The Pulpit Commentary — Romans — Section 438

of Jesus, from his privation ancl doubt, and, In the same name, to commission him 38 tho npostle to the Gentiles, the scrvnnt of the Lord declared the purport of hi:i vi3it to b_e that, Saul might be "filled with the Ifoly Ghost I" And secondly, when, at Anlioch, the Holy Ghost co.lied Barna.bas and Saul to a missionary enterprise tLey ere said by the inspirecl historian to have been "sent forth lnJ the Holy Ghost/• So, eHhough Paul was not present when Peter and the rest of the brethren were made partakers of the spiritual outpouring by which the new dispensation waa inauqurat,,.,d it is clear that he received, and that he knew that he received, the Holy Ghost as weii as they. In his conversion, his wholo nature was influenced by the Divine en]iahten- ment and quickening; in his commission, the impulse and the authority of his missionary life were conferred by the living Spirit of God. It is not to be wondered at, then that the apostle of the Gentiles, in bis preaching and bis writings, laid nreu u[")'n the office of the Divine Oomforter, He could not have exalted the Spirit more constantly and gratefully even if he bad listened to the Master's <lliconrses in which the Paraclete was promised; even if he had been amongst the favoured company on the Day of Pentecost, when cloven tongues of fire sat upon the heads of the disciples of the Lord. In fact, just as the mediatorial work of Christ is at least as fully stated and explained by Paul as by the other apostles, so is he not behind them in the exposition of the offices of the Comforter, and the results of his perpetual indwelling in Christian hearts, in Christian society. It needs not be said that the officea of the Holy Spirit are not only preciou.s, but manifold. Paul was well aware of this fact. But attention is asked especially to one result of the dispensation of the Spirit; to one valuable fruit which all Christians growingly appreciate. The Divine Spirit is set before us in the text as the .AuthO'I' and Inspirer of a cheerful and hopeful disposition of the mind: "Now the God of hope .fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost." It is often observed that, in a cnltivated and reflective state of society, there is a tendency to a mournful and even tlespqnding disposition. When people have much leisure to think, and large knowledge of human life and history, they often cherish gloomy and hopeless forebodings. Unable to resolve their own difficulties, disappointed with efforts made to improve society, they are prone to abandon themselves to scepticism, and to ask whether all things do not exist. in vain, and whether the philosophy of the royal sage is not sound and just : "Vanity of vanities," S!lith the preacher; "all is vanity I" The Holy Spirit was given to banish such a temper of mind, and to inspire us with cheerfulness and with hope. He is the Spirit of life, quickening the spiritually dead.; the Spirit of truth, revealing the realities of the Divine character and government ; the Spirit of holiness, fostering in the soul of man all pure thoughts and purposes. And our text brings before us the welcome truth that the Spirit of God has power to fill ns with "joy and peace in believing," and to cause us to "abound in hope." There is no broader and more obvious distinction between Christians and unbelievers than that which is suggested by our text. The Ohristian, speaking generally, is the man who hopes; the infidel is the man who is hopeless. The preacher has known in the course of his life, and has conversed with, many unbelievers-some of them honourable, virtuous, and, within limits, benevolent men. But they hiive been, without exception, neither happy nor hopeful. Their view of human life is invariably melancholy, and their forebodings for humanity's future are usually dlll'k and despondent. At the time when our Divine faith was first preached in the world, observant and thoughtful men were under a cloud of depression, Dissatisfied with the superstitions of their fathers, disgusted with the corruptions of society, they were without any faith that could sustain and cherish a. lofty hope for the race. It did not enter into their minds that any moral power could be introduced into the world capable of even attempting, far less achieving, the regeneration of society-of rnising the uncivilized, and redeeming those who were civilized and cultivated, but corrupt snd oynicnl and selfish. What a revelation must Ohristinns-not merely Ohristinnity, bnt Christians-have brought to the ancient society I Here was a sect of men, di~tinguished, indeed, by their beliefs and practices, their pure and benoficent life, from those around them, but iu nothing more distin- guished than in this-they we1·e tho men in the ,vorld who hoped I Whilst the multitudo, and oven numy of tho philosophtn·$, were sayin~, "Let us cat and drink; for to-morrow we dio;" whilst the thoughtful und high-minded mourned tho corrup- 4.36 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO 'l'HE ROMANS. [ou, u. 1-88.