Hebrews 13

Hebrews 13:1

And, as ye have begun, let it be your earnest care and endeavour to maintain an abiding and growing exercise of brotherly love, and an affectionate temper and behaviour, in all offices of friendship one towards another, and towards all your fellow Christians, who are members of the same spiritual family, children of the same heavenly Father, partakers of the same grace, and heirs together of the same glory

Hebrews 13:2

Extend your brotherly compassion also to strangers, especially those who for righteousness’ sake are driven from their homes, or go about voluntarily preaching the gospel: receive them into your hearts and houses, and supply them with every thing needful. This conduct will at once honour God, relieve your distressed brethren, and tend to your own satisfaction and advantage; for by this generous temper, Abraham, Lot, and others, had the honour and benefit of entertaining angels instead of strangers

Hebrews 13:3

And, as ye have had compassion of me in my bonds, I earnestly recommend to you, to bear on your hearts, sympathize with, pray for, and, as far as in you lies, contribute to the relief and comfort of, those faithful ministers or professors who are imprisoned, or otherwise persecuted, for righteousness’ sake, considering yourselves as members of the same mystical body, and still liable to the like afflictions in your present mortal state.—4. Marriage, when duly entered into by proper persons, ought to be reckoned an honourable ordinance of God, for producing a lawful offspring, for connecting families, and for the good of society, and as a proper remedy against all uncleanness: but fearful are the punishments which they who indulge themselves in whoredom and adultery, may expect from God in this world, and especially in the last judgment and eternal state.—5. And, to promote your exact performance of the duties which I have mentioned, see that none of you indulge immoderate desires or pursuits after the things of this world, either in excessive or unjust eagerness to obtain them, or in grudging proper expences for the reasonable support of yourselves and families, or in unwillingness to communicate to the necessities of others; and study always to be heartily pleased with, and thankful for, the circumstances, however mean and afflicted, into which God, your infinitely wise and gracious Father, puts you; for he himself, who is almighty, all-sufficient, and unchangeable in faithfulness, has, for your encouragement in troubles and temptations, solemnly promised that he will at no time, and on no account, leave you to yourselves or your enemies; but will be with you, to strengthen, help, uphold, guide, and bring, you to glory

Hebrews 13:6

So that, resting by faith upon this comprehensive promise, as applicable to ourselves, we may and ought, each for himself, with humble confidence, sweet composure, and holy boldness, to avow that, in all our straits, wants, and troubles, the Almighty and all-gracious Jehovah is our Support, Succour, and Defence, and on our side, to take our part, revive our soul, and overrule every thing for our good; and therefore we will not be afraid of the very worst that our most powerful, subtle, and inveterate, enemies on earth can do against us

Hebrews 13:7

And, to promote your performance of such duties and assured faith in such promises, see that ye pay a due regard to them who have been your faithful ministers and spiritual guides, under Christ their great Lord and Master: and, in imitation of their faith and faithfulness, keep in mind, embrace, and adhere to, those doctrines, commands, and promises, which they, according to the word of God, delivered to you, as the only rule of your faith, worship, and obedience; seriously reflecting on the peaceful and joyous manner in which they finished their course of holiness, and obtained an happy dismissal from, and victory over, every trouble and danger by death, and on the glorious scope and object of their ministration and walk

Hebrews 13:8

Even Jesus Christ, our anointed Saviour, who, in his divine person, offices, and saving virtue, is unchangeably the same in all the periods of the church, past, present, and to come

Hebrews 13:9

Take heed therefore, lest, by departing from this unchangeable Saviour, as preached and exemplified to you by your former pastors, ye should, like ships in a storm or clouds in the air, be carried away with notions about Jewish ceremonies, different from, foreign to, and inconsistent with, the simplicity of the gospel of Christ; for it is incomparably better to have your souls fully persuaded of, and stedfastly fixed in a dependance on, the free favour of God in Christ, revealed in the gospel, for the remission of sin, peace of conscience, and acceptance with God, unto eternal life, and your heart fortified against wavering about the truth and importance of this doctrine, by an experience of its renewing, quickening, and comforting efficacy, than to expect that blessings can be obtained by ceremonial ordinances relative to sacrifices, meats, and drinks, which never, even under the Old Testament, were of any spiritual and saving advantage to those that were most occupied therein

