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Matthew
Henry Commentary
Therefore we ought to
give the more diligent heed to the things which we have heard, v. 1.
This is the first way by which we are to show our esteem of Christ and
of the gospel. It is the great concern of every one under the gospel to
give the most earnest heed to all gospel discoveries and directions, to
prize them highly in his judgment as matters of the greatest importance,
to hearken to them diligently in all the opportunities he has for that
purpose, to read them frequently, to meditate on them closely, and to
mix faith with them. We must embrace them in our hearts and affections,
retain them in our memories, and finally regulate our words and actions
according to them. II. By way of argument, he adds strong motives to
enforce the exhortation. 1. From the great loss we shall sustain if we
do not take this earnest heed to the things which we have heard: We
shall let them slip. They will leak, and run out of our heads, lips,
and lives, and we shall be great losers by our neglect. Learn, (1.) When
we have received gospel truths into our minds, we are in danger of
letting them slip. Our minds and memories are like a leaky vessel, they
do not without much care retain what is poured into them; this proceeds
from the corruption of our natures, the enmity and subtlety of Satan (he
steals away the word), from the entanglements and snares of the world,
the thorns that choke the good seed. (2.) Those meet with an
inconceivable loss who let gospel truths, which they had received, slip
out of their minds; they have lost a treasure far better than thousands
of gold and silver; the seed is lost, their time and pains in hearing
lost, and their hopes of a good harvest lost; all is lost, if the gospel
be lost. (3.) This consideration should be a strong motive both to our
attention to the gospel and our retention of it; and indeed, if we do
not well attend, we shall not long retain the word of God; inattentive
hearers will soon be forgetful hearers.
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