CRITICAL NOTES
Romans 10:12.—A favourite Pauline expression declaring the exuberant grace of Christ.
Romans 10:13.—Double argument for Christ’s divinity. He is called Jehovah, and is invoked.
Romans 10:15.—The Midrash shir Hasschium upon these words, “the voice of truth,” etc., says, “This is the voice of King Messiah crying out, and saying, How beautiful upon the mountains,” etc. Those Gentiles who have never heard the gospel preached cannot be condemned for want of faith in Christ.
Romans 10:17.—The message of the prophets, but received as coming from God Himself.
Romans 10:18.—These words being spoken literally of the preaching of the heavens to the Gentiles, touching the power, wisdom, and goodness of God, and the psalmist speaking after of God’s teaching His people by the law, the apostle accommodates these words to the revelation of God’s power, wisdom, and goodness in the gospel to the heathen. To all the earth; all the Gentiles had now heard the gospel. Paul’s answer to the objector—all the ends of the earth have beard, well might the Jews. By the words, “unto all the earth,” the Rabbins understood the servants of Messiah.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Romans 10:12-18
A missionary sermon.—When St. Paul quoted the prophet, the vision of a Christ-won world had not been realised. It is still one of the unfulfilled prophecies. Yet the gospel has exercised a splendid influence.
I. The influence of the gospel is readily shown by contrasts.—
1. When Paul wrote this epistle, the ancient Roman virtue, the admirable simplicity, and unconquerable courage had died away. So, too, had the old religion. The decay and corruption of it were accelerated by the engrafting of new and dark superstitions. The change, too, in social life was startling. Vice was deified. The secret of this? The pagan world knew not God. The sound of the gospel had not yet gone forth.
2. But some had heard the word, and the influence upon their lives and consciences was startling. The influence was irresistible. It modified private life, individual life, social life, state life.
3. The modern testimony as shown by a glance at English life. True we have too much cause for “the bitter cry.” The theory of the present day surpasses, startlingly, the reality. But a thousand evidences exist to show that England has caught the spirit of Him “who went about doing good.”
II. Much yet remains to be done.—E.g., picture rapidly the dark spots of the earth. The prophet’s vision is a vision still. The task before us is a superhuman one.
1. Look at the work in its vastness. Even here in England there is heathenism. Abroad, roughly speaking, eight hundred millions are heathens. You try to convert a man; ten men, a hundred could not do it, but for God’s help. One man! Multiply that by eight hundred millions, and verily the work is great! Looking at the matter from a human standpoint, the work is hopeless, disheartening.
2. There are multiplying disabilities. Were all these millions who knew not God of one nationality, the work would appear prodigious. We can measure up the magnitude of the task when already our Bible is read and taught in two hundred and sixty tongues.
3. There is the added on disability of the unscrupulous trader dogging the missionary’s course. The truly business man is a noble man; but we have to take account of the blacklegs of the commercial world.
4. The work suffers from fewness of labourers and lack of funds.
III. The prophet’s vision must be fulfilled.—And man must lend a helping hand. God’s part of the work is sure enough. But He works through men. Men are God’s instruments. Through men He forced the hand of Pharaoh; through men he found a home for Israel; through men the triumphs of Christianity have often been won. What is our response? This country’s wealth is fabulous. Fifteen hundred millions sterling will but barely represent the private income of England’s citizens. Against that we have raised one and a half million a year—a princely sum, if we forget to compare, say, with the expenditure on our navy, army, drink bill, and so on. Yet “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.” Of course there are two sides to every question. Here I pointed out the side of obligation. What about a natural response? Or on the consideration of charity, the brotherhood side of the question? The pride of the present age should be to have a part in helping on the kingdom of our God and of His Christ, to swell the grand and noble company of men who would crown the Saviour Lord of earth and Lord of heaven!—Albert Lee.
