareth what is the duty of it upon an answer unto its prayers. Now whereas this, according to the institutions of the law, was to have been in vows and thank-offerings of calves and other beasts, he declares, that, instead of them all, vocal thankfulness, in celebrating the praise of God, should succeed. This he calls the calves of our lips, because that the use of our lips in praise was to come into the room of all thank-offerings by calves. The psalmist speaks to the same purpose, Psa 51:15-16. But moreover, the mercy, grace, and deliverance which the prophet treats about in that place, were those which were to come by the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. After that there was to be no more sacrifice of calves, but spiritual sacrifices of praise only; which he therefore calls the calves of our lips. The apostle therefore doth not only cite his words, but respects the design of the Holy Ghost in them, which was to declare the cessation of all carnal sacrifices, upon the deliverance of the church by the sacrifice of Christ. And he changeth the words from calves to fruit, to declare the sense of the metaphor in the prophet.
And because there may yet be some ambiguity in that expression, The fruit of our lips, which in general is the product and effect of them, he adds a declaration of its nature in these words, Confessing unto his name: our lips confessing; that is, we confessing by our lips. The Hebrew word , which the LXX. usually render by , signifies to praise, properly. But because the praise of God consisteth principally in the acknowledgment of his glorious excellencies and works, to confess unto him, that is, so to profess and acknowledge those things in him, is the same with praising of him. And the apostle chooseth to make use of this word in this place, because the praise which he intends did consist in the solemn acknowledgment of the wisdom, love, grace, and goodness of God, in the redemption of the church by Jesus Christ. This is confessing unto his name. Wherefore this is that which we are taught, namely, that
Obs. 7. A constant solemn acknowledgment of the glory of God, and of the holy excellencies of his nature (that is, his name), in the work of the redemption of the church by the suffering and offering of Christ, is the principal duty of it, and the animating soul and principle of all other duties whatever.
This is the great sacrifice of the church, the principal end of all its ordinances of worship, the means of expressing our faith and trust in the blood or mediation of Christ, and of giving up that revenue of glory to God which in this world we are intrusted withal.
Heb 13:16. > .
Heb 13:16. But [moreover] to do good and to communicate forget not, [of well-doing and communication, or distribution, be not forgetful]; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
From the first great instance of Christian duties on the account of the sanctification of the church by the blood of Christ, in those spiritual duties of worship whereof God himself is the immediate object, to manifest what influence it ought to have upon the whole of our obedience, even in things moral also, and the duties of the second table, he adds this exhortation unto them in such instances as are the spring of all mutual duties among ourselves, and towards mankind. And because he persisteth in his design of declaring the nature of gospel-worship and obedience, in opposition unto the institutions of the law, (which is his argument from the 9th verse;) he calls these duties also sacrifices, upon the account of the general notion of being accepted with God, as the sacrifices were of old.
There is in the words,
1. A note of connection; 2. Duties prescribed; 3. An enforcement of the exhortation unto them.
1. The first is in the particle , but. It is not here exceptive or adversative, as though something adverse unto what was spoken of is now prescribed; but it is only continuative, and may well be rendered moreover. Unto the former duties add this also.It may be, also, that the apostle doth prevent an evil that is apt to arise in the minds of men on this occasion. Having prescribed the great duty of divine worship, of that acknowledgment of God which compriseth all the actings of our souls whereof he is the immediate object, some might think that this is the whole required of them, or that whilst they do attend thereunto they might be regardless of other things. To obviate this evil the apostle thus introduceth the injunction of this duty, But; that is, But yet, notwithstanding the diligence required in the other duty, forget not this.
Obs. 1. It is dangerous unto the souls of men when an attendance unto one duty is abused to countenance the neglect of another. So may the duties of the first table be abused to the neglect of those of the other, and on the contrary. There is a harmony in obedience, and a failure in any one part disturbs the whole.
2. In the first part of the words, there is first the manner of the prescription of the duties intended; and then the duties themselves.
(1.) The manner of their prescription is, Forget them not. See the exposition on verse 2, where the same phrase is used. But the apostle applying this caution unto this sort of duties, seems to intimate that there is a more than ordinary proneness in men to forget and neglect them. And it is not a natural, but a sinful forgetfulness that is prohibited. And this may arise from many vicious habits of mind:
[1.] From an undue trust unto religious duties; as it doth in many barren professors of religion.
