Hebrews 10:25

Heb_10:25

Not forsaking the assembling

The Church beneficent:

We can scarcely help reading into a passage like this ideas which belong to our time, and not to the time of the writer; that is to say, ideas which are our own rather than his.

Our notion as to Christians assembling themselves together is that which has been fixed in our minds by our custom, an old custom now, of attending church on Sundays. The truth is, however--and it is a point which has not received all the consideration to which it is entitled--meetings of Christians in those early times were not exactly of the same character as ours. Not only were they not as formal as we make ours by having an official person to conduct them, and, in fact, to take up most of the time with set religious discourse--not only were they not as formal as ours are thus made, they had, it is evident, different objects from those at which we aim in ours. These people who are here charged not to forsake the assembling of themselves together, did not meet to hear a sermon, or to pray and sing hymns; they met, it is plain, as Christian workers, to discuss their work and to carry it on. To provoke unto love and to good works, to consider one another, to take steps for the relief of their poor, the succour of their sick, the instruction of the young, the conversion of heathen friends, the advancement of their faith, the promotion of every scheme which an enthusiastic philanthropy suggested for making the world better and happier; this was the business which brought them together. Their meetings did not end as ours regularly and systematically do, in nothing at all; if there is anything certain with regard to them, it is that they served to combine the intelligence and the energies of the Christian brotherhood for the accomplishment of a variety of objects which were none the less Christian that they were not always what you would call religious. And yet it is not to be supposed that on this account their meetings were less devotional than ours are. Because, instead of being devotional and nothing else, they were taken up chiefly with matters of Christian business, those primitive assemblies which are here in question would not, in the nature of things, be less favourable to the spirit of supplication or the spirit of thanksgiving, than Sunday meetings are now. I cannot but declare my conviction--I have long been firmly convinced--it is because we have no business in our meetings except devotion, that our devotion is so dull a business. I must take for granted for one thing, that every intelligent man, who is not strangely destitute of religious feeling, has known at times the need, or at any rate the good, of joining with numbers in acts of worship. There is something in the voices of a congregation united in the praise of God which lifts a dull worshipper out of his dulness as nothing else can. It is to be deplored, therefore, that so many nowadays forsake churches, and, in doing so, at any rate deny themselves whatever profit there is in public worship. It is obvious, whatever is the reason of it, our present system of what we call public worship is not what it once was in point of health and vigour, and rough-and-ready methods of putting new life into it, from which much is hoped, have little outcome. So far from the attendance at church increasing over the country, it is, I believe, steadily falling off. It may well be a question, therefore, whether we should not, along with the multiplication of churches or in place of it, begin to consider whether churches ought not to be somewhat different from what they are, and perhaps made a little more like what they were once. While we are thinking only of how to enlarge our ecclesiastical machinery, or to drive it faster, the question perhaps really is, whether it ought not first to be remodelled. The thing which is to be done, the only remedy for the evil, is to make the church a more attractive institution than it is. In the first place, it is obvious we deny ourselves much of the advantage we might have from attention to what is beautiful and pleasing. Independently of the sermon altogether--for the sermon is made the most important part of public worship, utterly against the nature of things--there should be excitement in our church services sufficient at any rate to keep people from falling asleep in the middle of them. Congregations, not ministers, no doubt are to blame if this excitement is often conspicuous by its absence. Wherever the blame may be supposed to rest, it is certain this part of our worship, not the least important part, is in general made as unattractive as complete neglect can make it. They complain that long extempore prayers, such as are common among ourselves, are often sermons without a text, or Scripture in great disorder. They allege further, that as the sermon is generally made the most important part of the service, so it is generally the most tedious part. If this, then, or anything like this, is the account which is to be given of our public worship, or a great part of it, we can scarcely wonder if there are some who forsake it, and many who are not attracted by it. I hasten now to remark, that while we more or less deny ourselves the advantage of the beautiful, we altogether reject the far greater advantage of the practical and useful. To put the matter broadly: in connection with churches much good work is done, done by ministers and office-bearers, by committees, by associations of members, but as churches we do nothing. When we come together here on Sunday, after having been for hundreds of Sundays in the habit of coming, it is just to go through the old routine of prayer, praise, sermon, and go away home; the congregation, as a congregation, after the benediction, goes away home, that is to say, goes out of existence. Nothing equals the regularity with which our meeting takes place, except the regularity with which nothing comes of it. Take them as they commonly are, churches are like corn-mills carefully constructed and plentifully supplied with steam or water-power, but never put in motion, never made to grind a bushel of grain. In our congregational life it is all saying and not doing. It would involve the remodelling of our churches to an extent to which few of us, perhaps, would care to see them remodelled; but, if the practical and useful were as prominent in their arrangements as other things are, they would not have to complain so much as they have now of being forsaken. What is needed to fill churches and put life into them, is to revert to the original idea of a church, and make it a society to provoke unto love and to good works. If we were, even in the loosest sort of way united as a congregation in an endeavour to further Christian objects, to relieve the poor, to comfort the sick, to instruct the ignorant, to reclaim the erring, to remove temptation out of the way of the young, to promote decency, sobriety, honesty, truth, gentleness--if we were ever so loosely united as a congregation in this endeavour, it is impossible, being as many as we are, that we should not accomplish something. Now, if there were this kind of business first, and devotion followed it, or if business and devotion were somehow combined in the order of our Sunday services, we should have what gives zest to meetings for other and inferior purposes--the sense that we are dealing with what is of immediate practical utility to ourselves and to others. Before I conclude, let me advert for a moment to an objection which may be urged. Would you, some one may ask, suppose it were possible, divert the activity of churches from those purely spiritual objects, which only churches are fitted to promote, and direct it to philanthropic but still secular ends, which other institutions and other agencies are intended to further, and are possibly better fitted to further? To this, however, it is to be answered, that charity never faileth, nor the need for that organised charity which a church ought to be. When all other institutions and agencies, even the most benevolent and most useful, have done their best, much will still remain to be done, for the welfare of mankind, much which only Christian philanthropy can do, or will attempt to do, and it is the business of churches to concern themselves with that. (J. Service, D. D.)

Public worship:

I. THE ASSEMBLING TOGETHER. All on the same level, except so far as we may differ in spiritual things.

1. Assembling together is a duty.

(1) God has commanded it.

(2) The practice is co-equal in point of time with the existence of the Christian Church.

(3) It is necessary for carrying out the Lords work.

(4) It is essential for the spiritual well-being of every Christian man.

2. A privilege. To neglect it is to starve the soul.

II. THE OBJECT OF MEETING TOGETHER.

1. TO draw near to God.

2. To receive spiritual blessings.

3. To exhort one another.

III. THE INCREASING IMPORTANCE OF THIS MEETING TOGETHER AS THE PARTICULAR DAY NAMED IN THE TEXT DRAWS NEAR.

1. The day that you may be deprived of the opportunity of meeting.

(1) From sickness.

(2) From loss of inclination.

2. The day of trial and affliction.

3. The day of death.

4. The day of judgment. (G. Sexton, D. D.)

The importance of public worship

I. THE ADMONITION GIVEN.

1. That to assemble together is a Christian duty.

2. Some who profess attachment to Christs cause neglect this duty. Some are once-a-day worshippers; others are fine-weather worshippers; while many are merely fancy-worshippers, and go to the Lords house just when it may please them. Great reason is obvious, no spiritual relish, only a name to live, &c. Only form of godliness, etc.

3. It is of the utmost importance that we do not thus forsake the assembling of ourselves together.

(1) On Gods account, who demands and infinitely deserves our service.

(2) On the Churchs account. The Church is to be visible.

(3) Especially on our own account.

We are deeply interested in these assemblies. We might forsake, &c., if we had no mercies to acknowledge, no sins to confess, no blessings to crave, no enemies to overcome, no soul to sanctify, no hell to escape, no heaven to gain.

II. A SPECIFIC DUTY STATED. We should exhort each other

1. To watchfulness and vigilance.

2. To determination and constancy.

3. To zeal and diligence.

4. To courage and perseverance.

III. A POWERFUL MOTIVE.

1. The day is approaching.

2. This day is truly a momentous one.

3. The believer sees the day approaching. That is, he never loses sight of that truth.

Learn:

1. The place of the Christians delight will be Gods house.

2. From our present circumstances, we all stand in need of exhortation 1Th_5:11; 2Ti_4:2; Heb_3:13).

3. We cannot fail to be stimulated, both to diligence and faithfulness, if we keep the truth before us that the day is approaching. (J. Burns, D. D.)

The duty of Divine worship

I. THE NATURE AND REASON OF DIVINE WORSHIP IN GENERAL. Though it must be confessed to be a duty on many accounts to worship God in private, yet I think it may plainly appear that it ought to be performed publicly too. For what is it we mean by the worship of God but such acts as do immediately declare our love, fear, and reverence to Him; our obedience, gratitude and resignation towards Him? Now, if the nature of Gods worship consists in our honouring Him, that must certainly be the most acceptable way of worshipping Him which tends most to His honour, and that is doing it in solemn and public assemblies; for by this we take away all suspicion of our being either afraid or ashamed of our duty to Him, and many seeing our devotion may be influenced thereby to glorify their Maker more abundantly. Besides this, we may consider that as there are two parts of worship, the one internal, by which we bow our souls before God, and the other external, by which we give visible signs of our inward devotion, such as uncovering our heads, kneeling, praying, and praising God with an audible voice, and the like; so the chief use of this latter part of worship is for public assemblies. Again, the reason on which Divine worship is naturally grounded declares for it being public. God is our Creator, Preserver, and Benefactor, and doth not this as evidently demand our public as our private devotions? Doth not He bestow public blessings on us, and prevent or remove public evils from us, as well as private? But, furthermore, can we imagine that man was made a sociable creature for civil concerns only? Does not the affair of religion, and the immortal comforts that depend upon the true profession of it, as much deserve our united care and endeavours as the fading, transitory things of this lower world?

II. GODS POSITIVE INSTITUTIONS CONCERNING IT. All the directions He gave to Moses concerning the tabernacle, concerning the priests, concerning the sacrifices, concerning the Sabbath and feasts, were institutions of a public nature, and supposed His worship, to which they all related, to be a public worship. He hath nowhere declared for the cessation of public worship; but, on the contrary, hath plainly intimated His will to have it continued, and promised that His presence shall propitiously attend on our Christian assemblies lawfully met in obedience to Him, as it formerly did on the Jewish. For the promise then was (Exo_20:24). So now it is wheresoever, i.e., whether at Jerusalem as before, or in any other place, two or three, i.e., any indefinite number, of you are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of you (Mat_18:20).

III. That public worship is the duty of all Christians may be proved likewise from THE VERY BEING AND ECONOMY OF THAT CHURCH. For, in the first place, if we consider what the Church simply is, we can have no other conception of it but of a number of people called together and chosen out Of the unbelieving world, to profess the faith of Christ and to worship God according to the instructions which Christ gave. Now, a number of people, called out of the world to worship God after the same manner, and with unity and consent touching any instructions given them for that end, must in all reason be supposed to do this by meeting and assembling together. But if we consider it under that metaphor which the scriptures gives us of it when they call it Christs body, and the several Christians that compose it, the members of that body (1Co_7:27). This will still further convince us that Christians are bound to worship God in communion; for why is the Church represented as a body but to signify to us its unity? And what can that agreement be which unites Christians so as to make them one Church or spiritual body but their joining together in the performance of those offices for which they were incorporated, and therefore surely in the worship of God, which is none of the meanest of those offices. And yet this will further appear from the order and government of it. For if it had no need of public worship, why are we so solemnly admitted into it, and excluded out of it? (Joseph Watson, D. D.)

The duty of regular attendance at public worship

There is one fact implied in the text, you perceive, and one asserted. First, it is implied that even in the early time when this Epistle was written Christians were accustomed to meet statedly for the worship of God and to receive the word of exhortation. You do not doubt this. It is the dictate of our nature that God should be honoured and worshipped. Men are social, and constituted to act in concert. Then, moreover, Christianity is pre-eminently a social religion. There is another fact, you perceive, directly asserted in the text, that it was the manner of some to neglect this practice of statedly meeting together. It appears wonderful, indeed, that such individuals should have been among the members of any of the apostolic churches. But let us consider two or three circumstances that may mitigate our surprise. The parties spoken of had forsaken the practice of Christian assembling. They had once observed it. There was a time when they delighted to frequent the place of prayer, and to sit at the feet of those who had the rule over them, and to obey them. What had made them forsake them? For one thing, whether they were Jews or Gentiles, there was the scorn of the world, and often its wild and bloody violence. To be a Christian made a man the mark for obloquy and persecution. The attending at Christian assemblies was the most palpable avowal of having embraced Christianity. It was throwing down the gauntlet to the un-Christian world. With many, through Gods grace, this only served to brace their minds to the conflict and endurance. With others we can hardly wonder the effect was different.