Romans 10:15. Three beautiful progressive courses.—There is a certain sense in which it is true that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. While we believe that there must be both the idea of beauty in the perceiving subject and certain attractive qualities in the perceived object capable of exciting or helping on the sensation, we must allow that the mind has the power of transferring its ideas to the outward object and investing it with beauty. The painter sees beauty in form and colour; the musician finds only beauty in certain waves of sound, in the harmonious progression of notes. A thing or a person becomes to us beautiful by the power of association. Thus it is that the feet of the messenger are beautiful, not in themselves, but because they are instrumental in bearing a joyful message. The mere personality of the messenger is lost in the glory of the message, and he becomes beautiful by reason of transferred qualities. He shines, as it were, by reason of borrowed plumes. We are thinking rather of the message and its bearing upon ourselves than of the messenger as we sing, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!”
I. The progressive course of the messenger is beautiful.—In these days, as we think of the preacher, we should say, How beautiful is the mouth, how sweet are the modulated tones, how charming is the voice, of him who preaches the gospel of peace! for we are too often more concerned with the style and manner of the messenger than with the subject-matter of the message. Sometimes at concerts we listen to the singer who sings in Italian. We cannot tell the meaning of the words, but we are charmed all the same. Are not too many in our congregations careless about understanding the preacher’s message? Italian would do well enough for them if it were given so as to charm the listening ear. The messenger should be beautiful, not as a well-tuned musical instrument, not as a mere attractive human machine, but as the bearer of a great divine thought. However, the feet set before us the progressive course of the messenger as well as of his message. He runs on a divine errand. He is sent by divine commission. This opens out to us:
1. The dignity of the messenger. A common man acquires dignity when he becomes the monarch’s messenger. What dignity should attach to him who is the heaven-sent messenger of peace and good tidings to the children of men! There is a dignity which is assumed, stilted, and offensive; but there is a dignity which is transferred, natural, and becoming; and such is the quality of the dignity that characterises him whose feet are moved by a divine impulse. Preachers should feel that they are God’s ambassadors, and then they will not be soon abashed.
2. The importance of the messenger. In some quarters this is measured by the number of the letters attached to his name, by the honours he gained at the university, by the high position he holds in the Church, by his family connections, or by some other accidental and minor considerations. Surely this was not Paul’s way of reckoning. He says, “How beautiful are the feet of him that preaches the gospel of peace!” If the man have a divine message to my soul, then he is welcome and is highly esteemed.
3. The benevolence of the messenger. The preacher of the gospel of peace in modern times is often rewarded by great emolument. Even if ministers and clergymen are not always well paid, and might have done better in other professions, they are, upon the whole, well provided for, and are nearly always treated with respect and occupy high social positions; so that we cannot always be sure to what degree they are actuated by benevolent motives. However, benevolence is the ideal motive, and we may thankfully believe in many cases the real motive. And how beautiful are the feet of that messenger who is moved by a benevolent impulse! He pleases not himself, but seeks to please his fellow-creatures, so that he may bring them to Christ and to goodness. His feet run swiftly, for they are charged with the electric force of love. His eyes are beautiful, for they flash forth love-light. His voice, though naturally poor, is sweet, for it is tuned by love.
II. The progressive course of the message is beautiful.—Peace has to the apostle the full idea of the gospel salvation; the good things are the rich, displayed, saving blessings which proceed from the one salvation. The message is one of peace and good-will to the children of men. The messenger is running and working in order to establish the kingdom of God on earth. How beautiful is the progressive course of the kingdom!
1. There is about it the beauty of growth. There is beauty in the works of man, beauty in things that are made. But no beauty is equal to that of growth. In the spring season it is pleasant to notice the unfolding beauty of growing nature after the deathlike sleep and barrenness of winter. How beautiful to watch the valleys being clothed with corn, and the little hills rejoicing in the gradual putting forth of verdure! We rejoice in our children as we watch their growing and unfolding minds. There is sometimes an agony of mind as a new idea is being brought forth; but there is pleasure as that idea grows and becomes a comely creature that can be presented to the world’s intellect. The kingdom of God on earth, within a man and within a society, progresses by growth—at first small as the mustard-seed grain. Then it grows; and by-and-by it becomes a great tree, in which birds build their nests, and beneath which men may shelter.
