contributing to the needs of the saints; given to hospitality.
Parallel Translations
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contributing to the needs of the saints; given to hospitality.
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Distribute vnto the necessite of the saynctes and diligently to harboure.
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Distributing vnto the necessities of the Saintes: giuing your selues to hospitalitie.
Cross-references (24)
Passages linked to Romans 12:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Hebrews 13:16 But don’t forget to be doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
- 2 Corinthians 9:12 For this service of giving that you perform not only makes up for lack among the saints, but abounds also through much giving of thanks to God,
- 1 John 3:17 But whoever has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, then closes his heart of compassion against him, how does God’s love remain in him?
- Galatians 6:10 So then, as we have opportunity, let’s do what is good toward all men, and especially toward those who are of the household of the faith.
- Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unrighteous, so as to forget your work and the labor of love which you showed toward his name, in that you served the saints, and still do serve them.
- 1 Peter 4:9 Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.
- Hebrews 13:2 Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for in doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it.
- 1 Timothy 3:2 The overseer therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, modest, hospitable, good at teaching;
- Matthew 25:35 for I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in.
- 1 Timothy 5:10 being approved by good works, if she has brought up children, if she has been hospitable to strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has relieved the afflicted, and if she has diligently followed every good work.
- Titus 1:8 but given to hospitality, a lover of good, sober minded, fair, holy, self-controlled,
- Philemon 1:7 For we have much joy and comfort in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother.
- Acts 4:35 and laid them at the apostles’ feet, and distribution was made to each, according as anyone had need.
- Acts 10:4 He, fastening his eyes on him, and being frightened, said, “What is it, Lord?” He said to him, “Your prayers and your gifts to the needy have gone up for a memorial before God.
- Acts 20:34-35 You yourselves know that these hands served my necessities, and those who were with me. In all things I gave you an example, that so laboring you ought to help the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
- 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I commanded the assemblies of Galatia, you do likewise. On the first day of every week, let each one of you save, as he may prosper, that no collections are made when I come.
- 2 Corinthians 8:1-4 Moreover, brothers, we make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the assemblies of Macedonia, how in much proof of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded to the riches of their generosity. For according to their power, I testify, yes and beyond their power, they gave of their own accord, begging us with much entreaty to receive this grace and the fellowship in the service to the saints.
- Psalms 41:1 Blessed is he who considers the poor. Yahweh will deliver him in the day of evil.
- 1 Corinthians 16:15 Now I beg you, brothers—you know the house of Stephanas, that it is the first fruits of Achaia, and that they have set themselves to serve the saints—
- 2 Corinthians 9:1 It is indeed unnecessary for me to write to you concerning the service to the saints,
- Romans 12:8 or he who exhorts, to his exhorting; he who gives, let him do it with generosity; he who rules, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
- Acts 9:36-41 Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which when translated, means Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and acts of mercy which she did. In those days, she became sick, and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. As Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, imploring him not to delay in coming to them. Peter got up and went with them. When he had come, they brought him into the upper room. All the widows stood by him weeping, and showing the coats and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them. Peter sent them all out, and knelt down and prayed. Turning to the body, he said, “Tabitha, get up!” She opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand, and raised her up. Calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive.
- Romans 15:25-28 But now, I say, I am going to Jerusalem, serving the saints. For it has been the good pleasure of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are at Jerusalem. Yes, it has been their good pleasure, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, they owe it to them also to serve them in fleshly things. When therefore I have accomplished this, and have sealed to them this fruit, I will go on by way of you to Spain.
- Genesis 18:2-8 He lifted up his eyes and looked, and saw that three men stood near him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth, and said, “My lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, please don’t go away from your servant. Now let a little water be fetched, wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. I will get a piece of bread so you can refresh your heart. After that you may go your way, now that you have come to your servant.” They said, “Very well, do as you have said.” Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quickly prepare three seahs of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes.” Abraham ran to the herd, and fetched a tender and good calf, and gave it to the servant. He hurried to dress it. He took butter, milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them. He stood by them under the tree, and they ate.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (21 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 13. Communicating to the necessities, etc. He returns to…
13. Communicating to the necessities, etc. He returns to the duties of love; the chief of which is to do good to those from whom we expect the least recompense. As then it commonly happens, that they are especially despised who are more than others pressed down with want and stand in need of help, (for the benefits conferred on them are regarded as lost,) God recommends them to us in an especial manner. It is indeed then only that we prove our love to be genuine, when we relieve needy brethren, for no other reason but that of exercising our benevolence. Now hospitality is not one of the least acts of love; that is, that kindness and liberality which are shown towards strangers, for they are for the most part destitute of all things, being far away from their friends: he therefore distinctly recommends this to us. We hence see, that the more neglected any one commonly is by men, the more attentive we ought to be to his wants.
Observe also the suitableness of the expression, when he says, that we are to communicate to the necessities of the saints; by which he implies, that we ought so to relieve the wants of the brethren, as though we were relieving our own selves. And he commands us to assist especially the saints: for though our love ought to extend itself to the whole race of man, yet it ought with peculiar feeling to embrace the household of faith, who are by a closer bond united to us.
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.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain A true rule of charity, when we are no…
A true rule of charity, when we are no less touched with other men’s wants, than with our own, and having that feeling, help them as much as we can.
Not upon pleasure, and needless duties, but upon necessary uses.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 13 Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to…
13 Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.
Ver. 13. To the necessity] Gr. χρειαις, to the uses of the saints, not staying till they be in necessity.
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Necessity; the word signifies uses. The saints must be…
Necessity; the word signifies uses. The saints must be succoured in things useful, as well as necessary. This apostle, in his Second Epistle to the Corinthians, spends two whole chapters about this sort of charity, in relieving the poor saints; viz. 2Co 8:1-9:15; see also Gal 6:10; Heb 13:16.
Given to hospitality; or, as the word may be rendered, pursue hospitality; hunt after it, as Abraham and Lot did, Gen 18:1,2; Ge 19:1,2. Concerning this duty of accommodating strangers, (which is here meant by hospitality), see Deu 10:18,19; Isa 58:7; 1Ti 3:2; Tit 1:8; Heb 13:2; 1Pe 4:9.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain The next duty exhorted to, is that of charity…
The next duty exhorted to, is that of charity and alms-giving to the poor members of Jesus Christ, especially when under persecution; showing hospitality towards them, and giving entertainment to them, when they seek it of us.
Learn, 1. That charity to all persons, but especially to the persecuted members of Jesus Christ, is a necessary and important duty.
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Learn, 2. That hospitality is an eminent part of Christian charity; true hospitality, I mean, which is accompanied with prudence and sobriety. There is a wide difference between riotous house-keeping and true hospitality; the latter is always designed for the help of the poor, and particularly for the godly poor. There are great house-keepers who are not good house-keepers, because their house-keeping is for the great, rather than the good, not for the household of faith, especially not for the poor of that household.