Hebrews 13:10

We members of the New Testament church have an incomparably better altar and sacrifice in our Lord Jesus Christ, which furnishes an incomparable feast of spiritual and eternal blessings to our faith; which they, who still cleave to, and rely on ceremonial observances, have no authority or claim to partake of, any more than the priests had to eat any part of the more noted sin-offerings

Hebrews 13:11

For, according to the appointment of God, the bodies of those sacrificed animals, the blood of which was carried by the high priest into the holy of holies on the great day of national atonement, were wholly burnt without the camp

Hebrews 13:12

In evident fulfilment of which type, as well as to prefigure his leaving the Jewish nation to miserable ruin, Jesus Christ, our great High Priest, that he might effectually make atonement for the sins of his spiritual Israel, and consecrate them as a peculiar people to God by the shedding of his blood, suffered his painful and ignominious crucifixion on mount Calvary, without the gates of Jerusalem

Hebrews 13:13

Let us therefore, who profess his name and look for salvation through him, go forth, by faith and hope, desire and love, to him, leaving the Jewish temple, altars, and all the legal institutions pertaining to them, and all the concernments, allurements, and enjoyments, of this present world behind us, as things which we have no further expectations from, or concern with; and cheerfully and boldly own and confess a crucified Redeemer, notwithstanding all the shame, contempt, and scorn, we may suffer for his sake: 14. For, as the city of Jerusalem, which succeeded the camp in the wilderness as the seat of ceremonial worship and political ordinances, will quickly be destroyed by the Romans, so we believers have no durable state of happiness or settled residence in this lower world, but, as strangers and pilgrims on earth, we realize by faith, earnestly desire, look and long for, and, by all the ways and means of God’s appointment, seek for, a state of everlasting rest and peace, honour, and safety, harmony, and delight, in the future blessedness of heaven

Hebrews 13:15

In consideration therefore of Christ’s having redeemed and consecrated us to God by his own blood, let us, at all times, in all circumstances, and for every thing, especially for the blessings of redemption, offer up, through him, as our only High Priest, Sacrificer, Advocate, and Altar, that sanctifies our gifts, the sacrifices of grateful acknowledgments, praises, and thanksgivings

Hebrews 13:16

And, while your hearts and lips are full of gratitude and praise to God through Christ, be careful to cultivate a merciful, kind, and generous, temper, and to abound in all acts of beneficence, towards your fellow creatures, especially the poor; for this, as well as thankful praise, is, through Christ and his only meritorious oblation, very acceptable to God as your reconciled Father

Hebrews 13:17

And, as ever ye would improve the appointed means of evangelically discharging the above-mentioned duties, not only regard the faith and holiness of your deceased pastors, but religiously regard the doctrines and precepts of those who are, or may hereafter be, your spiritual guides: and, as far as the word of God permits, receive and submit to their instructions, exhortations, admonitions, and reproofs; for, if faithful, they, with all diligence, watch over you in the Lord, that they may inspect your principles, tempera, and behaviour, and guard and caution you against all iniquity, error, and spiritual danger, and apply themselves to promote the edification and eternal salvation of your souls, in the affecting views of giving an account to Christ, in the last judgment, of their faithfulness, diligence, and success; which they wish to do with joy that their labours have issued in your eternal welfare: not with grief that they have issued in your aggravated condemnation and ruin.—