2. There is the beauty of development. Divine growths are divine developments. They are the unfolding of divine plans and purposes. The New Testament dispensation is a development of the Old. The epistles are a development of the gospels. Some people complain about St. Paul that he has rendered the simple gospels difficult. In some respects this may be true; but if there be any truth in the charge, we must also remember to his credit that he has amplified the gospels and revealed their largeness. He has unfolded more of the length and breadth, of the depth and height, of that love which passeth knowledge. Every age should increase in knowledge; and surely we should rejoice in the increase of spiritual knowledge.
3. There is the beauty of silent but persuasive influence. “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation.” The great Founder of Christianity applies to Himself the words of Esaias: “He shall not strive nor cry; neither shall any man hear His voice in the streets.” Such is the unobtrusive method which He will employ for the purpose of accomplishing the greatest moral revolution which time has seen. Not with the sound of drums, not with the blare of trumpets, not with the clashing of battle arms, will this mighty Conqueror pursue His career and gain His wondrous conquests. Again He places before us the method in one of His inimitable parables: “The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven.” The yeast is placed in a mass foreign to itself, and by its silent and persistent agency it assimilates each separate particle until the whole lump is leavened. The good leaven of the gospel shall assimilate the whole of our race. How beautiful is the progression of grace in the soul of men, in the heart of human societies! Silently but surely does the kingdom of God extend. Silently and sweetly as the light wakes up the sleeping earth and calls forth things of beauty and sounds of harmony, so does the light of the gospel of peace wake up the sleeping energies of humanity, and create things of moral beauty and sounds of spiritual harmony. Silently and persistently as great ideas shape the movements of modern civilisation, so and more the great idea of salvation by faith in Christ has shaped barbarism into civilisation, and shall perfect and glorify the civilisation already accomplished. The history of the progressive course of the gospel in the earth is a beautiful and attractive record. How beautiful, too, is the course of the gospel in the heart of the individual! To some the study of metaphysics is delightful. What shall be said about spiritual metaphysics?
III. The progressive course of the recipient is beautiful.—Picture the recipients in a besieged city. Provisions are being exhausted; means of defence are diminishing; the situation looks dreadful; despair is written on many countenances; gloom prevails almost universally. On the hilltop the messenger comes that speaks of help and safety.
1. Thus the recipients pass from despair to hope. And this is the true result when the message of divine peace comes to the soul of man. Despair he may well feel when he finds that he cannot attain to his ideals, when he realises the painful truth that when he would do good evil is present and thwarts the high purpose, when he is baffled and overmastered as he strives to establish his own righteousness But despair gives place to hope as he hears that “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” How beautiful to see hope growing and flourishing out of and on the barren ground of despair! For it is when a man is in a despairing condition that he welcomes the hopes of the gospel, and joyfully exclaims, “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” How beautiful is the growth of hope in the soul! It is pleasant to watch the growth of the flowers in our gardens. We watch them assume their perfect shape, paint their delicate colours, produce their delicious aroma. What flower in either garden or hothouse can compare with the rich flower of hope growing in the soul garden? Its perfect shape is produced by a divine hand; its delicate colours are painted with a celestial brush; the aroma is composed of the cluster of spices gathered in the garden of the upper paradise.
2. Thus the recipients pass from danger to safety. So long as the besieged are in a despairing condition they are in danger, for despair paralyses the powers, weakens the faculties, and produces defeat. The very sight of the messenger running swiftly down the mountains is sufficient to remove despair, and thus lift out of danger. The gospel messenger not only tells of coming help, but of present help. The word of salvation is nigh thee. This messenger tells of a more powerful deliverer than Cyrus. King Jesus can deliver from worse than Babylonian bondage. We are in danger while we are trying the works of the law; we are in safety when we submit ourselves unto the righteousness of God—the righteousness revealed and offered through Christ Jesus our Lord.