As to spirituals, God fills the hungry with good things, but sends the rich empty away; whereas, most men, as to corporals, fill the rich with their table. This is not according to the precept before us; Distributing to the necessities of the saints, and given to hospitality.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Distributing to the necessity of saints,.... Or "communicating", as…
Distributing to the necessity of saints,.... Or "communicating", as many versions render the word; "distributing" more properly belongs to the officers of the church, the deacons, and communicating to the members of it in common. All men in general are to be relieved that are in want, even our very enemies, and particularly such as are our own flesh and blood, nearly related to us, aged parents, &c. and especially they that are of the household of faith, here called "saints"; and indeed, such only come under the care and notice of a church: and they are such, whom God has set apart for himself, has chosen in his Son, that they should be holy; whom Christ has sanctified, or whose sins he has expiated by his blood; and to whom he is made sanctification; and in whose hearts a work of grace and holiness is wrought by the Spirit of God, which is the sanctification of the Spirit they are chosen through, as a mean to eternal salvation by Christ; and in consequence of this, they live soberly, righteously, and godly, and have their conversations as become the Gospel of Christ: and such as these, being in necessitous circumstances, are to be communicated to; for not all, or any of the saints, but only such as are in "necessity", are here pointed at; it is not communicating to the saints, but to their necessity, which is recommended. It is the will and pleasure of God, that some of his dear children should be in strait circumstances of life, be reduced to want and distress, partly to try their own graces, their faith and trust in God, and dependence on him; and partly the graces of others, the charity, liberality, and beneficence of those who have of this world's goods: and who are the persons that are to "communicate", not words only, saying, be warmed and filled, and give nothing; but their substance, they are to deal their bread to the hungry, clothe the naked, and give a portion to as many as are in need: and these acts of giving and receiving, are one way by which the saints have communication with each other, and which is suggested by the word "communicating" here used; for fellowship does not lie merely in private conversation, and in sitting down together at the Lord's table, but in "communicating to one another such things" as are needful, as for the soul, so for the body. Some copies read, "communicating to the memories of the saints"; not making images of them, and praying to them, but speaking well and honourably of them, and imitating them in what they did well; see Pro 10:7.
Given to hospitality; or, as it may be rendered, "pursuing", or "following after love to strangers"; which is properly hospitality: respect is to be shown not to such only who are members of the same community with us, but also to such of the people of God, that may be of another country, or of some distant parts of our own, not before known by us; who by persecution, and distress of some sort or another, or by some providence or another, are obliged to remove from their native place. These we are to love, and show our love to, not only by directing and advising, but, if need be, by giving them food and raiment, and lodging them: this is a duty incumbent on ministers of the Gospel, and on private members, and on all who are in any capacity to perform it; and which should be done cheerfully, and without grudging; and what persons should use, inure, and give themselves to, yea, should seek after, and call to objects of it; as Abraham and Lot did, who thereby entertained angels unawares, and is what the apostle here means by pursuing and following after it.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Communicate to the necessities of the saints - Relieve…
Communicate to the necessities of the saints - Relieve all Christians that are in want. It is remarkable, that the apostle, treating expressly of the duties flowing from the communion of saints, yet never says one word about the dead. Pursue hospitality - Not only embracing those that offer, but seeking opportunities to exercise it.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 13. Distributing to the necessity of saints] Relieve…
Verse 13. Distributing to the necessity of saints] Relieve your poor brethren according to the power which God has given you. Do good unto all men, but especially to them which are of the household of faith. Instead of χρειαις, necessities, some ancient MSS. have μνειαις, memorials; distributing to the memorials of the saints, which some interpret as referring to saints that were absent; as if he had said: Do not forget those in other Churches who have a claim on your bounty. But I really cannot see any good sense which this various reading can make in the text; I therefore follow the common reading.
Given to hospitality.] την φιλοξενιαν διωκοντες, pursuing hospitality, or the duty of entertaining strangers. A very necessary virtue in ancient times, when houses of public accommodation were exceedingly scarce. This exhortation might have for its object the apostles, who were all itinerants; and in many cases the Christians, flying before the face of persecution. This virtue is highly becoming in all Christians, and especially in all Christian ministers, who have the means of relieving a brother in distress, or of succouring the poor wherever he may find them. But providing for strangers in distress is the proper meaning of the term; and to be forward to do this is the spirit of the duty.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Distributing - The word used here denotes having things…
Distributing - The word used here denotes having things in “common” κοινωνοῦντες koinōnountes. It means that they should be communicative, or should regard their property as so far common as to supply the needs of others. In the earliest times of the church, Christians had all things in common (Notes, Act 2:44), and felt themselves bound to meet all the needs of their brethren. One of the most striking effects of Christianity was to loosen their grasp on property, and dispose them to impart liberally to those who had need. The direction here does not mean that they should literally have all things in common; that is, to go back to a state of savage barbarity; but that they should be liberal, should partake of their good things with those who were needy; compare Gal 6:6; Rom 15:27; Phi 4:15; 1Ti 6:18.
To the necessity - To the needs. That is, distribute to them such things as they need, food, raiment, etc. This command, of course, has reference to the poor. “Of saints.” Of Christians, or the friends of God. They are called saints as being holy (ἁγιοι hagioi), or consecrated to God. This duty of rendering aid to Christians especially, does not interfere with the general love of mankind. The law of the New Testament is Gal 6:10, “As we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, especially to them who are of the household of faith.” The Christian is indeed to love all mankind, and to do them good as far as may be in his power, Mat 5:43-44; Tit 3:8; 1Ti 6:18; Heb 13:16. But he is to show particular interest in the welfare of his brethren, and to see that the poor members of the church are provided for; for,
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(1) They are our brethren; they are of the same family; they are attached to the same Lord; and to do good to them is to evince love to Christ, Mat 25:40; Mar 9:41.
(2) They are left especially to the care of the church; and if the church neglects them, we may be sure the world will also, Mat 26:11. Christians, especially in the time of the apostles, had reason to expect little compassion from the people of the world. They were persecuted and oppressed; they would be embarrassed in their business, perhaps thrown out of occupation by the opposition of their enemies; and it was therefore especially incumbent on their Brethren to aid them. To a certain extent it is always true, that the world is reluctant to aid the friends of God; and hence the poor followers of Christ are in a special manner thrown on the benefactions of the church.
(3) It is not improbable that there might be a special reason at that time for enjoining this on the attention of the Romans. It was a time of persecution, and perhaps of extensive distress. In the days of Claudius (about a.d. 50), there was a famine in Judea which produced great distress, and many of the poor and oppressed might flee to the capital for aid. We know, from other parts of the New Testament, that at that time the apostle was deeply interested in procuring aid for the poor brethren in Judea, Rom 15:25-26; compare Act 19:21; 2Co 8:1-7; 2Co 9:2-4. But the same reasons for aiding the poor followers of Christ will exist substantially in every age; and one of the most precious privileges conferred upon people is to be permitted to assist those who are the friends of God, Psa 41:1-3; Pro 14:21.
