The Pulpit Commentary — Romans — Section 147

•Cooling fount.aine nre t.here for the thimf; , There &re oordials for thoae who a.re faint1 There &re roooe tl1&t &ro whit.or e.nd purer Than any th&t fauoy e&n p&int. Then rn try to prose hopefully onward, Thinking of\en through eaoh weo.ry day, The toils of the road will seem nothing When I get t.o the end of the wa.y." •we glory in tribulations e.lso: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience; experience; and experience, hope."-0. H. L Ven. 6-11.-The lot1e of God commended. It is a most remarkable phrase, this description which is gi"'en in the eighth verse, of God commending his own love. We have, indeed, in other portione of Scripture, the Divine Being represented as a heavenly Merchantman, setting forth the blessings of the gospel as a merchantman might set forth his wares. " Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hatb no money ; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." And again in the Book of Revelation, " I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed; ... and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see." But here God is represented as commending, not merely the blessings of the gosve}, but hie own love, to human observation and admiration. Yes; but this is for no selfish end. God's object in commending his love to us is for our sakes. He sets it before us in all its matchless tenderness and grandeur, that by means of it he may melt our hearts. He setz; it before us in all its attractive power, that he may draw our hearts to holiness and Otl1' souls to heaven. He sets it before ue in order that we may yield ourselves to its influence, and that thus, by what Dr. Che.lmers calls" the expulsive power of e. new affection," sin &nd the love of it, with all its withering blight and fatal grasp, may be driven out of our natures. L THE LOVE OF Gon IS COll][n."DED BY ITB OBJEOTB. We have eet before us in these venies e. description of those who are the objects of the love of God, as shown in the death of Jesus Christ his Son. Was it the angels that were the objects of God's redeeming love ? Was it for the angels that Jesus died? No. They did not need his death. Was it for the good men and women of the world that Jesus died? If it was only for the good, then the love of God would be very limited in its range, and the grt>at mass of humanity would be still helpless and hopeless. But one perfectly g00il person it would be impossible to find. "All have sinned." Who, then, are the objecu of the love of God? Just those very men and women of whom it is said that "'there is none righteous, no, not one." 1. The apostle describes us as being in a stAt-e of hel,pleslsneu. "When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly" (ver. 6). Surel,y here iB a wmmendation of God's love. Very often io this world the weak are left to shift for themselves. But if any of us were left to our own unaided efforts, what would become of us? Are we not all glad, no matter bow strong we are, of the auistance of others? If any of us were left to our own un&ided efforu to get to heaven, which of us could hope to get there? , The gospel is e. goepei for the weak-that is to say, for the very strongest of us, physically, morally, and q,iritually. In regard to God and eternity, how weak we are in all these aspects I We cannot stay the hand of disease or death ; we cannot in our own strength main- tain a life of an Wl8werflllg moral standard; we cannot work out a salvation for our- selves. But listen to this message: "When we were yet without etren~th, •.. Christ died far WI." 2. But God loves more than the weak. He loves the ungodly. "Ohriet died for the ungodly" (ver. 6). The word.here used expresses the indifference of the human heart to spiritual thing11. "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit." If Gr,d only loved tbOBe who ~u.rned to him of their own accord, who then could be saved? If any of WI have &11 interreat now in spiritual things, was it not because God, m nis mercy, laid his hand upon u,, and awakencd our mind1 to serious thought about him a.nd our own souls? If there are those who are godle11, ungodly, any who have no u,ti:rest in Bpiritual thing■, to whom God's eervico Is a weariness, let us say to them, :" God lov1:11 even yotL" "0hri1t died for the ungodly," 8. But God goea a Bt~ low~ on, v.1-21.] THE EPIB'l'LE OF PAUL TO THE ROMANS. 143