3. Thus the recipients pass from sorrow to joy. In this world sorrow has its work and its benefits, but we always welcome joy. St. Paul looks upon godly sorrow, not as a continuous state, but as a force working upward and onward to divine joy. And how beautiful is the passage from sorrow to joy! Sweet is the morning light breaking over the hilltops and scattering the gloom and hideous forms of night; sweet thus is it to watch the light of divine joy gradually shining in the soul and removing all traces of sin’s dark night. Pleasant it is to watch the child’s countenance and see the opening joy of the young soul breaking through the countenance, and chasing away all marks of displeasure; pleasant thus is it to watch the countenance of God’s new-born, spiritual child, and see how the joy of heaven is chasing away all sorrow. If he have sorrow, it is because he can do so little for Him who has done so much. As, then, we look at the progressive course of the messengers, the message, and the recipients, we may indeed join with St. Paul, and say, “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”
Romans 10:15. The gospel of peace.—Why this special name for Christianity? Gospel = good tidings. Christian gospel has three chief doctrines—viz.,
1. The fatherhood of God;
2. The (necessarily following) brotherhood of man;
3. The saviourhood of Christ Jesus. From 1 and 3 follows peace with God; from 2 follows peace with men.
To prove, examine condition of those who do not know gospel. Nations who do not know 1 will be found practising self-torments, devil worship, human sacrifice, slaughter of wives and slaves at death. Grasp of 1 stops all these. Nations who do not know 2 practise constant wars, vendetta, slavery, polygamy, degradation of women. Knowledge of 2 stops these. Nations who do not know 3 practise superstitions of priestcraft and witchcraft—e.g., medicine men, witch doctors, etc. Knowledge of 3 ends the power of these. Illustrate from missionary works.
Christian cannot rest till the gospel of peace has been preached to all who need it. Heathen Indian said to American bishop, “I go out in the dark, and am afraid; you are not afraid.” Gospel of peace sheds light and ends fear.—Dr. Springett.
Romans 10:16. The rejected report.—This is the third and last time we have this interrogation recorded in Holy Writ. It originally fell from the seraphic lips of Isaiah, as a complaint that his announcements relative to Messiah—though so full and fervid and eloquent—had fallen flat upon his countrymen’s ears, and had been dismissed by them as an idle tale. It was not only a complaint, but likewise a prediction that the same heedlessness and scepticism should be the characteristics of Christ’s personal ministry, as well as the after ministry of apostles and Christian ambassadors. Hence, the second time it occurs it is in relation to Christ’s own mission (John 12:37-38). Since the days of Christ and Paul, thousands of holy and devoted servants of God have put the same inquiry, as they have thought of unheeded sermons and apparently fruitless labours.
I. That the gospel is a report.—A report divine in its origin, unique in its character, authentic in its facts, authoritative in its statements, and marvellous in its declarations. The gospel reports the most wonderful love. Declaration upon declaration of this love it contains; but all seem to be comprised in that one jewel utterance by St. John, “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (Romans 3:16). This is a volume in a verse, an ocean in a dewdrop, a hemisphere of light in a solitary luminary, an eternity of mystery and mercy! Eternity cannot exhaust its wealth of interest and wonderment! This love, then, sinner, the gospel declares, is for you. While God has loved all men in general, He likewise loves every man in particular. Sin is the only thing in creation He hates—not you, my brother. Disabuse your mind of the notion that He is a cruel tyrant, a despotic ruler, an arbitrary and a vindictive judge. Away with the false idea that He hates you. He is a tender and compassionate Father. Let me suppose that some one of you fathers and mothers have a son who was the flower of your family, the joy of your homestead, the favourite of all; so kind, genial, affectionate, and dutiful once. But, alas! by degrees he has given way to bad company, yielded to his baser propensities, and is become openly profligate, recklessly wild. What is it, I ask, that causes you so much pain, so much sorrow, so much restlessness? Is it not your deep-rooted love for him? You love your child, though you hate his evil ways. So it is with God. Your relationship to your son is His relationship to you, only infinitely closer and dearer. And your son’s recklessness of conduct is your conduct in a lesser degree to your heavenly Father; and your feelings of grief and trouble are, in an inferior sense, God’s feelings of grief and pain at your sin and foolishness. The gospel reports the most wonderful life. All life