The scorn and persecution were too much for them. They yielded and abjured the gospel. Some of them, perhaps, merely temporised and forsook assembling with their brethren. They gave up the Lords Day and the sanctuary, vainly thinking that they might still retain their religion. For another thing, suppose that the some of whom the text speaks had been Jews. We can see how difficult it would be for them to part with their seventh day and adopt the first instead of it as their day of holy solemnities The step must have been a great shock to their established habits, and roused against them the fury of their countrymen who continued to reject the claims of Christ. For one thing more, suppose that the some of whom the text speaks had been Gentiles. How difficult must it have been for them to form the habit of keeping the Lords Day! Here is a heathen man who has known nothing either of Sabbath or Sunday, of a day of rest or a day of worship. He is convinced by the preaching of the gospel, believes, is baptized, and received into a Christian church. But he is in business, perhaps, and has partners. If he will keep the Lords Day, they know nothing about it; and they will not have their arrangements disturbed by his new-fangled notions and scruples. In whatever position of life he is, the assembling with other Christians subjects him to manifold annoyance, not to say loss, and marks him out as having separated from the mass of his countrymen. For a time, while he is powerfully under the influence of the Christian truth that has laid hold of him, he is seen regularly in his place in the sanctuary. By and by his new impressions begin to lose their vividness and his old habits to regain somewhat of their power. His attendance becomes irregular. These considerations help us to understand the melancholy fact mentioned in the text. But they do not justify it. The case of those some was adduced by the writer as a Warning to others, and it may also serve as a warning to us. Allow me, by way of application of our subject, to ask you all to receive from it the word of serious exhortation.

1. Consider the fact implied in the text concerning the existence of a stated day for Christian worship among the Hebrews is a fact palpable and acknowledged by us. Here is the sacred ordinance. It is ours. We ought to use is according to its design, and not forsake on it the assembling of ourselves together.

2. Consider none of the circumstances which I described, not to excuse but to explain the conduct of the some, condemned in the text, can be pleaded by us. We were not brought up Jews, and the keeping of the first day holy does not clash in our minds with any reverence which we have been accustomed to attach to the seventh. We were not brought up Gentiles, in ignorance of God and Christ and immortality, trained to be of the earth earthy, so that the keeping of the Lords Day should be to ourselves something new, and to all around us a thing outrageous and revolutionary. We are not exposed to any violence of persecution if we obey the exhortation before us. We are verily guilty, we have no excuse to allege, if we forsake the assembling of ourselves together.

3. Consider what high ends are answered by our assembling ourselves on the Lords Day. Strength and beauty are in the sanctuary.

4. Consider the consequences likely to result from neglecting the ordinances of the sanctuary are disastrous. The man who neglects them declines the open profession of his faith; he cuts himself off from the highest exercises of his nature and the purest sources of virtue and happiness. His indifference and carelessness will grow on him, till backsliding becomes desertion, and desertion will become rebellion, which can only issue in his outcasting himself from the presence of God and the beatific vision of heaven; a life ruined and a soul lost,--without God, without hope: (Professor Legge.)

The daily service:

The first Christians set up the Church in continual prayer (Act_2:46-47). St. Paul in his Epistles binds their example upon their successors for ever (1Ti_2:8; Col_4:3). Observe how explicitly he speaks, I will therefore that men pray in every place;--not only at Jerusalem, not only at Corinth, not only in Rome, but even in England; in our secluded villages, in our rich populous busy towns, whatever be the importance of those secular objects which absorb our thoughts and time. Or, again, take the text, and consider whether it favours the notion of a change or relaxation of the primitive custom. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. The increasing troubles of the world, the fury of Satan, and the madness of the people, mens hearts failing them for fear, the sea and the waves roaring, all these gathering tokens of Gods wrath are but calls upon us for greater perseverance in united prayer. Consider how this rule of continuing in prayer is exemplified in St. Peters history also. He had learned from his Saviours pattern not to think prayer a loss of time. Christ had taken him up with Him into the holy mount, though multitudes waited to be healed and taught below. Again, before His passion, He had taken him into the garden of Gethsemane: and while He prayed Himself, He called upon him likewise to watch and pray lest he entered into temptation. In consequence, St. Peter warns us in his first Epistle, as St. Paul in the text, The end of all things is at hand, be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. Stated and continual prayer, then, and especially united prayer, is plainly the duty of Christians. And if we ask how often we are to pray, I reply, that we ought to consider prayer as a plain privilege, directly we know that it is a duty, and therefore that the question is out of place. Surely, when we know we may approach the mercy-seat, the only further question is, whether there be anything to forbid us coming often, anything implying that such frequent coming is presumptuous and irreverent. Now, Scripture contains most condescending intimations that we may come at all times. For instance, in the Lords Prayer petition is made for daily bread for this day; therefore, our Saviour intended it should be used daily. Further, it is said, give us, forgive us; therefore it may fairly be presumed to be given us as a social prayer. If, however, it be said that family prayer is a fulfilment of the duty, without prayer in church, I reply, that I am not at all speaking of it as a duty, but as a privilege; I do not tell meal that they must come to church, so much as declare the glad tidings that they may. This surely is enough for those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, and humbly desire to see the face of God. Doubtless, even in your usual employments you can be glorifying your Saviour; you can be thinking of Him. Doubtless: only try to realise to yourself that continual prayer and praise is a privilege; only feel in good earnest, what somehow the mass of Christians, after all, do not recognise, that it is good to be here--feel this, and I shall not be solicitous about your coming; you will come if you can. I account a few met together in prayer to be a type of His true Church; not actually His true Church (God forbid the presumption!) but as a token and type of it;--not as being His elect, one by one, for who can know whom He has chosen but He who chooses?--not as His complete flock, doubtless, for that were to exclude the old, and the sick, and the infirm, and little children;--not as His select and undefiled remnant, for Judas was one of the twelve--still as the earnest and promise of His saints, the birth of Christ in its rudiments, and the dwelling-place of the Spirit; and precious, even though but one out of the whole number, small though it be, belong at present to Gods hidden ones; nay, though, as is likely to be the case, in none of them there be more than the dawn of the True Light and the goings forth of the morning. Some, too, will come at times, as accident guides them, giving promise that they may one day be settled and secured within the sacred fold. Some will come in times of grief or compunction, others in preparation for the holy communion. Nor is it a service for those only who are present; all men know the time, and many mark it, whose bodily presence is away. We have with us the hearts of many. How soothing and consolatory to the old and infirm who cannot come, to follow in their thoughts, nay, with the prayers and psalms before them, what they do not hear! Shall not those prayers and holy meditations, separated though they be in place, ascend up together to the presence of God? Who then will dare speak of loneliness and solitude, because in mans eyes there are few worshippers brought together in one place? or, who will urge it as a defect in our service, even if that were the case? Who, moreover, will so speak, when even the holy angels are present when we pray, stand by us as guardians, sympathise in our need, and join us in our praises? (J. H. Newman, D. D.)

Why go to church?

It is a rather remarkable fact that in this text we have the nearest approach that is found in the New Testament to a commandment enjoining what we now call attendance at public worship; and the reason for such attendance, which is suggested by this mild remonstrance against neglect of the practice, is rather notably different from that with which we have nowadays become familiar. We have been so long accustomed to regard going to church on Sunday in the light of a religious duty, and indeed as almost the chief religious duty of the week, that it must surprise us, I believe, to find that the duty is scarcely enjoined at all in the New Testament. The observance of the Sabbath was no part of the original motive of the early Christians for the weekly assembling of themselves together; and in the absence of any other express commandment, it is plain that some spontaneously felt need and desire led them to seek such fellowship. What that need and desire were could hardly be better expressed than in the first words of our text, Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works. It was consideration of one another as interested in one common cause, as devoted to one common Lord and Master, as having one great end of life in view, and as needing common counsel and encouragement in the pursuit of that end, that led them to practise the assembling of themselves together. They did not think they were serving or glorifying God in any specially sacred manner by meeting together for praise and prayer on the Lords Day--Christ had given them very different ideas of how God should be served and honoured. It was because their whole life was consecrated to God and to the service of Jesus Christ, in the practise of love and of good works, that they felt the need and followed the practice of meeting together to consider one another, and comfort and encourage one another, in the difficult task of living such a life in the world. And it will be of little use, we may be sure, to admonish and exhort men to the maintenance of the ancient custom of meeting for prayer and praise on the Lords Day, unless we can show in ourselves and excite in them the ancient spirit of consecration to God and devotion to Christ which first originated and inspired the custom. What we ought to aim at is not to get careless, unspiritual persons to come to church--that is putting the cart before the horse--but to get them awakened to some thoughtful interest in Christ and His salvation. It was Christ that drew men to the Church in the first place, not the Church that drew them to Christ; the ardour of faith and hope in Christ drew them together to form a Church, and the contagion of faith and example of love among those who first formed the Church was the strongest force to draw others into it. We have almost completely inverted this order of cause and effect now, and instead of awakening interest, first in Christ and then in the Church, we put the Church first, and trust almost entirely to the influence of the weekly assembly of the Church to bring men to Christ. When we do get back into the vivid conception of this primitive principle and motive of the assembling of ourselves together, it will work great changes not only in the extension of the practice of going to church, but also in the way we organise and conduct the worship and teaching of the Church. Churches will not depend then so much upon good preachers and pastors as upon good people; ministers sermons will then be fewer, more practical and business-like, serious and urgent as an officers address to his troops before a battle, addressed by a soldier to soldiers. More, perhaps, of the ministers time will be given to teaching the rudiments of the faith to the young, and less to reiterating first principles to the old. And Christians will meet not as hearers, nor yet simply as worshippers, but as ardent and hopeful co-operators in a great common cause which each is anxious to understand his own part in, and to which each daily and nightly applies all his own mind and heart and contriving skill and practical energy. (J. C. Barry, M. A.)

The duty and benefit of social worship:

I. THE PRINCIPAL ENDS WHICH REAL CHRISTIANS HAVE IN VIEW IN ASSEMBLING THEMSELVES TOGETHER.

1. To express submission to the authority of the Lord their God.

2. To improve in spiritual knowledge.

II. SOME OF THE IMPORTANT EFFECTS OF ATTENDING ON ASSEMBLIES FOR WORSHIP.

1. The belief of a dependence upon God, as the Author of all our blessings, is preserved and enlivened in the mind.

2. We exercise and improve the benevolent affections of the heart.

3. We are training up for the devotional exercises of the heavenly temple.

III. EXHORTING ONE ANOTHER, and so much the more as ye see the day approaching.

1. If exhortation was necessary in the days of the Apostle Paul, it may be easily admitted that it is equally so in ours. Let me exhort you to remember that weekly worshipping assemblies are not an appendage to Christianity which we may add or keep off at pleasure.

2. The text adds this awful reason for exhortation, and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. A regular and devout improvement of the Lords Day, is an excellent preparation for meeting the Lord when He comes. The transition seems natural and easy, from a house of prayer on earth to a house of praise in heaven. (Robert Foote.)

Attendance on public worship

I. CONSIDER OUR OBLIGATIONS TO ASSEMBLE TOGETHER FOR THE WORSHIP OF GOD.

1. Public worship is sanctioned by Divine authority, and the example of the saints in every age.

2. Public worship has the special promise of the Divine presence.

3. The profit and advantage arising from public worship require also to be considered. Our own interest is concerned, as well as the glory of God Psa_36:8; Psa_92:13). There the ignorant are instructed, the languid are quickened, the broken-hearted are bound up, and the wounded in spirit healed.

II. INQUIRE INTO THE CAUSES OF NEGLECT.

1. In some instances it arises from a spirit of scepticism and infidelity.

2. In others it arises from a spirit of profaneness, daring to resist convictions, and to trifle with obligations which cannot be denied.

3. Neglect of public worship frequently proceeds from sloth and idleness.

4. It is often the effect of self-conceit and pride. There are some who think they know enough, and have no need of instruction; they are also good enough, and need not to be made better.

5. The interference of personal prejudices too frequently prevents an attendance on the means of grace, but can never be urged in justification. (B. Beddome, M. A.)

