Hebrews 12:15

Just as someone, traveling a long road accompanied by many people, says: see to it that no one falls behind. For I am concerned not only that you do not draw close, but that you also watch over others, that is, visit, inquire, investigate regarding …

Fall from the grace of God: lest any root of bitterness - Of envy, anger, suspicion. Springing up - Destroy the sweet peace; lest any, not following after holiness, fall into fornication or profaneness. In general, any corruption, either in doctrine or practice, is a root of bitterness, and may pollute many.

): Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God, &c. (1.) Here the apostle enters a serious caveat against apostasy, and backs it with an awful example. [1.] He enters a serious caveat against apostasy,

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

Looking diligently,....

Looking diligently - This phrase implies close attention. It is implied that there are reasons why we should take special care. Those reasons are found in the propensities of our hearts to evil; in the temptations of the world; in the allurements to apostasy presented by the great adversary of our souls. Lest any man fail - As every man is in danger, it is his personal duty to see to it that his salvation be secure. Fail of the grace of God - Margin, “fail from.” The Greek is, “lest any one be wanting or lacking” - ὑστερῶν husterōn.

The only safety is in rooting out such a root of bitterness. many--rather, "the many," that is, the whole congregation. So long as it is hidden under the earth it cannot be remedied, but when it "springs up," it must be dealt with boldly.

WELL did the Apostle declare that the righteous scarcely are saved. It is no child's play to be a Christian. The Christian life is beyond the poet's meaning, real and earnest. The hills of difficulty which lie before us are no molehills, and the giants and dragons with which we must contend are no phantoms of a disordered brain. When we reach Heaven, what monuments of Grace we shall be, and how shall we throughout eternity emulate one another's praises, each one feeling himself to be the deepest debtor to Sovereign Grace! It will be well for us to remember that the religion of Jesus Christ is not a matter of trifling, that the gaining of Heaven is not to be achieved by a few half-hearted efforts. And if we will at the same time remember that all-sufficient succor is prepared for us in the Covenant of Grace, we shall be in a right state of mind—resolute yet humble, leaning upon the merits of Christ and yet aiming after personal holiness. I trust that in my ministry I shall never keep back the doctrines of the Grace of God, but I am anxious at the same time with equal clearness to declare the doctrine that good works are necessary evidences of Grace. I am persuaded that if self-righteousness is deadly, self-indulgence is ruinous. Rowland Hill said he had spent a large part of his life in battling with the white devil of Arminianism, but he would now fight the black devil of Antinomian-ism. I desire to maintain always a balance in my ministry, and while combating self-righteousness to war perpetually with loose living. Antinomianism is a black devil, indeed, a devil whose smutty fingers have defiled full many of the pure truths of our holy faith, and made even good men shy of receiving them. We, must remember that though we are saved by Grace, yet Grace does not stupefy us, but rather quickens us into action.

WELL did the Apostle declare that the righteous scarcely are saved. It is no child's play to be a Christian. The Christian life is beyond the poet's meaning, real and earnest. The hills of difficulty which lie before us are no molehills, and the giants and dragons with which we must contend are no phantoms of a disordered brain. When we reach Heaven, what monuments of Grace we shall be, and how shall we throughout eternity emulate one another's praises, each one feeling himself to be the deepest debtor to Sovereign Grace!

Looking diligently - Επισκοπουντες· Looking about, over, and upon; being constantly on your guard. Lest any man fail of the grace of God - Μη τις ὑστερων απο της χαριτος του Θεου· Lest any person should come behind, or fall off from, this grace or Gift of God; this state of salvation, viz. the Gospel system or Christianity; for this is most evidently the meaning of the apostle. It is not the falling from a work of grace in their own souls, but from the Gospel, to apostatize from which they had now many temptations; and to guard them against this, the whole epistle was written. Lest any root of bitterness springing up - A root of bitterness signifies a poisonous plant. The Hebrews call every species of poison a bitter, and with considerable propriety, as most plants are poisonous in proportion to the quantum of the bitter principle they possess. The root of bitterness is here used metaphorically for a bad man, or a man holding unsound doctrines, and endeavoring to spread them in the Church. Trouble you - This alludes to the effects of poison taken into the body: the whole animal system is disturbed, sometimes violent retchings, great disturbances through the whole alimentary canal, together with the most fatal changes in the whole sanguineous system, are the consequences of poison taken into the stomach. The blood itself (the principle, under God, of life) becomes putrescent; and probably to this the intelligent apostle alludes when he says, and thereby many be defiled, μιανθωσι, corrupted or contaminated. Bad example and false teaching have corrupted thousands, and are still making desolation in the world and in the Church.