4 John vi. 37. u Hab. i. 16. x Luke xvii. 34—36.
god's sovereign mercy the source of all our
blessings.
Rom. ix. 16. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
THE Apostle, being about to declare the rejection of the Jews, and the calling of the Gentiles, introduces his subject with a most solemn appeal to God, that he had " continual sorrow and heaviness in his heart," on account of the unhappy state of his Jewish brethren. He knew that the subject would be very painful to the Jews ; and yet he could not, consist- ently with his duty to God, conceal it from them : but
he strove as much as possible to lessen the offence it would occasion, by assuring them of his unbounded affection for them, and his willingness to endure any thing, if it might but be subservient to their eternal welfare.
The subject as treated by the Apostle is no less offensive to the great mass of nominal Christians, than it was to the Jews : for he insists so strongly on God's right to dispense the blessings of his Gospel according to his own sovereign will, that the proud heart of man cannot endure it. We are apt to think we have a claim upon God ; and that he is bound to do for us all that he has at any time done for his most favoured servants : and, when we are told, that he has a right to do what he will with his own, we deny him that right, and accuse him of injustice, precisely as the Jews themselves did. But the servant of God must speak, whether men will hear, or whether they for- bear : he must declare to men the whole counsel of God, " even though briers and thorns be with him, and he dwell among scorpions." At the same time, it should be his most anxious endeavour to "speak the truth in love." This toe would do. God knoweth that it is painful to us to give offence ; yet not so much on our own account, as on account of those who are not able to receive our word. We would gladly do, yea, and suffer too, whatever should be necessary for their welfare : but still we cannot conceal the truth, or " keep back any thing that is profitable unto men." We entreat however, that, if we speak any thing which may not at first approve itself to those who hear it, they will give us credit for seeking conscientiously their best interests, according to the light that God hath given us.
The words of our text are evidently a conclusion drawn from a preceding argument. To view them therefore aright, we must consider,
I. The statement on which the conclusion is founded —
Having intimated the danger to which his coun- trymen were exposed of perishing in unbelief, he
1885.J rod's mercy the source of blessings. 353
anticipates an objection which they were disposed to make ; namely, That they were in no danger, because, as descendants of Abraham, they were interested in the covenant made with him, and were heirs of all the blessings which were promised to him and to his seed : and that, consequently, if they were to perish, " the word of God would have been of no effect*." To this the Apostle replies, that the promises were not made to Abraham's natural seed, but to his spiritual seed, who should be partakers of Abraham's faith : and that, as they were yet in unbelief, they had no part or lot in Abraham's blessings b. This he proceeds to prove to them,
1. From undeniable and acknowledged facts —
[The blessings of the covenant were not given to all Abra- nam's natural seed, even in the very first instance. Ishmael, who was born according to the course of nature, had no part in that covenant ; the blessings of which were restricted to Isaac, who was born many years afterwards, not according to the common course of nature, but solely by virtue of an express promise. Here then was a proof, even in the immediate chil- dren of Abraham, that persons might be lineally descended from him, and yet be left without any interest in the covenant made with him.