Public worship:

The text does not point to secret devotion, but to open religious fellowship. There is a devotion which is to be hidden from all human knowledge, in which the soul discloses itself without reserve to the scrutiny of the Most High. To neglect such devotion is to dry up the springs which rise from the very rocks. Without it there can be no spiritual life. Yet there is something beyond it. What solitude begins sympathy completes. There is a subtle and indescribable power of sympathy in public worship. Individually we sing the more expressively because of the animating song of those who are round about us. Our idea of worship is enlarged. We get glimpses of that splendid possibility--a whole world engaged in common prayer! Public worship helps us to see deeply and clearly into the unity of human nature. On the streets we are many; in the sanctuary we are one. In taste and whim and special fancy we are an innumerable throng; but in the true hunger of the heart we are as one man. In other places we may meet as groups, but in the house of prayer we meet as a race. A wondrous, sad, glorious sight, is a great congregation of worshippers. What histories are represented! What madness of ambition, what recklessness of the best gifts, what sin done in darkness, what plots of avarice, what broken-heartedness, what wealth, poverty, loneliness, pain, what strength, fury, nobleness, truth! yet we are all one, one in sin, one in want. I pray God we may be one in the ineffable ecstatic joy of pardon through the Son of God. If I may put the matter personally, I do not hesitate to say that I must have the benefit of public worship if I would save myself from spiritual languor. Unrelieved solitude narrows a mans nature. We correct and complete one another. We settle each other into right proportions. We see greater breadths of the bounty and love of God when we compare our common experiences or utter our common thanksgivings. It is not uncommon to hear men talking in some such words as When I worship I go out into the temple of nature: I uncover my head in the aisles of the forest: I hush myself under the minster roof of the stars: I listen to the psalm of the sea. This kind of talk sounds as if it meant something. It touches one side of life; how far it touches the other remains to be seen. As Christians we claim to have sympathy with nature. From the rash talk of certain avowed lovers of nature it would seem that Christians, by reason of their Christianity, did not know the sea when they were looking at it, and that they required to have the sun pointed out with a rod before they could distinguish it from the moon. I love nature. I have seen some of her pictures, and heard many of her voices. She is always full of suggestion. But let me tell you something farther. I will be frank that you may understand me. Nature is to me often the saddest of all sights. She is but a succession of phases. I cannot keep her at any point. The spring dies; the summer vanishes; autumn delivers her gifts and turns away; winter is a presence I would not detain; the sun is but for an appointed time, and the stars withdraw long before I have half-counted them. More than that. Nature is but an alphabet or, at most, a primer. I soon begin to find that she has no answer to my deepest wants, and that I can ask her questions which will stagger her with dismay. My heart aches, and I ask for a physician that can extract the pain. My conscience tortures me and I cry for rest. Then I find the spiritual sanctuary; I pass within the veil; I see the Cross, the Priest, the Sacrifice, and ever after, nature is but an outer court, and Grace is the presence-chamber of the Redeeming King. Application:

1. Come to worship.

2. Resist the influence of a bad example, as the manner of some is. The object of public worship is twofold.

1. Edification, having in view the stimulus and encouragement of believers, and their defence from manifold temptation.

2. Conversion, having in view the salvation of those who are afar off. A special blessing is theirs who love the house of God; their own dwelling shall be watched and blessed. They shall prosper that love Thee. (J. Parker, D. D.)

Religious assemblies

Assemblies are of many kinds; amongst the many differences of them this is one, that some are civil for matters of this life; some are religious, for matters spiritual, wherein we do converse with God and amongst ourselves. These assemblies were instituted and observed for public converse with God, and these were occasional or more solemn and observed at set and determinate times, and in times of peace and liberty in certain convenient places erected or separated for that end and use. Hence synagogues and Sabbaths amongst the Jews. The heathen also had their temples and sacred places and their solemn times, yet abused to superstition and idolatry, The light of nature doth dictate that God is to be worshipped not only in private, but in public, and that this worship, if orderly performed, requires not only certain solemn times but also convenient places; yet the times were always more considerable than the places. To enjoy these assemblies and have liberty in public to serve their God, both in convenient places and at certain and solemn times, was a great mercy of God and a great benefit to man. For in these they testified their union and agreement in the same faith and worship. And we are very brutish or very inconsiderate if we understand not the excellency of these religious public assemblies, and very unthankful if we acknowledge not the benefit of them. The persecuting enemies of the Church knew full well if they could scatter these meetings and conventions, demolish their houses of worship, and deprive them of their solemn and sacred times, they might do much to destroy Christian religion. David did love the place where Gods honour dwelt vehemently, desired Gods presence in that place, and sadly complained to his God when he was banished from these holy and blessed assemblies, and yet those were far inferior to these of the gospel. And doleful was that lamentation of the captives of Jerusalem when God had taken away His tabernacle, as if it were a garden, destroyed the places of assemblies, had caused the solemn feasts and Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and had despised in the indignation of His anger the king and the priest (Lam_2:6). (G. Lawson.)

Attendance on the means of grace:

Bear with me while I set before you some of the causes which prevent them from obeying the decision of their consciences, and the command of God. The mechanic has been so severely wrought during the week, that he indulges a little longer in bed on the Sabbath morning, and the hour of meeting arrives and passes by ere he can get himself prepared; or if he happens to attend, he is so wearied out with the exercises, to him tedious, that he remains at home during the rest of the day, reading the newspapers, lolling in listless apathy, or entertaining a friend. The man of business is so much immersed in his merchandise that he can find no time to go to the house of God; what with arranging his books, answering letters, and conversing on the present position and future prospects of trade, he is entirely engaged; and if perchance he may drop in occasionally, his restless and discontented aspect bespeaks that his mind is not there. One considers he fully discharges his duty when he goes once to church; more than that he esteems unnecessary and inconvenient. Such seize upon the quiet that prevails, to amuse themselves with their families, spend an afternoon with a neighbour, or take a walk in the fields. Others are only found in the house of prayer, on the fashionable diet, forenoon or afternoon as it may chance to be; they would not be obeying the rules of etiquette if they departed from this custom, and if they transgressed would certainly be included among the common people, or be counted too serious and strict; after this they could not appear at the gay tea-table, and to be excluded from any one of these is a punishment greater than they are able or willing to bear. Ought these things to be so? Oh! it is an awful and overpowering reflection, but not more alarming than it is true, that for every sermon which you have not heard, you will have to account, if you had an opportunity to hear it, but thoughtlessly or wilfully allowed it to glide past unembraced and unimproved. If ye despise the services of the Church militant, how do you expect to join those of the Church triumphant? By an immutable law of our nature, our happiness does not consist so much in the objects that surround us, as in the harmony which subsists between these and our own dispositions and tastes. Now suppose you were this instant translated to the general assembly and church of the first-born, do you think you could find any satisfaction in the fellowship of the saints above, when it is uncultivated and even avoided below? (C. F.Buchan.)

Attendance on the House of God

What do you mean, you who say, If we do not go to church, we read good books--besides our Bible; and we are not guilty like some, of traversing the fields, and setting a bad example to others? This will not stand examination. What would you think of a steward who, instead of assigning to each of the servants under him his work and his wages, should say, I do not indeed do this, but I read my masters letters, and carefully peruse his instructions? To what purpose, when you do not fulfil the design of the letter and instructions he sends? You read good authors, but to what purpose, since these very authors will be called to witness against you, that you did not attend to what they said in reference to the very first of duties--that of publicly calling upon God and hearing His Word? Oh think here again of precious opportunities neglected, past, never to be recalled! I went in by mistake, one Sabbath-day, to the house, not of the invalid I intended to visit, but of one in health. The inmates had not been in church; the mother was in the attitude of leaning half asleep upon a table, and another person, a stranger, slumbering by the fire; I asked the cause of absence from the house of God. The reply was, with sharpness of tone, One cannot be always hearing preaching. No! said I, you will not always have it in your power; we had need to improve the day of visitation; now is the time accepted. A short time elapsed, when the individual who made the remark above expressed, sickened, and in a few hours expired! Various are the excuses for absence; one has not a seat he wished to have had; another wants some article of clothing; another thinks he or she got cold the last time of being in church; another says he intends coming again by and by, and you will be sure to see me now and then at the church, for he at least has no idea of never coming more. Are your reasons of absenting frequently from church such as will appear satisfying to you on a death-bed? I once visited a man who had frequently defended the irregularity of his attendance at the house of God, on the ground particularly, that being somewhat skilful in treating the diseases of cattle, he was often sent for when he was on his way to church. This might have happened now and then, but as a defence of frequent absence was not tenable. I saw him when on his dying, bed, and he then, with grief, acknowledged that he urged an apology which was very insufficient, and Oh! said he, that I had it in my power to come and hear the Word of God; I did not go when I might and ought to have gone, and now gladly would I go, but am not able. What would I give to hear another sermon! (William Burns.)

The public worship of God:

There are many persons who, while they acknowledge themselves to be Christians, yet depreciate the public worship of God. The reasons assigned for this line of conduct are various. I shall mention some of those which I have actually heard urged. The labouring man says, It may do very well for you rich people to go to church twice, but it is needful for a poor man to have some rest on the Sabbath. The rich man considers church-going habits as of great importance for the working classes, but he thinks such strictness unnecessary in his own station. One individual says that he can very well learn his duty in half an hour of a forenoon. Another, still supposing that to learn our duty is the only purpose of attending church, observes, We hear more than we practise. A third, partly looking around him on the conduct of others, and partly judging by the state of his own mind, says that those who go to church twice a day are not better than their neighbours. A young man, possessing a highly intellectual mind, and ardent in the pursuit of knowledge, complains that at church he hears nothing new, nothing which he cannot learn as well from books, and therefore, while he goes once a day to please his parents or friends, he spends the rest of the day among his books. One who goes to church, perhaps merely from habit, without ever thinking of the principles on which habit should be based, says that his ideas of Gods power and goodness are much better excited by a walk among the objects of nature than by sitting in the close and unwholesome atmosphere of a church. Another individual of a speculating mind, quite absorbed in the pursuit of science, when in church finds that his attention is not arrested by the preacher, that his thoughts are unconsciously roaming among his favourite studies, and under the guise of avoiding this sin, which he thinks he cannot otherwise help, he forsakes the public worship of God, and makes his occupations entirely worldly. The example of our blessed Saviour I have heard stated as a reason why medical philanthropists should neglect or but rarely attend on the public exercises of religion; and to have been visiting the sick is considered an unanswerable excuse for absence from church. Lastly, it has been gravely alleged that there is no commandment in Scripture for going to church twice a day. To notice this last argument, in the first place, I at once acknowledge that there is no commandment for going twice to church; but it must be recollected that neither is there any commandment for going once. The Bible does not contain a code of minute rules, but a series of principles which are much better fitted for our guidance, and which we ourselves are to apply to even the smallest concerns of life. The man who has the fear of God in his heart, and who is constrained by the love of Christ, will need no specific commandment as to worshipping God in public as well as in private, on the Sabbath as well as on other days. It is urged, however, that God may be worshipped in any place; and a great deal is said about the suitableness of the God of universal nature being adored amidst His works of rural scenery. This is just. Those whom the providence of God plainly excludes from the sanctuary may enjoy His presence with them in the several places of their seclusion, and will find the want of public ordinances fully compensated by that gracious presence. But it is to be doubted whether the man who purposely takes a rural walk in preference to the sere-ice of the church, who makes Sunday the day for doing all the odd pieces of work which have been left over from the week--it is much to be doubted whether he can rationally expect the blessing of God on his soul. He is a God of order; He has blessed the Sabbath, and sanctified it specially for His worship; and the wilful forsakers of His ordinance have no right to expect His blessing on their voluntary substitutes for His appointed sacrifice. Christianity is a religion of mercy, and I would not for a moment depreciate or discourage the services paid to the sick on Sunday. But we must recollect, that our Lord never neglected the public worship of the temple or synagogue, and that His cures on the Sabbath were usually performed on those who had come to attend that worship. In the commencement of my professional life, while honestly desirous of regularly attending church, I yet satisfied myself that this was beyond my power, and considered it a subject of regret that my duty called me away from the house of God. I continued in this belief for a considerable time, till meeting with the life of Mr. Hey of Leeds, a name in the first rank as a surgical authority, I found it stated that he rarely missed attending the morning and afternoon service of the Church. This impressed my mind much, and I argued with myself that if he, with his extensive practice, could accomplish this, it must be still more easy for a young man with a limited practice. I resolved, at least, to attempt it; and by a better arrangement of my time, by paying many visits on Saturday, and by leaving only the necessary ones for Sabbath, I generally found myself at liberty to attend divine service both forenoon and afternoon. (Win. Brown, M. D.)