is wonderful, from that which warbles in the song of the thrush, and blushes in the beauty of the rose, to that which glows among burning ranks of seraphim. Life is an overmastering problem! But we refer not now to life in its abstract essence, or life in the sense of “being,” but to life in human embodiment—enshrined, active, visible livingness, life the fact, rather than life the principle. The life of Jesus Christ which the gospel makes known has no parallel in the history of races. The mysterious conception was grandly confirmed by the mysterious career. Unique in birth, He was unique all through. If one link in the chain be faulty, then the whole chain is a failure. But every link has been found a perfect link; the whole Life wondrously consistent, complete, unrivalled. For more than eighteen centuries this Life has been stirring humanity to its very core and centre. The great upheavings of religious thought, and advances of religious enterprise, and strugglings in Continental countries after religious liberty, etc., which characterise this period of the nineteenth century, are the result of this wonderful Christ-life. In philosophy He is the mightiest enigma. In life He is the inimitable ideal. In the world He is the absolute ruler. In the universe He is the highest attraction! From that wonderful Life, as from a fountain of eternity, has flowed vital influences which have carried verdure and freshness, beauty and blessedness, wherever they have gone. The gospel reports the most wonderful provisions. Provisions of mercy and of merit: of mercy to avert the penal blow and cancel the enormous guilt; of merit to re-dignify the acquitted rebel, and reinstate him in the eternal favour. Provisions equal to the demands of one soul, or a world of souls—“enough for each, enough for all, enough for evermore.” There is multiplied pardon, multiplied peace, multiplied joy, multiplied life, multiplied hope, multiplied riches—of grace, of goodness, of glory. In a word, there is a variety so great, a fulness so vast, a supply so magnificent and princely, that the roll of unceasing ages will fail to exhaust either the one or the other. The gospel reports the most wonderful results. Obedient to the imperial summons of the Master, to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature,” the apostles and their coadjutors—those giant sons of the cross—embarked on their sublime but hazardous enterprise, “beginning at Jerusalem.” Thence they sallied forth to the “regions beyond” and “preached Jesus and the resurrection.” In less than three hundred years after they started, the gospel had sounded its report all over the Roman empire, even in cottage and palace, and gathered trophies from among the hardy sons of toil and the ranks of Cæsar’s household. Jehovah and all the cohorts of the eternities are behind the instrumentality, so that ultimate success is certain. God hurries not, neither does He tarry. Eternity is His work-day, so that ere noon shall arrive He will effect His purposes and complete His undertaking. Do you contemplate this gospel as a remedy for the world’s sicknesses? It reports success where every human prescription and every method of creature quackery has failed. Success in every case it has taken absolutely in hand. Do you contemplate it as a revelation? It eclipses every other, and stands out with a singularity and supremacy at once unprecedented and divine; reporting as it reveals, and revealing as it reports, Jehovah’s mind and will, the sympathy and benevolence of His great heart, before which multitudes have bowed in reverence and submission. View it in what light you may, as a remedy, a revelation, a message, a system, or a history, it reports results the most astounding and sublime. It also reports the most wonderful salvation. So simple that a child may understand it; so great that a philosopher can never comprehend it. So cheap that it can be had for the asking; so precious that millions of gold cannot buy it. So full that it can never be diminished; so universal that none is outside of its possible benedictions.
II. That this wonderful report by men in general is unheeded and discredited.—“Lord, who hath believed our report?” The inquiry, you perceive, is, not who hath heard our report, or who hath admired our report, or who hath eulogised our report, or who hath heaped empty compliments, or sullen complaints, or satirical sneers, or rotten critiques on our report. No, nothing of the kind; simply “Who hath believed [endorsed, practically embraced] our report?” Who hath turned it savingly to account, and enjoyed experimentally its consolations? If men in general theoretically believe it, in practice they despise and disbelieve it. It is not that men do not believe religion to be a good thing, a needful thing, a blessed thing, a great and glorious thing, that hinders them from believing this “report.” Nay, it is that they cannot, rather will not, give up their sins, customs, pleasures, companions, habits, pride.
