Jer 23:29, Mat 7:28-29, Tit 2:15, Heb 4:1-2 | Barnes

Jeremiah 23:29

Matthew 7:28-29

Verse 28,29. His doctrine. His teaching.

As one having authority, and not as the Scribes. The scribes were the learned men and teachers of the Jewish nation, and were principally Pharisees. They taught chiefly the sentiments of their rabbins, and the traditions which had been delivered; they consumed much of their time in useless disputes, "vain jangling." Jesus was open, plain, grave, useful; delivering truth as became the oracles of God; not spending his time in trifling disputes, and debating questions of no importance; but confirming his doctrine by miracles and argument; teaching as having power, as it is in the original, and not in the vain and foolish manner of the Jewish doctors. He showed that he had authority to explain, enforce, and change the ceremonial laws of the Jews. He came with authority such as no man could have, and it is not remarkable that his explanations astonished them. From this chapter we may learn,

(1.) The evil of censorious judging, Mt 7:1-5. We cannot see the heart. We have ourselves possibly greater faults than the persons that we condemn. They may be of a different kind; but it is not strange for persons to be very censorious towards faults in others, which they have to much greater extent themselves.

(2.) We see how we are to treat men who are opposers of the gospel, Mt 7:6. We are not to present it to them when we know they will despise it, and abuse us. We should, however, be cautious in forming that opinion of them. Many men may be far more ready to hear the gospel than we imagine; and a word seasonably and kindly spoken may be the means of saving them, Prov 25:11, Eccl 11:6. We should not meet violent and wicked opposers of the gospel with a harsh, overbearing, and lordly spirit; a spirit of dogmatizing and anger; nor should we violate the laws of social intercourse under the idea of faithfulness. Religion gains nothing by outraging the established laws of social life, 1Pet 3:8. If men will not hear us when we speak to them kindly and respectfully, we may be sure they will not when we abuse them, and become angry. We harden them against the truth, and confirm them in the opinion that religion is of no value. Our Saviour was always mild and kind; and in not a single instance did he do violence to the laws of social intercourse, or faith in the respect due from one man to another. When with harshness men speak to their superiors; when they abuse them with unkind words, and coarse epithets, and unfeeling denunciations; when children and youth forget their station, and speak in harsh, authoritative tones to the aged, they are violating the very first principles of the gospel-- meekness, respect, and love. Give honour to whom honour is due, and be kind, be courteous.

(3.) Christ gives peculiar encouragement to prayer, Mt 7:7-11. Especially his remarks apply to the young. What child is there that would not go to his parent, and ask him for things which were necessary? What child doubts the willingness of a kind parent to give what he thinks will be best for him? But God is more willing to give than the best parent. We need of him gifts of far more importance than we ever can of an earthly father. None but God can forgive, enlighten, sanctify, and save us. How strange that many ask favours of an earthly parent daily and hourly, and never ask of the Great Universal Father a single blessing, for time or eternity!

(4.) The danger of losing the soul, Mt 7:13,14. The way to ruin is broad, the road to heaven is narrow. Men naturally and readily go in the former; they never go in the latter without design. When we enter on the journey of life, we naturally fall into the broad and thronged way to ruin. Our original propensity; our native depravity; our disinclination to God and religion, lead us to that. And we never leave it without effort. How much more natural to tread in a way in which multitudes go, than in one where there are few travellers, and which requires an effort to find it! And how much danger is there that we shall continue to tread in that way, until it terminate in our ruin! No man is saved without effort. No man enters on the narrow way without design; no one by following his natural inclination and propensities. And yet how indisposed we are to effort; how unwilling to listen to the exhortations which would call us from the broad path to a narrower and less frequented course! How prone are men to feel that they are safe if they are with the many, and that the multitude that attend them constitute a safeguard from danger ! "Encompassed by a throng,

On numbers they depend;

They say so many can't be wrong,

And miss a happy end."

Yet, did God ever spare a guilty city because it was large? Did he spare the army of Sennacherib from the destroying angel because it was mighty? Does he hesitate to cut men down by the plague, the pestilence, and by famine, because they are numerous? Is he deterred from consigning men to the grave, because they swarm upon the earth, and because a mighty throng is going to death? So in the way to hell. Not numbers, nor power, nor might, nor talent in the road way, will deter him, or make that way safe; nor will the path to heaven be a dangerous road because few are seen travelling there. The Saviour knew and felt that men are in danger; and hence, with much solemnity, he warned them when he lived--and now warns us--to strive to enter into the strait gate.