Weather or no

When Theodore Hook, the celebrated humorist, arrived at a friends late for dinner, the host supposed that the weather had deterred him. Oh, replied Hook, I had determined to come, weather or no. Be this the resolve of all who have no valid excuse, I am determined regularly and punctually to attend the sanctuary, weather or no! (Sword and Trowel.)

Christian fellowship:

You and I know that it is one of the sweetest things outside of heaven to talk to one another, and to exchange notes of our experience. As nations are enriched by commerce, so are Christians enriched by communion. As we exchange commodities in trade, so do we exchange our different forms of knowledge while we speak to one another of the things of the kingdom. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Working mens objections to public worship

A meeting of working men was convened in Camden Town, in order to learn why they as a class were conspicuous by their absence from public worship. The followins were twenty of the reasons assigned. No.

1. I like to walk out on Sundays to see the works of the Creator.

2. The church is hot and close, and I like to get into the fresh air.

3. The world is Gods house; I can worship God anywhere.

4. Whats the use of going to listen to a man reading a discourse? I could do that as well as him.

5. I can read and pray at home quite as well as at church.

6. I work hard all the week; Sunday is the only day I can be with my family.

7. Sunday is the only day Ive got to attend to my garden.

8. I mend my childrens shoes on Sundays.

9. I go to see my daughter who is in service on Sundays.

10. The sermons are dull and the ministers want talent.

11. On Sunday mornings I attend to my private business, in the afternoons and evenings I rest.

12. I want to read the newspaper on Sundays.

13. I wouldnt go to be a hypocrite.

14. If I go I cannot have my pipe, which I enjoy after a weeks work.

15. My dress is not good enough to go in.

16. They preach, but very few of them practise.

17. When Ive got the will to go, Ill go.

18. Going to church wont carry me to heaven.

19. Its all done to frighten the people and to keep them down.

20. I had enough of religion and imprisonment at the Sunday school. (The Christian.)

Wanted

A patent umbrella, warranted to turn a Sunday rain, and protect the owner from a Sunday sun. The ordinary umbrellas are ample for all the other days of the week; but then you know that Sunday rains and Sunday sunshine are much more trying. Such an invention might swell the attendance at many of our churches on rainy and hot Sabbaths, and might bring out the very people who most need to renew their strength. (Anon.)

The perils of religious isolation

The sun is necessary to health. Important changes take place in the constitution of the blood in consequence of the cutaneous vessels on the surface of the body not being freely exposed to its oxygenating and life generating influence. It is a well-established fact that, as the effect of isolation from the stimulus of light, the fibrine, albumen, and red blood-cells become diminished in quantity, and the serum or watery portion of the vital fluid augmented in volume, thus inducing a disease known to physicians and pathologists by the name of leukaemia, an affection in which white instead of red blood-cells are developed. This exclusion from the sun produces the sickly, flabby, pale anaemic condition of the face, or exsanguined, ghost-like forms so often seen among those not freely exposed to air and light. The absence of these essential elements of health deteriorates by materially altering the physical composition of the blood, thus seriously prostrating the vital strength, enfeebling the nervous energy, and ultimately inducing organic changes in the structure of the heart, brain, and muscular tissue. Now that which the sun is to the body, friendship is to the soul. Wherever you find a nature withdrawn from the genial influences of friendship you will observe traces of abnormal weakness and melancholy. In the shadow of solitude man loses the ruddy glow of joyousness, and a gloomy misanthropy and sometimes mental decrepitude are apt to derange all his affections. True friendship is the sun of the soul. It stimulates, strengthens, and gladdens our whole being. (Scientific Illustrations and Symbols.)

Worship no waste:

Religious duties may be likened to the food and drink which are given to the reaper during his labours under the summers sun; it is evident in a mathematical point of view, that he must lose a little time in eating his dinner, drinking, and taking a few moments rest. Yet who would call that wasted time? (Mons. Landriot.)

The social genius of Christianity:

Communion is strength, solitude is weakness. Alone, the fine old beech yields to the blast, and lies prone upon the sward; in the forest, supporting each other, the trees laugh at the hurricane. The sheep of Jesus flock together; the social element is the genius of Christianity. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Absence from week-night services:

Prayer-meeting and lecture as usual on Wednesday evening in the lecture-room. Dear brethren, I urge you all to attend the weekly meetings. Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together. Some of the dear brethren deported themselves in this way: Brother A. thought it looked like rain, and concluded that his family, including himself of course, had better remain at home. On Thursday evening it was raining very hard, and the same brother hired a carriage, and took his whole family to the Academy of Music, to hear M. Agassiz lecture on the Intelligence of the Lobster. Brother B. thought he was too tired to go, so he stayed at home and worked at the sledge he had promised to make for Billy. Sister C. thought the pavements were too slippery. It would be very dangerous for her to venture out. I saw her next morning, going down street to get her old bonnet done up. She had an old pair of stockings drawn over her shoes. Three-fourths of the members stayed at home. God was at the prayer-meeting. The pastor was there, and God blessed them. The persons who stayed at home were each represented by a vacant seat. God dont bless empty seats. (United Presbyterian.)

Influences which ought to radiate from the sanctuary:

Ruskin discovered a very ancient inscription on the church of St. Giacomo di Rialto, Venice, which reads, Around this temple let the merchants law be just, his weights be true, and his covenants faithful--a beautiful epitome of the influences which ought to radiate from the sanctuary, to elevate and purify the world around. He says of the discovery, it is the pride of my life.

Public worship--a reminder

A clergyman relates the following:--Several little girls were in my study, seeking counsel to aid them in becoming Christians. One of them, a dear child, not much more than eleven years old, said, I have not been to two or three of the meetings lately. Desiring to test her, I answered, It does not make us Christians to attend meetings, Lizzie. I know that, she replied at once; but it keeps it in my mind.

Absence from worship:

One Sunday morning a lady, stepping into a hackney-coach in order to ride to a place of worship, asked the driver if he ever went to church. She received the following reply: No, madam; I am so occupied in taking others there, that I cannot possibly get time to go myself!

One benefit of regular churchgoing:

A devoutly pious man, who lived some six miles from the house of worship, once complained to his pastor of the distance he had to go to attend public worship. Never mind, said the good minister, remember that every Sabbath you have the privilege of preaching a sermon six miles long--you preach the gospel to all the residents and people you pass.

A blessing attends public worship:

One winter day, a gentleman riding on horseback along a Kentucky road met an old coloured slave plodding on through the deep snow to the house of God, which was four miles from his home. Why, uncle, cried the gentleman, you ought not to venture out such a distance on such a day! Why in the world dont you stay at home? … Ah, massa, was the answer, I darnt do dat! Cause, you see, I dunno when de blessing twine to come. An spose it ud come dis snowy mornin, and I away? Oh, no! dat ud nebber do. Would Gods service ever be dis-honoured by empty houses of worship were all Christians possessed of such faith?

Exhorting one another

Exhorting one another:

Amongst the social and friendly duties which seem to be recommended, is the duty of exhortation. Exhort one another. To what? To good works, without question; to everything that a Christian ought to do. Much of the same nature is the precept, Admonish one another, and warn one another. Exhortation ought to proceed from brotherly love, else it would be faulty in its motives, and unsuccessful in its attempts; and because it often is so, this has given rise to two splenetic observations, made by those who view human nature in the worst light. First, that every man is liberal of advice; secondly, that no man is the better for it. If a person exhort another, purely because he is a friend, and desire his welfare, the very manner will show the man; for love has an air which is not easily counterfeited; he will temper his advice with discretion and humility; he will add whatsoever is necessary to recommend it; and if a person be persuaded that he who gives him his advice would also give him anything else that he could reasonably desire, he is not a little disposed to attend to it. Exhortation comes most properly from superiors and from equals. It is part of the duty of rulers to subjects, parents to children, masters to servants, the elder to the younger, and friends to friends, since friendship always finds or makes a certain parity. It cannot be convenient or decent that every man, upon every occasion, should exhort every man; but every person has his inferiors, or his equals, and towards them he is to exercise this office upon all inviting opportunities. Besides, there is a sort of indirect exhortation, if I may so call it, to virtue and to goodness, which every Christian ought to exercise, even towards his superiors; and that is, to speak well of all those who deserve well of him; to praise good things and good persons; to which I shall not add, that he has the same call to blame those who are deficient, and who want either the capacity or the will of acting suitably to their office and rank; because censure is often as nearly related to censoriousness in reality as it is in sound, and is not a weapon rifler every hand to wield. But here, likewise, there is an indirect censure, as well as an indirect exhortation; and surely every one may assume the honest freedom to pass by in neglect and silence those who deserve reproach and disgrace. The office of exhortation is, in a more particular manner, incumbent upon us who are the ministers of the gospel; and we are expressly required to exhort, warn, admonish, incite, and reprove, with humble authority, and modest resolution, and meek integrity, and prudent zeal. There are particular seasons and occasions for particular exhortations: as when a person is advanced to any high station in the Christian republic; it is then expedient that he should be admonished to beware of himself, and to remember what God and men expect from him; and every one who deserves such a station will take it kindly to be thus reminded of his duty. (J. Jortin, D. D.)

So much the more as ye see the day approaching

The growing urgency of religion:

I. THE NECESSITY OF RELIGION INCREASES AS THE DAY APPROACHES.

1. Duties become more numerous and complicated as you advance in life, and you need religion to enable you to discharge them.

2. Circumstances will become more and more trying as you advance, and you will need religion to enable you rightly to bear them.

II. THE OBLIGATIONS TO RELIGION INCREASE AS THE DAY APPROACHES. Sinner, each drop in the rich showers of mercy that are rained upon thee every moment has a voice, and that voice says, with imperial emphasis, Yield yourself to God.

III. THE OBSTRUCTIONS TO A RELIGIOUS LIFE INCREASE AS THE DAY APPROACHES.

1. Your insensibility increases.

2. Your indisposition increases.

3. Your incapacity increases. (Homilist.)

The day approaching

A note of time is struck here, and the context shows that the apostle makes use of this note as a stimulus to Christian earnestness in every department of the Christian life. The expression day is a very common one in the Bible. It is used, as other words are, in various senses. It is used to signify the natural day of four-and-twenty hours; it is used to signify the artificial day, the rising and the setting of the sun, which varies at different times and seasons, because of the obliquity of the sphere; it is used to signify the civil day, which varies in the manner of counting according to the habits of the various nations of the world. But the expression day is used in Scripture in a less direct manner than this, to signify an indefinite period of time. It is used to express the forty years during which the Jews were in the wilderness, called the day of temptation, that is, the period of temptation. And in this larger sense we read in Scripture of a day of grace, a day of vengeance, a day of death, a day of judgment. Let us consider these.

I. The apostle did not say to the Hebrews that their DAY Or GRACE WAS APPROACHING, nor can I say so to you. Their day of grace had come, and so has yours. Your day of grace did not approach with this new year; you had it last year, you have had it all your years, you have it still--it has followed you into this new year. Now is the accepted time, now is the clay of salvation. The gospel sun has risen upon you in all its light, in all its warmth, in all its privileges, in all its responsibilities. But there is a setting of the gospel sun as well as a rising. Of this the Hebrews are warned. The gospel is not always left in the same country, nor in the same part of the country; not always in the same town, nor in the same congregation in a town. Now, avail yourselves of these opportunities while you have them, and tell your neighbours to do the same. You are not all doing this as you ought.

II. But, then, secondly, in many places and in many persons, where a day of grace was long enjoyed, there has also succeeded a DAY OF VENGEANCE. God is not mocked; whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap; and the reaping is often in this world as well as the sowing. The retribution is not always kept for eternity; there is retribution in time. Opportunities are put an end to; domestic circumstances occur, withdrawing men from means of grace, from the gospel; distances are enlarged, and prosperity is diminished; expenses cannot be incurred, and opportunities cannot be enjoyed, as before. There is a solemn calamity.

