HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. vers. 5, 13, 33.-The Di-uine character in relation to the human. "The God of patience and consolation;" "the God of hope;" "the God '.of peace." The great object of Christ's coming into the world was to save sinners. He does this by revealing God. He is Emmanuel, "God with us." "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." Christ reveals the Divine character. He reveals it in his teaching-the Divine holiness. He reveals it in his cross-the Divine mercy. He reveals it in his resurrection-the Divine power. Christ saves us also by reproducing or restoring in a~ the image of God. In the renewed nature God becomes part of us. He dwells in us and we in him. The law of heredity emphasizes the fact that children bear not only the bodily, but the mental and moral characteristics of their parents. 'l'he character of the parent reappears in the child. So the character of God reappears in his people. 'l'hree features of God's character St. Paul speaks of here, and wants his readers to think of them in relation to their own character and life. L THE Goo OF PATIENCE. 1. The Divine Being ma,nijests patience in waiting. Be waits patienlly for the fulfilment of his plans. Thousands of years be waited for the &ending of the Saviour. All that time he occupied in the training of Israel, and in the preparing of the nations, till, at the time when JesUB came, the world was ripe and ready for his coming. What a lesson for us ! How impatient we are I If we do not see immediate results, we think our work is a failure. "Let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." 2. The Divine Being ii :rl(J,tient in endwring. How he bore with Israel, with all Israel's backsliding e.nd r1:peated sins! How he bears with UB, with our disobedience and our inconsistencies I Bis patience with UB is in marked contrast with our impatience toward our fellow- men. How impatient we are with our subordinates or our fellow-workers, with the slowness and stupidity which they sometimes manifest I Let us imitate the patience of Gvd. We need to learn how to bear with others. Strife is the result of impatience, of iDtolera.nce. Ullity ill the reault of patience. '!'hie was the apostle's idea, and hil dit. xv.1-88.] THE El'IS'l'Ll!J OF PAUL TO TIIB ROMANS. 441
pTILcticol purpose In referring to the pa.tience of God. "The God of patience and consolation gra.nt you to be like-minded one toward another according to Christ Jesua" (ver. 6). Let us be patient in enduring all suffering and trial. ."Angel of patience I eent to cnlm Our feverish brows with cooling palm; To 1!1y the storms of hope and fear, And reconcile life's smile and tear; The throbs of wounded pride to still, And make our own our Father's will I "There's quiet in that angel's glance, There's rest in his still countenance I He mocks no grief with idle cheer, Nor wounds with words the mourner's ear; But ills and woes he may not cure, He kindly tro.ins us to endure. "0 thou who monrnest on the way With longings for the close of day; He walks with thee, that angel kind. And gently whispers; 'Be resigned; Bear up; bear on ; the end shall tell The dear Lord ordereth all things well.'" II. THE Goo OF HOPE. Nature is full of hope. Day follows night. Spring follows winter, "And ever upon old decay The greenest mosses cling." The life of humanity is a life of hope. We are always looking forward. The little child looks forward eagerly to its school-days. The boy or girl at school looks forward to the time of manhood or womanhood. In hope the young man leaves his father's roof. Hope leads the emigrant across the seas. Yet nature and humanity unaided have no hope beyond the grave. The ancient heathen bad indeed their goddess of hope. But the lamp of hope flickered as old age came on. and expired with the last breath that left the body. The heathen symbol of death is the broken column, or the torch of life turned upside down, But our God is in truth the God of hope. Do we enjoy life? He tells us of a better life beyond. Is this world fair and beautiful? He tells us of a better country, even an hea.venly. Are we weary with the toils and burdens of this life? He tells us that there remaineth a rest for the people of God. Hope in itself can hardly with strictness be called a. pa.rt of the Divine character, any more than faith. But it is part of the Divine character, and peculiar to it, that he produces in the human heart hope of the life to come. Hence he is truly called "the God of hope." We see the impress and influence of his Divine hope ou God's people in all a.grs. A bra.ham and the patriarchs "confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." And " they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a. country." The prophets in Israel's exile spoke of a hope which they knew they would never see fulfilled. The apostles and martyrs, and the missionari<ls of to-day, have laboured and suffered in hope. Here also is th11 practical influenre of the Diui11e character in relation to the human. "The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believinir, that ye may abound in hope" (ver. 13). In sorrow; iu adversity; rn the day when the wicked seem to triumph, and injustice and oppression seem to g,iin the upper hand-Christians, hope on! The truth will prevail over falsehood and error ; purity over impurity; righteousness over wickedness. Abound in hope I '"Ve hopo in th,'c, 0 Go,l, In whom 110110 hopo in min; Wo oling to thco in love 1111d trust, And joy suooceds to pain." To the sinnJr also the mesaag11 of Divine hope e::i;tmds. "Whosoever will, let him take the water of \ife freely." 442 THE EPlSTLE OF PAUL TO THE ROMANS. [mt. xv.1-88.