(5.) The necessity of sincerity in religion, Mt 7:15-23. Profession is of no value without it. God sees the heart. And the day is near when he shall cut down and destroy all those who do not bring forth the fruits of righteousness in their lives. If in anything we should be honest and sincere, surely it should be in the things of religion. God is never deceived, Gal 6:7. And the things of eternity are of too much consequence to be lost by deluding ourselves or others. We may deceive our fellow-men, but we do not delude our Maker; and soon he will strip off our thin covering, and show us as we are to the universe. If anything is of prominent value in religion, it is honesty--honesty to ourselves, our fellow-men, and to God. Be willing to know the worst of your case. Be willing to be thought of, by God and men, as you are. Assume nothing which you do not possess; and pretend to nothing which you have not. Judge of yourselves as you do of others--not by words and promises, but by the life. Judge of yourselves as you do of trees--not by leaves and flowers, but by the fruits.

(6.) The importance of building our hopes of heaven on a firm foundation, Mt 7:24-27. No other can any man lay than that which is laid, which is Christ, 1Cor 3:11. He is the tried Corner Stone, 1Pet 2:6, Eph 2:20. On an edifice raised on that foundation, the storms of persecution and calamity will beat in vain. Hopes thus reared sustain every adversity; are unshaken by the terrors of death; and secure us from the tempests of wrath that shall beat upon the guilty. How awful, in the day of judgment, will it be to have been deceived! How dreadful the shock to find then the house built on the sand! How dreadful the emotions, to see our hopes totter on the brink of ruin; to see sand after sand washed away, and the dwelling reel over the heaving deep, and fall into the abyss, to rise no more! Ruin, awful and eternal rum, awaits those who thus deceive themselves, and trust to a name to live, while they are dead.

(7.) Under what obligations are we for this sermon on the mount! In all languages there is not a discourse to be found that can be compared with it for purity, and truth, and beauty, and dignity. Were there no other evidence of the Divine mission of Christ, this alone would be sufficient to prove that he was sent from God. Were these doctrines obeyed and loved, how pure and peaceful would be the world! How would hypocrisy be abashed and confounded! How would impurity hang its head! How would peace reign in every family and nation! How would anger and wrath flee! And how would the race--the lost and benighted tribes of men, the poor, and needy, and sorrowful--bend themselves before their common Father, and seek peace and eternal life at the hands of a merciful and faithful God!

(r) "astonished" Jer 23:29, Mk 6:2 Verse 29. Mt 7:28

For a summary of Matthew Chapter 7, Mt 7:28.

Titus 2:15

Verse 15. These things speak and exhort. 1Timm 6:2.

And rebuke with all authority. 1Timm 5:1, 1Timm 5:20; 2Ti 4:2. The word authority here means command επιταγη. 1Cor 7:6, 25, 2Cor 8:8, 1Timm 1:1, Tit 1:3. The sense here is, he was to do it decidedly, without ambiguity, without compromise, and without keeping any thing back. He was to state these things not as being advice or counsel, but as the requirement of God.

Let no man despise thee. That is, conduct yourself, as you may easily do, so as to command universal respect as a minister of God. 1Timm 4:12.

(l) "Let no man" 1Timm 4:12.

Hebrews 4:1-2

CHAPTER IV.

ANALYSIS OF THE CHAPTER.

THIS chapter comprises two parts. In the first, Heb 4:1-13, the apostle pursues and completes the exhortation which he had commenced in the previous chapter, drawn from the comparison of the Saviour with Moses, (see the analysis of chapter 3;) and in the second part, (Heb 4:14-16,) he enters on the consideration of the character of Christ as a high priest, which is pursued to the end of the doctrinal part of the epistle. �

In the first part, (Heb 4:1-13,) he describes more at length the character of the "rest" to which he had referred in the previous chapter. He shows (Heb 4:1) that the promise of a "rest" yet remains, and that there is still danger, as there was formerly, of coming short of it, or of losing it. He affirms that such was the nature of that promise, that it is applicable to us as well as to those to whom it was first made, and that the promise of rest as really pertains to Christians now as it did to the Hebrews of old, Heb 4:2. The reason, he adds, (Heb 4:2) why they did not enter into that rest was, that they had not faith. This he had established in the previous chapter, Heb 3:18. In Heb 4:3-6, he proceeds to demonstrate more at length that there is a "rest" remaining for those who believe. The great object, in this part of the chapter, is to prove that a "rest" remains for believers now; a rest of a spiritual character, and much more desirable than that of the land of Canaan; a rest to which Christians may look forward, and which there may be danger of losing. Addressing Hebrew Christians, he, of course, appeals to the Old Testament, and refers to several places where the word "rest" occurs, and argues that those expressions are of such a character as to allow that there remains a "rest" for Christians yet. It would have been easy to have affirmed this as a part of the Christian revelation; but, throughout the epistle, he is bringing his illustrations from the Old Testament, and showing to the Hebrew Christians to whom he wrote that there were abundant considerations in the Old Testament itself, to constitute an argument why they should adhere inviolably to the Christian religion. He says, therefore, (Heb 4:4,) that God himself had spoken of his own rest from his works; that when he had finished the work of creation he had instituted a rest which was characterized by the peace, and beauty, and order of the first Sabbath after the work of creation, when all was new, and lovely, and pure. That might be called the rest of God--a beautiful emblem of that which dwells around his throne in heaven. The meaning of this verse (Heb 4:4) is, that the Bible spoke early of a rest which appertained to God himself. In Heb 4:5, he goes on to say, that the prospect of entering into His rest was spoken of as a possible thing; that some were excluded, but that there was a place deserved to be called "the rest of God"--" My rest"--to which,all may come. Of course, that rest must be of a spiritual nature, and must be different from that of the promised land. That "rest," the apostle implies, it was possible to attain. He does not argue this point at length, but he assumes that God would not create a place of rest in vain; that it was made to be enjoyed; and that since those to whom it was at first offered were excluded, it must follow that it remained still; and as they were excluded by the want of faith, it would follow also that it was reserved for those who had faith. Of course, therefore, it is offered to Christians now, Heb 4:6.

This view he proceeds to confirm by another consideration, Heb 4:7,8. It is that David, who lived nearly five hundred years after the land of promise had been occupied by the Israelites, spoke then of the possibility of entering into such a "rest." He says (Ps 95:7,) that, in his time, the people were called to hear the voice of God; that he warned them against the guilt and danger of hardening their hearts; that he reminded them that it was by that that the Israelites were excluded from the promised land; and that he said that the same thing would occur if those in his own time should harden their hearts. It followed, therefore, that even in the time of David there was a hope and promise of "rest ;" and that there was something more intended for the true people of God than merely entering into the promised land. There must be something in advance of that; something that existed to the time of David--and it must be, therefore, a spiritual rest. This, the apostle adds, (Heb 4:8,) is conclusive; for if Joshua had given them all the "rest" that was contemplated, then David would not have spoken as he did of the danger of being excluded from it in his time. He, therefore, (Heb 4:9,) comes to the conclusion, that there must still remain a "rest" for the people of God--a "rest" to which they were invited, and which they were in danger of losing by unbelief. He adds, (Heb 4:10,) that he who enters into that "rest" ceases from toil, as God did from his when he had finished the work of creation. Since, therefore, there is such a "rest," and since there is danger of coming short of it, the apostle urges them (Heb 4:11) to make every effort to enter into it. He adds, Heb 4:12,13,) as a consideration to quicken them to earnest effort and to anxious care, lest they should be deceived, and should fail of it the fact that God cannot be deceived; that his word penetrated the heart, and that everything is naked and open before him. There should, therefore, be the most faithful investigation of the heart, lest they should fail of the grace of God, and lose the hoped-for rest.

In the second portion of the chapter, (Heb 4:14-16,) he enters on the consideration of the character of Christ as High Priest; and says, that since we have such an High Priest as he is, we should be encouraged to come boldly to the throne of grace. We have encouragement to persevere from the fact that we have such a High Priest, and in all our conscious weakness and helplessness we may look to him for aid.