Domestic judgments fall also upon families; I say not in anger, because of means abused, but as a matter of fact, whatever the motive may be in Him who brings them. Without presuming to scan His reasons, we are commanded to observe His doings; and these things He does. He brings, in various ways, domestic and relative and personal judgments, which cut short, or greatly diminish, the opportunities of grace. Now in other ways days of vengeance, putting an end to days of grace, are brought upon men, as in national calamities. A day is approaching which may shake every throne and every established church in Christendom. And what then? What should Christians be prepared for? We should all be prepared for storms. How do we prepare for natural storms? Why, we build a strong house and have it fortified against the tempest. We take care that the doors and windows are made capable of resisting the impetuosity of the gale. We seek a hiding-place from the tempest; and in a climate like this we should be considered mad if, with the means of having a house over our heads, we were to wait until the storm came to get a house. We prepare the house for the storm, and we prepare it with the more earnestness because we see the storm approaching. What is to be done here, then, as ye see a day approaching when your means of grace may be removed--a day when even our own favoured country, hitherto comparatively quiet, may be disturbed. Is there, then, no possibility of a day approaching? And where should Christians be found? We have a new and living way of access to God; we have a High Priest over the house of God. We should hold fast our profession, for He is faithful that promised. And we should consider one another, have a friendly eye to things around, consider where failures are, kindly, but firmly, point them out, to provoke unto love and to good works, and this the more as ye see the day approaching.

III. Though no such day as I have imagined should approach our favoured nation within our time, yet is there another day approaching which calls for preparation--a day which no power can ward off, no riches bribe. It may come suddenly to many of us; to all it is approaching with gradual, but determined and decisive step. It is giving notes of warning as it comes in many of us. WE HAVE THE SENTENCE OF DEATH IN OURSELVES. It was Dr. Watts who said to a friend that came to see him on his death-bed, You come now to see an old friend; we have talked on many subjects of learning, and criticism, and controversy; now none of these things suit me; I must now take that view of the gospel which the poorest Christian in the town can take as well as I. And so he died, in simple reliance on Jesus. See, then, my brethren, that you realise this reliance, so much the more as ye see the day approaching.

IV. WE MUST ALL APPEAR BEFORE THE JUDGMENT-SEAT OF CHRIST. Every one of you must give account of himself to God, where there will be no possibility of concealment, no doubtful examination of witnesses, no hesitation about facts, no cross-examination to ascertain what the facts were, but where all will be transparent to the Judge--all that we have done in the flesh, whether it were good, or whether it were bad. How shall we be ready for the day which is thus approaching? The answer is as before: no man shall stand in that judgment but the man who is in Christ Jesus. This is the only preparation for the judgment--the day of the judgment of God. (H. McNeile. D. D.)

The day approaching

I. NOTICE THE DAY APPROACHING.

1. The day of providential trial, when the judgments of God will fall on the wicked, and the Church of Christ will have to pass through the fires and floods of persecution.

2. Then the day of death is approaching--approaching us all, and perhaps is much nearer to us than we generally suppose. We see it approaching in every grey hair on the head, in every attack of disease, in every puncture of pain, in every token of decay, in every symbol of mourning, in every funeral procession, and in every open grave.

3. And the day of general judgment is approaching. Oh what separations, what disclosures of character, what wrecks of false hopes, what shrieks of despair, what bursts of joy, what strange transitions, will then be seen and heard!

II. THE INFLUENCE WHICH THE DAY APPROACHING SHOULD HAVE UPON OUR PRESENT CHARACTER AND CONDUCT.

1. Be diligent and earnest in seeking your own personal salvation, and so much the more as ye see the day approaching.

2. Then, next to this, be diligent and earnest in the discharge of all Christian duties, and the improvement of all your Christian privileges, and so much the more as ye see the day approaching.

(1) The first is, to live near to God, in a new spiritual state of regeneration and grace, in covenant union, in a holy walk and conversation, in child-like obedience, in fervent love, and in ardent desire: Let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith.

(2) The second is, steadfastness in our religious views and professions, amidst all trials and temptations: Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering.

(3) The third is, mutual affection, influence, and co-operation: Let us consider one another, to provoke unto love and to good works.

(4) The fourth is, a careful observance of the appointed seasons of conversation and worship: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is.

3. Then you should be diligent and earnest in a cultivation of a spirit of weanedness from the present world, and of attachment to heaven and heavenly things, and so much the more as ye see the day approaching. When that day comes, what a poor insignificant thing will this world appear! How low and brief its pleasures! How vanishing its wealth and honours! How dim and fading its brightest glories! How infinitely below the capacities and wants of an immortal mind! (Wm. Gregory.)

The day approaching:

Time is like a ship which never anchors; while I am on board I had better do those things that may profit me at my landing, than practise such as shall cause my commitment when I come ashore. (O. Feltham.)

The hour-glass in the hand:

There was an ancient custom of putting an hour-glass into the coffin of the dead, to signify that their time had run out--a useless notification to them. Better put the hour-glass into the hand ofevery living man, and show them the grains gliding steadily out. Soon all will be gone. (New Cyclopedia of Illustrations.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10:25 Some in this Christian community had evidently begun to neglect their meeting together in regular worship, perhaps to avoid persecution (10:32-39). • Our motivating one another to love and good works should be done in light of the day of his return, Christ’s second coming (9:28; Luke 12:42-46; 1 Cor 5:5; 1 Thes 5:2; 2 Pet 3:10; 1 Jn 2:28).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Heb 10:25. Τὴν ἐπισυναγωγὴν ἑαυτῶν, the assembling of ourselves together) The modern Greek version interprets ἐπισυναγωγὴν, συχνοσὑναξιν; but the apostle alludes to the Jewish synagogue, while the preposition, ἐπὶ, somewhat changes the signification of the word. The meaning is: you ought not only to frequent the synagogue (synagogam) as Jews, which you willingly do, but also the additional assembly (episynagogam) as Christians: and yet we are not to understand this expression as if it exclusively applied to assembling in one place, or to associating for promoting one faith; but it should be taken in a middle sense, as the mutual meeting together in love, and as the public and private interchange of Christian duties, in which brother does not withdraw himself from brother, but one stimulates the other, and is stimulated by the other. For even spiritual warmth and ardour separate things that are heterogeneous, and bring together those that are homogeneous. This interpretation affords all that seems necessary for the order of the discourse, in which, next to faith towards GOD, love to the saints is commended; and all that is necessary for explaining the verbal substantive ἐπισυναγωνὴν, and the fact that it is in the singular number; and for explaining the pronoun, which is ἑαυτῶν, of ourselves, not our; and for explaining the complaint, as the manner of some is; and for explaining the antithesis, exhorting.—τισὶν, some) who were perhaps afraid of the Jews.—παρακαλοῦντες, exhorting) The power of exhorting, which is required, includes the peculiar ardour of every individual.—καὶ τοσούτῳ μᾶλλον, and so much the more) This refers to the whole exhortation from Heb 10:22: comp. Heb 10:37.—βλέπετε, ye see) from the signs of the times, and from the very sacrifice for sin having been perfected: Heb 10:13.—τὴν ἡμέραν, the day) the day of Christ. After Christ had come in the flesh, who was the object of expectation during so many ages of the world, His glorious coming is thought to be now immediately at hand; comp. Heb 10:27; Heb 10:30; Heb 10:35, etc.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Heb_10:25. Μὴ ἐγκαταλείποντες τὴν ἐπισυναγωγὴν ἑαυτῶν, καθὼς ἔθος τισίν] while not forsaking (ceasing to frequent), as is the custom with some, our own assembly, and thereby, in connection with the already prevalent tendency to apostasy from Christianity, setting a pernicious example.

τὴν ἐπισυναγωγὴν ἑαυτῶν] is taken by Calvin, Böhme, Bleek, and others as designation of the Christian congregation or Christian religious society itself. But in this case the only signification which could be attached without violence to ἐγκαταλείπειν would be that of apostasy from Christianity; to understand the expression, in that case, of the leaving to its fate of the Christian church, sunk in poverty, peril, and distress, by the refusal of acts of assistance (Böhme), or of the escape from the claims of the church to the cherishing and tending of its members, by the neglecting of the common religious assemblies (Bleek), would not be very natural. We are prevented, however, from thinking of an actual apostasy from Christianity by the addition καθὼς ἔθος τισίν, according to which the ἐγκαταλείπειν was an oft-recurring act on the part of the same persons. τὴν ἐπισυναγωγὴν ἑαυτῶν, therefore, is best explained as: the assembling of ourselves, in order to be united together (comp. 2Th_2:1), i.e. our own religious assemblies.

ἑαυτῶν] has great emphasis; for otherwise the simple ἡμῶν would have been written. It has its tacit opposition in the alien, i.e. Jewish religious assemblies, and contains the indication that the τινές gave the preference to the frequenting of the latter.

ἀλλὰ παρακαλοῦντες] sc. ἑαυτούς (comp. Heb_3:13) or ἀλλήλους, which is easily supplemented from the foregoing ἑαυτῶν: but animating one another, namely, to the uninterrupted frequenting of our own Christian assemblies. Quite unsuitably, Hofmann (Schriftbew. II. 2, 2 Aufl. p. 379) would supply in thought to παρακαλοῦντες, as its object: τὴν ἐπισυναγωγήν.

καὶ τοσούτῳ μᾶλλον ὅσῳ βλέπετε ἐγγίζουσαν τὴν ἡμέραν] and that so much the more, as ye see the day itself drawing nigh. Reinforcing ground of obligation to the παρακαλεῖν.

βλέπετε] The transition from the first to the second person plural augments the significance of that which has been remarked, since the author can appeal to the verdict of the readers themselves for the truth thereof.

The ἡμέρα is the day κατʼ ἐξοχήν, the day of the coming in of the Parousia of Christ, which the author thinks of as quite near at hand (comp. Heb_10:37), and which the readers themselves already saw drawing nigh in the agitations and commotions which preceded the Jewish war, such as had already begun to appear.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Having mentioned the last coming of Christ, he stirreth up the godly to the meditation of an holy life, and cites the faithless fallers from God, to the fearful judgment seat of the judge, because they wickedly rejected him in whom only salvation consisteth.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

assembling of ourselves together--The Greek, "episunagoge," is only found here and Th2 2:1 (the gathering together of the elect to Christ at His coming, Mat 24:31). The assembling or gathering of ourselves for Christian communion in private and public, is an earnest of our being gathered together to Him at His appearing. Union is strength; continual assemblings together beget and foster love, and give good opportunities for "provoking to good works," by "exhorting one another" (Heb 3:13). IGNATIUS says, "When ye frequently, and in numbers meet together, the powers of Satan are overthrown, and his mischief is neutralized by your likemindedness in the faith." To neglect such assemblings together might end in apostasy at last. He avoids the Greek term "sunagoge," as suggesting the Jewish synagogue meetings (compare Rev 2:9).

as the manner of some is--"manner," that is, habit, custom. This gentle expression proves he is not here as yet speaking of apostasy.

the day approaching--This, the shortest designation of the day of the Lord's coming, occurs elsewhere only in Co1 3:13; a confirmation of the Pauline authorship of this Epistle. The Church being in all ages kept uncertain how soon Christ is coming, the day is, and has been, in each age, practically always near; whence, believers have been called on always to be watching for it as nigh at hand. The Hebrews were now living close upon One of those great types and foretastes of it, the destruction of Jerusalem (Mat 24:1-2), "the bloody and fiery dawn of the great day; that day is the day of days, the ending day of all days, the settling day of all days, the day of the promotion of time into eternity, the day which, for the Church, breaks through and breaks off the night of the present world" [DELITZSCH in ALFORD].

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 25. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves] επισυναγωγην εαυτων. Whether this means public or private worship is hard to say; but as the word is but once more used in the New Testament, (2Th 2:1,) and there means the gathering together of the redeemed of the Lord at the day of judgment, it is as likely that it means here private religious meetings, for the purpose of mutual exhortation: and this sense appears the more natural here, because it is evident that the Church was now in a state of persecution, and therefore their meetings were most probably held in private. For fear of persecution, it seems as if some had deserted these meetings, καθως εθος τισιν, as the custom of certain persons is. They had given up these strengthening and instructive means, and the others were in danger of following their example.

The day approaching.] Την ἡμεραν. That day-the time in which God would come and pour out his judgments on the Jewish nation. We may also apply it to the day of death and the day of judgment. Both of these are approaching to every human being. He who wishes to be found ready will carefully use every means of grace, and particularly the communion of saints, if there be even but two or three in the place where he lives, who statedly meet together in the name of Christ. Those who relinquish Christian communion are in a backsliding state; those who backslide are in danger of apostasy. To prevent this latter, the apostle speaks the awful words following. See at the end of this chapter. See "Heb 10:39"

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

25. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, etc. This confirms the view that has been given. The composition of the Greek word ought to be noticed; for ἐπὶsignifies an addition; then ἐπισυναγωγὴ, assembling together, means a congregation increased by additions. The wall of partition having been pulled down, God was then gathering those as his children who had been aliens from the Church; so the Gentiles were a new and unwonted addition to the Church. This the Jews regarded as a reproach to them, so that many made a secession from the Church, thinking that such a mixture afforded them a just excuse; nor could they be easily induced to surrender their own right; and further, they considered the right of adoption as peculiar, and as belonging exclusively to themselves. The Apostle, therefore, warns them, lest this equality should provoke them to forsake the Church; and that he might not seem to warn them for no reason, he mentions that this neglect was common to many.