[2.] From vain pleas and pretences against duties attended with trouble and charge, proceeding from self-love.
[3.] A want of that goodness of nature and disposition which effectual grace will produce.
[4.] A want of that compassion towards sufferers which is required in them that are themselves in the body, recommended verse 3. From these and the like corrupt inclinations may arise a sinful neglect and forgetfulness of these duties; which are therefore all to be watched against. Or there may be a meiosis in the expression: Forget not; that is, diligently attend unto these things. However, the warning is wholesome and useful, that we should not suffer a forgetfulness or neglect of these duties by any means to creep upon us, but be diligent in attending unto them on all occasions.
(2.) The duties themselves are two; the one more general, the other more particular.
[1.] The first is , doing of good, well-doing. This concerns the whole course of our lives, that which in all things we ought to attend unto. Patient continuance in well-doing is the life of a believer, Rom 2:7. This we are warned not to be weary of or faint in, Gal 6:9; 2Th 3:13; and it is commended unto us, 1Pe 2:15; 1Pe 3:17; 1Pe 4:19.
And this includeth in it three things:
1st. A gracious propensity and readiness of mind to do good unto all. The liberal deviseth liberal things, Isa 32:8.
2dly. The acting of this inclination in all ways and things, spiritual and temporal, whereby we may be useful and helpful unto mankind.
3dly. The embracing of all occasions and opportunities for the exercise of pity, compression, and loving-kindness in the earth. It requires that the design of our lives, according unto our abilities, be to do good unto others; which is comprehensive of all the duties of the second table.
Hereon vir bonus est commune bonum. This beneficence, in the acting of it, is the life, salt, and ligament of human conversation; without which the society of mankind is like that of beasts, yea, of devils. It is the glory of religion; nothing doth render it so honorable as its efficacy to make men good and useful. It is the great evidence of the renovation of our nature into the likeness and image of God, who is good, and doeth good unto all: a demonstration of altering our center, end, and interest, from self to God.
For men to be unready unto this duty, the principle whereof ought to regulate them in the whole course of their lives, not to embrace occasions cheerfully of exercising loving-kindness in the earth according to their ability, is a representation of that image whereunto they are fallen in their departure from God. And nothing will be a greater relief to a man, in any calamity that may befall him in this world, than a satisfaction in his own mind that the design of his life hath been in all things, and by all ways, according to his ability and opportunities, to do good unto men.
[2.] There is prescribed a particular instance of this beneficence, which on sundry accounts constitutes an especial duty in itself, and that is communication; that is, a distribution of the good things we enjoy unto others, according as their necessities do require. It is beneficence restrained by its object, which is peculiarly the poor and indigent; and by its principle, which is pity and compassion. is the actual exercise of that charity towards the poor, which is required of us in the distribution of good things unto them, according to our ability.
This is an important evangelical duty, which the Scripture everywhere gives us in charge, as that wherein the glory of God, the salvation of our own souls, with the honor of our profession, are highly concerned. To be negligent herein, is to despise the wisdom of God in the disposal of the lots and conditions of his own children in the world in so great variety as he hath done always, and will always continue to do. He doth it for the exercise of those graces in them which their several conditions call for:
such are patience, submission, and trust, in the poor; thankfulness, bounty, and charity, in the rich. And where these graces are mutually exercised, there are beauty, order, and harmony, in this effect of divine wisdom, with a revenue of glory and praise unto himself. Good men are scarce ever more sensible of God than in giving and receiving in a due manner, he that gives aright, finds the power of divine grace in his heart, and he that receives, is sensible of divine care and love in supplies: God is nigh to both. Wherefore to be negligent herein, is to despise the wisdom of God in his holy disposal of the various outward conditions of his children in this world. No man is rich or poor merely for himself, but to fill up that public order of things which God hath designed unto his own glory. But there is no end of what might be spoken on this head, or unto the necessity and excellency of this duty. And from the injunction of these duties we may observe,
Obs. 2. That the world itself, even in those that believe not, doth receive great advantage by the grace administered from the death of Christ, and its fruits, whereof the apostle treats. For there is an obligation on them, and an inclination wrought in them, who are sanctified by his blood, to do good unto all men, all manner of ways, as they are able. And there was a time when the world was filled with the fruits of it. Did all those who at this day profess the name of Christ, show forth the virtue of his mediation in these duties, as the profession of religion would be glorious, so the benefit which the world would receive thereby would be unspeakable.
