14 peace pursue with all, and the separation, apart from which no one shall see the Lord,
Having, then, these promises, beloved, may we cleanse ourselves from every pollution of flesh and spirit, perfecting sanctification in the fear of God;
but according as He who did call you `is' holy, ye also, become holy in all behaviour, because it hath been written, `Become ye holy, because I am holy;'
for God did not call us on uncleanness, but in sanctification;
So, then, the things of peace may we pursue, and the things of building up one another;
Beloved, be not thou following that which is evil, but that which is good; he who is doing good, of God he is, and he who is doing evil hath not seen God;
he who is unrighteous -- let him be unrighteous still, and he who is filthy -- let him be filthy still, and he who is righteous -- let him be declared righteous still, and he who is sanctified -- let him be sanctified still: And lo, I come quickly, and my reward `is' with me, to render to each as his work shall be; I am the Alpha and the Omega -- the Beginning and End -- the First and the Last. `Happy are those doing His commands that the authority shall be theirs unto the tree of the life, and by the gates they may enter into the city; and without `are' the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the whoremongers, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and every one who is loving and is doing a lie.
and thou, O man of God, these things flee, and pursue righteousness, piety, faith, love, endurance, meekness;
And after my skin hath compassed this `body', Then from my flesh I see God:
`Happy the clean in heart -- because they shall see God. `Happy the peacemakers -- because they shall be called Sons of God.
The salt `is' good, but if the salt may become saltless, in what will ye season `it'? Have in yourselves salt, and have peace in one another.'
for they, indeed, for a few days, according to what seemed good to them, were chastening, but He for profit, to be partakers of His separation;
and who `is' he who will be doing you evil, if of Him who is good ye may become imitators?
and any curse there shall not be any more, and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him, and they shall see His face, and His name `is' upon their foreheads,
and the nations of the saved in its light shall walk, and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it, and its gates shall not at all be shut by day, for night shall not be there; and they shall bring the glory and the honour of the nations into it; and there may not at all enter into it any thing defiling and doing abomination, and a lie, but -- those written in the scroll of the life of the Lamb.
beloved, now, children of God are we, and it was not yet manifested what we shall be, and we have known that if he may be manifested, like him we shall be, because we shall see him as he is; and every one who is having this hope on him, doth purify himself, even as he is pure.
and increase ye in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; to him `is' the glory both now, and to the day of the age! Amen.
and the wisdom from above, first, indeed, is pure, then peaceable, gentle, easily entreated, full of kindness and good fruits, uncontentious, and unhypocritical: -- and the fruit of the righteousness in peace is sown to those making peace.
The beginning of contention `is' a letting out of waters, And before it is meddled with leave the strife.
and there is a strife between those feeding Abram's cattle and those feeding Lot's cattle; and the Canaanite and the Perizzite `are' then dwelling in the land. And Abram saith unto Lot, `Let there not, I pray thee, be strife between me and thee, and between my shepherds and thy shepherds, for we `are' men -- brethren. Is not all the land before thee? be parted, I pray thee, from me; if to the left, then I to the right; and if to the right, then I to the left.'
He maketh supplication unto God, And He accepteth him. And he seeth His face with shouting, And He returneth to man His righteousness.
Turn aside from evil and do good, Seek peace and pursue it.
For to righteousness judgment turneth back, And after it all the upright of heart,
Too much hath my soul dwelt with him who is hating peace.
A soft answer turneth back fury, And a grievous word raiseth up anger.
When a man's ways please Jehovah, even his enemies, He causeth to be at peace with him.
And a wolf hath sojourned with a lamb, And a leopard with a kid doth lie down, And calf, and young lion, and fatling `are' together, And a little youth is leader over them. And cow and bear do feed, Together lie down their young ones, And a lion as an ox eateth straw. And played hath a suckling by the hole of an asp, And on the den of a cockatrice Hath the weaned one put his hand. Evil they do not, nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For full hath been the earth with the knowledge of Jehovah, As the waters are covering the sea.
To serve Him, in holiness and righteousness Before Him, all the days of our life.
for we see now through a mirror obscurely, and then face to face; now I know in part, and then I shall fully know, as also I was known;
wherefore, come ye forth out of the midst of them, and be separated, saith the Lord, and an unclean thing do not touch, and I -- I will receive you,
And the fruit of the Spirit is: Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law;
Call upon you, then, do I -- the prisoner of the Lord -- to walk worthily of the calling with which ye were called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of the peace; one body and one Spirit, according as also ye were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who `is' over all, and through all, and in you all, and to each one of you was given the grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ, wherefore, he saith, `Having gone up on high he led captive captivity, and gave gifts to men,' --
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Hebrews 12
Commentary on Hebrews 12 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 12
The apostle, in this chapter, applies what he has collected in the chapter foregoing, and makes use of it as a great motive to patience and perseverance in the Christian faith and state, pressing home the argument,
Hbr 12:1-3
Here observe what is the great duty which the apostle urges upon the Hebrews, and which he so much desires they would comply with, and that is, to lay aside every weight, and the sin that did so easily beset them, and run with patience the race set before them. The duty consists of two parts, the one preparatory, the other perfective.
Hbr 12:4-17
Here the apostle presses the exhortation to patience and perseverance by an argument taken from the gentle measure and gracious nature of those sufferings which the believing Hebrews endured in their Christian course.
Hbr 12:18-29
Here the apostle goes on to engage the professing Hebrews to perseverance in their Christian course and conflict, and not to relapse again into Judaism. This he does by showing them how much the state of the gospel church differs from that of the Jewish church, and how much it resembles the state of the church in heaven, and on both accounts demands and deserves our diligence, patience, and perseverance in Christianity.