Bible Commentaries

A Bible Reading

Hebrews 4:1). He was grieved forty years with them; their carcases whitened the wilderness. They could not enter in because of unbelief; let us therefore fear, let us learn something from history. All these carcases rotting in the wilderness are appeals; on each of them is written the word Beware, take care, do not let history pour its waters upon barren rocks or barren sands. Let us fear lest a promise being left us we should permit it to escape our attention. You see the very ground written all over with promises; they hang upon the fruit trees in the orchard, they drop from the little breasts of the birds as they sing their morning psalms. Let us look out for promises; they are filling the air. Promises are where we least expect them; turn over that leaf that seems to be hiding nothing, but simply seems to be lying on the ground, and under it you may find a blossom of a promise. Blessed are they who expect God; blessed are they who have appointments with Christ; O! thrice blessed and heavenly their estate who can find Him even at the grave. Why, methinks He is more at the grave than He is at the feast. One of His great forerunners said: "The house of mourning is better than the house of feasting". I wonder what he meant; he was not delivering an opinion, he was laying down and inculcating by example and experience a profound philosophy. You are better after you have cried than after you have laughed. The fool will tell you differently, the fool will tell you that your tears are vain, it is no use grieving needlessly, you cannot do anything, the event is past and gone, and therefore be up and doing and follow the band. O thou swollen fool! "Let us therefore fear," lest a promise should escape us; take care, those bushes in the heavenly gardens are full of birds, little birds, that one day will be great birds; let us go a-birding, and see what we can catch in the hedges of the promises. Do you keep your Bible close to your heart? do you keep your memory in your heart rather than in your intellect? is yours a memory that clings to promises, prophecies, poetries? is yours a spiritual power that can raise up out of the stones children unto Abraham? is yours an anthem-music that can make the stone walls dance as if in merriment?

I. "Let us fear therefore." Fear is wonder, expectation. Let us be covetous, economical—see, there is a crumb, gather it, put it into the great basket. Our hunger will need it some day. There is not a promise in all the Bible that we do not at some time or another want. We need all the promises of God, and they are described as exceeding great and precious. Have you ever written upon a long card all the promises? Why, there is a promise for every mental mood, there is a promise that exactly fits the ever-changing experience of the day. God's jewellery fits every finger, and looks well, for it is the jewellery of love.

II. Now, thus saith the Apostle, "Let us labour therefore" ( Hebrews 4:11). He is as fond of the word "therefore" as he is fond of the word "let us". In the first verse, "Let us therefore," in the eleventh verse, "Let us labour therefore". What would he have us labour for? Why, he says in a very remarkable form of expression, "Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest". Rest can only be entered into by labour. No man enjoys himself who does not labour. Any man who resigns all labour gives himself up into the hands of the devil. Why, it is your work that keeps you alive. Work is wine, medicine, food, stimulus, joy. "Well, but," say you, "I could do with a little less work." That is perfectly possible; some people are overworked, some hearts are overborne. When we speak thus we speak a human language and with human limitations. Even here is a great promise. Now the Apostle says, "Fall not and be not too much discouraged and overborne, for there hath no temptation or trial happened unto you but God will make a way of escape." He will enable you to bear your burden; then it will not be too much; it the burden cannot be lessened, the grace can be increased, and the increase of grace is a lightening of the load.

III. Let us hear how this wonderful logician goes on. "Let us hold fast our profession." "Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession"—let us get hold of Him with both arms, both hands, all fingers, and hang on to Him if we can do nothing better. The writer said in the first verse, "Let us therefore fear"; in the sixteenth verse he says, "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace". "Let us therefore fear," "Let us therefore labour," "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace". Christianity is logic, Christianity is not sentiment; Christianity has a great chain of reasoning, persuasion, conviction behind it and along with it. The Apostle Paul was fond of the word "Therefore". He could not have written any of these Epistles if he had not employed that logical term, and Apollos, if Apollos wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews 4:9

Notwithstanding fair prospects and outward distinction, he clung more and more passionately to his quiet country home; the "far off look," the longing for rest and reality, and for the unfolding of the mystery of life, grew stronger upon him, and, though always bright and cheerful with his children, he said more frequently to his wife, "How blessed it will be when it is all over, to lie down in that dear churchyard together!"

—Charles Kingsley's Life (ch. XVIII.).