1. Let us therefore fear. Let us be apprehensive that we may possibly fail of that rest. The kind of fear which is recommended here is that which leads to caution and care. A man who is in danger of losing his life or health should be watchful; a seaman that is in danger of running on a lee-shore should be on his guard. So we who have the offer of heaven, and who yet are in danger of losing it, should take all possible precautions lest we fail of it,

Lest a promise being left us. Paul assumes here that there is such a promise. In the subsequent part of the chapter, he goes more into the subject, and proves from the Old Testament that there is such a promise made to us. It is to be remembered, that Paul had not the New Testament then to appeal to, as we have, which is perfectly clear on the subject, but that he was obliged to appeal to the Old Testament. This he did, not only because the New Testament was not then written, but because he was reasoning with those who had been Hebrews, and who regarded the authority of the Old Testament as decisive. If his reasoning to us appears somewhat obscure, we should put ourselves in his place, and should remember that the converts then had not the full light which we have now in the New Testament.

Of entering into his rest. The rest of God--the rest of the world where he dwells. It is called his rest, because it is that which he enjoys, and which he alone can confer. There can be no doubt that Paul refers here to heaven, and means to say that there is a promise left to Christians of being admitted to the enjoyment of that blessed world where God dwells.

Any of you should seem to come short of it. The word "seem" here is used as a form of gentle and mild address, implying the possibility of thus coming short. The word here-- δοκεω -is often used so as to appear to give no essential addition to the sense of a passage, though it is probable that it always gave a shading to the meaning. Thus the phrase esa videatur is often used by Cicero at the end of a period, to denote merely that a thing was--though he expressed it as though it merely seemed to be. Such language is often used in argument or in conversation as a modest expression, as when we say a thing seems to be so and so, instead of saying "it is." In some such sense Paul probably used the phrase here--perhaps as expressing what we would by this language--" lest it should appear at last that any of you had come short of it." The phrase "come short of it" is probably used with reference to the journey to the promised land, where they who came out of Egypt came short of that land, and fell in the wilderness. They did not reach it. --This verse teaches the important truth, that though heaven is offered to us, and that a "rest" is promised to us if we seek it, yet that there is reason to think that many may fail of reaching it who had expected to obtain it. Among those will be the following classes:--

(1.) Those who are professors of religion, but who have never known anything of true piety.

(2.) Those who are expecting to be saved by their own works, and are looking forward to a world of rest on the ground of what their own hands can do.

(3.) Those who defer attention to the subject, from time to time, until it becomes too late. They expect to reach heaven, but they are not ready to give their hearts to God now, and the subject is deferred from one period to another, until death arrests them unprepared.

(4.) Those who have been awakened to see their guilt and danger, and who have been almost, but not quite, ready to give up their hearts to God. Such were Agrippa, Felix, the young ruler, (Mk 10:21;) and such are all those who are almost but not quite prepared to give up the world, and to devote themselves to the Redeemer. To all these the promise of "rest" is made, if they will accept of salvation as it is offered in the gospel; all of them cherish a hope that they will be saved; and all of them are destined alike to be disappointed. With what earnestness, therefore, should we strive that we may not fail of the grace of God!

(a) "Let us therefore fear" Heb 12:15 Verse 2. For unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them. This translation by no means conveys the sense of the original. According to this, it would seem that the Gospel, as we understand it, or the whole plan of salvation, was communicated to them, as well as to us. But this is by no means the idea. The discussion has reference only to the promise of rest; and the assertion of the apostle is, that this good news of a promise of rest is made to us, as really as it was made to them. "Rest" was promised to them in the land of Canaan--an emblem of the eternal rest of the people of God. That was unquestioned, and Paul took it for granted. His object now is, to show that a promise of "rest" is as really made to us as it was to them, and that there is the same danger of failing to secure it as there was then. It was important for him to show that there was such a promise made to the people of God in his time; and as he was discoursing of those who were Hebrews, he of course made his appeal to the Old Testament. The literal translation would be, "For we are evangelized--εσμενευηγγελισμενοι-- as well as they." The word evangelize means, to communicate good news, or glad tidings; and the idea here is, that the good news or glad tidings of "rest" is announced to us as really as it was to them. This the apostle proves in the following verses.

But the word preached. Marg. Of hearing. The word preach we also use now, in a technical sense, as denoting a formal proclamation of the gospel by the ministers of religion. But this is not the idea here. It means, simply, the word which they heard; and refers particularly to the promise of "rest" which was made to them. That message was communicated to them by Moses.

