Rom. i. 30. Haters of God.
WHAT ! are there any persons of this character upon earth ? It cannot be : it were a libel upon human nature to suppose it. Go round to all the people you can find, and put the question to them, ' Are you a hater of God ?' They will spurn at the idea, and deem the question a gross insult. The moral part of mankind would be rilled with indigna- tion at such a strange calumnious suggestion. And the most immoral would say, ' I certainly do not serve him as I ought : but, as to " hating him," " is thy servant a dog, that he should do this3?"' But let us " come to the word and to the testimony." Of whom speaks the Apostle the words which we
a 2 Kings viii. 12, 13.
have read ? Does he give this character to some of a pre-eminently impious disposition ? or does he ascribe it to the whole Gentile world, even to every child of man, so long as he continues in his natural and un- converted state ? It is most assuredly in this latter sense that the words must be understood : for the scope of this part of the epistle is to shew, not that some particular persons need a Saviour, but " that every mouth must be stopped, and all the world be- come guilty before GodV I am far from saying that all persons manifest their enmity against God in the same way, and to the same extent: but if we will candidly examine the state of mankind, we shall find it precisely such as the Apostle here describes it ; and that the human heart, till changed by Divine grace, is " full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, ma- lignity ;" and that men still are, no less than in the Apostle's days, " whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, impla- cable, unmerciful0." With the description at large I shall not trouble you. It is my intention to confine myself to that particular part of it which I have se- lected for my text: in confirmation of which, I shall, I. Establish the fact, that unregenerate men are haters of God —
This fact is absolutely universal —
[Look at every child of man, and see what are his dispo- sitions and conduct towards the God of heaven and earth : and all, without exception, will be found to deserve the character here assigned them. All betray an enmity against God ; they feel it in their hearts, and manifest it in their lives. If their minds were rightly disposed towards God, they would esteem him above all ; and desire him above all ; and delight in him above all ; and, in comparison of his favour, there would be nothing regarded by them as worthy of a thought. But what is the fact ? There is not any thing, however vain or worth- less, or vile, that does not occupy a higher place in their esteem than He. Any gratification which they affect, is suffi- cient to draw them from their allegiance to Him, and to induce
b Rom. hi. 19. c ver. 29—31.