The Pulpit Commentary — Romans — Section 71

• I know that blossings undesorved H11ve mnrkt,d my erring traok; ThRt. wheresO<''or 1i1y feet h1wo swerved, His chutening turned me baok. " That more e.nd more e. providence Of love is undersl;ood, Me.king the springs of time and sonae Sweet with eterne.l good. •The.t dee.th seems but a oovered way Whioh opens into light, Wherein no blinded ohild ae.n stray Beyond the Father's sight. " Tbe.t care e.nd trial seem at last, Through memory's sunset e.iJ: Like mountain-ranges overpast, In pnrple distance fair. "The.t all the jarring notes of life Seem blending in a psalm, .A.n,i all the angles of its strife Slow rounding into calm." Yas, • the good hand of God," as the old Hebrews loved to call it, is shown In every circumstance and event of life. "Oh taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him." IL THE GOOD1'"ESS OF Goo, AND now IT IS RECEIVED. "Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering? " (ver. 4), There are few professing Christians who would admit that the goodness of .God is thus received by them. They would not like it to be said that they despise God's goodness, Yet must we not all admit that we do not think as much of God's goodness as we might? We take much of it as a matter of course. We forget that we have no claim on these bounties of God's providence and gifts of his grace, but rather the contrary. How little we praise him compared with what we might! How poor a. return we make for his goodness by any effort or service of our lives! How poor a.re the offerings we make of our wealth and substance for God's cause! What is all this but in a sense to despise God's good- ness? It is treating God's goodness with indifference; it is making light of it; it is looking down upon it. How indi1ferent we e.re even to Jesus Christ, God's own Son I Wha.t an evidence of God's goodness was the coming of Christ into the world-his life, his sufferings, his death! "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Yet with what amazing indi1ference and coolness this message of Divine mercy, this message of redeeming love, is received! How cold and apathetic our hearts are to the love of Jesus! "He came unto his own, and his own received him not." From Jesus, the Crucified One, the King, who stands with outstretched hands waiting to receive and bless us, we turn away our hearts after the world and the things of it. Deaf to hie loviog voice, we tum our back upon our Saviour. We stretch forth our hands after money, and we say to it, "I will follow thee." We stretch out our hands after pleasure, and we sa.v to it, " I will follow thee." We stretch out our hands after popular applause a.iid the favour of men, and we say to them, "I will follow you." But, alas I how few have the gratitude and the courage to say, "Lord, I will follow thee whither- soever thou goeEt " ! IIL THE oooni."ESS oF GoD, AlllD now IT IB MEANT. "The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance" (ver. 4). God's goodness is intended to lead us to repent- ance. And what more potent influence could he use than the influence of mercy and of love? What influence is so likely to make us repent of a wrong we have done to aoy pel'BOn than the kindn,si of that person toward us? If you have injured a neiahbour or a friend by woi,l or deed, and he meets you with angry words, this only tend!; to make you more stu\,bom, more hostile, than before. But if, on the contrary, you 11te him brsr with patience your att.acke, your unkind remarks, docs it not tend to make you sorry fur the: wrong you have done him? Or perhaps he heap11 co!llB of fire on. n.1-29.J THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE ROMANS.