References.—IV:9.—R. C. Trench, Sermons New and Old, p279. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iii. No133. Hugh Price Hughes, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lvii. p184. A. Coote, Twelve Sermons, p116. T. Arnold, Sermons, vol. i. p112. Expositor (4th Series), vol. iii. p134; ibid. (5th Series), vol. vi. pp229 , 325. IV:9 , 10.—A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture— Hebrews 4:10

There are three great Sabbaths. There is the Sabbath of the Father, when His work of creation is completed, and He rests on the seventh day from all His works. There is the Sabbath of the Hebrews 4:12

Believe me, nothing can be a substitute for the study of the Bible. Our own meditation will show us something of Divine truth, the written and spoken words of others will show us more, but the immediate revelation of the Divine character and methods and purposes is given us in the Bible alone. I believe we do not realise sufficiently that we must always be very patient, and at times simply passive, in our devotional use of the Bible. Take the short sayings of Christ, such as that you have heard interpreted this term, "Where the body is thither shall the eagles be gathered together"; or the mysterious vision of the prophet, such as that of Ezekiel in the valley of dry bones; or the historical narrative, such as the perplexing story of the old prophet who misled his brother prophet—whatever it may be, take it and saturate your mind with it, leaving aside all commentaries and human explanations, and then wait till the light comes to you, and the message which God means to send you through His teachers or through His Son. Patience is the first requisite, and humility is the second. You must be content to learn, and in learning to forget yourself. The Bible has so much that is strange at first sight and unlike our own circumstances, that we are tempted to turn from it and choose what specially suits ourselves, or that in which our own preconceived ideas seem to be reflected and corroborated. Rather beware of your favourite books, and passages, and texts in the Bible; the others which you do not care for have probably a more vital and a more humbling message for your soul, just because it is distasteful to you. Therefore regularity is a third requisite, lest you should leave out any part that does not specially appeal to you, and so keep back some of the counsel of God to your own soul. And above all, read with prayer: prayer before for the guidance of the Holy Spirit of truth, prayer after for strength to do what God has shown us by His Word. There is nothing that so helps to fix and impress a truth upon the mind as the resolute translation of it into practice; and every period of such devotional study as I have tried to describe should, if it is to leave a permanent mark behind it, end with prayer that you may carry out the sacred teaching in your daily life. Patience, humility, regularity, prayer: thus aided and prepared you will, though it may at first seem dark and hard, come to feel all that the saints, all that the Psalmists found in God's Word. It will be to you "a lantern unto your feet, and a light unto your eyes": it will show you your "secret faults": by the love of it you will be led into "great peace".

—A. T. Lyttelton, College and University Sermons, p290.

The Rule of Our Thoughts

Hebrews 4:12

If you desire to be kept from yielding to temptation, you must be very careful of your thoughts.

I. Keep thy heart clean. You keep your wealth, you keep your home, you keep your health, you keep your character, but above all these things keep your heart. Why? Because out of it are the issues of life. When Bunyan depicted the character of Ignorance, he made him say: "I think my heart is as good as anybody's heart, and as for my thoughts, I take no notice of them". He shows at once that he does not know himself, and that he is exposed to every temptation that crosses his path. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he" ( Proverbs 23:7). The thoughts lay down the tram-lines upon which presently the tram-car makes its way. Just as the tram-car will pass up and down the rails in a great city, so does the act follow along the track of the thought. Butler in his Analogy says there are three steps in the formation of character— 2 Corinthians 4:4). Man is blind. Next, we find the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through ignorance ( Ephesians 4:18). "He that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no 1 Corinthians 2:15). (2) We need keeping power. Just as Jesus commended His spirit to His Father, so do you, when you leave your room in the morning, commit the keeping of the gateway of your soul to Him.

—F. B. Meyer, The Soul's Ascent, p139.

Hebrews 4:12

How "quick and piercing" is the word in itself! Yet many times it never enters, being managed by a feeble arm. What weight and worth is there in every passage of the blessed Gospel! Enough, we would think, to enter and force the dullest soul, and wholly possess its thoughts and affections; and yet how often does it fall as water upon a stone! The things of God which we handle are Divine; but our manner of handling is human. There is little we touch, but we leave the print of our fingers behind.

—Baxter, The Saints" Everlasting Rest (ch. III).

References.—IV:12.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxiv. No2010. J. Stalker, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliv. p203. E. M. Geldart, Echoes of Truth, p79. IV:12 , 13.—G. A. Bennetts, Preacher's Magazine, vol. xviii. p263. J. B. Lightfoot, Cambridge Sermons, p150. Expositor (4th Series), vol. vi. p68.

