The Pulpit Commentary — Romans — Section 47

nature which oame to Christians, the demonstration of a supeml\tural energy, • mlraoalom power wh09e l!Ol11'0e oould only be Divine. Believing that Jesus Ohrist wu God'll lever for raising men from death to lite, how could the apostle be ashamed of calling attention t-0 this mighty instrument of human elevation? To spel\k and teaoh and live with this oonsoiousness of wielding a Divine power is to lose faint-hea.rtedneaa, and to let the ring of conviction in our tones bcget aoceptanoe in the listeners. The oure for many doubts is t-0 note historically what Christianity has achieved. Then the 't'llry' peouliarity of its introduction to the world, of its pl'inoiple of operation and of Um t.enets, will the more strongly evidence its origin from above. It is at every point anlike the workmanship of man. II. Al;, BEOURIKG AN EMINENTLY DESIRABLE RESULT-the salvation of men. We may be terrified and disp1sted at a force which threatens cruelty and oppression. But the might of the gospel of love is only beneficent in its design and effects. It aims at •ving men from the wrath to oome, at present deliverance from evil passions, e.t the development of all that is fairest and mostlovely. Its triumph means the healing of the Bin-sick soul, the entrance of light into the understanding, and holy joy into the heart. The Romans hated slavery, and proudly exulted in their freedom. They cultive.ted dignity of manner, and gloried in their world-wide empire and the privileges of their aitizenship. Surely they too might perceive that the gospel promised and procured membe.rsh;p in a heavenly indissoluble kingdom, whose subjects were not only guarded &om instability of happiness and the domination of mean desires in this life, but should also receiw (what their favourite stoical philosophy never proposed) a blissful immor- ality radiant with honourable service under the King of kings. IlL ~ OPEB.A.TJNG BY A Jm'l'HOD UNIVERSALLY AVAILABLE, viz. by faith. It is e&l!eDtial to a panacea intended to bring he]p and strength to our race, that it should touch the ~"'lle-spot of univenw disease and recognize the deepest need of man, howerer his customs, clothing, and language might di1fer. It ie equally necesse.ry that t.he remedy should assume such a form as to permit of its being received and e.pplied by all, whether learned or uneducated, wealthy or poor, old or young, civilized or barbarous. To hear of the Saviour's life and death and resurrection as the revelation of Dirine holiness seeking the reconciliation of man, to respond to the appeal by simple trost in the Redeemer,-tlrls requires no more than the use of the common faculties with "'hich all have been endowed. The news might be long in travelling from Jerusalem to Rome; pride, or gaiety, or intellectualism might stumble at the tidings; ba.t, the Spirit showing the thlngs of Christ to men, the responsibility rested with t.hemoelves if by unbelief they barred the heart against the truth. "To every one the.t believeth " does the gospel prove the spiritual "dynamite," not of destruction, but of alvation. Embrace it, own it, preach it 1-8. R. A. ,er. 20.-17ie revelation of God, in na,twre. To come into contact with the fearless writing of the Apostle Paul is like inhaling a breath of mountain air. He was not alarmed at the presence of any inquirer, though ancient as a Jew, learned :i,s_ a G:reek, or imperious as a Roman. He held UJ! the gospel as a lamp whose rays, shmm~ m all directions, search every system, refusmg to allow e1;or :-° pass for truth, vice f~r righteousness, or imperfection for completeness. He unplied that what the La~ did for the Jews, convincin~ them of sin, was effected for the Gentiles by the glones of creation, taking away all excuse for ungodly immorality, and thus shutting e.11 up equally to tLe sense of the need of such a righteousness, through faith unto salve.tion as the gospel of Christ proclaims. L A PABADOX-INVIBIBLE THD!iGB OLEA.BLY BEEN. The possibility of such a aeemmg contradiction is allo"'.ed, when w_e distinguish betwe~n t~e. outer vision_ of the body and the inner perception of the mind. Properly speakmg, 1t 1s only the mind that ever sees. The mind arranges and digests what is carried to it by the optic nerve. Like a chemist, the brain has its laboratory, into which the senses convey_ the ~oloure, aounds, impressions, facts, and figures of the world ~round us; e.nd. there m p~vn.te it a.nalyzes, synthetizes, manipulates, the pro~ucta till they seem mvested with new attributes. Think c,f <Jur abstract conceptions, such e.s those of beauty, of time, of character• these have no bensible existence-they are qualities euperadded by the mind which~ They may arise neceuarily upon certain objects being presented to our GIL 1. 1-32,] THE EPISTLB OJI PAUL TO THE BOIIANS. Q