Obs. 3. That religion hath no relation unto the cross of Christ, which doth not incline and dispose men unto benignity, and the exercise of loving-kindness towards all.
Obs. 4. Much less hath that so which guides and disposeth its professors unto rage, cruelty, and oppression of others, on the account of an interest of its own.
Obs. 5. We ought always to admire the glory of divine wisdom, which hath so disposed the state of the church in this world that there should be continual occasion for the exercise of every grace mutually among ourselves. For all the works of providence do serve the glory of God in the exercise of grace.
Obs. 6. Beneficence and communication are the only outward evidences and demonstrations of the renovation of the image of God in us.
Obs. 7. God hath laid up provision for the poor in the grace and duty of the rich; not in their coffers and their barns, wherein they have no interest. And in that grace lies the right of the poor to be supplied.
3. The observance of these duties the apostle presseth on them from this consideration, that with such sacrifices God is well pleased. He persists in his way of calling our Christian duties by the name of sacrifices; and he doth it to confirm the cessation of all other sacrifices in the church, upon the accomplishment of the signification of them all in the sacrifice of Christ. But yet there is a peculiar reason for assigning this appellation unto moral duties, to be performed mutually among ourselves. For in every sacrifice there was a decrement unto the offerer. He was not to offer that which cost him nothing. Part of his substance was to be transferred from himself unto God. So is it in these duties: they cannot be duly observed, but there must be an alienation of what is ours, in time, in ease, in our substance, and a dedication of it unto God. Hence they have the general nature of sacrifices, as to cost and parting with our substance, or what is ours. So in the first recorded sacrifices of Cain and Abel, each of them gave somewhat of his own unto God; the one of the fruit of the ground, the other of the firstlings of the flock. In things of the like nature do these sacrifices much consist. But in general all things done for God, unto his glory, and accepted with him, may be so called.
The force of the motive consists in this, that with these sacrifices God is well pleased. The Vulg. Lat. renders the words, promeretur Deus; and the Rhem., God is promerited: with a barbarous word, and a false signification assigned unto it. And from their own feigned word those of the church of Rome dispute for the merit of good works; whereof, at least in their sense, there is nothing in the text, nor any thing to give the least countenance thereunto. The word is no more but accepted, or well approved of; and being spoken of God, is his being well pleased with what is done; that is, his approbation of it. Wherefore the apostle having called these duties sacrifices, he expresseth Gods respect unto them by a word signifying the act of his mind and will towards the sacrifices of old. So it is said he had respect unto the offering of Abel, Gen 4:4; that is, he approved of it and accepted it, as our apostle declares, Heb 11:4. So, on the sacrifice of Noah, it is said that he smelled a savor of rest, Gen 8:21. It was well-pleasing unto him. And this frame of rain, in God with respect unto those sacrifices doth the apostle express by this word, Is well pleased. But there is also in the word a clear intimation of the especial pleasure of God in these things. This is that which he is well pleased withal in an especial manner. And hence we may learn,
Obs. 8. That the will of God revealed concerning his accept ance of any duties, is the most effectual motive unto our diligence in them. Promise of acceptance gives life unto obedience.
Obs. 9. The works and duties which are peculiarly useful unto men, are peculiarly acceptable unto God.
Heb 13:17. , .
Heb 13:17. Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls as they that must give an account, that they may do it with joy, and not mourning; for that is unprofitable for you.
This is the third instance of duties required in our Christian profession on the account of the sacrifice of Christ, and our sanctification by his blood. And it is in things ecclesiastical, or gospel institutions. And some things are to be premised unto the exposition of the words.
1. There is a supposition of a settled church-state among them unto whom the apostle wrote; whereof he gave intimation, Heb 10:24-25. For there were among them rulers, and those that were ruled; into which two sorts he distributes the whole. And he adds moreover their mutual duties in that church-state, and that distinctly, according to the office of the one and capacity of the other.
2. This epistle was written immediately to the community of the faithful, or body of the fraternity in the church, and that in distinction from their rulers or guides, as appeareth both in this place and Heb 10:24. Hence all the duties contained in it are given in immediate charge unto them. So it was in those primitive times, when the church itself was intrusted with the care of its own edification. But these things can scarce be accommodated unto the present, state of most churches in the world, wherein the people as such have no interest in their own edification.