Given to hospitality - This expression means that they should readily and cheerfully entertain strangers. This is a duty which is frequently enjoined in the Scriptures, Heb 13:2, “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby many have entertained angels unawares;” 1Pe 4:9, “Use hospitality one to another without grudging.” Paul makes this especially the duty of a Christian bishop; 1Ti 3:2, “A bishop then must ...be given to hospitality;” Tit 1:8. Hospitality is especially enjoined by the Saviour, and its exercise commanded; Mat 10:40, Mat 10:42, “He that receiveth you receiveth me, etc.” The waver of hospitality is one of the charges which the Judge of mankind will allege against the wicked, and on which he will condemn them; Mat 25:43, “I was a stranger, and ye took me not in.” It is especially commended to us by the example of Abraham Gen 18:1-8, and of Lot Gen 19:1-2, who thus received angels unawares.
It was one of the virtues on which Job particularly commended himself, and which he had not failed to practice; Job 31:16-17, “If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail; or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof, etc.” In the time of our Saviour it was evidently practiced in the most open and frank manner; Luk 10:7, “And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give.” A remarkable instance is also mentioned in Luk 11:5. This virtue is no less common in eastern nations at present than it was in the time of Christ. It is eminently the virtue of oriental nations, of their ardent and open temperament. It springs up naturally in countries thinly settled, where the sight of a stranger would be therefore especially pleasant; in countries too, where the occupation was chiefly to attend flocks, and where there was much leisure for conversation; and where the population was too sparse, and the travelers too infrequent, to justify inn-keeping as a business.
From all these causes, it has happened that there are, properly speaking, no inns or taverns in the regions around Palestine. It was customary, indeed, to erect places for lodging and shelter at suitable distances, or by the side of springs or watering places, for travelers to lodge in. But they are built at the public expense, and are unfurnished. Each traveler carries his own bed and clothes and cooking utensils, and such places are merely designed as a shelter for caravans; (see Robinson’s Calmet, art. Caravanserai.) It is still so; and hence, it becomes, in their view, a virtue of high order to entertain, at their own tables, and in their families, such strangers as may be traveling. Niebuhr says, that “the hospitality of the Arabs has always been the subject of praise; and I believe that those of the present day exercise this virtue no less than the ancients did. There are, in the villages of Tehama, houses which are public, where travelers may lodge and be entertained some days gratis, if they will be content with the fare; and they are much frequented. When the Arabs are at table, they invite those who happen to come to eat with them, whether they be Christians or Muslims, gentle or simple.” - “The primitive Christians,” says Calmet, “considered one principal part of their duty to consist in showing hospitality to strangers. They were in fact so ready in discharging this duty, that the very pagan admired them for it. They were hospitable to all strangers, but especially to those who were of the household of faith. Believers scarcely ever traveled without letters of communion, which testified the purity of their faith, and procured for them a favorable reception wherever the name of Jesus Christ was known;” (Calmet, Dict.) Calmer is also of opinion that the two minor epistles of John may be such letters of recommendation and communion; compare 2Jo 1:10.
It may be added that it would be particularly expected of Christians that they should show hospitality to the ministers of religion. They were commonly poor; they received no fixed salary; they traveled from place to place; and they would be dependent for support on the kindness of those who loved the Lord Jesus Christ. This was particularly intended by our Saviour’s instructions on the subject, Mat 10:11-13, Mat 10:40-42. The duty of hospitality is still binding upon Christians and all people. The law of Christ is not repealed. The customs of society are indeed changed; and one evidence of advancement in commerce and in security, is furnished in the fact that inns are now provided and patronized for the traveler in all Christian lands. Still this does not lessen the obligations to show hospitality. It is demanded by the very genius of the Christian religion; it evinces proper love toward mankind; it shows that there is a feeling of brotherhood and kindness toward others, when such hospitality is shown. It unites society, creates new bonds of interest and affection, to show kindness to the stranger and to the poor. To what extent this is to be done, is one of those questions which are to be left to every man’s conscience and views of duty. No rule can be given on the subject. Many men have not the means to be extensively hospitable; and many are not placed in situations that require it. No rules could be given that should be applicable to all cases; and hence, the Bible has left the general direction, has furnished examples where it was exercised, has recommended it to mankind, and then has left every man to act on the rule, as he will answer it to God; see Mat 25:34-46.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Communicating [2] to the necessities of the saints. Making…
Communicating [2] to the necessities of the saints. Making them partakers of what you have, by relieving them. (Witham)
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
Communicantes; Greek: koinonountes. Koinonein is often used by St. Paul for making others sharers by giving to them.
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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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain given to hospitality--that is, the entertainment of strangers. In…
given to hospitality--that is, the entertainment of strangers. In times of persecution, and before the general institution of houses of entertainment, the importance of this precept would be at once felt. In the East, where such houses are still rare, this duty is regarded as of the most sacred character [HODGE].
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 13. distributing] communicating, sharing your own with them. This…
13. distributing] communicating, sharing your own with them. This was almost the first instinct of the Church of Christ; and it was felt to be connected naturally with the sublimest truths of eternity. Observe the instant transition from 1 Corinthians 15 to 1Co_16:1.—Cp. Gal_2:10; Heb_13:16; and below, Rom_15:25-26.
given to hospitality] Lit. pursuing hospitality. Cp. Heb_13:2, where lit. “forget not hospitality.” The duty of succouring and aiding fellow-Christians from a distance would be a chief (though by no means the only) point of the exhortation.
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (13) Distributing to the necessity of saints.—By “saints” is…
(13) Distributing to the necessity of saints.—By “saints” is here meant simply “Christians.” So, in Eph_1:1, we find the salutation addressed to the “saints which are at Ephesus.” (Comp. Act_9:13; Act_26:10.) The reference is to the well-known poverty of the early Christian communities.
Necessity.—Some of the Græco-Latin manuscripts and fathers here read, memories, or commemorations, by a slight change of letters, “taking part in the commemorations of the saints,” as if the allusion was to the later ecclesiastical usage of holding festivals in honour of martyrs. The best manuscripts are wonderfully free from corruptions of this kind, and even inferior manuscripts admit them to a much smaller extent than might have been expected. Other examples would be the insertion of the phrase “and fasting” in Mar_9:29, and the addition of the doxology to the Lord’s prayer in Mat_6:13.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 13, 14. Treatment of friends and foes.
Vers. 13, 14. Treatment of friends and foes.
Christianity is a practical religion. The New Testament is not simply a repertory of general principles; it draws out those Divine principles into the detailed duties and difficulties of daily life. For example, whilst love is the new commandment of Jesus to his disciples, and whilst love is described as the sum of the Divine Law, as the greatest of the virtues, as the bond of perfectness, we are shown how to manifest love in the occupations and relationships of daily existence. In this passage we learn how the Spirit of Christ will govern our conduct both to friends and to foes.
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I CHRISTIAN TREATMENT OF CHRISTIAN FRIENDS. In the first age of the gospel there were formed, in the cities of the empire, societies professing to trust Christ as the Divine Saviour, and to obey Christ as the Divine Lord. In many respects the proceedings and habits of the members of these societies differed from those of the people around, and this with a profound and wide difference. This is exemplified in these admonitions.
1. Charity should be exhibited to those in need. In every community there were the very poor, the aged, the infirm and disabled, the oppressed and persecuted, the widows and orphans. "The poor ye have always with you." Among the heathen it was too common to treat these classes with contempt and neglect. Christianity introduced a better mode of dealing with the necessitous. Teaching the brotherhood of men in Christ, it encouraged the sentiment of community, and led each practically to share with his neighbour the good of this world.