We now understand the design of the apostle, and what was the necessity that constrained him to give this exhortation. We may at the same time gather from this passage a general doctrine:

It is an evil which prevails everywhere among mankind, that every one sets himself above others, and especially that those who seem in anything to excel cannot well endure their inferiors to be on an equality with themselves. And then there is so much morosity almost in all, that individuals would gladly make churches for themselves if they could; for they find it so difficult to accommodate themselves to the ways and habits of others. The rich envy one another; and hardly one in a hundred can be found among the rich, who allows to the poor the name and rank of brethren. Unless similarity of habits or some allurements or advantages draw us together, it is very difficult even to maintain a continual concord among ourselves. Extremely needed, therefore, by us all is the admonition to be stimulated to love and not to envy, and not to separate from those whom God has joined to us, but to embrace with brotherly kindness all those who are united to us in faith. And surely it behoves us the more earnestly to cultivate unity, as the more eagerly watchful Satan is, either to tear us by any means from the Church, or stealthily to seduce us from it. And such would be the happy effect, were no one to please himself too much, and were all of us to preserve this one object, mutually to provoke one another to love, and to allow no emulation among ourselves, but that of doing “good works”. For doubtless the contempt of the brethren, moroseness, envy, immoderate estimate of ourselves, and other sinful impulses, clearly show that our love is either very cold, or does not at all exist.

Having said, “Not forsaking the assembling together,” he adds, But exhorting one another; by which he intimates that all the godly ought by all means possible to exert themselves in the work of gathering together the Church on every side; for we are called by the Lord on this condition, that every one should afterwards strive to lead others to the truth, to restore the wandering to the right way, to extend a helping hand to the fallen, to win over those who are without. But if we ought to bestow so much labor on those who are yet aliens to the flock of Christ, how much more diligence is required in exhorting the brethren whom God has already joined to us?

As the manner of some is, etc. It hence appears that the origin of all schisms was, that proud men, despising others, pleased themselves too much. But when we hear that there were faithless men even in the age of the Apostles, who departed from the Church, we ought to be less shocked and disturbed by similar instances of defection which we may see in the present day. It is indeed no light offense when men who had given some evidence of piety and professed the same faith with us, fall away from the living God; but as it is no new thing, we ought, as I have already said, to be less disturbed by such an event. But the Apostle introduced this clause to show that he did not speak without a cause, but in order to apply a remedy to a disease that was making progress.

And so much the more, etc. Some think this passage to be of the same import with that of Paul,

“It is time to awake out of sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.” (Romans 13:11.)

But I rather think that reference is here made to the last coming of Christ, the expectation of which ought especially to rouse us to the practice of a holy life as well as to careful and diligent efforts in the work of gathering together the Church. For to what end did Christ come except to collect us all into one body from that dispersion in which we are now wandering? Therefore, the nearer his coming is, the more we ought to labor that the scattered may be assembled and united together, that there may be one fold and one shepherd (John 10:16.)

Were any one to ask, how could the Apostle say that those who were as yet afar off from the manifestation of Christ, saw the day near and just at hand? I would answer, that from the beginning of the kingdom of Christ the Church was so constituted that the faithful ought to have considered the Judge as coming soon; nor were they indeed deceived by a false notion, when they were prepared to receive Christ almost every moment; for such was the condition of the Church from the time the Gospel was promulgated, that the whole of that period might truly and properly be called the last. They then who have been dead many ages ago lived in the last days no less than we. Laughed at is our simplicity in this respect by the worldly-wise and scoffers, who deem as fabulous all that we believe respecting the resurrection of the flesh and the last judgment; but that our faith may not fail through their mockery, the Holy Spirit reminds us that a thousand years are before God as one day, (2 Peter 3:8;) so that whenever we think of the eternity of the celestial kingdom no time ought to appear long to us. And further, since Christ, after having completed all things necessary for our salvation, has ascended into heaven, it is but reasonable that we who are continually looking for his second manifestation should regard every day as though it were the last.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(25) As the manner of some is.—Some members of this community, it would seem, had persuaded themselves that the relation of Judaism to Christianity, of the “synagogue” (the Greek word here used seems to allude to this technical name, and yet intentionally to avoid it) and the Church, was such as to permit them to avoid close intercourse with Christians and direct association with Christian assemblies. This neglect was the first step towards apostasy.

Exhorting.—Better, encouraging. (Comp. Heb_12:12.)

The day.—See 1Co_3:13—“the day shall declare” every man’s work. Elsewhere we read of “the day of the Lord” (1Th_5:2); “the day of Christ” (Php_1:10). The words of Jesus to His disciples (Matthew 24; Luke 17) had enabled all who were willing to hear to understand “the signs of the times.” As the writer gave these warnings, the day when the Son of Man should come in His kingdom, bringing judgment upon Jerusalem (Mat_16:28), was close at hand—that day which is distinctly presented to us in the New Testament as the type of His final coming.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

25. the assembling of ourselves together] i.e. “our Christian gatherings.” Apparently the flagging zeal and waning faith of the Hebrews had led some of them to neglect the Christian assemblies for worship and Holy Communion (Act_2:42). The word here used (episunagôgç) only occurs in 2Th_2:1, and is perhaps chosen to avoid the Jewish word “synagogue;” and the more so because the duty of attending “the synagogue” was insisted on by Jewish teachers. In the neglect of public worship the writer saw the dangerous germ of apostasy.

as the manner of some is] This neglect of attending the Christian gatherings may have been due in some cases to fear of the Jews. It shewed a fatal tendency to waver in the direction of apostasy.

exhorting one another] This implies the duty of mutual encouragement.

ye see the day approaching] The Day which Christians expected was the Last Day (1Co_3:13). They failed to see that the Day which our Lord had primarily in view in His great eschatological discourse (Matthew 24) was the Close of the Old Dispensation in the Fall of Jerusalem. The signs of this were already in the air, and that approaching Day of the Lord was destined to be “the bloody and fiery dawn” of the Last Great Day—“the Day of days, the Ending-day of all days, the Settling-day of all days, the Day of the promotion of Time into Eternity, the Day which for the Church breaks through and breaks off the night of this present world” (Delitzsch).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But a certain fearful looking for of judgment,.... Either of some outward visible judgment in this life, which sometimes falls on such persons; or of the particular judgment which immediately follows after death; or of the universal judgment, after the resurrection, and the dreadful sentence of condemnation which will then pass, and be immediately executed; and which will be done by Christ, and according to truth, and in strict justice; it is certain, and there will be no escaping it, for it will be general. Now there is in this life an expectation in men of a future judgment, and in wicked men it is a fearful one; it is dreaded by them, and more especially in such men before described, when their consciences are awakened; it is a very dreadful one, inexpressibly so:

and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries; which is to be understood, not of the fire of purgatory, for this is after judgment, that is pretended to be before it; this devours, that only purges, according to the Papists; this is for adversaries, that, as is supposed, is for friends: but perhaps some fiery judgment, expressive of the wrath and indignation of God, such as befell Sodom and Gomorrah, the two sons of Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and the men that rose up with Korah against Moses and Aaron: or rather the fire of hell, which is not corporeal and material, but is the wrath of God let down into the conscience; which shows the vile nature of sin, the strictness of God's justice, and the intolerableness of future punishment: and this is said to "devour the adversaries"; not only open ones, but secret, underhanded enemies, as the word here signifies; as such apostates are, before described, to God, and Christ, and the Spirit; to the Gospel, its doctrine, discipline, and ordinances; and to the children of God, and to the power of godliness in them: and with the fire of God's wrath they shall be devoured; not so as to be annihilated, but shall be eternally destroyed, both soul and body; that is, everlastingly punished, or punished with everlasting destruction.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Ver. 25. Not forsaking] Schism is the very cutting asunder of the very veins and arteries of the mystical body of Christ. We may not separate, but in case of intolerable persecution, heresy, idolatry, and Antichristianism.

The assembling of ourselves together] επισυναγωγη, in Church assemblies and Christian meetings, as ever we look for comfort at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together (the same word as here) unto him, 2Th 2:1; the day whereof approacheth, as in this text. Christ will come shortly to see what work we make in this kind.

As the manner of some is] It was then, it was afterwards, and is still in these siding and separating times. The Donatists made a horrible schism for the life of Caecilian. So did various others for the pride and profaneness of Paulus Samosatenus. But never was there any schism so causeless and senseless as that of our modern sectaries.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together - That is, for purposes of public worship. Some expositors have understood the word rendered here as “assembling” - ἐπισυναγωγὴν episunagōgēn - as meaning “the society of Christians,” or the church; and they have supposed that the object of the apostle here is, to exhort them. not to apostatize from the church. The arguments for this opinion may be seen at length in Kuinoel, in loc. But the more obvious interpretation is what is commonly adopted, that it refers to public worship. The Greek word (the noun) is used nowhere else in the New Testament, except in 2Th 2:1, where it is rendered “gathering together.” The verb is used in Mat 23:37; Mat 24:31; Mar 1:33; Mar 13:27; Luk 12:1; Luk 13:34, in all which places it is rendered “gathered together.” It properly means an act of assembling, or a gathering together, and is nowhere used in the New Testament in the sense of an assembly, or the church. The command, then, here is, to meet together for the worship of God, and it is enjoined on Christians as an important duty to do it. It is implied, also, that there is blame or fault where this is “neglected.”

As the manner of some is - Why those here referred to neglected public worship, is not specified. It may have been from such causes as the following:

(1)Some may have been deterred by the fear of persecution, as those who were thus assembled would be more exposed to danger than others.

(2)Some may have neglected the duty because they felt no interest in it - as professing Christians now sometimes do.

(3)It is possible that some may have had doubts about the necessity and propriety of this duty, and on that account may have neglected it.

(4)Or it may perhaps have been, though we can hardly suppose that this reason existed, that some may have neglected it from a cause which now sometimes operates - from dissatisfaction with a preacher, or with some member or members of the church, or with some measure in the church.

Whatever were the reasons, the apostle says that they should not be allowed to operate, but that Christians should regard it as a sacred duty to meet together for the worship of God. None of the causes above suggested should deter people from this duty. With all who bear the Christian name, with all who expect to make advances in piety and religious knowledge, it should be regarded as a sacred duty to assemble together for public worship. Religion is social; and our graces are to be strengthened and invigorated by waiting together on the Lord. There is an obvious propriety that people should assemble together for the worship of the Most High, and no Christian can hope that his graces will grow, or that he can perform his duty to his Maker, without uniting thus with those who love the service of God.

But exhorting one another - That is, in your assembling together a direction which proves that it is proper for Christians to exhort one another when they are gathered together for public worship. Indeed there is reason to believe that the preaching in the early Christian assemblies partook much of the character of mutual exhortation.

And so much the more as ye see the day approaching - The term “day” here refers to some event which was certainly anticipated, and which was so well understood by them that no particular explanation was necessary. It was also some event that was expected soon to occur, and in relation to which there were indications then of its speedily arriving. If it had not been something which was expected soon to happen, the apostle would have gone into a more full explanation of it, and would have stated at length what these indications were. There has been some diversity of opinion about what is here referred to, many commentators supposing that the reference is to the anticipated second coming of the Lord Jesus to set up a visible kingdom on the earth; and others to the fact that the period was approaching when Jerusalem was to be destroyed, and when the services of the temple were to cease. So far as the language is concerned, the reference might be to either event, for the word a “day” is applied to both in the New Testament. The word would properly be understood as referring to an expected period when something remarkable was to happen which ought to have an important influence on their character and conduct. In support of the opinion that it refers to the approaching destruction of Jerusalem, and not to the coming of the Lord Jesus to set up a visible kingdom, we may adduce the following considerations:

(1) The term used - “day” - will as properly refer to that event as to any other. It is a word which would be likely to suggest the idea of distress, calamity, or judgment of some kind, for so it is often used in the Scriptures; comp Psa 27:13; 1Sa 26:10; Jer 30:7; Eze 21:5; notes Isa 2:12.