III. That such practical unbelief is a source of deep grief and anxiety to the faithful minister.—Causing him often to cry out in secret, “Lord, who hath believed our report?” No man fired with the love of God, inflamed with a passion for souls, to whom truth and God and Christ and eternity are vivid and vital realities, can possibly preach on and on for years without visible success in the conversion of men and women, and not be wrung at times into an agony of distress over his apparently fruitless labours. There are some of us who know what it is to “weep between the porch and the altar” over indifferent hearers, who are constrained to exclaim, like the weeping prophet, “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why, then, is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?” Refuse! and the next report which shall fall upon your ears may be, that a true bill has been found against you by the grand jury of the eternal court, and that you be consigned to the “place prepared for the devil and his angels,” until the morning of the judgment day.—J. O. Keen, D.D.
Romans 10:17. Faith’s production and productions.—It is not sufficient to know the Bible intellectually, or to have its records stored in the memory. Many people can say perfectly the catechism of their Church, but are destitute of true religion. Knowledge may play about the head, while the heart is unaffected and unimproved. True faith touches the heart. True faith is emotional, as well as intellectual. Faith must work by love and purify the whole nature.
I. How is true faith produced?—By what is heard through the blessing of the Holy Spirit. The thing heard is through and by the revelation of God.
1. The source of true faith is the word of God. In these days the word of God is producing unbelief in many quarters. Do we say producing? Should we not rather say that the unbelief is there, and the word of God is used maliciously for the purpose of fostering the prior unbelief? The word of God is the source of true faith to all the true-hearted. There is in connection therewith, in its external and internal evidences, sufficient to produce faith.
2. The channel of true faith is hearing. We must hear, not to cavil, not to be pleased, but to find profit. We must hear as the man listens to a will being read, as a man waits to hear the sentence of the judge. We must hear as for eternity. The Holy Spirit attends the word and opens the heart. Let us pray and seek for the divine Spirit, so that we may hear and live.
II. What does true faith produce?—
1. It produces salvation. Faith is not salvation, but the means by which we become or realise that we are saved. Faith is not Christ, but the hand that lays hold on the Christ. Faith is not the fruit, but that by which we pluck the fruit and are refreshed. Faith is not the blessing, but that without which the blessing cannot become ours.
2. It works obedience. So that to say that the faith of the gospel is destructive of morality is to argue ignorance. Faith produces prompt obedience; the faithful have been the most moral and virtuous.
3. It is the helpmeet of simple confidence in God our father. The children of the faith are the trustful children of God. They feel God; they hear His voice in all sounds of sweetness; they trace the impress of His feet in all things and shapes of beauty; they are not afraid of a besetting God; they march through dangers with undaunted courage.
4. It inclines them to obey and follow their Guide, and thus they come safely to their journey’s end. The man who by faith has found salvation in and by Christ will be inclined to follow Him heartily. Let us hear, believe, and live the highest and the noblest life. A life of holiness is the best test of the sincerity of faith.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Romans 10:12-18
Lord’s goodness plenteous, impartial, and wise.—Power and benevolence are rarely united in our fellow-creatures. Here is one who has abundance, but he has no disposition to do good; he turns away his ear from hearing the poor, and seems to live as if he were born for himself only. Yea, the disposition often decreases as the capacity grows; so that there are some who not only give less comparatively, but less really, than they did when they were poorer. Then it hardly seemed worth their while to be covetous and to hoard; but now they have the means, and the temptation conquers them. On the other hand, there is many a one who has bowels of mercy, but he can only pity and shed unavailing tears over victims of distress. He is compelled to say only, “Be ye warmed, and be ye filled”; for he has it not in his hand to give such things as are needful for the body—his hand is shortened that it cannot save, though his ear is not heavy that it cannot hear. But some few there are in whom the means and the mind to use them are found united. The Lord increase their number! These are little images of Himself, in whom we equally find greatness and goodness, the resources and the readiness of compassion. He is over all, and He is rich “unto all that call upon Him.” Let me look at His greatness. He is over all. All beings of every rank are under His absolute control. He rules over all material agents; over all animal agents; over all human agents—over the best, the greatest, the worst of men; over all invisible agents—over devils, over angels, over departed spirits. He is Lord both of the dead and of the living. How astonishing, then, are His possessions and His dominions! A nation seems a great thing to us. But what is the greatest nation to our earth? And what is our earth to the luminaries of heaven? Many of these are discernible by the naked eye. When this fails, art assists nature; and Herschel sees innumerably more. When the telescope fails, the imagination plunges into the immensity beyond, and we exclaim, Lo! these are parts of His ways. But how small a portion is known of Him! Yet—for His mercy equals His majesty—the same Lord who is over all “is rich unto all that call upon Him.” His goodness has three characters.