2. Hospitality is another form of the same virtue. By this is not meant sumptuous banquets, often given for ostentation and for purposes of policy. But in early times Christians would often come as strangers to a town, it might be in pursuit of work, it might be to escape from persecution, it might be as the bearers of messages of greeting and sympathy. Accordingly, we find some Christians commended for receiving such into their houses and entertaining them, and we find admonitions to others to adopt such a practice the encouragement being added, "Forget not to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
3. The motive and model of such conduct are to be found in the Lord Jesus himself. His very coming to this world was occasioned by his compassion upon our necessities: how much more his sacrifice and redemption! Look at his example; and you find him and his disciples keeping a bag, and from their slender store relieving the poor; you find him providing bread for hungering multitudes; you find him healing the sick and helpless; you find him inviting young men to visit and to converse with him. After his ascension, Christ"s followers, under the influence of the Spirit poured out from on high, imitated their Lord"s example. Officers were appointed in the societies for the ministration of alms; gifts were voluntarily made for the support of the poor; collections were made for indigent fellow-Christians; men were raised up whose ministry as hosts was deemed worthy of apostolic approval. All this was the working of Christ in the community; and in proportion as Christ lives in your hearts will you follow these examples.
4. Wisdom and discretion are needed in the fulfilment of these honorable duties. Circumstances differ as the state of society changes. Impostors abound. Indolence must not be countenanced. Each Christian must be guided in the exercise of charity and hospitality by his means and by his opportunities.
II CHRISTIAN TREATMENT OF FOES. Those who curse, revile, calumniate, injure them, Christians are bound, as followers of Christ, to bless, to pray for, and to benefit.
1. Christ himself has commanded such conduct. There can be no doubt that the sermon on the mount was well known to Paul, and that he was quoting from it here.
2. Christ himself has exemplified it. In his life he never injured those who hated him, but rendered, contrariwise, blessing. When he came to die, he furnished the most amazing and Divine instance the world has ever known of returning good for evil. He prayed for and forgave his murderers; further than this he could not have gone. And. "he has left us an example that we should follow in his steps."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Distributing to the necessity of saints.
Rom_12:13-14
Distributing to the necessity of saints.
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I. Who are the saints?
1. All that truly believe in Christ are sanctified.
2. All that profess to believe in Him (Php_1:1; Col_1:2; Rev_7:9).
II. What necessities? That they need our--
1. Advice.
2. Prayers (1Ti_2:1).
3. Estates.
III. What is it to distribute?
1. To give them freely.
2. To communicate with, because Christians (1Co_12:26-27).
IV. Who ought to give.?
1. Every one is to be willing to give (2Co_8:13).
2. They only are actually to give, who have anything of their own to give (1Jn_3:17; Isa_61:8).
3. Hence men of a lower estate are bound to give too something (Eph_4:28).
V. How much is every one bound to give?
1. In general, bountifully (2Co_9:6).
2. Proportionably to our estates (1Co_16:2).
3. More than we spend on our lusts.
4. As much as is not necessary for ourselves (2Co_8:14).
5. Sometimes what is necessary (2Co_8:3).
VI. How ought we to give ?
1. Out of a sense of duty, not for vainglory (Mat_6:1-2).
2. Out of love and pity to our brother (1Co_13:3).
3. Willingly (2Co_8:10; 2Co_8:12).
4. Cheerfully (Rom_12:8; 2Co_9:7).
5. Readily, without delay (Pro_3:27-28).
6. Thankfully (1Ch_29:13-14).
7. For a right end.
(1) Not for praise from men.
(2) Much less salvation from God.
(3) But for His honour (Pro_3:9).
Conclusion--Repent of your neglect of this duty. Perform it for the future. Consider--
1. The law of God commands it.
2. The law of nature (Mat_7:12).
3. God hath made it our brothers due, and so we rob him unless we give.
4. A blessing is connected with it (Act_20:35).
5. Hereby we imitate God (Mat_5:48; Luk_6:36).
6. Unless we give we have no love for God (1Jn_3:17).
7. Nor true religion (Jam_1:27).
8. What we have is not our own, but Gods, to be laid out according to His will (Luk_16:12; 1Ch_29:11).
9. Yet Himself will repay us what we have so disbursed (Pro_19:17).
10. Hence this is the way to lay up our treasures in heaven (1Ti_6:17-19; Mat_6:19-20).
11. It is the best way to prosper and sanctify what ye have here (Pro_28:27; Deu_15:7-11).
12. You shall be judged according to your performance or neglect of this duty (Mat_25:34-42). (Bp. Beveridge.)
Liberality to Christian brethren
I. Specially needed.
II. Specially claimed.
III. Specially rewarded. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Expressions of Christian love
I. Benevolence.
1. To the brethren.
2. To strangers.
3. To enemies.
II. Sympathy.
1. With the happy.
2. With the sorrowful.
III. Unity.
1. In Christian feeling.
2. This requires humility in aim, in thought. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Given to hospitality.--
Hospitality
I. Implies--
1. Our indifferency about the world.
2. Willingness to communicate what we have to others (1Ti_6:17).
3. Our supplying strangers as well as others with necessaries (1Pe_4:9).
II. Reasons.
1. A priori. We should do to others as we would have them do to us (Mat_7:12):
2. A posteriori. Because of the good we may get by it. Some have entertained angels (Heb_13:2; Gen_18:3; Gen_19:2); and prophets (1Ki_17:10-16; 2Ki_5:8-27; Mat_25:43). (Bishop Beveridge.)
Christian hospitality
I. Its trials.
1. The whim and eccentricity of the guest. There are a great many excellent people whose temperament makes them a nuisance in any house where they stay. On short acquaintance, they will keep unseasonable hours, have all the peculiarities of the gormandiser or the dyspeptic, and in a thousand ways afflict the household which proposes to take care of them. Added to all, they stay too long. Gerrit Smith, the philanthropist, asked at his breakfast table, on the day when he hoped that the long-protracted guests would depart, O Lord, bless this provision, and our friends who leave us to-day! But there are alleviations. Perhaps they have not had the same refining influences about them that you have had. Perhaps it is your duty, by example, to show them a better way. Perhaps they are sent to be a trial for the development of your patience. Perhaps it is to make your home the brighter when they are gone. When our guests are cheery, and fascinating, and elegant, it is very easy to entertain them; but when we find in them that which is antagonistic to our taste and sentiment, it is a positive triumph when we can be given to hospitality.
2. The toil and expense of exercising it. When you introduce a foreign element into the domestic machinery, though you may declare that they must take things as they find them, the Martha will break in. The ungovernable stove, the unmasticable joint, the delayed marketing, the difficulty of being presentable, etc. Yet we may serve God with plate, and cutlery, and broom, just as certainly as with psalm-book and liturgy. But you are not to toil unnecessarily. Though the fare be plain, cheerful presidency of the table and cleanliness of appointments will be good enough for anybody that ever comes to your house. I want to lift this idea of Christian entertainment out of a positive bondage into a glorious inducement. Suppose it were announced that the Lord Jesus Christ would come to town this week, what woman in this house would not be glad to wash for Him, or spread for Him a bed, or bake bread for Him? He is coming. Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these, My brethren, ye have done it to Me.
