Another exhortation to steadfastness.
Each stage in the argument of the Epistle is relieved by a hortatory passage intended to confirm and cheer the Hebrews in their Christian faith. Indeed, the one duty upon Which the whole book lays stress is that of believing steadfastness.
I. THE EXHORTATION. It assumes various forms.
1. "Be not sluggish." (Hebrews 6:12) The Hebrews, in the perplexity of their situation by reason of the temptations of Judaism, had begun to sink into spiritual listlessness. We, too, are extremely prone to carry our Christian profession without earnestness, and to do our Christian work without energy.
2. "Show the same diligence." (Hebrews 6:11) The Hebrews had bestirred themselves in bestowing sympathy and succor upon their afflicted brethren, and the apostle longs to see them equally energetic in other departments of Christian duty. Success in spiritual life, as in any other sphere, can only be attained in connection with diligence.
3. Seek "the full assurance of hope." (Hebrews 6:11) They must not waver between Christianity and Judaism, but cherish an unfaltering persuasion of the reality of gospel blessings, notwithstanding that the full fruition of these is reserved for the future life.
II. SOME ENCOURAGEMENTS. In this paragraph the apostle does not prolong the terrific strain of the preceding verses. To continue it longer would have but depressed the hearts of his readers, and defeated his own benignant purpose towards them. So, after we have, as it were, trodden (Hebrews 6:4-8) upon the hot lava of a volcano, we now enter (Hebrews 6:9) upon a smiling and beautiful landscape, all carpeted with green and blossoming with flowers. "A bruised reed shall he not break," expresses the spirit of the passage now before us. We have here a variety of encouragements.
1. The fruit which their faith had borne already. (Hebrews 6:9, Hebrews 6:10) Brotherly love is a principal trait of the Christian character; and the Hebrews had been kind to their afflicted fellow-believers, for Jesus' sake. God had not forgotten their liberality; and to the apostle it had seemed as an evidence of the reality of their conversion. The spiritual attainments which a believer has already reached should encourage him to perseverance.
2. The example of their sainted ancestors. (Hebrews 6:12) Imitation occupies a principal place in our life, and is an important factor in the development of character. It wields immense power in the domain of morals and religion. So, the Bible is very largely a Book of biographies; and these are given us to incite us to follow the footsteps of the good and true. We, as well as these Hebrew converts, should be "imitators" of the peerage of Old Testament heroes (Hebrews 11:1-40). And we of this century should imitate, besides, the great soul-stars of Christendom, the fathers of our own Church, the sainted men of our town, the departed of our own sanctuary, and of our own fireside.
3. God's faithfulness to his word and oath. (Hebrews 6:13-18) Having singled out particularly the steadfastness of Abraham, and quoted God's oath to him (Genesis 22:16-18), the author shows that this oath is still a strong encouragement to Abraham's children who have embraced Christianity. For the Divine promise and oath to Abraham were spiritual rather than temporal; they have been continued to us; and they have been confirmed by the cross of Christ, and sealed by his resurrection and ascension (2 Corinthians 1:20).
4. The greatness of the Christian's hope. (Hebrews 6:19, Hebrews 6:20) The Jewish temple and the institutions of the theocracy were very soon to pass away forever; so that it was unreasonable to place reliance upon them. The one sure anchorage of spiritual hope is in that heavenly sanctuary which Jesus has entered for us as our everlasting High Priest.
Our anchor and anchorage.
This text suggests, first of all, that the Christian life is a life of storm. It is exposed to storms of persecution, of doubt, of remorse, of inward corruption, of outward adversity, and to the last great storm of death. But, blessed be God, believers possess complete security in the midst of these storms.
I. CHRISTIAN HOPE IS OUR ANCHOR. Of the three great abiding graces—faith, hope, love—hope is the one which often receives least prominence in our thoughts. Faith is the root, and love the full-blown flower, of piety; whereas hope occupies an intermediate position. Here is, in fact, just one of the first developments of faith—a sprout from the root of faith. The object of faith may be either good or bad; but the object of hope is always good. Hope in its essence is just the desire of good, with the expectation of by-and-by obtaining it. Now, hope has this blessed function—it soothes and calms and cheers the mind in the midst of storm and trouble. Even natural hope is "as an anchor of the soul." What drudgery would the world's business be apart from hope! Where would our great statesmen, our inventors and discoverers, come from, were it not for hope?
"Every gift of noble origin
Is breathed upon by Hope's perpetual breath."
(Wordsworth)
It was hope that buoyed up poor Columbus, and that inspired the lion-hearted Livingstone. But, as ancient seamen called the strongest anchor of their ships "the sacred anchor," and reserved it as "the last hope" for times when the vessel was in real peril; so, gospel hope is the sacred anchor of every good man. And, truly, this hope is the most influential of all hopes. It is the hope of eternal life;—the hope of looking upon Christ in his glory, of seeing the King in his beauty, Notice, also, the properties ascribed to this anchor.
1. It is sure. In substance strong and firm, and of weight proportionate to the tonnage of the vessel—in every way worthy of the greatness of our nature. No fear that it may fail: this "hope putteth not to shame."
