Again, It is necessary upon the account of our peace, consolation, and fruitfulness in this world, And these belong to our subsistence in Christ. Without the two former we have no satisfaction in our- selves, and without the latter we are of no use to the glory of God or good of others. Now, as our eternal happiness depends on this diligence as the means of it, so do these things as their condition ; which if we fail in, they also will fail and that utterly. It is alto- gether in vain to expect true peace, solid consolation, or a thriving in fruitfulness, in a slothful profession. These things depend wholly on our spiritual industry. Men complain of the fruit, but, will not be persuaded to dig up the root. For all our spiritual troubles, dark- ness, disconsolations, fears, doubts, barrenness, they all proceed from
VER. 12-14. ] EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 159
this bitter root of negligence, which springs up and defiles us. Those, then, that know how to value these things may do well to consider how the loss of them may be obviated. Now this spiritual diligence and industry consisteth,—
1. Ina watchful fighting and contending against the whole work of sin, in its deceit and power, with all the contribution of advan- tage and efficacy that it hath from Satan and the world. This the apostle peculiarly applies it unto, in the cautions and exhortations given us, to “take heed” of it, that we be not “hardened” by it, seeing its whole design is to impair or destroy our interest and per- sistency in Christ, and so to draw us off “from the living God.”
2. In a daily, constant cherishing and labouring to improve and strengthen every grace by which we abide in Christ. Neglected grace will wither, and be “ ready to die,” Rev. iil, 2; yea, as to some degrees of it, and as to its work in evidencing the love of God unto us, or our union with Christ, it will utterly decay. Some of the churches mentioned in the Revelation had lost their “first love,” as well as left their “ first works.’ Hence is that command that we should “grow in grace;” and we do so when grace grows and thrives in us. And this is done two ways:—(1.) When any individual grace is improved: when that faith which was weak becomes strong, and that love which was faint and cold becomes fervent and is inflamed; which is not to be done but in and by the sedulous exercise of these graces them- selves, and a constant application of our souls by them to the Lord Christ, as hath been before declared. (2.) By adding one grace unto another: 2 Pet. i. 5, “ And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge.” This is the proper work of spiritual diligence, namely, to add one grace unto another. This is the nature of gospel graces, because of their concatenation in Christ, and as they are wrought in us by one and the self-same Spirit, that the exercise of one leads us to the stirring up and bringing in the exercise of another into the soul. And the graces that in order of practice lie as it were behind, will not be taken notice of or known, but by the due improvement of those whose practice is an- tecedaneous unto them. Hence some good men live all their days and never come to the actual exercise of some graces, although they have them in their root and principle. And the reason is, because way is not made unto them by the constant improvement of those other graces from out of whose exercise they do spring.
And is it any wonder if we see so many either decaying or un- thrifty professors, and so many that are utterly turned off from their first engagements? For consider what it is to abide in Christ ;—what watchfulness, what diligence, what endeavours are required there- . unto! Men would have it to be a plant that needs neither water- ing, manuring, nor pruning, but that which will thrive alone of itself;
160 AN EXPOSITION OF THE _ [CHAP. IIT.
but what do they then think of the opposition that is continually made unto it, the endeavours that are used utterly to root it out? Certainly, if these be not watched against with our utmost industry, decays, if not ruin,.will ensue. We may also add here, that,—
Obs. IV. Not only our profession and existence in Christ, but the gracious beginnings of it also, are to be secured with great spiritual care and industry. The substance whereof may be spoken unto in another place.
VERSES 15-19.
There is some difficulty about these verses, namely, whether they appertain unto and depend upon the discourse foregoing, or whether they are the beginning of another, on which the exhortation in the first verse of the next chapter doth depend. Chrysostom, with the Greeks that follow him, as Theophylact and Gicumenius, asserts the latter. And therefore they suppose a hyperbaton in the words, and that all that discourse which is between the 15th verse of this chapter and the Ist of the next is an occasional digression; as if the sense of the apostle ran to this purpose: ‘ Seeing it is said, To- day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the pro- vocation ; let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.’ But there is no necessity of such a long trajection of the sense, nor of feigning the hyperbaton intimated. The genuine sense and proper contex- ture of the apostle’s discourse requires their connection with what went before. And the exhortation in the first verse of the next chapter is taken from what he immediately after argueth and proveth. And I shall not insist upon the division of the chapters, which is arbitrary and of no authority. I shall therefore, in the first place, rightly state the coherence of these discourses, and then pro- ceed to the exposition of the words.