II. Its rewards.
1. The Divine benediction. When any one attends to this duty, Gods blessing comes upon him, upon his companion, upon his children.
2. The good wishes and prayers of our guests. I do not think ones house ever gets over having had a good man or woman abide there. George Whitefield used to scratch a text on his window, and in one case, after he left, the whole household was converted by it. The woman of Shunem furnished a little room for Elisha, and all the ages have heard the consequences. On a winter night my father entertained Trueman Osborne, the evangelist, and that, among others, was the means of saving my soul. How many of our guests have brought to us condolence, and sympathy, and help! It is said of St. Sebald, that in his Christian rounds he used to stop for entertainment at the house of a poor cartwright. Coming there one day, he found him and his family freezing for the lack of fuel. St. Sebald ordered the man to bring some icicles and throw them on the hearth; whereupon they began to blaze immediately, and the freezing family were warmed by them. How often have our guests come in to gather up the cold, freezing sorrows of our life, kindling them into illumination, and warmth, and good cheer. He who opens his house to Christian hospitality, turns those who are strangers into friends. Some day you will be sitting in loneliness, watching a bereavement, and you will get a letter, and there you will read the story of thanks for your Christian generosity long years before, and how they have heard afar off of your trouble. When we take people into our houses as Christian guests, we take them into our sympathies for ever. In Dort a soldier stopped at a house, desiring shelter. At first he was refused admittance, but when he showed his credentials he was admitted. In the night-time two ruffians broke in, but no sooner had they come over the door-sill than the armed guest met them. There are no bandits prowling around to destroy our houses; but how often our guests become our defenders. We gave them shelter first, and afterwards they fought for our reputation, for our property, for our soul.
3. We shall have hospitality shown to us and to ours. In the upturnings of this life, who knows where we may be thrown, and how much we may need an open door? There may come no such crisis to us, but our children may be thrown into some such strait. Among the Greeks, after an entertainment they take a piece of lead and cut it in two, and the host takes one half and the guest the other as they part. These are handed down from generation to generation, and after awhile perhaps one of the families in want or in trouble go out with this one piece of lead and find the other family with the corresponding piece, and no sooner is the tally completed than the old hospitality is aroused, and eternal friendship pledged. So the memory of Christian hospitality will go down from generation to generation, and the tally will never be lost. (T. De Witt Talmage, D.D.)
Bless them which persecute you--
Never curse, but only bless your persecutors
1. From virtues towards suffering brethren, the apostle now passes to the spirit to be maintained towards persecutors.
2. All wrongs are hard to be endured; and the Christian knows that he ought not to suffer for righteousness sake, and that his persecutors are deserving of punishment. If, therefore, he can secure protection by an appeal to legal authority, he ought to make that appeal. But when there is no such appeal then comes in the temptation, not simply to lodge an appeal with the great supreme Judge, but to invoke His interposition to smite the persecutor with a curse. The feeling that I am wronged is strengthened by the conviction that my wrong is detrimental to Gods kingdom, and therefore an injury to the race. Punishment, therefore, would be agreeable to strict justice, but would it also be good for me to invoke or for God to inflict? Not so, says the apostle. Not so, says Jesus. Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are made of, etc. Therefore bless them which persecute you, etc.
3. The command and example of our Lord aught to be decisive for all Christians (Mat_5:43-48). But why ought we thus to act towards persecutors?
I. The persecutor usually is but resenting what he conceives to be a wrong, not only against himself and society, but against his religion and his God. There are, no doubt, men who avail themselves of the opportunity afforded by the prevalence of the persecuting spirit to give effect to their private hatreds, or to enrich themselves by unrighteous plunder. And others are stung into persecuting activity because the Christians holy conversation rebukes their iniquity. But real persecutors are moved by zeal for what they conceive to be religion. It may be a false religion, as idolatry or an incomplete religion, as Judaism, or a corrupted religion, as Romanism; but whatever the special character of the religion whoso interests are supposed to be in danger, it will be that which is generally regarded as being true. This it is which gives such relentless and terrible earnestness to persecutors. They verily think with themselves that they ought to do these things; and that they are doing God service. This, of course, will not avail to justify their conduct; but it furnishes one reason why we should bless those who persecute us. For they are impelled by conscience, and by their apprehension of what is due from them to society and to God.
II. The time for the cursing has not yet come, but is kept back, in order that if possible the injurious men may be brought to a better mind. God was more wronged by men than we can ever be. Yet He not only exercised a marvellous forbearance, but, out of earnest pity for the offenders, spared not His own Son in order to bring back the guilty race. We have been saved, and therefore these people who are still without hate us. But God loves them still, and His purpose is to save them, and He requires of us to do what we can to accomplish this desirable result.
III. Real persecutors are usually men who are worth winning. They are men whose force of character and power of aggressive work would be of immense service in the cause of truth and righteousness. Hence Saul is far more likely to become a chosen vessel of the Lord than his prudent master Gamaliel. And though every persecutor is not a Saul, yet if he is earnest of persecution he is a man of more than ordinary power for service in the cause of Christ. Therefore curse him not, but only bless him still.
IV. There is much more hope of the conversion of earnest persecutors than might at first appear. There is small hope of those who can listen to the gospel and go away as indifferent as when they came. But the man who persecutes earnestly, feels strongly, and thinks vigorously; and when his violence has somewhat abated his wrath, and he begins to feel in what an unpleasant business he is engaged, he is almost sure to think of some other aspects of the question. The truth may then begin to scintillate within his soul, growing brighter as he pursues the meditation, till, by the grace of the Spirit of truth, his heart relents, his conscience begins its work of self-accusation, and he is won. Maintaining, as we do most firmly, the miraculous character of Sauls conversion, that does not hinder us from admitting the probability that the spirit in which Stephen died, and in which others less noted submitted to the fiery persecution, may have made a profound impression on the zealots mind. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church. Men learned to live and die in the spirit of our text, and the exhibition of such a spirit has availed to save myriads. Conclusion: Whatever the result of such self-denial here, it will not fail of its reward hereafter (Mat_5:11-12; Heb_12:2). (W. Tyson.)
Blessing persecutors
When the trial of Sir Thomas More was ended, and he was judged guilty of death, being asked if he had anything to say, he replied: My lords, I have but to say that, like as the blessed apostle St. Paul was present at the death of the martyr Stephen, keeping their clothes that stoned him, and yet be now both saints in heaven, and there shall continue friends for ever, so I trust, and shall therefore pray, that though your lordships have been on earth my judges, yet we may hereafter meet in heaven together, to our everlasting salvation: and God preserve you all, especially my sovereign lord the king, and grant him faithful counsellors. (H. O. Mackey.)
Blessings on persecutors
At Samatave (Madagascar) on the eve of the bombardment by the French, all the natives, from the governor downwards, were at a prayer-meeting, and there were no prayers for the lives of their enemies, and no cries for vengeance upon them. Prayers for a righteous vindication, for guidance, for faith to trust where they could not see, and for eventual peace and goodwill were the only petitions of the much-injured Malagasy. (G. Shaw.)
