HOMILETICS. Ver. 6.-The true lsratl. Since one great aim of the apostle in this Epistle is to combat the ne~ of religion wh!ch rega.rds th? exte~a.l 118 of mllin interest and impor- tance, be finds it necessary to disabuse of their prejudice and error those Israelites who not only prided themselves upon their descent from Abraham, but who relied upon that descent for their acceptance with God. He points out that it is one thing to be "of Israel," i.e. sprung from the patriarchs in the way of natural lineage, and quite another thing to be " Israel," i.e. to possess the ideal character of the true Israelite. Even some of Abraham's posterity were not included in the covenant, but only the offspring of Isaac. This was in itself a limitation; and if God appointed a limitation of an external and racial kind, how far more obviously did it consist with Divine wisdom and justice to confine spiritual blessings to those spiritually prepared and qualified to enjoy them I I. LIGHT IS HERE CAST UPON THE CllillAOTER A.ND PURPOSES OF Goo. 1. God is faithful to his promises, but not to men's misunderstanding of these promises. 2. God is just, and not partial, in his treatment of the subjects of his kingdom upon earth. 3, God does not look upon men's outward relations and position, but upon the character and heart. Il. LIGHT IS CAST UPON THE MORAL CONDITION ll'D RESPONSIBILITIES OF MEN, 1, :Men are blamable and foolish if they rely upon adventitious advantages; as e.g. upon parentage, ancest?y, associations, acquired knowledge, religious privileges. 2. Men are 'Wise if they remember, and act upon their remembrance, that it is God's prerogative and method to search the heart. 3. Men should use diligently the opportunities they enjoy, knowing that it is not their advantages, but the use they make of them, that is all-important. 4. Men shonld look forward to the individual account to be rendered at the last to the supreme Judge of all Ver&. 25, 26.-.A great reversal,. Wbether the original reference of the prophet here qnot.ed was to the "ten tribes" or to the Gentile world is, for our purposes, immaterial, since it is unquestionable that the Apostle Panl employs the quotation to illustrate and, in a sense, t.o prove his contention-that it is the purpose of him, who is Eternal Wisdom &nd TTncbsnging Righteousness, t.o transfer privilege and blessing from those who con- sidered theIIl1!6lves to possess au ancestral claim to them, unto those who had usually been regarded as aliens and reprobate-even the "sinners of the Gentiles." If this phase of Divine action has to some extent lost its interest for'us, the principle which it illustrates is ever important. L Tim HIGHLY FAVOURED A.ND PRIVILEGED MAY ABUSE THEIR ADVANTAGES, A.ND l\lAY LOSE THElL Consider the case of the Hebrews. 1. Their special prerogatives in tho possession of religious knowledge and means of spiritual improvement. 2. Their rebel- lion a:id apostasy in yielding in the earlier periods of their history to temptations to idolatry. 3. Their frequent chastisement, especially in the Captivity in the East, and in their subsequent national humiliations. 4. The repetition of their insensibility and disobedience in the rejection of Jeans, the true Messiah. 5. The final catastrophe which overtook the nation, in the destruction of Jerusalem, and in the dispersion of the people throughout the earth. II. THE LESS FAVOURED MAY BE, IN Gon's PROVIDENCE, EXALTED TO PBIVILEGE, AND, BY A BIGHT USE OF IT, MAY BECOME PARTAKERS OF PBIOELEBS BPIDITUAL BLEBBmos. Consider the case of the Gentiles. 1. The publication of the gospel to them by St. Paul upon its rejection by his own fellow-countrymen. 2. The acceptance by many of the glad tidings intended for the enlightenment and salvation of men. 3. 'l'he position taken by Gentile COJJ.verts in the diffusion of Christianity. 4. The consequent conver- lion of the Roman empire to the faith of Jesus of Nazareth. 6. And the course of the history of Chrilltendom, which may all be traced to the operation of this wonderful principle. APPLICATIO:S. 1. They act foolilhly who rely upon their privileges. 2. They a.re wiBe who, grateful for privileges, are concerned so to uso t.hem that they may not lOl!e them, so to use them that they may become the vehicles of the highest spiritual bleslling to themselvee and to those UBOCiated with them, over whom their influence on. IX, 1-33.) THE EPISTU~ OF PAUL TO THE ROMANS.
rnny extond. 3. They who a.re ea.et down beca.nse their circumstances Reem unfavonr- e.ble should not forget that the people who were "not God's people" became " hi~ people," "beloved," "children of the living God."