Hebrews 13:18

Sensible of the awfulness and difficulty of our work, and of our insufficiency 3 CHAP. 1. Ver. 2. My fellow descendants from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and fellow believers in Christ, scattered through the Roman empire or other places of the world, never be discouraged by the various afflictions which ye meet with for the trial and excitement of your grace, and the persecutions which ye endure for the sake of Christ and the gospel; but rather esteem it your honour and joy that ye are called and enabled thus to bear a faithful testimony for him, to his glory, and to your own and others’ spiritual advantage; 3. Being fully persuaded in your own minds, from the infallible oracles of God and your own experience, that they are designed and managed by God for trying, proving, and rendering approved, the truth and efficacy of your faith in Christ, and your constancy in your profession; and that thereby, through the concurring influence of the Holy Ghost, there may be produced and increased in you a calm submission and persevering resignation to the sovereign will and holy providence of God in the most afflictive dispensations. 4. Let patience therefore with the most week, humble, composed, resigned, and cheerful, frame of spirit, fully exercise itself, without any check or disturbance from your sinful passions; and persevere therein, notwithstanding the number, weight, diversity, or continuance, of your troubles; that, in the issue, ye may become perfect in every grace, and be admitted to the complete holiness and happiness of the heavenly state. 5. And, if any of you, under your afflictions, find a want of spiritual wisdom to direct you to judge of, behave under, and rightly improve, them, let such, under a humbling sense of their own weakness, and of the insufficiency of all creatures to conduct them, by earnest prayer, in the name of Christ, apply to the God of all light and grace,—who is so ready to bestow every needful blessing upon men, and who bountifully distributes his favours to all, especially to humble supplicants, without ever upbraiding them with their ignorance, folly, unworthiness, or misimprovement of former favours,—for the directions of his word, providence, and Spirit,—and they shall, without fail, be granted. 6. But, to obtain this gracious answer, you must present your requests with a firm dependence on Christ, and on the wisdom, power, faithfulness, and goodness, of God, in him, for a performance of his promises: without any staggering at them through unbelief: for he that gives way to distrust and sinful jealousies, whether God can or will perform his gracious promises or not, is altogether unsteady and restless in his principles and practice. 7. And it is quite absurd for any one who has such a diffident and fluctuating temper of spirit, which is so dishonourable to the promises and perfections of God, to expect that his unstable and unbelieving prayers shall ever bring him any important favours from God. 8. A man, whose heart is thus divided between hope and despondency, or between God and the world, is always unsettled in religion, continually hesitating, fickle, and perplexed, in all his thoughts, words, and actions; and so can never expect to speed in his prayers. 9—11. But, as all they who are united to Christ, and born of the Spirit, may warrantably plead for and expect every promised blessing, let such as are poor, oppressed, and persecuted, and whose minds are brought down to their lot, rejoice and glory that amidst their poverty they are advanced to the spiritual dignities and privileges of the new covenant, and are honoured to suffer for the sake of Christ and his gospel; and let them, whose circumstances are easy or affluent, rejoice that God has given them low thoughts of themselves, and all their earthly enjoyments, or calls them to part with them:—as the wealthiest, the most grand and honourable, must quickly die away from whatever they have, and are often like flowers or grass in the midst of their carnal projects, prosperity, and honour. 12. But happy are they who are enabled in a Christian manner to bear losses and tribulations here for the sake of Christ;—for, when they have endured them with faith, patience, humble submission, and holy fortitude, they shall be graciously rewarded with that immortal and incorruptible blessedness and glory which the Lord Jesus, and God in him, has freely promised, and will certainly give, at the last day to all those who, from a principle of faith in Christ, supremely esteem and delight in him, and look and long for his glorious appearance to complete their salvation. 13. Let no man under his afflictions, fret and murmur, or pretend that God thereby tempts him to sin; for God is so infinitely holy in his nature and will, purposes, and works, that it is absolutely impossible for him to be influenced to any thing sinful; or to entice, persuade, influence, or necessitate, any to commit the least moral evil. 14, 15. But when men, under afflictions or otherwise, are drawn into acts of sin, it is entirely owing to the violent and beguiling influence of their own inward lust and corruptions, which drag them off from the ways of truth and holiness, and, by the deceitful appearances of carnal ease, pleasure, or profit, decoy them into sin. And it is only when these inward corrupt inclinations have gained the approbation and free consent of the will that they produce actual sin: and when actual sin is completed, allowed of, persisted in, and indulged, in impenitence and unbelief, it not only renders liable to, but will certainly issue in, everlasting misery, as its proper wages and fruit. 16. Beware therefore, my dear brethren, lest any of you apostatize from the truth of the gospel, or indulge such abominably erroneous, blasphemous, and injurious, conceptions of God or his ways, as if he could do any thing to promote or encourage sin. 17. On the contrary, every thing that is naturally, morally, or supernaturally, good, every blessing of creation, providence, and grace, and nothing but what is good, proceeds from this infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, Fountain, Author, and Bestower, of all light, knowledge, holiness, and happiness, grace, or glory. 18. And we believers have the most endearing proof of his being the Fountain and Author of every thing holy and useful;—for not on account of, or by, any wisdom, power, or merit, in us, but merely of his own sovereign grace and good will, by means of the gospel, he has implanted vital principles of grace in our hearts, and thus begotten us to a lively hope of an everlasting inheritance, that we might be rendered his most excellent creatures, consecrated to his service, and a pledge and earnest of his converting unlititudes to his Son. 19, 20. Wherefore, my Christian brethren, according to your character and obligations, as new creatures, be always attentive to what he declares in his word concerning himself or his ways, and never be rash in your thoughts or speeches concerning God, and his ways of providence or grace; or even in turning preachers, and giving your views of difficult passages of scripture: and never, no not in disputing for gospel truths, indulge a wrathful and passionate treatment of such as differ from you:—for unguarded heat and intemperate passion, proceeding from pride, selfishness, and impatience of contradiction, are so far from serving God’s righteous cause, or recommending to others the method of justification through the imputed righteousness of Christ, or the practice of righteousness which God’s law requires, that they render men incapable of speaking aright for him, and prejudice the minds of others against what is really true and good

