Hebrews 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as you have: for he has said, I will never leave you… Where has He said so? If the chapter-and-verse theory be insisted upon, there is no proof that these precise words were ever uttered by God. Yet if the doctrine be withdrawn from the Bible, the Bible will be impoverished by the withdrawal of its richest solaces. There are words, too, marvellously like the very words of the text (Genesis 28:15; Deuteronomy 31:6, 8; Joshua 1:5). There are words spoken to the soul in secret. The heart remembers, attests, clings to them With tenacious love. There are paraphrased revelations; seed-revelations grown into blooming flowers of assurance. Let us take it, then, as the most assured fact in spiritual history that God never forsakes the man whom He has undertaken to guard and nourish — it is the unwritten and eternal law which comes out of the very nature of the Divine Being. I. This word is SUFFICIENT — because GOD HAS SPOKEN IT. We say of some men, "Their word is their bond." Shall we say less of the Living One, of whose eternity our life is but a spark? II. The word is INSPIRING — because IT PLEDGES THE PERSONAL FELLOWSHIP OF GOD. "I will never leave thee": not, Angels shall be sent to thee, &c. Enoch walked with God. To Moses God said, "Certainly I will be with thee." To the Church Jesus says, "I am with you alway," &c. III. This word is COMPLETE — because IT EMBRACES ALL TIME: "I will never leave thee." The child becomes free of the parent; the apprentice is liberated from his bonds; the hireling fulfils his day — but union with God is perpetual, and its joy is an ever-augmenting sum. IV. This word is CONDESCENDING — because IT IS PERSONAL IN ITS APPLICATION. It is not a pledge given to the universe as a whole; it is spoken to the individual heart, and is to be applied by each heart according to special circumstances. The whole exists for the part, as well as the part for the whole. "All things are yours." Every flower may claim the sun. V. This word is Assuring — because IT IS REDUNDANT IN ITS EXPRESSION. "I will never leave thee," would have been enough for a merely technical bond; more is added; we have word upon word, so that the heart cannot escape the golden walls of protection and security. Love does not study terseness. It must be emphatic; it must be copious. Regarding this promise, what should be its practical effect? 1. We should inquire whether we are entitled to apply it to ourselves. It is not for all men. The question is one of spiritual character. Are we the children of God? 2. Be entitled to it, we should live as if we truly realised it: not gloomily; not self-trustingly; not fretfully; but joyously, devoutly, thankfully. 3. Living as if we realised it, we should ask what we can do in return. "Glorify God in your body," &c. "Were the whole realm of nature mine," &c. "Present your bodies a living sacrifice," &c. (J. Parker, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. |
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