Did not profit them. They derived no advantage from it. They rejected and despised it, and were, therefore, excluded from the promised land. It exerted no influence over their hearts and lives, and they lived and died as though no such promise had been made. Thus many persons live and die now. The offer of salvation is made to them. They are invited to come, and be saved. They are assured that God is willing to save them, and that the Redeemer stands with open arms to welcome them to heaven. They are trained up under the gospel; are led early in life to the sanctuary; are in the habit of attending on the preaching of the gospel all their days; but still what they hear exerts no saving influence on their hearts. At the close of life, all that could be truly said of them is, that they have not been profited; it has been no real advantage to them, in regard to their final destiny, that they have enjoyed so many privileges.

Not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. Marg. "Or, because they were not united by faith to" There are some various readings on this text, and one of these has given occasion to the version in the margin. Many Mss., instead of the common reading--συγκεκραμενος which the word mixed would be united to ολογος "the word," have another reading-- συγκεκραμενους according to which the word mixed would refer to "them," and would mean that they who heard the word and rejected it were not mixed, or united, with those who believed it. The former reading makes the best sense, and is the best sustained; and the idea is, that the message which was preached was not received into the heart by faith. They were destitute of faith, and the message did not profit them. The word mixed is supposed by many of the best critics to refer to the process of which food is made nutritive, by being properly mixed with the saliva and the gastric juice, and thus converted into chyme and chyle, and then changed into blood. If suitably mired in this manner, it contributes to the life and health of the bodily frame; if not, it is the means of disease and death. So it is supposed the apostle meant to say of the message which God sends to man. If properly received--if mixed or united with faith--it becomes the means of spiritual support and life; if not, it furnishes no alhnent to the soul, and will be of no advantage. As food, when properly digested, incorporates itself with the body, and gives it support, so those critics suppose it to be of the word of God, that it incorporates itself with the internal and spiritual man, and gives it support and life: It may be doubted, however, whether the apostle had any such allusion as this, and whether it is not rather a refinement of the critics than of Paul. The word used here properly denotes a mixing or mingling together, like water and wine, 2 Mac. xv. 39; a uniting together in proper proportions and order, as of the body, 1Cor 12:24; and it may refer here merely to a proper union of faith with the word, in order that it might be profitable. The idea is, that merely to hear the message of life with the outward ear will be of no advantage. It must be believed, or it will be of no benefit. The message is sent to mankind at large. God declares his readiness to save all. But this message is of no advantage to multitudes--for such reasons as these:--

(1.) Many do not attend to it at all. They do not even listen respectfully to it. Multitudes go not near the place where the gospel is proclaimed; and many, when there, and when they seem to attend, have their minds and hearts on other things.

(2.) Many do not believe it. They have doubts about the whole subject of religion, or about the particular doctrines of the gospel; and while they do not believe it, how can they be benefited by it? How can a man be profited by the records of history if he does not believe them? How can one be benefited by the truths of science if he does not believe them? And if a man was assured that by going to a certain place he might close a bargain that would be a great advantage to him, of what use would this information be to him if he did not believe a word of it? So of the knowledge of salvation; the facts of the history recorded in the Bible; the offset of eternal life.

(3.) Men do not allow the message of life to influence their conduct, and of course it is of no advantage to them. Of what use can it be, if they steadily resist all the influence which it would have, and ought to have, on their lives? They live as though it were ascertained that there is no truth in the Bible; no reason for being influenced by the offered hope of eternal life, or alarmed by the threatened danger of eternal death. Resolved to pursue a course of life that is at variance with the commands of God, they cannot be profited by the message of salvation. Having no faith which influences and controls the heart, they are not in the least benefited by the offer of heaven. When they die, their condition is in no wise made better by the fact, that they were trained up in a pious family; that they were instructed in the Sabbath-school; that they had the Bible in their dwellings, and that they sat regularly under a preached gospel. For any advantage to be derived from all this in the future world, they might as well have never heard the message of life. Nay it would have been better for them. The only effect of these privileges is to harden them in guilt, and to sink them deeper in hell. 2Cor 2:16.

(1) "did" "of hearing" (2) "not being mixed" "or, because they were not united by faith to"