Hebrews 13:21

Wherefore, cast away with abhorrence all these corrupt affections and overflowings of malice, which are exceedingly sinful, and render your souls unfruitful in any thing good; and with all humility, modesty, and submission of your understandings, consciences, hearts, and affections, to the authority of God in his word, cordially embrace it with faith and love; that, being, as it were, vitally united with your souls, it may, under the influence of the Holy Ghost, be instrumental in conforming your hearts and lives more and more to its own holy likeness, and in efficaciously nourishing you up in grace, till you arrive at the complete possession of the heavenly blessedness

Hebrews 13:22

And, that it may have this happy effect upon you, see that it influence you to practise its excellent and holy principles in your lives; and never delude yourselves, or cheat yourselves out of your eternal happiness, by giving it a bare hearing, assent, or place in your notions. 23, 24. For, let your pretences be what they will, if you merely hear the truths of God, and do not, by faith and love, reduce them to practice in your whole conversation, ye can only have some notions and transient convictions of your guilt, depravity, danger, and need of Christ and his grace, and will quickly lay aside your concern, and go on in your impenitence, unbelief, and wicked practices, as before

Hebrews 13:25

But, if you accurately search into the gospel revelation, in which our spiritual deliverance from the broken law and ancient ceremonies is so clearly manifested and perfectly bestowed, and heedfully persevere in the faith and practice of it, living in the exercise of every grace and discharge of every duty answerable to it, ye shall have great happiness at the end of your Christian course. 26. And remember that, if you make ever so much pretence to, shew of, or talk about, religion, yet, if you indulge yourselves in profane and abusive language, or in railing against, reviling, censuring, or slandering, your neighbours, and flatter yourselves as if zeal for God would justify your proud, passionate, bitter, and injurious, words,—your religion is all a mere force, and will never do you any real service. 27. Pure religion, that is unmixed with human inventions, or with carnal prin- 13 P ciples, motives, and ends, and which is according to the law and influence of God, and is exercised as in his sight, with a view to his glory, disposes and engages Christians to be tender, kind, and compassionate, to the needy and distressed, in doing all they can for the relief and comfort of poor fatherless children and destitute widows; and to behave in a holy and circumspect manner, free from the pollutions of this evil and ensnaring world, that they may not bring any shame upon their conscience, and disgrace upon their hopes or character, by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, or the pride of life