How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
Ver. 14. How shall they hear, &c.] The word read is of divine use and efficacy; but of preaching we may say as David did of Goliath's sword, "There is none to that." Milk warmed is fitter for nourishment; and the rain from heaven hath a fatness with it, and a special influence, more than standing waters; so there is not that life, operation, and blessing in the word read as preached.
And how shall they preach unless they be sent] Here you have that scala caeli, ladder of heaven, as a good old martyr called it; and we must not presume to alter the rounds of this ladder. The apostle holds it for impossible that any should preach that are not sent. Let such look to it, as run before they are sent, press into the pulpit without a call thereunto. Let them remember Nadab and Abihu with their strange fire, Korah and his complices with their dismal usurpations, Uzzah and Uzziah with their exemplary punishmeats, &c. God hanged these up in gibbets, as it were to warn others.