How to treat persecutors
The text teaches us--
I. How we should never treat our persecutors. Curse not. The temptation to revengeful retaliation is not easy to be resisted by even the most docile. We must be manly, and when annoyed by persecution we are extremely liable to regard manliness as the synonym of pugnacity. To turn again upon a formidable foe requires courage, but that may be moral cowardice. Much of the courage that is crowned with honours is mere animalism. To refrain from injuring one who has injured us is the highest type of manliness. To persecute persecutors--
1. Wilt-do you no good. Is revenge sweet? Yes; if the triumph of devils over a soul taken captive is sweet.
2. Will do you harm. It will only inflame those passions which Christ came to stamp out.
3. Will injure your persecutors. It will only incense them in their persecuting work.
II. How we should always treat our persecutors. Bless them that persecute you. The word is twice used. All our treatment of persecutors must be in harmony with it. God, Christ, the Spirit, and the angels are saying to you, Bless your persccutors! But how?
1. With your pity, i.e., the pity which can weep over the erring ones (Luk_19:41). All who are antagonistic to Christianity need, if they do not deserve, it.
2. With your patience. They may see their folly by and by, and repent of it. Christ had patience with Saul, the champion of persecutors. And since the chief of sinners was converted, do not despair of any.
3. With your prayers (Mat_5:44). In proportion as we can pray for God to bless our bitterest enemies are we Christlike (Act_7:60).
4. With your pardon. There is no force in the universe so mighty and God-like as that of forgiving love.
5. If need be, with the blessings of your purse (Rom_12:20). No persecutor can stand that long (1Pe_3:9). It is hard, you say. Yes; but, like every other difficult thing, it becomes easy by practice and perseverance. The lesson is only to be learnt at the Cross. (E.D. Solomon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 13. Distributing. Making the needs of fellow saints your…
13. Distributing. Making the needs of fellow saints your own and helping them. Given to hospitality. This duty was especially needful in those early days when Christians were so often driven from their homes by persecution.
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.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Rom_12:12. Patient in tribulation.—θλίψις, a pressing together, pressure, from…
CRITICAL NOTES
Rom_12:12. Patient in tribulation.—θλίψις, a pressing together, pressure, from θλίβω, to press. So in Mar_3:9, “lest they should throng Him.”
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Rom_12:13.—Partaking of your good things with the needy. You give money; they give faith in God. Hospitality essential in those times to the spread of Christianity.
Rom_12:16.—Mutually mind the same thing. Let there be unity of sentiment. Do not affect the high things of this world. Let not your wisdom be the vain fancy of self-conceit.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Rom_12:13-16
Christian communism and not monastic separation.—The monastic idea might have in it a germ of goodness; but there was in it a selfish spirit going contrary to the divine order, and tending to the dwarfing of human nature. Monastic institutions breed corruption. However pure and well-meaning at first, they decline, and are likely to become hotbeds of immorality. Surely man was not made to be a monk. Alone, man perishes. If he do not perish physically, he perishes intellectually and morally. Monasteries can never produce the highest type of men. If there have been great men in monasteries—and we must admit their presence—the greatness arose not by virtue of the system. If the countenance be an iudex of the man, then the pictures of monks do not speak favourably of the monastic institution as a school for the development of manhood. By separation we are belittled; by true communism we are enlarged. God has set us in families, and there we have a communistic idea. The tribe is an enlarged family; the Church is a divine family; the Church of the firstborn in heaven is a vast family. In the family and in the Church there may be differences, but there should be oneness. Sympathy, feeling together with, binds the family. This should unite the Church; this should bless and glorify the world.
I. Christian communism expresses itself in benevolent deeds.—Christian communism does not declare that there is to be no individual or separate right in property. The Christian Church in its youthful ardour tried the principle and proved it a failure, and did not repeat the experiment. St. Peter did not advocate common rights. Whilst it remained, was it not their own? After it was sold, was it not in their own power? Christian communism means, as we understand it, that one brother is not to spend money in useless extravagance while other brethren are dying of starvation. Can that man be called a Christian who pampers his dogs and his horses, who creates for himself a thousand unnecessary wants, while Lazarus, for whom Christ died, for whom a glorious heaven waits, lies at the gate, full of sores, unfed, untended, and unhoused? The man who does not want to do good can easily raise objections. He can say, If I distribute to the necessity of saints, I may encourage imposture, I may pauperise and prevent the working of self-help. Eleemosynary aid increases the number of voluntary paupers, and is harmful to society. But the man who sincerely desires to be helpful will not create objections. He will find out the saints and minister to their necessities. If the saint turn out a sinner, the benevolent man may comfort himself with the thought that the sinner helped may feel that there is some good in the world. Sometimes we read thrilling tales of the fabulous wealth made by beggars and impostors. Would the writers of those tales exchange places even if the impostors’ proceedings were legitimate? Is the begging profession likely to become overcrowded? We want more practicalness, less selfishness, and more benevolence. “Distributing to the necessities of saints, given to hospitality,” contains a lesson which modern Christianised society has not properly learnt. In connection with the precept let us ask, Is it true that so much as a thousand pounds has been paid for flowers for one night’s entertainment at the houses of certain leaders of London society? Can it be true that a dinner-party given by an American millionairess in London cost no less than four thousand five hundred pounds? Can it be true that, at the same time, thousands upon thousands in London are pinched and drag on a miserable existence? Is it a probable story that the owner of an estate derived an annual income of two hundred and fifty thousand pounds from the property, and had not time to consider the claims of those who helped to make the wealth and who sought redress? The claimants might be mistaken; their course might be wrong; some of their proceedings excite loathing rather than compassion. But surely there might have been consideration. In the interests of humanity we may hope that the story is a fiction. As we look upon starving women and children we may well ask, As for these poor sheep, what have they done? Surely the children are God’s saints, and their necessities ought to be relieved. Recent commotions teach us one sad lesson at least, and it is that Christianity has not leavened the whole of society.
II. Christian communism has a hard lesson for the oppressed.—“Bless them which persecute you; bless, and curse not.” These words lose their primitive significance. The religious persecutor is now harmless; so that we may be allowed to say, No need for soldiers and policemen if this precept were obeyed. No good end is served by cursing persecutors, by maiming overlookers, by burning property. The man who curses does himself and his cause great damage. If agitation be needful, the ruthless destruction of property. can serve no good end. If agitation be needful, why can it not be conducted on peaceful lines? The primitive Church acted on the principle of blessing the persecutors, and it became victorious.