3. The especial duty here prescribed includes all that concerns church rule and order; for the springs of all things belonging thereunto lie in the due obedience of the church unto its rulers, and their due discharge of their office; in them [it?] they also are enjoined. This, therefore, added unto the spiritual and moral duties before mentioned, gives us a summary of the whole duty of believers.
The words contain a prescription of a duty, with the ground or reason of it. In the first there is,7
(1.) The persons towards whom it is to be discharged; that is, their rulers.
(2.) The duty itself, whereof there are two parts:
[1.] Obedience, Obey them;
[2.] Submission, And submit yourselves. In the second there are two things:
(1.) The reason for the equity and necessity of this duty: and this is taken from a due discharge of their office and work, They watch for your souls; which is amplified from the consideration of their accountableness unto Christ for their office, As those that must give an account.
(2.) An enforcement of the reason itself, from the different ways of their giving account, with the different causes and events thereof, That they may do it with joy, etc.
1. (1.) The persons towards whom the duty is prescribed, are those that have the rule over them. Of the meaning of the word here used, see the exposition of verse 7 of this chapter. It signifies properly guides or leaders, though usually applied unto them that guide, feed, or lead with authority, or by virtue of office. But all the names given by the Holy Ghost unto those who preside in the church are exclusive of rigid authority, and pregnant with notions of spiritual care, duty, and benignity. Styles or titles of magisterial power, of earthly dignity, of rigid authority, are foreign to evangelical churches: Your guides, your leaders; who rule by rational guidance and conduct.
These guides or rulers are those who are called the elders or bishops of the church. And,
[1.] There were many of them in each church. For suppose that the apostle wrote this epistle directly and immediately unto all the churches in Judea (which yet he did not, but unto that at Jerusalem,) yet each of them must be supposed to have had more of these rulers of their own than one; for they are directed to obey them that had the rule over them, and not over others; those that watched over their souls, and were to give an account of them. Here is no room left for a single bishop, and his rule in the church, much less for a pope.
[2.] These rulers or guides were then of two sorts, as the apostle declares, 1Ti 5:17; first, such as together with rule labored also in word and doctrine; and then such as attended unto rule only. And if this be not here allowed, let it be taken in the other sense, and then the two parts or duties of the same office, or teaching and ruling, are directed unto. For distinct respect is had unto them in the prescription of the duties here mentioned, as we shall see.
[3.] The grant of these guides unto the church, this office and its due discharge, being of necessity unto its edification, is an act of the authority of Christ, and an effect of his love and care, as our apostle declares at large, Eph 4:8-16. And where those that take upon them so to be are useless, or obstructive as unto that end, they must bear their own judgment. This is certain, that in after ages the church owed its ruin unto its guides, who led it into a fatal apostasy.
[4.] The rulers or guides here intended were the ordinary elders, or officers of the church, which were then settled among them. For although probably one of the apostles was yet alive among them, yet it is plain that it is their ordinary officers, which had the peculiar rule of them, that are intended. And that there be such, more than one in every church, belongs unto the complete state and constitution of it.
(2.) There are two parts of the duty enjoined with respect unto these guides, and that with distinct respect unto the two parts of their office before mentioned, namely, of teaching and ruling.
[1.] It is with respect unto their teaching, preaching, or pastoral feeding, that they are commanded to obey them. For the word signifies an obedience on a persuasion; such as doctrine, instruction, or teaching, doth produce. And,
[2.] The submission required, Submit yourselves, respects their rule, Obey their doctrine, and submit to their rule.And some things must be observed, to clear the intention of the apostle herein.
1st. It is not a blind, implicit obedience and subjection, that is here prescribed. A pretense hereof hath been abused to the ruin of the souls of men: but there is nothing more contrary to the whole nature of gospel obedience, which is our reasonable service; and in particular, it is that which would frustrate all the rules and directions given unto believers in this epistle itself, as well as elsewhere, about all the duties that are required of them. For to what purpose are they used, if no more be required but that men give up themselves, by an implicit credulity, to obey the dictates of others
2dly. It hath respect unto them in their office only. If those who suppose themselves in office do teach and enjoin things that belong not unto their office, there is no obedience due unto them by virtue of this command. So is it with the guides of the church of Rome, who, under a pretense of their office, give commands in secular things, no way belonging unto the ministry of the gospel.