Him with Whom We Have to Do

Hebrews 4:13

I. We have to do with God in the operations of nature. It is true, indeed, that the advance of science has revealed order, regularity, and law in the physical universe; but that is only what we might have anticipated, if, as the Bible declares and we believe, the world was called into being at the first, and is still sustained by the power and wisdom of the Most High, for God is not the author of confusion. We are not surprised, therefore, to find that He proceeds upon fixed principles; but we must beware of allowing that which we call a law to hide from us the ever active agency of Him whose orderly method of operation that law is.

II. We have to do with God in the overtures of the Gospel. If we want to avail ourselves of the force which God has put into and maintains in electricity, we must comply with the conditions on which it is generated and becomes operative. The man of science investigates by patient research the methods of its operation, and then sets himself in conformity with these to avail himself of its help. Now, in the same way, if the Gospel is God's power for a certain purpose, and we wish to take advantage of it for that purpose, we must comply with its conditions and laws. These are faith in Jesus Christ, as the only Mediator, Redeemer, Sacrifice, and Lord, and repentance unto life. If you have to do with God in the overtures of the Gospel, then the bearing of its proclamations assumes a very serious character indeed. For in such a case you have to answer not the herald, but God.

III. We have to do with God in the dispensations of Providence. By Providence I understand God's overruling care over all events in nature and all the actions and circumstances of men. Now if we assent to the doctrine that God's Providence is in and over all events, it will give a new importance in our view to every occurrence. Ah! if we only had more faith in the truth that it is with God we have to do in the losses and crosses of our lives, there would be less of worry and despondency in our hearts.

IV. We have to do with God in the duties of daily life. Our responsibilities in society and business are not to each other merely, or to the laws of the State alone, but to God. We are under obligation to our fellows, indeed; but we are so because God has laid these obligations on us.

V. We shall have to do with God in the awards of final judgment. The judgment is absolutely certain; for "it is appointed unto men once to die, and after death the judgment". It is to be universal; for before the judge shall be "gathered all nations". The judge is to be the Omniscient One who is acquainted with the secret things of each man's heart and life, and the righteous one who shall render to every man according to his works. And His awards are to be eternal; for the wicked "shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life everlasting".

Hebrews 4:13

"Lastly," says Butler in his sermon before the House of Lords, "the consideration that we are the servants of God reminds us, that we are accountable to Him for our behaviour in those respects in which it is out of the reach of all human authority; and is the strongest enforcement of sincerity, as all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Artificial behaviour might perhaps avail much towards quieting our consciences, and making our part good in the short competitions of this world; but what will it avail us considered as under the government of God?"

References.—IV:13.—J. M. Whiton, Summer Sermons, p143. R. W. Church, Village Sermons, p242. G. Bellett, Parochial Sermons, p297. Expositor (6th Series), vol. viii. p437.

Hebrews 4:14

At first, one's conceptions of Him are abstract to a large extent; they ought to become more and more concrete. To find ourselves any nearer the belief that we have an High Priest, once a Hebrews 4:14

The word ἀρχιερες, "high priest," to which the Epistle to the Hebrews gave currency as a worshipful term applied to Christ, shows how a cult-word that was certainly developed within Primitive Christianity from Jewish premises entered spontaneously into the usual parallelism as soon as it found itself in the world. It was by this word, as numerous inscriptions have shown, that the title pontifex maximus, borne by the emperors, was translated in the East.

—Adolf Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East, pp369 , 370.

Reference.—IV:14.—J. Bunting, Sermons, vol. i. p187.

Ascension Day

Hebrews 4:14-16

In His Ascension our Lord entered heaven, not only as a King of Glory, but He entered the highest heaven on our behalf as our great High Priest. Almost the whole of the book of the Epistle to the Hebrews deals with this matter—the entrance of our Blessed Saviour into the highest heaven. And writing to the Hebrew people, as we should expect, the Apostle goes on to show in a good deal of detail how all the old sacrifices found their fulfilment in and their perfection in His Sacrifice upon the cross. And in the Epistle you will note that we find there a sketch of the perfect priest, and how our Lord represents to us the Perfect Priest. The priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ began with the beginning of His earthly life. The Holy Child in the manger at Bethlehem was our great High Priest, and the manger of Bethlehem was like the altar of His sacrifice, and all the way through His life there went up on our behalf the priestly offering of a perfect sacrifice. The sacrifice appears in its greatest and highest and most perfect form upon the cross, where once for all He gave His life and shed His precious Blood for us, and as at this time He entered heaven to present on our behalf that great sacrifice of His life, and of His death upon the cross. Again and again, in the Epistle to the Hebrews and in the Epistle to the Hebrews 4:14-16