(2) Such a period was distinctly predicted by the Saviour, and the indications which would precede it were clearly pointed out; see Matt. 24. That event was then so near that the Saviour said that “that generation would not pass” until the prediction had been fulfilled; Mat 24:34.(3) The destruction of Jerusalem was an event of great importance to the Hebrews, and to the Hebrew Christians to whom this Epistle was directed, and it might be reasonable to suppose that the apostle Paul would refer to it.

(4) It is not improbable that at the time of writing this Epistle there were indications that that day was approaching. Those indications were of so marked a character that when the time approached they could not well be mistaken (see Mat 24:6-12, Mat 24:24, Mat 24:26), and it is probable that they had already begun to appear.

(5) There were no such indications that the Lord Jesus was about to appear to set up a visible kingdom. It was not a fact that that was about to occur, as the result has shown; nor is there any positive proof that the mass of Christians were expecting it, and no reason to believe that the apostle Paul had any such expectation; see 2Th 2:1-5.

(6) The expectation that the destruction of Jerusalem was referred to, and was about to occur, was just what might be expected to produce the effect on the minds of the Hebrew Christians which the apostle here refers to. It was to be a solemn and fearful event. It would be a remarkable manifestation of God. It would break up the civil and ecclesiastical polity of the nation, and would scatter them abroad. It would require all the exercise of their patience and faith in passing through these scenes. It might be expected to be a time when many would be tempted to apostatize, and it was proper, therefore, to exhort them to meet together, and to strengthen and encourage each other as they saw that that event was drawing near. The argument then would be this. The danger against which the apostle desired to guard those to whom he was writing was, that of apostasy from Christianity to Judaism. To preserve them from this, he urges the fact that the downfall of Judaism was near, and that every indication which they saw of its approach ought to be allowed to influence them, and to guard them from that danger.

It is for reasons such as these that I suppose the reference here is not to the “second advent” of the Redeemer, but to the approaching destruction of Jerusalem. At the same time, it is not improper to use this passage as an exhortation to Christians to fidelity when they shall see that the end of the world draws nigh, and when they shall perceive indications that the Lord Jesus is about to come. And so of death. We should be the more diligent when we see the indications that the great Messenger is about to come to summon us into the presence of our final Judge. And who does not know that he is approaching him with silent and steady footsteps, and that even now he may be very near? Who can fail to see in himself indications that the time approaches when he must lie down and die? Every pang that we suffer should remind us of this; and when the hair changes its hue, and time makes furrows in the cheek, and the limbs become feeble, we should regard them as premonitions that he is coming, and should be more diligent as we see that be is drawing near.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Not forsaking our assembly.[6] St. John Chrysostom understands the assemblies of Christians, where they met to celebrate the divine mysteries. Others expound it of not leaving the faith and communion of the Catholic Church by turning apostates: this is confirmed by the following words: for if we sin wilfully,...there is now left no sacrifice for sins. The Novatian heretics understood no pardon for sins after baptism. St. John Chrysostom and others understood no second baptism, wherewith to be cleansed in the same manner as before; but the most probable interpretation, and most agreeable to the text and doctrine of St. Paul, seems to be, that now remained no sacrifice for sins, i.e. no other sacrifice but that of Christ, which the apostate renouncing, by quitting and abandoning his faith, thereby cuts himself off from the very groundwork and foundation of salvation, as long as he continues in his apostacy. So that nothing remains for him but a dreadful expectation[7] of God’s just and severe judgments. (Witham)

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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Non deserentes collectionem nostram, Greek: me egkataleipontes ten episunagogen eauton, collectionem, congregationem.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Helps to the performance of both the former duties, to God and fellow Christians, with their respective motives, are laid down in the following part of the chapter. The first is couched in this verse; neither slighting in thought, nor vilifying in word, nor separating, nor leaving by dissociation.

Not forsaking: εγκαταλειποντες imports such a desertion, as leaves destitute in deep trouble or distress, when they should be helping.

The assembling of ourselves together: επισυναγωγην strictly notes an addition to this synagogue of the Jews; an accession of new members to the former church assembly, even the Gentiles, becoming Abraham’s seed by their conversion to, and confession of, the faith of Christ. This some of the Jews, from the self-conceit of their being the only people of God, disdained, and continued in a separation from them, and all communion with them. This the Spirit reproves, and adviseth not to leave the assembly thus augmented, lest in doing it they forsook God and Christ, as well as ordinances of worship and duties attending such church meetings, and promoting their salvation.

As the manner of some is; such desertion of those assemblies in the worshipping and serving of God, was the common custom among some of these Hebrews; a usual, frequent mode of them to do it; some idolizing their own nation; others, their own selves, thinking them holier than others, Gal 2:12-14; others, that valued honours, riches, and ease more than Christ or their souls; some for fear of persecution, as foretold, Luk 8:13,14, fulfilled, Gal 6:12.

But exhorting one another; παρακαλουντες supposeth assembling, in opposition to the former desertion, and the duty of the assembled; and signifieth, counselling, reproving, encouraging, and comforting one another, so as they might persevere in performing the duties for which they assembled, according to Christ’s mind and will; so as to strengthen each other’s hearts and hands in the faith, and in the other duties instanced in before.

And so much the more, as ye see the day approaching; they have so much the more reason to do it, and intend the work, as they did not conjecture, but certainly know, that the day of their own death, and particular account to be given of themselves to God; the day of God’s executing his judgments on Jerusalem, as Christ foretold, Mat 24:1-28, prophesied by Daniel before, Dan 9:26,27, when the temple should be burnt, the city destroyed, and the people dispersed through the world; or, the day of the general judgment, testified by the gospel to the world, Act 17:31; all these were every day nearer to them than other, and they believed them to approach; therefore ought they to be more exercised in denying evil and doing good, not forsaking church communion, but keeping close to Christ and his assemblies, that they might better stand together in that day.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

25. Assembling of yourselves together—This plainly refers to voluntary meetings of Christians for mutual Christian inspiration and encouragement. Assuming, as we here do, that Jerusalem is the city to whose Christian people this epistle was addressed, not long before the destruction by Titus, we catch a brief glimpse of the interior of city and Church. The Greek word here, επισυναγωγη, episynagogue, can hardly be other than a Christian synagogue, Note, Jas_2:2. The assemblies remind us of the early meetings of the pentecostal Church (Act_2:42-47) “from house to house,” for mutual aid in Christian life. The warm, central heart of the Church, now as then, maintains its collective vitality by frequent assembling together. But outside that central living heart is a number of loose hangers-on, whose manner is that of forsaking, through lukewarmness, negligence, or fear of persecution, or dread of popular contempt. They were once converted; were once themselves a part of the central live heart; but they have gradually receded to the outskirts of the Church, and are probable candidates for apostasy.

Exhorting—The efficient means in their assemblies for maintaining the Christian life. This expressive word blends the ideas of calling forth, admonishing, arousing, and consoling; and for each of these various strains there would be those in that day of trial whose case made demand.

The day—These words are addressed to that Jerusalem whose destruction Jesus so fully predicted in Matthew 24, 25, on which chapters see our notes. The word day is not here to be limited to a literal period of twenty-four hours.

Ye see… approaching—Lunemann, who belongs to the class of interpreters who maintain that the apostles held the second advent to be about to occur in their own day, says, that both writer and reader “beheld the advent as approaching in the Jewish war, indicated by disturbances and commotions which had already commenced.” How the indications of the Jewish war should imply the second advent to be approaching, he does not explain. They did indicate, as Christ predicted, the downfall of Jerusalem; but the incorrectness of assuming that our Lord confounded the destruction of Jerusalem with his own second advent we trust we have shown in our notes on his great prediction. Eusebius informs us, that the Christians, rightly interpreting our Lord’s words not as predicting the end of the world but the destruction of the city, fled to Pella, and so escaped. They did flee, not to escape Christ’s second coming, but to escape the Roman armies.

See note on Mat_24:16. Of the various signs by which these Jerusalem Christians could see the day approaching, see an enumeration in our notes upon Mar_13:7-9. But while this passage is properly applied, not to the second advent, but to the destruction of the city to which it is addressed, it is none the less absurd to apply passages addressed to localities far distant from Jerusalem to the same event. We hold it entirely inadmissible to apply 2Th_1:7-10 to the destruction of Jerusalem. Thessalonica was in Europe, Jerusalem in Asia. That neither Christ nor his apostles taught that the second advent would be in their own day, see supplementary note at close of Matthew 25.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Warning against the neglect of social worship.

"Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the custom of some is; but exhorting one another." This exhortation is not a positive command, but arises out of the nature of things, and the need of man as a spiritual being. Social worship does not become obligatory because it is commanded in the Scriptures; but we are exhorted not to neglect it because it is needful for us. The obligation springs not from the exhortation, but from the necessities of our being. Let us consider

I MAN"S NEED OF SOCIAL WORSHIP.

1. Man needs worship. A god is a necessity of man"s being. He must have something to worship, even if it be only a fetish. This arises from the presence and influence of the religious and devotional elements and faculties in human nature. As these are refined and educated, so man is able to receive pure and exalted ideas of God. One of the bitterest of human wails is, "Ye have taken away my gods, and the priest; and what have I more?" The loss of even a false god is deemed ruinous by those who confided in it. The cry of the man whose religious nature has been enlightened by Divine revelation is, "My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God." The body needs the exercise of manual labor, or of athletics, or gymnastics, or it becomes weak and incapable. The mind must be employed in the acquisition of truth, in reflection upon truth and life, or its powers must be called forth in some other way, or it will sink into a condition of feebleness and decay. And the principle is equally applicable to the religions soul. If its powers be not employed in the worship of the Divine Being and in the effort to live usefully and holily, those powers will perish; the eyes of the soul will become blind, its ears deaf, its aspirations extinct. Man needs worship for the life and growth of his own religious nature.

2. Man needs social worship. He is a social being. His heart craves friendship. In sorrow and joy, in labor and rest, we long for companionship and sympathy. We are formed for fellowship and for mutual help. Hence, social worship is a necessity of our being. This need was divinely recognized in Judaism, and provision was made for it in the temple, in the great religious festivals, etc. Our Lord recognized this need in various ways. (Mat_18:17-20 Luk_4:16) So also did the apostles. Even in the darkest seasons in the history of the Church of God, devout souls have felt this need and have sought satisfaction for it. "Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another," etc. (cf. Mal_3:13-17)

3. Social worship is often very beneficial and blessed. Our Lord has promised that the unanimous prayers of such worshippers shall be answered, and that he himself will meet with them. (Mat_18:19, Mat_18:20) In such assemblies of believers devotion and holy feeling pass from heart to heart until all hearts are aglow. Mutual prayer strengthens the weak disciple. One man is cast down and almost faithless, but his faith is invigorated and his soul encouraged by the influence of another who is believing and hopeful. Nor is worship the only engagement of these assemblies. Our text speaks of mutual exhortation. "Exhorting one another." Brotherly counsel and encouragement and admonition are profitable to strengthen faith, incite to diligence, guard against declension, and promote the progress of the soul.

II MAN"S NEGLECT OF SOCIAL WORSHIP. "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the custom of some is." Notice:

1. The causes of this neglect. As our Epistle does not speak of the neglect of worship by the irreligious, but of the desertion of the Christian assemblies by those who themselves were avowedly Christians, we shall confine our attention to the causes of the neglect of social worship by those who manifest some respect for religion.

(1) The necessity of social worship is not recognized, or inadequately recognized. The neglecter says, "There is no need for my frequent attendance at church; I can read the Bible or a sermon by my own fireside; and as for worship, we have that in the family." But reading a sermon is not attendance upon the divinely instituted preaching of the gospel. And family worship is not enough for man as a social being. Religion itself is social. As we need friends beyond our own domestic relations, so we need in religious exercises a wider circle than the home one.

(2) Absorption in temporal and worldly affairs is another cause of the neglect of the Christian assemblies. The interests and occupations of this world and time fill the whole being; spiritual and eternal interests are disregarded; the soul and its needs are neglected; thus men are unjust to their own higher nature.

(3) Decline in the spiritual life is another cause of this neglect.

2. The danger of this neglect. They whose custom it was to forsake the assemblies of Christians were not yet apostates from the Christian faith and confession. But the admonition and exhortation of the text suggest that they were in danger of apostasy. And the awful warnings which immediately follow more plainly indicate the dread peril. He who neglects the Christian assemblies is likely ere long to forsake the Christian Church and renounce the Christian faith, and]:e may even go on to tread underfoot the Son of God, and do despite unto the Spirit of grace. W.J.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Not forsaking the assembling ourselves - In public or private worship. As the manner of some is - Either through fear of persecution, or from a vain imagination that they were above external ordinances. But exhorting one another - To faith, love, and good works. And so much the more, as ye see the day approaching - The great day is ever in your eye.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Observe here, 1. That in the apostle’s time there were Christian assemblies, in which Christians did meet together to worship and serve God, and edify and comfort one another; and, in times of peace and liberty, they had convenient places erected, and separated for that end and use. The light of nature, as well as of Scripture, dictates that God is to be worshipped solemnly and publicly; that public worship pleases him most, and that he accepts it best.