3dly. It is their duty so to obey whilst they teach the things which the Lord Christ hath appointed them to teach; for unto them is their commission limited, Mat 28:20 : and to submit unto their rule whilst it is exercised in the name of Christ, according to his institution, and by the rule of the word, and not otherwise. When they depart from these, there is neither obedience nor submission due unto them. Wherefore,
4thly. In the performance of these duties, there is supposed a judgment to be made of what is enjoined or taught, by the word of God, according to all the instructions and rules that are given us therein. Our obedience unto them must be obedience unto God.
5thly. On this supposition their word is to be obeyed and their rule submitted unto, not only because they are true and right materially, but also because they are theirs, and conveyed from them unto us by divine institution. A regard is to be had unto their authority and office-power in what they teach and do. And it is hence evident,
Obs. 1. That the due obedience of the church, in all its members, unto the rulers of it, in the discharge of their office and duty, is the best means of its edification, and the chief cause of order and peace in the whole body. Therefore is it here placed by the apostle as comprehensive of all ecclesiastical duties.
2. The ground of this duty, or the principal motive unto it, is taken from the office of these rulers, and their discharge of it.
(1.) They watch for your souls, as they that must give account. Obey them, for they watch. Make the consideration hereof a motive unto your duty.
They watch. The word used is peculiar unto this place, and it denotes a watchfulness with the greatest care and diligence, and that not without trouble or danger; as Jacob kept and watched the flocks of Laban in the night. And they did it for their souls; about them, concerning them and the things that belonged unto them; for their good, (so frequently denotes the final cause), that souls may be guided, kept, and directed, unto their present duty and future reward.
And the apostle compriseth herein the whole duty of the pastoral office, with the manner of its discharge. Wherein that duty doth consist, what are the principal parts and acts of it, I have elsewhere declared.[4] Here the thing itself is intimated, but the manner of its discharge is principally intended; that is, with design, care, and diligence; and that against troubles, dangers, and oppositions. As if it were said, The work and design of these rulers is solely to take care of your souls, by all means to preserve them from evil, sin, backsliding; to instruct and feed them; to promote their faith and obedience; that they may be led safely to eternal rest. For this end is their office appointed, and herein do they labor continually.
[4] See Duty of Pastors and People, etc., vol. 13:7; and A Brief Instruction in the Worship of God, etc., vol. 15:493, miscellaneous works. ED
Where this is not the design of church rulers, where it is not their work and employment, where they do not evidence it so to be, they can claim no obedience from the church, by virtue of this rule. For the words here used are so a motive unto this obedience, as that they also contain the formal reason of it; because this watching belongs unto the essence of the office in the exercise of it, without which it is an empty name.
Obs. 2. An assumption of right and power by any to rule over the church, without evidencing their design and work to be a watching for the good of their souls, is pernicious unto themselves, and ruinous unto the church itself.
On the other side; that all the members of the church may be kept in due obedience unto their guides, it is necessary that they always consider the nature of their orifice, and their discharge of it. When they find that the office itself is a divine institution for the good of their souls, and that it is discharged by their guides, with labor, care, and diligence, they will be disposed unto that obedience and submission which are required of them.
And herein consist the beauty and usefulness of church order, namely, when the guides of it do make it evident that their whole design is with labor and diligence to promote the eternal welfare of the souls of them that are committed unto their care; and they, on the other hand, on the account hereof, do obey them in their doctrine, and submit unto them in their rule. Without this, all pretense of order is but confusion.
(2.) There is, moreover, an enforcement added unto this motive, from the consideration of the condition whereon they undertake this work of watching for their souls; namely, As those that must give an account; that is, of their office, work, duty, and discharge of it. So we render the words, Those that must give an account; referring it unto the last day of universal account. But respect is had also unto their present state and work; as,
[1.] They are in their office accountable persons; such as are obliged to account. They are not owners, but stewards; they are not sovereigns, but servants. There is a great Shepherd of the sheep, verse 20; the Prince of the shepherds, 1Pe 5:4; to whom they must give an account of their office, of their work, and of the flock committed to their charge.
