Heb. 13. 7
In handling this Text of holy Scripture, that we may mingle nothing of Humane Affections, that our Passions may give no Interruption to you in hearing, or to me in speaking; I should desire to suppress them quite, if it were possible. And possible it is, where they are slightly raised, as upon common and ordinary occasions: But where they are grounded and strong, where they dare argue, and seem to have Reason on their side, as there is too much in sight for ours; there I think it is in vain to endeavour it: The only way in this case, is to give them some kind of Vent, to discharge them in part, and to govern what remains of the Affections.
You will I hope the rather bear with my Infirmity, that I cannot contain from deploring the Loss, the irreparable Loss that we suffer, I think all suffer, in the death of this Eminent Person. He was the man in whom his Friends had experience of much good, and had hopes of much more; not so much for his greatness or power, as abstracting from these, for what they found in himself, which was a great and manifold Blessing to all that lived within his conversation. He was a Father, a Counsellor, a Comforter, a Helper, a sure Friend: He was all they could wish in every Relation, and by the course of Nature, might have been for many years. But for our sins, (though for his unspeakable advantage) the great and wise God was not pleased to continue that Blessing; He took him out of this World, when for ought we could judge, there was most need of such men to live in it; and when we had much reason to expect more good than ever by his living in it.
Oh the Unsearchable ways and Counsels of God! Oh the Blindness of Humane hopes and expectations! While we please our selves with the good we have in hand, while we reach out for more, as if there would never be an end, within a few days all withers, all vanisheth to This: We have Nothing left, but what it grieves us to see; We have nothing remains, but what we are willing to be rid of, a poor shell of earth, that we make haste to bury out of our sight.
Yes; of wise and good men, which is their Priviledg above others, there remains after Death, a Memory, an Example which they leave behind them, as a sacred Depositum for us to keep and use until we see them again. Are these things Nothing in our sight? They are above all price in the sight of God; who, that they may be so to us, both telleth us the worth, and recommends them to our esteem, and requires the fruit of them in many places of Scripture: But in none with more Application to our present Occasion, than in my Text. I shall sufficiently Justifie my choice of it, if I can but make it be understood: I shall shew the full Import of it, in those duties which it contains: I shall endeavour to stir you up to practise them with respect to this present occasion.
First, For the understanding of my Text, we are to look for no help from what goes next before it, or after it: For the whole business of it is contained within it self. It lies in the heap among other directions, which without any certain connexion between them, were given by the Writer of this Epistle to the Hebrews, that is, to those Jews who were converted to be Christians.
For the time when it was written, we are certain of this, that it was while Timothy lived; for he is mentioned as living in the 24 Verse of this Chapter. And he being there said to have suffered Imprisonment for the Gospel, this brings us a little nearer to the knowledg of the time: For then it must be after both S. Pauls Epistles to Timothy. In the last of those Epistles, which was some years after the other, S. Paul speaks much of his own Imprisonment for the Gospel: He warns Timothy oft, that he must suffer for the Gospel: He instructs him what to do when God shall call him to suffer. Not a word of any thing that he had suffered already: Nay, he counsels him as a young man, that had never been tried. He invites him to Rome, which was the great place of tryal; in which place, as it appears in the close of this Chapter, Timothy did suffer that Imprisonment for the Gospel, from which he was deliver’d, when this Epistle was written. It appears, that after the Epistle to Timothy, how long after we know not, he did go to Rome, as Paul will’d him. How long he staid there we know not, ere he did suffer imprisonment. How long he was in Prison, we know not, ere he was set at liberty. Only we know, it was a considerable time, we have reason to think it might be some years; it might be many years that this Epistle was written after the second Epistle to Timothy.
And if so, then it was written, not only as Theodoret says, long after the death of James the Brother of John: But account it how you will, this Epistle was written, after the death of James the Brother of our Lord: Which James being the first Bishop of Jerusalem, and the other James an Apostle, that is, a Bishop at large, and both these being put to death at Jerusalem; Not to search into Church-History for those others of their order, who dyed before this time in other places; nor to guess how many others were dead, that are not recorded in Church-History: If we think of no more but these two eminent servants of Christ, we cannot be to seek of the understanding of this Text, nor of the application to our particular purpose. I say not, but it may have a more general extent. There is a memory due, not only to the Apostles of Christ, and to the Bishops their Successors; but to all other good Ministers of Christ, yea to all other exemplary Christians. But if the Apostle had meant this only of Bishops, I cannot guess that he would have it exprest otherwise, than he hath done in my Text.