III. Christian communism teaches sympathetic projection.—“Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.” The man who has true sympathy throws himself into the position of others. He projects himself, or part of himself, into the position of the other self. This state is reached by the few, for our own sorrows are greater than the sorrows of others. Tears flow freely at the graveside of our loved ones. How often we can talk, and even laugh, as we follow other loved ones to the burial! Poetry can touch us as it sings “Somebody’s darling lies there”; but how callous we often are as some-body’s darling, not being our darling, is being let down into the tomb! If we cannot weep with the weepers, we often find it more difficult to laugh with the laughers. “Rejoice with them that do rejoice.” Rejoice that my defeat leads to the victory of somebody else. I have tried for years to produce a good painting, to write a taking book, to compose popular sermons. I have failed; and can I rejoice when I learn that my friend has a painting hung in the gallery, or that the publishers have paid him handsomely for his work, or that the crowds are listening to his eloquence every Sunday? “Rejoice with them that do rejoice.” I can laugh with the laughers, if the laughter have no reflection on my failure; I can rejoice with the joyful, if there be no reason for the working of envy. Thus I often find it easier to rejoice with the joyful who live ten miles away than to rejoice with the joyful who is my next-door neighbour. Laughter is contagious. Alas that sincere rejoicing with others is not always contagious! We can only sincerely “rejoice with those that do rejoice” as we are “of the same mind one toward another.” Mind-sameness is not intellectual monotony. “The same mind” does not preclude the idea of different mental proclivities. The working man, the business man, the professional man, the scientific man, may all “be of the same mind one toward another.” “The same mind” refers to the emotional rather than the intellectual side of man’s nature. The same mind pervading the community would produce glorious harmony; the same mind stretching through all ranks and classes of men would bind all together.
IV. Christian communism looks downward.—“Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate.” The communism of the world is the opposite of this. It minds high things if they can be made subservient to its own enrichment. The man of low estate becomes a communist, a socialist, a member of the Fabian Society. Then he sets to work to level down the high things, and to level up with those high things himself, a man of low estate. If St. Paul were to rise from the dead, and were to say in a London drawing-room, where the crush is great to get in touch with the high things of modern society, “Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate,” he would be regarded as a very objectionable character; and if he cared, would pass a very unpleasant evening, if indeed no worse fate were awarded him “Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate.” Humanity’s high things are often enough divinity’s low things. Men of low estate were the Pauls and the Peters; men of high things were the wretched Neros. Time has strange reversals; and what is great and noble in our time may be little and ignoble in some after-time. What a conclusion! “Be not wise in your own conceits.” It is good to be wise; it is bad to be conceited. The truly wise will consider the position and claims of others. The self-conceited and self-opinionated see little beyond their own small spheres. These are the people to be shut up in monastic seclusion.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Rom_12:16-17
Our duty to equals.—Hooker’s great principle may perhaps be applied to the moral as well as the ceremonial question—that the omission of a point in Scripture does not decide against it, but only throws us upon the law of reason in the matter. We cannot judge from the comparative omission of this or that class of duties in Scripture, that therefore anything is decided as to its importance. Thus the New Testament says comparatively little about duties to equals, and enlarges upon duties to inferiors. But we may not infer from this that duties to equals do not rank as high and are not as trying a class of duties as those to inferiors or to sufferers. What may be called the condescending life was comparatively a new branch of morals; it therefore demanded a prominent place. This is not a subject altogether without a special interest in the present period of our Church, during which this branch of Christian work has been so largely developed.… It is impossible not to see that numbers who never would have been happy in any other way have been made happy and satisfied by the habitual exercise of compassion.… Montaigne says there is a spice of cruelty in compassion, because it requires pain to gratify its own special nature. There being, however, this peculiar affection in us, which was obviously of such immense practical power for dealing with this world as we find it, … how was it that the old world so entirely over-looked this wonderful practical instrument?… And we may remark how paganism has blunted and suppressed even the natural virtues.… Many have fled from the bitterness of active life to seek repose in the ministration to inferiors. They have fled to the realm of compassion for peace. A great man gone is contemplated in all the softening light of pity, which, as we are told, is akin to love. And yet we know if the man were to rise to life again, immediately every old jar would come back. Life would rob him at once of the refining hue; it would lower; it would vulgarise again. The condescending life is a devoted life, but it is at the same time a protected life. The hardest trial of humility must not be towards a person to whom you are superior, but towards a person with whom you are on equal footing of competition. Generosity is more tried by an equal than by an inferior. To leave the realm of compassion for that of equality is to leave the realm of peace for that of war. Compassion is a state of peace.—Mozley.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain 13. “Ministering to the necessities of the saints, pursuing…
13. “Ministering to the necessities of the saints, pursuing hospitality.” While we are to make glad the hearts of the saints by our Christian philanthropy, a special emphasis here is laid on hospitality, which we are not simply to practice, but actually to run after. It is sad to see this beautiful and amiable grace so rapidly evanescing from the church. When an old idolater called at Abraham’s tent at nightfall, and pursuant to patriarchal hospitality received a kindly welcome, and having enjoyed the evening repast, on his refusal to join in family prayer, was ejected by the patriarch, to abide his destiny in the darkness and the storm of an oriental desert, and God immediately, speaking from heaven said, “Abraham, I have borne with that old sinner a hundred years; can you not stand him one night?” Immediately Abraham rushes out into the storm, calling aloud, “Come back! come back!” So the old idolater, rendering his tent, said, “What sort of a man art thou, having cast me out, now calleth me back?” Then says Abraham, “Because my God rebuked me, saying that He has borne with you a hundred years, though a hard old sinner, and that He thinks I ought to stand you one night.” “Then,” says the old man, “if that is the sort of God that you worship, I want you to tell me all about Him.” So he spent the night preaching to him, and the idolater, who in the beginning had refused to worship his God, was happily converted before day.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain Rom 12:13 - Rom 12:15.
Romans
STILL ANOTHER TRIPLET
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Rom 12:13 - Rom 12:15.
In these verses we pass from the innermost region of communion with God into the wide field of duties in relation to men. The solitary secrecies of rejoicing hope, endurance, and prayer unbroken, are exchanged for the publicities of benevolence and sympathy. In the former verses the Christian soul is in ‘the secret place of the Most High’; in those of our text he comes forth with the light of God on his face, and hands laden with blessings. The juxtaposition of the two suggests the great principles to which the morality of the New Testament is ever true-that devotion to God is the basis of all practical helpfulness to man, and that practical helpfulness to man is the expression and manifestation of devotion to God.
The three sets of injunctions in our text, dissimilar though they appear, have a common basis. They are varying forms of one fundamental disposition-love; which varies in its forms according to the necessities of its objects, bringing temporal help to the needy, meeting hostility with blessing, and rendering sympathy to both the glad and the sorrowful. There is, further, a noteworthy connection, not in sense but in sound, between the first and second clauses of our text, which is lost in our English Version. ‘Given to hospitality’ is, as the Revised margin shows, literally, pursuing hospitality. Now the Greek, like the English word, has the special meaning of following with a hostile intent, and the use of it in the one sense suggests its other meaning to Paul, whose habit of ‘going off at a word,’ as it has been called, is a notable feature of his style. Hence, this second injunction, of blessing the persecutors, comes as a kind of play upon words, and is obviously occasioned by the verbal association. It would come more appropriately at a later part of the chapter, but its occurrence here is characteristic of Paul’s idiosyncrasy. We may represent the connection of these two clauses by such a rendering as: Pursue hospitality, and as for those who pursue you, bless, and curse not.
We may look at these three flowers from the one root of love.
