declaration (Ps. xviii. 49); so the invitation of Moses (Dcut. xxxii. 43); s0 ac,ain the psalmist (Ps. oxvii. 1); e.nd so Isaiah's prophecy of hope: all of which could fl°nd their true fulfilment only in Yueh a. loving union of the Jewish and Gentile world in the glad service of their one God and Christ as now filled the apostle's view. One chief guarantee of the mutual love and common praise shall be the united hope of a perfect salvation, Let them look to God for this, a.nd he shall errant them a faith an~ a realized power of G?d through faith,_ which shall give them j~y and peace now: amid whntever outward disturbances, as bemg the pledge of all thincrs <7f,od cruaranteed 0 to us for that future, So should their songs abound; so should th~ir he~rts be one: praise helping love, and love helping praise, and God all in all 1-T. F. L. Vere. 14---33.-Farewell words. The apostle in these verses touches, as at the first (see eh. i. 1-16), on his personal relations to the Church at Rome. .And he reintroduces the subject with much delicate courtesy. He may have seemed to be speaking somewhat boldly, to have assumed a knowledge and goodness superior t.o theirs: not so I They, he was sure, were" full of goodness, filled with all knowledcre," and therefore "able to admonish one another." But he might at least remind the~ of what they knew; and this, not by any superiority of himself to them, but only by the grace of God; not as a better or wiser Christian man, but as an apostle com- missioned by God. We have here set forth, then, much as before, his apostleship, his purpose respecting them, and his request for their prayers on his behalf. By this last, again, with much delicacy, ma.king prominent his dependence on them, rather than theirs on him. I. HIB APOSTLESHIP. He was put in trust by God with the gospel for the Gentiles. And his fulfilment of this trust was as a priestly service, which he should perform, not proudly, but faithfully. And what a service! ministering the gospel in this great temple of the new kingdom, that he might offer up as a sacrifice the whole Gentile world I His thoughts, perhaps, revert to the words he has used in eh. xii. 1 ; and what a. vision greets his view as he looks into the future--a.11 the kindreds, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues of this manifold world, praising God with the harmonious psalm of a consecrated life, offering themselves a living sacrifice ! Better this than all the bleeding victims of the older dispensation; all man's intellect and affection and energy of action, all science and art, all industry and commerce, ell the multifarious activities of all lives, offered to God I .And this was his work, to minister the gospel that the offering might be made, acceptable because sanctified by the Holy Ghost. He would glory in such a work as this, for Christ's sake I For all was through Christ, and the great work already done was only Christ's work. II. His PURPOSE. Now, there was one aim which governed him in the fulfilment of this work-he would preach the gospel only where it was not known before. Thus from place to place he went, proclaiming the glad tidiogs to those who had not heard. And hence to this present, having so much room for such work in those eastward parts, he had been hindered from visiting Rome. Now the hindrance was removed: he had " no more any place in these regions." And still impelled by the constraini.ng purpose to preach the gospel to those " to whom no tidings of him came," he must now tum westwards, even to Spain. And, in passing to Spain, there is every rea.son why he should pause for mutual refreshment, as he delicately puts it, amongst a people who were, indirectly at least, the fruit of his labours-the Christians at Rome. And coming to them, ho would come in the fulness of the blessing of Christ. III. Hrs HEQUEST. But1 meanwhile, there is another mission to fulfil-the mission of charity to the poor samts at Jeruse.lem. Prominence of this matter among tho Churches (see 1 Cor. xvi.; Acts xx. 4). Probable cause of necessity, withholding of custom from Christians en the part of their fellow-Jews. Mere charity demanded that help should be given; and not only so, the Gentiles were bound in honour to pay, as it were, in this way, a debt they owed; for their salvation was "of the Jews." But what further constrained Paul to be urgent in this matter was his desire that the charity of the Gentile Churches might overcome all the prejudices that still subsisted amongst the Jewish Christians ngaiust the full aud Ihle admission of the Gentiles into the Christian Church, And for this, 11nd o.lso for his own security amongst many enllw.ies, ho asks the prayers of the Christinns at Romo. Then he shell come to $~ 4-46 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE ROMANS. [oa. xv. 1-33.
in joy, l\nd find rest. In any oase, be he troubled or not, ruo.y the Go~ or peace be with them! &, does he exemplify, by his yearning love and oourtesy or love, the spirit whioh ho l'!'t'ks t-0 f,,ster m them; so does he, as he would have them do, refer all his doinga to tbe Lord Christ and t,he will of God. Most surcly the God of ponoe was with him 1- 'l'. F. L.