There is no portion of Holy Scripture which deals so especially with the consequences of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ as does this Epistle to the Hebrews. I want you, therefore, to notice the three practical exhortations which the Apostle founds upon this Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I. In the eleventh verse he says: "Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest". Our Lord Jesus Christ is likened to Joshua. He has conquered our foes, He has overcome death, He hath opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers, and now He has sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. But these victories are not for Himself alone. Let us therefore labour to enter into that rest. It is sometimes a charge brought against the simple gospel of Jesus Christ, that it produces carelessness and indolence; that the victory of our Lord and the introduction of our surety into the heavenly home is only an invitation to us to sit still upon our knees. My brethren, the argument is all the other way. Without a Saviour who hath overcome death, and opened for us the gates of heaven, we might well sit down in despair.

II. The second practical exhortation he gives is in the fourteenth verse: "Let us hold fast our profession". He is speaking here to the Christian, he feels that sometimes the Christian may be inclined to give up his profession, but he urges him to hold on fast, to cling to it, to let nothing whatever check his hold upon that profession of his faith.

III. And then the third practical exhortation is this: "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Here he is thinking not so much about the glory of the High Priest, as about the sympathy of the High Priest. Remember it is a throne; therefore come with reverence and with Godly fear, for you are a sinner, a man of unclean lips. But it is a throne of grace; so that, though your prayers may be unworthy, the faults in your prayers will be overlooked; though you yourself may be unworthy, your unworthiness will not stop His ear.

—E. A. Stuart, The Great High Priest and other Sermons, vol. XII. p33.

Reference.—IV:14-16.—C. M. Betts, Eight Sermons, p75.

Hebrews 4:15

"Every believer," says James Smetham, "realises by experience that Christ is the only perfect sympathiser. "I"m not perfectly understood," says everybody in fact. But if you are a believer you are perfectly understood. Christ is the only one who never expects you to be other than yourself, and He puts in abeyance towards you all but what is like you. He takes your view of things, and mentions no other. He takes the old woman's view of things by the washtub, and has a great interest in wash-powder; Sir Isaac Newton's view of things, and wings among the stars with him; the artist's view, and feeds among the lilies; the lawyer"s, and shares the justice of things. But He never plays the lawyer or the philosopher or the artist to the old woman. He is above that littleness."

References.—IV:16.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxvi. No2148. W. J. Brock, Sermons, p97. H. Alford, Sermons on Christian Doctrine, p179. J. J. Blunt, Plain Sermons (3Series), p62. Marcus Dods, Christ and Hebrews 4:16

There is a science of prayer. In the words "the Throne of Grace" may be found the beginning and the end of the same. Today we deal with the beginning, and the point to be emphasised is that the soul approaches in its need not a throne of mere justice, nor a throne of criticism, but a Throne of Grace. It is not needful at the start to lay down the full method and the perfect way of prayer. Our Lord Himself with loving boldness said at the beginning: "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened". It is after this manner that the Christian teacher should begin.

I. Prayer in the fullest sense, the prayer that is wrought in us by the Spirit and presented by the Christ of God—prayer that wins the King's ear—is the last triumph of the life of grace. Prayer in the noblest sense implies a concentration of all man's united energies. Coleridge shortly before his death said these words to a friend who has recorded them: "I do not account a solemn faith in God as a real object to be the most arduous act of the reason and the will. Oh, no, my dear Hebrews 4:16

The secret of goodness and greatness is in choosing whom, you will approach and live with, through the crowding obvious people who seem to live with you.

—Browning.

What makes religion vital is not the stern proud thinkings about it; it is the "drawing near unto God"; it is the "coming boldly to the throne of grace".

—Smetham.

References.—IV:16.—W. L. Alexander, Sermons, p287. W. J. Brock, Sermons, p109. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvii. No1024. Expositor (4th Series), vol. ii. pp132 , 143; ibid. (6th Series), vol. v. p179. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture— Hebrews, p333. V:1.—Expositor (6th Series), vol. viii. p328. V:2.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxiv. No1407; vol. xxxviii. No2251; vol. xliii. No2529. V:3.—A. Brown, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliv. p372. V:4.—G. Trevor, Types and the Antitype, p168. V:5.—Expositor (6th Series), vol. x. p376. V:7.—R. M. Benson, Redemption, p61. Expositor (5th Series), vol. ii. p256; ibid. vol. iii. p224; ibid. (6th Series), vol. v. p414. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture— Hebrews, p342. V:7-10.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxii. No1927. Marcus Dods, Christ and man, p48. V:7-11.—G. Body, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lvii. p214.