1. It is plenteous. He is rich unto all that call upon Him. Some, if they are bountiful, are poor in bounty. And this appears not only in the smallness of their gifts, but in the mode of giving. It seems done by restraint, not willingly and of a ready mind. It does not drop from them as honey from the comb, or flow like water from a spring; it seems an unnatural effort. You feel no more respect when they give much than when they give little; everything like nobleness is destroyed by the manner; the meanness of the disposition is betrayed; and the poor-spirited mortal can no more give kindly and generously than a clown can dance gracefully. But the Lord God is a sun. He gives grace and glory; and no good thing will He withhold. He abundantly pardons; and while He gives liberally, He upbraideth not.
2. It is impartial. He is rich unto all that call upon Him. For there is no difference between Jew and Greek. And the same will apply to sex, and age, and calling, and condition, and character. The proclamations of divine grace exclude none, whatever be their circumstances; and it is well they do not. If any were excluded, awakened souls would be sure to find themselves among the exceptions. But what exceptions can any find when they read, “Preach the gospel to every creature”—“whosoever will let him take of the water of life freely”? Evangelical mercy is like Noah’s ark, that took in the clean and the unclean—only with this difference in favour of the truth above the type: there all the beasts came out as they went in; whereas, “if any man be in Christ he is a new creature.” He changes all He receives, and sanctifies all He saves.
3. It is wise. “He is rich unto all that call upon Him.” This is required, and cannot be dispensed with—not only because God wills it, but because “it seemeth good in His sight.” He knows that we should never praise Him for blessings which we do not value; and He knows that we never could be made happy by them. For that which gratifies is something that relieves our wants, fulfils our desire, accomplishes our hope, and crowns our endeavours. God’s way, therefore, is to make us sensible of our state, and to cause us to hunger and thirst after righteousness; and then we shall be filled: “for whoso asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.” God reveals Himself, not only for our encouragement, but imitation; and vain is our confidence in Him without conformity to Him. Therefore, says the apostle, “Be ye followers of God, as dear children.” How? In what? And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, an offering and a sacrifice to God of a sweet-smelling savour. Men would be like God, as the greatest of beings; but we are to be like Him, as the best of beings. They would resemble Him in His natural perfections; but we are to resemble Him in His moral. They would, as He is, be over all, and gladly have everything at their own disposal: but we are to be holy, as He is holy; and true, as He is true: and patient, as He is patient; and forgiving, as He is forgiving; and tender, as He is tender; and, according to our resources, to be rich unto all that call upon us.—W. Jay.
Links in the soul’s redemptive chain.—The first link is prayer. “How then shall they call on Him?” etc. Prayer is mere calling on God; which act implies:
1. Consciousness of dependence upon Him;
2. An earnest desire after Him. The second link is faith. “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?” There must be faith in two things:
1. Faith in His personal existence;
2. In the entreatability of His nature. The third link is knowledge. “How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?” Whilst there is a faith lying at the basis of all knowledge, soul-redemptive faith requires knowledge—a knowledge not of the creative, sustaining God, but of the redeeming God, God in Christ. The next link is preaching. The redeeming God has been made known to man by preaching. Enoch, Noah, Moses, the prophets, the apostles, and even the holy Christ, all preached. And the subject of all their preaching was the redeeming God. No one can preach this properly unless he be sent. “How shall they preach unless they be sent?” All true preachers have a divine commission.—Homilist.