[2.] They behave themselves as those that are so intrusted, and so accountable. This is included in the particle , as those. And those who have an accountable office or work committed unto them, do act,
1st. With good boldness and confidence towards those that are under their care; for they are committed unto them by him who hath the sovereign power over them all, unto whom they must give an account. They are not afraid to be esteemed intruders, or to impose themselves unduly on others, in any acts or duties of their office. Stewards are bold in the honest management of things committed unto them. This gives them encouragement against all oppositions and reflections, as though they took too much upon them at any time. The remembrance of their trust and their account animates them unto their duty.
2dly. With care, diligence, and circumspection, and a continual regard unto the issue of things, and the trial which they must come unto. This the nature of the thing requires.
[3.] Although the last great account, which all church guides must give of their stewardship, may be intended, yet the present account which they give every day to Jesus Christ of the work committed to them, is included in it also. There are no conscientious church guides, but they do continually represent unto the Lord Christ the state of the flock committed unto them, and what is the success of their ministry among them. If they thrive, if they flourish, if they go on to perfection, this they give him an account of, blessing him for the work of his Spirit and grace among them. If they are diseased, unthrifty, fallen under decays, or do any way miscarry themselves, therein also they give an account unto Jesus Christ; they spread it before him, mourning with grief and sorrow. And indeed the different ways of giving this account, with joy or sorrow, mentioned in the next words, seem to have respect hereunto.
Obs. 3. Those who do attend with conscience and diligence unto the discharge of the work of the ministry towards their flocks, committed in an especial manner unto their charge, have no greater joy or sorrow in this world, than what accompanies the daily account which they give unto Christ of the discharge of their duty amongst them, as their success falls out to be.
[4.] The account, as was said, of the last day, when every shepherd shall be called on for his whole flock, by number and tale, is referred unto. But whereas this consists only in a solemn declaration and manifestation of what is done in this life, the present account is principally regarded, in the pressing of this duty. For the last clause of the words, That is unprofitable for you, on the supposition of an account given with sorrow, can refer to no other account but that which is present, with respect unto the success of the ministry. And much of the life of the ministry and benefit of the church depends on the continual giving an account unto Christ, by prayer and thanksgiving, of the state of the church, and success of the word therein. Those guides who esteem themselves obliged thereunto, and do live in the practice of it, will find their minds engaged thereby unto constant diligence and earnest laboring in the discharge of their duty. And the dealings of Christ with the church itself are regulated according unto this account, as the last words do manifest. For,
Lastly, The motive proposed unto obedience is further improved from the consideration of the frame of mind which is, or may be, in the guides of the church in giving this account; which wholly depends on the due observance or omission of the duty prescribed. For on the one they will give their account with joy, and on the other with sorrow. And as unto this latter frame it is added, For that is unprofitable for you, the contrary is to be understood with respect unto the former, namely, that it is profitable for them. Now, this joy or sorrow wherewith they are affected in giving of their accounts, doth not respect themselves, or their own ministry; for they are a sweet savor unto God, both in them that are saved, and in them that perish: but it respects the church itself committed unto their guidance.
[1.] The duty is urged, that they may give their account with joy. It is matter of the greatest joy unto the pastors of the churches, when they find the souls of them committed unto their charge thriving under their ministry.
So was it with the apostles themselves. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth, saith one of them, 3Jn 1:4. And another, What is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? For ye are our glory and joy, 1Th 2:19-20. And when they give their account with praise, it fills their hearts with joy in a particular manner. And this, on many accounts, is profitable for the church itself. They will quickly find the effects of the joy of their guides in their account, by the cheerful discharge of their ministry, and in tokens of Christ being well pleased with them.
[2.] It is pressed, for the avoidance of the contrary frame herein; namely, with grief, grieving or mourning. The sadness of the hearts of ministers of the gospel, upon the unprofitableness of the people under their ministry, or miscarriages of them, with respect unto church order and rule, is not easy to be expressed. With what sighing, what groaning, (as the word signifies,) what mourning, their accounts unto Christ are accompanied, he alone knows, and the last day will manifest. When it is thus, although they alone have the present burden and trouble of it, yet it is unprofitable for the people, both here and hereafter. It is, and will be so, in the discouragement of their guides, in the displeasure of Christ, and in all the severe consequents which will ensue thereon.