Observe, 2. It was the manner of custom of some then to forsake the public assemblies; some out of sloth and negligence; others out of fear and persecution: This was a dangerous sin, and so continues. God and Christ esteem themselves forsaken, when their worship and worshippers are causelessly forsaken.

Observe, 3. The duty initmated and directed to, not to forsake the assembling together, as some do; for Christian assemblies are the life, the food, and nourishment of our souls; Consequently forsaking of church-assemblies is usually the forerunner of apostacy.

Observe, 4. The great inducement and encouragement to this duty, because the day approacheth.

What day?

Ans. The day of Jerusalem’s approaching destruction to them; the day of death and judgment coming upon, and hastening towards us.

Learn hence, That the intimations given of approaching judgments, ought to influence unto special diligence in all evangelical duties.

2. That to see evidently the approaches of death and judgment, and yet not to be sedulous and diligent in the duties of divine worship, is a sign and token of a backsliding frame, tending unto final apostasy from Christ and his holy religion.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

25. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves. In times of persecution there was a great temptation to stay away from the church assemblies, and some had fallen into dangerous neglect. As ye see the day approaching. There were signs that the Hebrew Christians could see that the day was near at hand. They probably thought that Christ would come in person at that day. He did come in judgment on the Jewish nation. As that awful time of trial seemed near at hand they should be zealous in exhorting each other. Macknight, Stuart, Milligan, Meyer and many others refer “day” to the destruction of the Jewish nation.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

25. τὴν ἐπισυναγωγὴν ἑαυτῶν, i.e. “our Christian gatherings.” Apparently the flagging zeal and waning faith of the Hebrews had led some of them to neglect the Christian assemblies for worship and Holy Communion (Act 2:42). Ἐπισυναγωγὴ only occurs in 2Th 2:1, and is perhaps chosen to avoid the Jewish word “synagogue”; and the more so because the duty of attending “the synagogue” was insisted on by Jewish teachers. In the neglect of public worship the writer saw the dangerous germ of apostasy.

καθὼς ἔθος τισίν. This neglect of attending the Christian gatherings may have been due in some cases to fear of the Jews. It shewed a fatal tendency to waver in the direction of apostasy.

παρακαλοῦντες. Though the active is used it implies the duty of mutual encouragement.

τὴν ἡμέραν. The Day which Christians expected was the Last Day (1Co 3:13). They failed to see that the Day which the Lord had primarily in view in His great eschatological discourse (Matthew 24) was the Close of the Old Dispensation in the Fall of Jerusalem. The signs of this were already in the air, and that approaching Day of the Lord was destined to be “the bloody and fiery dawn” of the Last Great Day—“the Day of days, the Ending-day of all days,” the Settling-day of all days, the Day of the promotion of Time into Eternity, the Day which for the Church breaks through and breaks off the night of this present world” (Delitzsch).

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

25.] not deserting the assembling together of ourselves (the word ἐπισυναγωγή, as its verb ἐπισυνάγειν, belongs to late Greek: Bleek gives examples from Polyb., Plut., Phædrus. The LXX use the verb many times, of gathering in a hostile sense (Mic 4:11: Zec 12:3; Zec 14:2: Ps. 30:14 : 1 Macc. 3:58; 5:9) and of God gathering His people together (Ps. 101:23 A (συναγ. א); 105:47; 146:2: 2 Macc. 1:27; 2:18). And so in N. T. (Mat 23:37; Mat 24:31: Mar 13:27: Luk 13:34). In the only place (ref.) where the substantive occurs, it is of our gathering together to Christ at His coming, just as the verb in the above-cited places of the Gospels. Here, the question is whether it is to be understood of the congregation of the faithful generally, the Church,—as the word congregation has come from the act of assembling to signify the body thus assembled,—or of the single acts of assembling and gathering together of the various assemblies of Christians at various times. The former is held by Primasius (“congregationem fidelium”), Calvin, Justiniani (“Ego malim de tota ecclesia hæc verba Pauli intelligere, ut hortetur Hebræos ad retinendam fidem, utque a cœtu fidelium non recedant”), Jac. Cappell., Böhme, Bretschneider, al. But the other is held by most Commentators, and seems far more appropriate here. Thus Chrys. (οἶδεν ἀπὸ τῆς συνουσίας κ. τῆς ἐπισυναγωγῆς πολλὴν οὖσαν τὴν ἰσχύν), Œc. (τὸ γὰρ ἀεὶ συνῆχθαι ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό, ἀγάπης ἐστὶ γεννητικόν), Thl. (similarly), Beza, Camero, Schlichting, Limborch, Schöttgen, Wolf, al., and Tholuck, De Wette, Ebrard, Lünem., Hofm., Delitzsch, al. Del. suggests that our Writer may have used ἐπισυναγωγή, not συναγωγή, to avoid the Judaistic sound of this latter. Otherwise the use would be accountable enough, ἐπισυναγωγή being a συναγ. ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό, and thus pointing more at the several places where the assemblies were held), as is the habit with some (this καθὼς ἔθος τισίν pretty plainly shews that not formal apostasies, but habits of negligence, are in the Writer’s view. How far these might in time lead to the other, is a thought which no doubt lies in the background when he says κατανοῶμεν ἀλλήλους, and παρακαλοῦντες: and is more directly suggested by the awful cautions which follow. Grot., al. compare Ignatius, ad Polycarp. 4, p. 721, πυκνότερον συναγωγαὶ γενέσθωσαν: and Ad Eph. 13, p. 656, σπουδάζετε οὖν πυκνότερον συνέρχεσθαι εἰς εὐχαριστίαν θεοῦ κ. εἰς δόξαν· ὅταν γὰρ πυκνῶς ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ γίνεσθε, καθαιροῦνται αἱ δυνάμεις τοῦ σατανᾶ, κ. λύεται ὁ ὄλεθρος αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ ὁμονοίᾳ ὑμῶν τῆς πίστεως), but exhorting (supply not τὴν ἐπισυναγωγήν, as Œc. (τίνα; τὴν ἐπισυναγωγὴν ἑαυτῶν, τουτέστιν, ἀλλήλους· ἀπὸ κοινοῦ γὰρ τὴν ἐπισυναγωγὴν ληπτέον), Hofmann, al., but ἑαυτούς, out of the ἑαυτῶν just preceding. See ch. 3:13, ἀλλὰ παρακαλεῖτε ἑαυτοὺς καθʼ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν. An alternative in Œc. supplies τοὺς ἀσθενεστέρους: but it is an unnecessary limitation: all would need it); and so much the more (this τοσούτῳ μᾶλλον is better taken as belonging to the two preceding participial clauses only, to which it is syntactically attached, than as belonging to the whole from κατέχωμεν), as (= ὅσῳ μᾶλλον, ‘the more;’ must be joined with βλέπετε, not with ἐγγίζονσαν, ‘the nearer ye see’) ye see (this βλέπετε, in the second person, is unexpected in the midst of the ‘oratio communicativa.’ It appeals at once to the watchfulness and discernment of the readers as regards the signs of the times. That Day indeed, in its great final sense, is always near, always ready to break forth upon the Church: but these Hebrews lived actually close upon one of those great types and foretastes of it, the destruction of the Holy City—the bloody and fiery dawn, as Delitzsch finely calls it, of the Great Day) the day (this shortest of all designations of the day of the Lord’s coming is found only in reff. “It is the Day of days, the ending-day of all days, the settling-day of all days, the Day of the promotion of Time into Eternity, the Day which for the Church breaks through and breaks off the night of this present world.” Delitzsch) approaching.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The assembling of ourselves together [επισυναφωγην εαυτων] . Episunagwgh only here and 2Th 2:1, see note. The act of assembling, although some explain assembly. The antithesis is, "not forsaking assembling, but exhorting in assembly." L?n aptly says that the idea of apostasy which would be conveyed by the rendering assembly or congregation is excluded by eqov habit or custom, which implies an often recurring act on the part of the same persons.

As the manner of some is [καθως εθος τισιν] . For manner rend. custom. Lit. as is custom unto some. Eqov mostly in Luke and Acts. Comp. Luk 1:9; Joh 19:40.

Ye see the day approaching (blepete ejggizousan thn hJmeran). The day of Christ 's second coming, bringing with it the judgment of Israel. He could say "ye see," because they were familiar with Christ 's prophecy concerning the destruction of the temple; and they would see this crisis approaching in the disturbances which heralded the Jewish war.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

25. μὴ ἐγκαταλ. τὴν ἐπισ. é.] not forsaking the gathering of our own selves together for fellowship in divine worship. Vulg. non deserentes colleetionem nostram. The fulfilment of this social duty is presented under a

τὴν ἐπισ. αὑτῶν (ad.) ἐξ".

twofold aspect, negatively and positively: Christians are not to abandon

the opportunities of meeting; and they are to use the power of mutual influence.

Tho word ἐγκαταλείποντες conveys the notion not simply of leaving, as no longor taking part in the assombly, but of abandoning, leaving tho assembly exposed to peril in the conflict. Compare c. xiii. 5 note; 2 Tim. iv.

᾿ΕἘπισυναγωγή, which expresses the assembly formed and not only the act of assembling (compare σύναξις Suicer, Zhes. 8. v.), cocurs again in a different connexion in 2 Thess. ii. 1, where the force of the ἐπί is seen, as marking a definite centre to which the gathering is directed, that is, Christ. Comp. Matt. xvili. 20 συνηγμένοι els τὸ ἐμὸν ἄνομα. The vorb is found in significant passages: Matt. xxiii. 37; xxiv. 31; Luke xvii. 37; compare 2 Mace. ii. 7.

The use of ἑαυτῶν (Le. ἡμῶν αὐτῶν) for the simple ἡμῶν fixes attention on the moeting as charactoristically Christian. For the use of ἑαυτῶν see 6. iii. 13 note.

Wetstein quotes from Augustine (Con/. viii. 2, 4) the striking account of the conversion of the rhetorician Victorinus: dicebat Simpliciano (his Christian friend] non palam sed secretius et familiarius: Noveris me jam esse Christianum. Et respondebat ille: Non credam, nec doputabo te inter Christianos, nisiin ecclesia Christi te videro. 1116 autem irridebat dicens: Ergo parietes faciunt Christianos ? Et hoc stepe dicebat jam se esse Christianum; et Simplicianus illud srepe respondebat, et ssepe ab illo parietum irrisio repetebatur.

1 Cor. i. 8 (v. 5); 2 Cor. i. 14; Phil. i. 6, 10; ii, 16,

It is also called ‘tho great day’: Jude 6; Apoo, vi. 17; xvi. 14; ‘a day of judgment’: Matt. x. 15; xi. 22, 24; xii. 36; (Rom. il. 16); 2 Pet

[non dicit] non cat ultra pronitentia, noquo peccatorum remissio, sed hostia, inquit, ultra non est, hoc est crux ultra non est secunda, ut iterum Christus crucifigatur, iteramque nos baptizomur.

* For if ewe wilfully sin afler that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there ts no longer left a sacrifice for sins, “but a certain Searful expectation of judgment, and a jealousy of fire ready to devour the adcerearies. *One that setteth at naught Moses’ law dieth without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses; Of how much sorer puntshment, think ye, shall he be judged worthy who trampleth under foot the Son of God, and counteth the blood of the. covenant a common thing, the blood therein he was sanctified, and doth outrage to the Spirit of grace? » For we know Him that said Vengeance te mine, I will recompense; and again The Lord will judge His people. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God.

26, 27. The mention of ‘tho day’ in 5. 25 calls out the sad severity of the warning which follows. Wo must use the help which God has provided and in His way; for if we set this at nanght nothing remains for our relief.

Brooke Foss Westcott (1825–1901), The Epistle to the Hebrews (1889) and The Epistles of St John (1883) — public domain (pre-1929). Text recovered from Internet Archive / Google Books OCR scans. Westcott’s Gospel of John commentary is not included (its OCR lost the chapter running-heads required for reliable verse-keying). Some Greek quoted in the Hebrews volume is imperfectly rendered by the OCR.