2. It is steadfast. It takes a firm grip of the holding-ground, and will neither break nor drag. No force of wind or current will be able to tear it from its hold. How comes it that spiritual hope has these essential qualities? It is "both sure and steadfast" because it is the gift of God, and therefore good and perfect, like all other Divine gifts. It is so, also, because it is essentially connected with the cable of faith in the promise and oath of God.
II. CHRIST IN HEAVEN IS OUR ANCHORAGE. The Savior has gone before us into heaven, through the blue "veil" or ocean of the sky; and our hope follows him thither.
1. Our holding-ground is in heaven. Happy are all who are convinced that there is no safe anchorage for their souls anywhere below! Each of us has had many earthly hopes that have been baffled; but the hope which finds its object in heaven is "a living hope." Its holding-ground is beyond the frontiers of change, and out of reach of the touch of death. God help us amid the storms of life to look, not so much down upon the fierce floods which are beating about our feet, but rather upward to the quiet, holy heaven, and to our great Hope that is there!
2. Our holding-ground is Christ himself in his perpetual priesthood. Even heaven is nothing at all to the believer apart from Christ. The Lord Jesus himself is "our Hope." He is the Son of God, who knows all our troubles, and has power to control and subdue them. He is the Son of man, and full, therefore, of warm, human sympathy. He is our "High Priest," ever-loving, interceding, armed with authority and overflowing with tenderness. And he is our "Forerunner," who has entered heaven in our name, and left the golden gate open behind him, because he has arranged that we are to follow (John 14:1-4).
Learn, in conclusion:
1. The anchor of hope does not quell the storm; what it does is to hold fast the vessel.
2. The excellence of the anchor and the strength of the holding-ground make the believer's security most absolute.
3. The sinner's only safety is to cast anchor in Christ.
HOMILIES BY W. JONES
A summons to Christian progress.
"Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ," etc. Our subject has two main branches.
I. THE BEGINNING ALREADY MADE IN CHRISTIANITY. Here are six first principles or elements of Christianity, with which those persons to whom this letter is addressed are supposed to be acquainted. These elementary principles may be classified in three groups of two in each group.
1. "Repentance from dead works." Expositors differ as to whether these are the works of the Law, or the works of sin, which indicate spiritual death and lead on to eternal death. Probably the writer means the observances of the moral and ceremonial laws of the Jews, by which they sought to attain unto righteousness and to commend themselves unto God. And in our own times there are those who endeavor by the performance of righteous and praiseworthy actions to merit acceptance with God. Such works are dead unless they spring from a heart in vital sympathy with God. Repentance from these works is the renunciation of them as a ground of acceptance with God, and the withdrawal of our faith from them.
2. "Faith toward God." That this is the Christian faith in God is clear from the earlier clause—" the principles of the doctrine of Christ." Probably, as Alford suggests, the best exposition of this faith in God is found in the words of St. Paul: "To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, iris faith is reckoned for righteousness" (Romans 4:5). It is faith in God as revealed in Jesus Christ. And as by repentance the Christian abandons the dead works of the Law as a reason for his acceptance with God, so by this faith he enters into vital and saving relation to the living God.
3. "The teaching of baptisms," or washings. There are three, or more, interpretations of this clause. That the baptisms are
The nature and significance of these washings in their relation to Christianity would certainly be taught to Jewish converts to the Christian faith. The chief point for us is this, that all these washings and baptisms were symbols of spiritual cleansing. The one essential baptism, which is also the fulfillment of all other baptisms, is that of the Holy Spirit.
4. "The teaching of the laying on of hands." This may mean, as Alford says, "the reference and import of all that imposition of hands, which was practiced under the Law, and found in some cases its continuance under the gospel." To us, however, it seems more probable that it indicates the impartation of spiritual gifts, and especially the gift of the Holy Ghost, of which the laying on of hands was the outward symbol, as in Acts 8:15-17; Acts 19:6; 1 Timothy 4:14; 2 Timothy 1:6.
5. "The teaching of resurrection of the dead." This doctrine was brought into clear light by the great Teacher. "The hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice," etc. (John 5:28, John 5:29). The apostles also declared it: "There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust." Our Lord's resurrection forcibly confirmed the doctrine.
6. "The teaching of eternal judgment." A future and general judgment is certain. Jesus Christ pictorially described it (Matthew 25:31-46). St. Paul asserted it: "God hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness," etc; "We shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ Each one of us shall give account of himself to God." This judgment is characterized as "eternal," probably because it is "part of the proceedings of eternity, and thus bearing the character and stamp of eternal." Its awards, moreover, are eternal (Matthew 25:46). Now, these six things belong to the beginning of Christian teaching and life; they are "first principles of the oracles of God." And they are to be left. How? Not in the sense of discarding them, but of advancing beyond them. Or, as in the figure employed in the text, they constitute a foundation, and are to be left behind as the foundation of a building is left as the superstructure rises towards completeness. "When we have once become settled in the first principles of our religion," says John Howe, "we need not be always exposing them to a continual extort
.
3. Maturity of Christian conduct. The truth apprehended by the intellect and experienced in the heart, must be expressed in the life and practice. Growing religious faith and feeling should be manifested by words and actions of ever-increasing conformity to the holy will of God. In this respect let us imitate the example of St. Paul: "[Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect," etc. (Philippians 3:12-14).—W.J.