The Pulpit Commentary — Hebrews — Section 374

how m~oh more submissively should we bear _the Divine corrections, seeing they proceed from him from whom alone we have received our spiritual and immortal nature! 3. Dealt with unerring wisdom. (Ver. 10.) We who are parents often chastise our children wrongly. Sometimes our motives are wrong, as when we punish under the influence of temporary passion or caprice. At other times our measures are wroncr, a~ when we choose an infliction of an unsuitable kind, or make it unduly severe. Pa;';,nts also are prone to study only the temporal well-being of their children, and to chastise them merely with n view to the" few days" of their earthly life. But our heaveulJ' F~ther ma~es no mistakes in his chastisement~. The pa.in which he appoints is always wise and right and salutary. He never pumshes beyond our deserts, or in excess of what we are able to bear. And he is ever seeking our spiritual and eternal well-being. 4. Productive and profitable. tVers. 10, 11.) '£he " profit " is that we may share the holiness of God. '£he "fruit' consists in "ri~hteousness," i.e. moral and spiritual excellence-the beauLiful graces and the holy habits of the Christian lire. This blesse<l fruit is" peaceable," in sweet contrast with the" grievousness" of the aITTiction con- sidered in itself. It begins to be reaped even here on earth (Rom. v. 3-5); and the full harvest of it will be gathered in heaven (Rom. viii. 18; 2 Cor. iv. 17, 18). Vere. 12-17.-.A threefold cord of duty. The word" wherefore" (ver. 12) connects this admonition with what goes before. For these reasons, says the apostle-since the Saviour was subjected to such hard treatment at the hands of wicked men; since your own resistance to sin has not yet exposed you to bloodshed; since your very trials are an expression of God's fatherly love; and since his chastisements are fitted to be so profitable in their results-surely you will never allow yourselves to fall away from the Christian faith. 'l'he direct admonition in vers. 12-14 refers to ourselves, to our fellow-beli!ivers, and to God-an arrangement of thought which is eminently Pauline. And the three parts of it are reduplicated in vers. 15-17, each being introdnced with the word "'lest." I. OOB DUTY TO OURSELVES. (Vers. 12, 13, 15.) Here the author seems to return to the metaphor of "the race set before us" (ver. 1). "Hands" a.nd "knees," and " feet" represent the powers of action, motion, and progression. The Hebrews must no longer faint in the presence of their trials. They must he resolute, manly, courageous. The exhortation has respect mainly to the spiritual life of each believer himself. Each ought to form a decided purpose to correct his own faults, and to continue faithful at all hazards to his Christian profession. The whole Church should advance in the right course with such unanimity that the highway of holiness shall be beaten smooth by their feet-so smooth that even the "lame" will not stumble in it. If we remain remiss and vacillating, we may finally "fall short of the grace of God" (ver. 15). Slothfulness and indecision cause one to lag behind, and may prevent him from ever reaching the goal. If we be not resolute in our fidelity we shall come short of ultimate salvation, and shall never "see the Lord." II. Qua DUTY TO OUR FELLOW-BELIEVEns. (Vers. 14, 15.) The personal spiritual life which is fed by the Church is in turn to react for good upon the whole congrega- tion. Two prominent duties towards our brethren are here indicated. 1. To "follow after peace with all." (Ver. 14.) 'l'he scope of the passage seems to restrict this "all" to the members of the Christian brotherhood. We need not expect that God will bless us in our Church relations if we cherish a persistent grudge against any fellow- communicant, resolving never to forget some injury that he may have done us. A vindictive or malignant disposition is not Christian. The soul that harbours malice, and that takes pleasure in exhibiting its animosities, will not only become stunted iu its spiritual growth, but will injuriously affect the life of the Church tow hich it belongs. A prominent cause of ecclesiastical disturbance is the springing up of "any root of bitterness" (ver. 15). Sometimes the noxious weed is a wicked person, like Achan, who "troubled" Israel (Josh. vii. 25); and sometimes a radically bad principle, the growth of which may defile the Church with dissension. In either case, it must be rooted up and cast out. 2. 'l'o liave a brotherly care over all. This thought underlies the entire passacre. Each of us by his own example is to help the weak of the flock to become strong"'; and to set a guard upon the "lame," so that they may not waucler out of the right way, Whilo the cure of souls is, of course, the e,pec1al cluty of the  3GB THE EPISTLE TO THE IIEDREWS. [oH, Xlt, 1-29,