I. Love that speaks in material help.
We have here two special applications of that love which Paul regards as ‘the bond of perfectness,’ knitting all Christians together. The former of these two is love that expresses itself by tangible material aid. The persons to be helped are ‘saints,’ and it is their ‘needs’ that are to be aided. There is no trace in the Pauline Epistles of the community of goods which for a short time prevailed in the Church of Jerusalem and which was one of the causes that led to the need for the contribution for the poor saints in that city which occupied so much of Paul’s attention at Corinth and elsewhere. But, whilst Christian love leaves the rights of property intact, it charges them with the duty of supplying the needs of the brethren. They are not absolute and unconditioned rights, but are subject to the highest principles of stewardship for God, trusteeship for men, and sacrifice for Christ. These three great thoughts condition and limit the Christian man’s possession of the wealth, which, in a modified sense, it is allowable for him to call his own. His brother’s need constitutes a first charge on all that belongs to him, and ought to precede the gratification of his own desires for superfluities and luxuries. If we ‘see our brother have need and shut up our bowels of compassion against him’ and use our possessions for the gratification of our own whims and fancies, ‘how dwelleth the love of God in us?’ There are few things in which Christian men of this day have more need for the vigorous exercise of conscience, and for enlightenment, than in their getting, and spending, and keeping money. In that region lies the main sphere of usefulness for many of us; and if we have not been ‘faithful in that which is least,’ our unfaithfulness there makes it all but impossible that we should be faithful in that which is greatest. The honest and rigid contemplation of our own faults in the administration of our worldly goods, might well invest with a terrible meaning the Lord’s tremendous question, ‘If ye have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who shall give you that which is your own?’
The hospitality which is here enjoined is another shape which Christian love naturally took in the early days. When believers were a body of aliens, dispersed through the world, and when, as they went from one place to another, they could find homes only amongst their own brethren, the special circumstances of the time necessarily attached special importance to this duty; and as a matter of fact, we find it recognised in all the Epistles of the New Testament as one of the most imperative of Christian duties. ‘It was the unity and strength which this intercourse gave that formed one of the great forces which supported Christianity.’ But whilst hospitality was a special duty for the early Christians, it still remains a duty for us, and its habitual exercise would go far to break down the frowning walls which diversities of social position and of culture have reared between Christians.
II. The love that meets hostility with blessing.
There are perhaps few words in Scripture which have been more fruitful of the highest graces than this commandment. What a train of martyrs, from primitive times to the Chinese Christians in recent years, have remembered these words, and left their legacy of blessing as they laid their heads on the block or stood circled by fire at the stake! For us, in our quieter generation, actual persecution is rare, but hostility of ill-will more or less may well dog our steps, and the great principle here commended to us is that we are to meet enmity with its opposite, and to conquer by love. The diamond is cut with sharp knives, and each stroke brings out flashing beauty. There are kinds of wood which are fragrant when they burn; and there are kinds which show their veining under the plane. It is a poor thing if a Christian character only gives back like a mirror the expression of the face that looks at it. To meet hate with hate, and scorn with scorn, is not the way to turn hate into love and scorn into sympathy. Indifferent equilibrium in the presence of active antagonism is not possible for us. As long as we are sensitive we shall wince from a blow, or a sarcasm, or a sneer. We must bless in order to keep ourselves from cursing. The lesson is very hard, and the only way of obeying it fully is to keep near Christ and drink in His spirit who prayed ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’
III. Love that flows in wide sympathy.
Of the two forms of sympathy which are here enjoined, the former is the harder. To ‘rejoice with them that do rejoice’ makes a greater demand on unselfish love than to ‘weep with them that weep.’ Those who are glad feel less need of sympathy than do the sorrowful, and envy is apt to creep in and mar the completeness of sympathetic joy. But even the latter of the two injunctions is not altogether easy. The cynic has said that there is ‘something not wholly displeasing in the misfortunes of our best friends’; and, though that is an utterly worldly and unchristian remark, it must be confessed not to be altogether wanting in truth.
But for obedience to both of these injunctions, a heart at leisure from itself is needed to sympathise; and not less needed is a sedulous cultivation of the power of sympathy. No doubt temperament has much to do with the degree of our obedience; but this whole context goes on the assumption that the grace of God working on temperament strengthens natural endowments by turning them into ‘gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us.’ Though we live in that awful individuality of ours, and are each, as it were, islanded in ourselves ‘with echoing straits between us thrown,’ it is possible for us, as the result of close communion with Jesus Christ, to bridge the chasms, and to enter into the joy of a brother’s joy. He who groaned in Himself as He drew near to the grave of Lazarus, and was moved to weep with the weeping sisters, will help us, in the measure in which we dwell in Him and He in us, that we too may look ‘not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.’
On the whole, love to Jesus is the basis of love to man, and love to man is the practical worship of Christianity. As in all things, so in the exhortations which we have now been considering, Jesus is our pattern and power. He Himself communicates with our necessities, and opens His heart to give us hospitable welcome there. He Himself has shown us how to meet and overcome hatred with love, and hurt with blessing. He shares our griefs, and by sharing lessens them. He shares our joys, and by sharing hallows them. The summing up of all these specific injunctions is, ‘Let that mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain communicating to the necessities of the saints; given to…
communicating to the necessities of the saints; given to hospitality . ["Communicating" (koinoonountes) means, literally, to be or act as a partner. Sometimes it means to receive ( Rom_15:27 ; 1Pe_4:13 ; 1Ti_5:22 ). Here, as in Gal_6:6 ; it means to bestow. The wants and needs of God's people are to be ours to the extent of our ability. This precept is obeyed by very few. "The scanty manner," says Lard, "in which the rich disciples of the present day share the wants of the poor, is a sham. From their thousands they dole out dimes; and from storehouses full, mete out handfuls. . . . Such precepts as the present will, in the day of eternity, prove the fatal reef on which many a saintly bark has stranded." "Hospitality" (philoxenia) means, literally, "love for strangers." It is often found in Biblical precept and example ( Gen_19:1-2 ; Job_31:16-17 ; Mat_10:40 ; Mat_10:42 ; Mat_25:43 ; Luk_10:7 ; Luk_11:5 ; 1Ti_5:10 ; Tit_1:8 ; 1Pe_4:9 ; Heb_13:2 ). In apostolic days the lack of hotels made hospitality imperative, and the journeys, missions and exiles of Christians gave the churches constant opportunities to exercise this grace. "Given" (diookontes) means to pursue. It is translated "follow after" ( Rom_9:30-31 ; Rom_14:19 ). The idea is that Christ's disciple is not to passively wait till hospitality is unavoidable, but he is to be aggressively hospitable, seeking opportunity to entertain strangers. Hospitality is not to be limited to Christians, and Biblical hospitality is not to be confused with that so-called hospitality which bestows lavish entertainment upon congenial spirits from a general love of conviviality and good fellowship, and a desire for reputation as a generous host. Biblical hospitality is born of a desire to help the poor, especially the godly poor-- Luk_1:53 ; Luk_14:12-14 ]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 12:13 be ready to help them: The verb Paul…
12:13 be ready to help them: The verb Paul uses is related to the familiar Greek word koinōnia (“fellowship”). When needs arise among our Christian brothers and sisters, we are not just to meet their needs; we should also enter into fellowship with these fellow Christians in ways that extend beyond material gifts.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.