“There is no difference.”—This phrase appears three times in the New Testament, and each time in connection with a different truth or aspect of salvation; and the three taken together complete the sphere of truth. (Compare Romans 3:22; Romans 10:12-13, and Acts 15:9.) It is also noticeable that in each case a double truth is presented in connection with the recurrence of the phrase “no difference.”
1. There is no difference among sinners and believers, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The righteousness of God, which is by the faith of Jesus Christ, is unto all and upon all them that believe. All are sinners; and unto all believers comes the same all-sufficient righteousness.
2. There is no difference between Jews and Gentiles. The same God is Lord over all. Jehovah is not the God of Jews only, but of Gentiles also—the universal sovereign. And He is rich unto all that call upon Him. All are alike in poverty and bankruptcy; whatever may be the differences in debt, all are alike hopelessly bankrupt and unable to pay. But God is infinitely rich as a bestower; and all that call upon Him will receive as a free gift infinite riches of saving grace.
3. No difference in the bestowment of the Holy Spirit. To all believers God alike bears witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, and purifying their hearts by faith. The same Spirit, received by the same faith, purifies, empowers, and perfects character. These are great truths, but they are very humbling to the natural and carnal man. It is not meant to assert that between sinners there is absolutely no difference, else there could be no degrees either of guilt or of punishment. Christ said to Pilate, “He that delivered Me unto thee hath the greater sin”; and to the scribes and Pharisees He said, “He shall receive the greater damnation.” These words settle the fact that both sin and damnation have their grades. But as to the fact of sin and of guilt there is no difference. All are sinners, and one sin suffices to bring death. All have come short, whether by a greater or less deficiency. We must not compare ourselves among ourselves, or measure ourselves by ourselves, but by the perfect standard of law and duty. But there is also no difference in our justification. The righteousness of God is offered unto all and bestowed upon all who believe with the same divine impartiality. If we seek illustrations of the same sovereign power and rich grace as over all that call upon Him, we shall find it in the impartial bestowment of rich grace upon Nathanael and Saul, the woman of Canaan and the woman of Samaria, the eunuch of Ethiopia and the Philippian jailor. The impartiality of purifying and witnessing grace is shown by the Pentecosts at Jerusalem, Samaria, Cæsarea, and Ephesus. If God condemns impartially, so does He justify, exercise sovereignty of mercy in answering prayer, and in purifying and annointing believers.—Homiletic Review.
The ignorance of Israel cause of rejection.—No invocation without faith; no faith without hearing; no hearing without preaching; no preaching without sending. A universal apostolate is therefore the necessary corollary of a free and universal salvation. Such are the contents of our two verses, which are directed, not against Judæo-Christian prejudices, but against the ignorance of Israel, the final result of which was necessarily their rejection. Paul points out to the Jews, who took offence at the wide and universal character of his apostleship, the internal necessity on which it was based, and the positive prophetical texts which justified it. We are therefore still at the development of this theme: the ignorance of Israel the cause of their rejection.—Godet.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 10
Romans 10:13. The inclusive “whosoever.”—John Berridge once said, after having given out these words as his text, “I would much rather it be written, ‘Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved,’ than If John Berridge shall call upon the name of the Lord, he shall be saved; because,” said he, “how do I know that there might not be another John Berridge in the world, to whom those words were addressed? But when I read, ‘Whosoever shall call’ etc., I know I must be included.”
Romans 10:17. They trusted him.—The French Marshal Turenne was the soldier’s hero. He shared all their hardships, and they entirely trusted him. When the troops were wading through a heavy morass, the younger soldiers complained. The older ones said, “Depend upon it, Turenne is more concerned than we are. At this moment he is thinking how to deliver us. He watches over us while we are asleep. He is our father, and would not have us go through such fatigue unless he had some end in view which we cannot yet make out.” Let us have this simple confidence in God our father. The faith which cometh by hearing God’s word will foster such simple confidence. We must know the Father through the Son; and as we trust the Son, so we shall trust the Father.—Quiver.