Fuente: An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews
Established Hearts
“Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.” Heb 13:9
Multitudes are carried about with divers and strange doctrines, the many different doctrines of men that are strange, totally foreign to the Scriptures and contrary to the gospel of Christ, the character of God, and the person, work,and offices of Christ as our Mediator. The doctrine of Christ is one. Truly, it is a good thing to have our hearts established with grace.
Hearts
It is written, With the heart man believeth unto righteousness (Rom 10:10). The Lord God requires, Apply thine heart to understanding (Pro 2:2). Let thine heart keep my commandments (Pro 3:1). Write mercy and truth upon the table of thine heart (Pro 3:3). Let thine heart retain my words (Pro 4:4). Keep thy heart with all diligence(Pro 4:23). My son, Give me thine heart (Pro 23:26). All true religion is a matter of the heart. Faith is a heart work. Repentance is a heart work. The confession of sin is a heart work. Prayer is a heart work. Worship is a heart work. Our Lord declares in Mat 5:8 that the pure in heart shall see God, and no one else. In all things spiritual the heart is the principle thing.
Established
The grace of God establishes the hearts of men. It does not leave us floundering in religious mysticism, religious intellectualism, and philosophical speculation. Believing hearts are convinced, persuaded, and settled regarding the righteousness of God and the way to God. Being built upon that foundation God himself has laid, Christ Jesus, we are established in the love of God, convinced of acceptance with God, the complete expiation of our sins, and our righteousness before God in and by Christ. Trusting Christ, we are no longer looking for the way to God and eternal life, but are established in the way. We no longer grope about in the blindness and darkness of religious confusion, but walk in the light of revealed truth, firmly looking for and expecting eternal happiness by, with, and in Christ, rejoicing in hope of the glory of God.
Grace
Our hearts are established with the gospel of the grace of God, the doctrine of the grace of God, the truth of the grace of God, and by the work of the grace of
God. We understand that salvation, justification, and eternal life are the result of God’s grace to us in Christ Jesus, not by deeds of the law or works of the flesh (Tit 3:5-7; 2Ti 1:8-11). Let us never be unsettled, tossed about and carried way from the gospel of Gods free and sovereign grace in Christ, by the many winds of strange doctrine, which come our way from the lips of men.
Not with Meats
Work-mongers and religious legalists are occupied with outward, carnal things: eating and not eating certain meats, the keeping of sabbath days, and the observance of religious ceremonies. Such carnal practices gratify the flesh, but do not profit their souls. These things cannot justify, sanctify, establish the heart, or give peace to the soul (Col 2:16-23; Rom 14:17). It is Christ alone who is all our acceptance with God (1Co 1:30).
Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible
with grace
Grace (imparted). Jam 4:6; Rom 6:1; 2Pe 3:18.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
carried: Mat 24:4, Mat 24:24, Act 20:30, Rom 16:17, Rom 16:18, 2Co 11:11-15, Gal 1:6-9, Eph 4:14, Eph 5:6, Col 2:4, Col 2:8, 2Th 2:2, 1Ti 4:1-3, 1Ti 6:3-5, 1Ti 6:20, 1Jo 4:1, Jud 1:3
it is: Act 20:32, 2Co 1:21, Gal 6:1, 2Th 2:17, 2Ti 2:1, 2Ti 2:2
not with: Heb 9:9, Heb 9:10, Lev 11:1-47, Deu 14:3-21, Act 10:14-16, Rom 14:2, Rom 14:6, Rom 14:17, 1Co 6:13, 1Co 8:8, Col 2:16-20, 1Ti 4:3-5, Tit 1:14, Tit 1:15
Reciprocal: Lev 11:2 – General Psa 112:8 – heart Isa 55:2 – do ye Mat 15:9 – teaching Mat 15:11 – that which goeth Mar 7:15 – nothing Luk 5:38 – General Joh 6:63 – the flesh Act 13:43 – the grace Act 16:5 – so Rom 1:11 – to the Rom 3:1 – advantage 1Co 3:12 – wood 1Co 13:3 – profiteth 1Co 14:6 – what shall I 2Co 11:3 – so Gal 2:13 – carried Col 2:20 – subject 1Ti 1:4 – godly 1Ti 4:8 – bodily 1Ti 4:16 – unto the 2Ti 2:14 – to no 2Ti 3:10 – my Heb 7:18 – the weakness Jam 1:6 – he Jam 2:14 – What 2Pe 1:12 – and be
