Hebrews 6:12

Hebrews 6:12

Indolence.

I. It can never be unnecessary to dwell upon the warfare of sloth in the body. Better any diligence than any sloth. Better the strenuous idleness of bodily exercise than the sluggish, purposeless lounging which is the alternative for many. Not even that absorption of the faculties in bodily energy, not even that devotion of precious hours to interests which perish with the using, is so fatal to faith as the stagnation of all the powers in a dull, monotonous idling. Do you ask why this meanest of all sloths the sloth of the body should be called a foe particularly of faith? I answer, without hesitation, First, because it is expectant of nothing; and, secondly, because this kind of sloth is peculiarly friendly to vices which are murderers of faith. These men are the plague-spots of society; in low life they fill its gaols, in higher life they secretly stain our very feasts of charity.

II. The charge, "That ye be not slothful," applies to minds also. There is in almost all of us a proneness to inattention. The eye passes over the line, reaches the foot of the page, arrives in due course at the end of chapter and volume, and nothing remains of it. There is also a general dreaminess and listlessness and vagueness. Often excess in study will account for this. Many a man is slothful in business just from over-business; just because he has not been (in the Christian sense) fervent also in spirit, serving the Lord.

III. Let us turn, then, to that kind of indolence of which the Apostle actually wrote this warning: "That ye be not slothful." We observe sloth (1) in dealing with Divine truth; (2) in the exercise of Divine communion; (3) in the region of Christian action. "God is not unrighteous," so runs the passage, "to forget your work and labour of love. And we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence unto the end. That ye be not slothful." It is thus, by a diligent, earnest continuance in well-doing in other words, in a life of active charity that the departed saints are to be imitated.

C. J. Vaughan, University Sermons,p. 126.

I. What is inherited? The promises. What promises? These must be the final promises, the promises which are embodied in the one word heaven. Many promises are fulfilled to us on our way there; but these are promises whose fruition is postponed till after death. What promises are fulfilled then in heaven? What is it that the Christian may, without fear or doubt, expect to find when he opens his eyes amid the scenes of the future world? (1) Freedom from sin. This at least. This, if there be nothing more; and this will be a great and glorious heaven in itself, for it will be a soul brought into harmony with itself and with its God and Saviour. (2) Another promise assures us of the end of sorrow. (3) Knowledge.

II. The conditions upon which the inheritance is secured. "Faith and patience." By faith. This is the key which opens the door of salvation to every one of us. "Without faith it is impossible to please God." We begin to live when we begin to believe. The first act of faith is like the first throb of the heart, or the first heaving of the lungs it shows that there is life. But if faith unlock the door of salvation, it is not to be thrown away when once the door is opened. It is not merely a key, it is a principle which must abide with us for ever. The promises seem so manifold, so vast, so comprehensive, so royal, so infinitely surpassing our deserts, that they seem far too great and too good to be true. And we require faith in order to make our way to the perfect enjoyment of the promises. For it is only by bringing into view Christ and His love, the cross and its sufferings, heaven and its joys; in short, by bringing into view the powers of the world to come, and holding them in view, that we can overcome the present world. (2) But faith must have as her companion patience. This we must have, for as yet the blessing tarries. But if we have faith, we can well afford to have patience; for the end on which our heart is set is sure. It is hard to be patient when you know not whether you will ever reach your aim. There is something distressing about all labour and suffering when the result is dubious. How patient the mariner can be amid storm and calm if he knows that he will reach the haven at last. How patient the sufferer on his sick-bed if he knows that recovery will come at the end of all his pangs. And the Christian has a certainty before him, and if he hopes for it, then doth he with patience wait for it.

E. Mellor, In the Footsteps of Heroes,p. 248.

The tone of this verse, the graces which are chosen, faith and patience, the reference to those who are now in full possession of the promises, all show that it is addressed to those who are, or have been, passing through sorrow.

I. And these bereaved or afflicted ones are, above all others, enjoined not to be slothful. The word, which is a very strong one in the original, answers accurately to another word in our language, "dull." It implies a great difficulty of being moved, an inertness. Sorrow is, in its first stage, a thing which has very often much of the nature of excitement. The mind is high wrought. It resolves everything; it intends everything; it feels an extraordinary acuteness from that impassioned state; there is sure to be, some time or other, a reaction. Nature takes vengeance, and repays herself, for the inordinate demand which has been made upon her by a corresponding heaviness. The spirit, which was so ecstatic, can now scarcely lift itself. The whole world is tame and flat. There are many passages of mind through which persons go who are under affliction, one after another, and one stage is sure to be a stage of indolence. It is the most dangerous of the stages. Therefore God is so urgent with the afflicted ones with afflicted churches, with afflicted believers to be active strenuously active. Of all the remedies for sorrow, next to the highest, the greatest is work.

II. Two points are held up for imitation in the blessed dead. The one is that by which they first obtained an interest in the promises, and the other is that by which they carried it on, "faith and patience." Do you ask me how these glorified ones have travelled so well, and arrived so safe in their quiet resting-places? I answer, They accepted, in all its simplicity, the pardon of their sins through the blood of Christ. They had their losses, but they took them gladly. They had their long hill to climb, but they treated it manfully. And so with them every word of God came true. Let us live as those that have a responsibility laid upon us them to study, them to copy, them to meet.

J. Vaughan, Sermons,1865.

References: Hebrews 6:12. R. Tuck, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xi., p. 312; G. Calthrop, Ibid.,vol. xxix., p. 361.Hebrews 6:15. Preacher's Monthly,vol. iii., p. 367. Hebrews 6:17; Hebrews 6:18. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xv., No. 893.Hebrews 6:18. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xxiii., No. 1352; R. S. Candlish, Sermons,p. 170; Clergyman's Magazine,vol. ii., p. 27. Hebrews 6:18. Ibid.,vol. iii., p. 93.