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Heb 13:9. The divers (different) and strange (from the outside) doctrines (or teachings) refers especially to the disturbances of the Judaizers. To be carried about indicates something that can be moved with the wind and hence having very little weight. Paul wishes them to be established or firmly set with the grace or favor of Christ, instead of relying on the regulations of the old law regarding meats. A few more verses are devoted to some contrasts and likenesses between the two dispensations.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Heb 13:9. Very different from the varied and strange (foreign) doctrines (teachings) with which this Gospel is sometimes confounded, and very different from the legal precepts as to meats which are profitless as means of quickened life, or of true salvation, by which we must not suffer ourselves to be carried away (the true reading, not carried about): For it is a good thing (a fine thinga thing that has the beauty of virtue as well as the substance of it) that the heart be established (be made strong and firm) with grace (here opposed as a Divine operation in the soul to the outward and lifeless precepts of Jewish teachers, Col 2:22-23)the flesh profiting nothing (Joh 6:63), wherein those that walked (a common Pauline expression, Eph 2:2-11; Col 3:7) were not profited. The precepts of a ritual law have no living power, no saving efficacy. The mind that is occupied with them is generally blind to the great duties of piety and virtue, and is neither peaceful nor strong. The simplicity of Gospel rites is as certainly helpful to holiness as the purity of Gospel truth.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
There is an inference in these words from what was asserted in the former, concerning the immutability of Christ and his doctrine; namely, thus; Seeing that the doctrine of Christ taught by the apostles is as Christ himself, the same yesterday, today, and forever, there the apostle dehorts them from being carried about with divers and strange doctrines; that is, in short, the doctrines of those that mingled judaism and christianity together by cleaving to the legal observation.
Note here, The nature of the false doctrines, and what efficacy they have upon the minds of men; in themselves they are light and vain like the wind, tossing men up and down as the wind and the waves do the ship that wants ballast, turning them out of their course, and endangering their destruction; therefore, says the apostle, Take heed that ye be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines.
By meals here, understand disputes and controversies about the differences of meats; by grace, understand the doctrine of the gospel, and the sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit, which fixes and establishes the heart, and keeps the christian steady and steadfast.
Learn hence, That it is far better to have the heart filled with divine grace, than the head with disputes and controversies in religion; It is good that the heart be stablished with grace, and not with meats. The reason is added, They have not profited them that are occupied therein; that is, to observe the doctrine concerning a religious distinction of meats, since the gospel has been entertained, is altogether unprofitable and unavailable: yea, meats of themselves profited not thse who observed them, even whilst the institutions concerning them were in force.
Learn hence, That those who decline from the grace of God, as the only mean to establish their hearts in peace with him, do labour in that whereby they shall receive no advantage.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Verse 9
Not with meats. The meaning is, that the heart cannot be established,–that is, in holiness,–by attentions to distinctions of meats and other ceremonial rites.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
13:9 Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. {6} For [it is] a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with {d} meats, which have not profited them that have been {e} occupied therein.
(6) He speaks to those who mixed an external worship and especially the difference of meats with the gospel which he clearly condemns as repugnant to the benefit of Christ.
(d) By this one form which concerns the difference of clean and unclean meat, we have to understand all the ceremonial worship.
(e) Who observed the difference of them superstitiously.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
We should reject teaching that deviates from apostolic doctrine. This, too, is a strong safeguard against apostasy. The terms "varied and strange" describe a variety of heretical positions. Rather than accepting these ideas we should receive strength by taking in God’s grace that comes through His Word (Heb 4:12-13; 1Pe 2:2). This strength comes from spiritual rather than material food. Evidently one of the strange teachings prevalent when this letter originated was that certain foods or abstinence from certain foods resulted in greater godliness (cf. Col 2:16; 1Ti 4:1-5). This was, of course, what Judaism taught too. Judaism taught that eating food strengthened the heart in the sense that when the Jews ate they gave thanks to God and thus brought Him into their experience (cf. Psa 104:14-15). [Note: Lane, Hebrews 9-13, pp. 533-36.] However, Jesus’ death on the cross is the source of both the saving and sustaining grace of God by which we experience strengthening.
"This, I think, is the key message of Hebrews: ’You can be secure while everything around you is falling apart!’" [Note: Wiersbe, 2:278.]