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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
R O M A N S.
CHAP. XV.
The apostle, in this chapter, continues the discourse of the former,
concerning mutual forbearance in indifferent things; and so draws
towards a conclusion of the epistle. Where such differences of
apprehension, and consequently distances of affection, are among
Christians, there is need of precept upon precept, line upon line, to
allay the heat, and to beget a better temper. The apostle, being
desirous to drive the nail home, as a nail in a sure place, follows his
blow, unwilling to leave the subject till he has some hopes of
prevailing, to which end he orders the cause before them and fills his
mouth with the most pressing arguments. We may observe, in this
chapter,
I. His precepts to them.
II. His prayers for them.
III. His apology for writing to them.
IV. His account of himself and his own affairs.
V. His declaration of his purpose to come and see them.
VI. His desire of a share in their prayers.
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1 We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the
weak, and not to please ourselves.
2 Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to
edification.
3 For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written,
The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.
4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for
our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the
scriptures might have hope.
The apostle here lays down two precepts, with reasons to enforce them,
showing the duty of the strong Christian to consider and condescend to
the weakest.
I. We must bear the infirmities of the weak,
v. 1.
We all have our infirmities; but the weak are more subject to them than
others–the weak in knowledge or grace, the bruised reed and the
smoking flax. We must consider these; not trample upon them, but
encourage them, and bear with their infirmities. If through weakness
they judge and censure us, and speak evil of us, we must bear with
them, pity them, and not have our affections alienated from them. Alas!
it is their weakness, they cannot help it. Thus Christ bore with his
weak disciples, and apologised for them. But there is more in it; we
must also bear their infirmities by sympathizing with them, concerning
ourselves for them, ministering strength to them, as there is occasion.
This is bearing one another’s burdens.
II. We must not please ourselves, but our neighbour,
We must deny our own humour, in consideration of our brethren’s
weakness and infirmity.
1. Christians must not please themselves. We must not make it our
business to gratify all the little appetites and desires of our own
heart; it is good for us to cross ourselves sometimes, and then we
shall the better bear others crossing of us. We shall be spoiled (as
Adonijah was) if we be always humoured. The first lesson we have to
learn is to deny ourselves,
2. Christians must please their brethren. The design of Christianity is
to soften and meeken the spirit, to teach us the art of obliging and
true complaisance; not to be servants to the lust of any, but to the
necessities and infirmities of our brethren–to comply with all that we
have to do with as fare as we can with a good conscience. Christians
should study to be pleasing. As we must not please ourselves in the use
of our Christian liberty (which was allowed us, not for our own
pleasure, but for the glory of God and the profit and edification of
others), so we must please our neighbour. How amiable and comfortable a
society would the church of Christ be if Christians would study to
please one another, as now we see them commonly industrious to cross,
and thwart, and contradict one another!–Please his neighbour,
not in every thing, it is not an unlimited rule; but for his
good, especially for the good of his soul: not please him by
serving his wicked wills, and humouring him in a sinful way, or
consenting to his enticements, or suffering sin upon him; this is a
base way of pleasing our neighbour to the ruin of his soul: if we thus
please men, we are not the servants of Christ; but please him for his
good; not for our own secular good, or to make a prey of him, but for
his spiritual good.–To edification, that is, not only for his
profit, but for the profit of others, to edify the body of Christ, by
studying to oblige one another. The closer the stones lie, and the
better they are squared to fit one another, the stronger is the
building. Now observe the reason why Christians must please one
another: For even Christ pleased not himself. The self-denial of
our Lord Jesus is the best argument against the selfishness of
Christians. Observe,
(1.) That Christ pleased not himself. He did not consult his own
worldly credit, ease, safety, nor pleasure; he had not where to lay his
head, lived upon alms, would not be made a king, detested no proposal
with greater abhorrence than that, Master, spare thyself, did
not seek his own will
(John v. 30),
washed his disciples’ feet, endured the contradiction of sinners
against himself, troubled himself
(John xi. 33),
did not consult his own honour, and, in a word, emptied himself, and
made himself of no reputation: and all this for our sakes, to bring in
a righteousness for us, and to set us an example. His whole life was a
self-denying self-displeasing life. He bore the infirmities of the
weak,
Heb. iv. 15.
(2.) That herein the scripture was fulfilled: As it is written, The
reproaches of those that reproached thee fell on me. This is quoted
out of
the former part of which verse is applied to Christ
(John ii. 17),
The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the latter part
here; for David was a type of Christ, and his sufferings of Christ’s
sufferings. It is quoted to show that Christ was so far from pleasing
himself that he did in the highest degree displease himself. Not as if
his undertaking, considered on the whole, were a task and grievance to
him, for he was very willing to it and very cheerful in it; but in his
humiliation the content and satisfaction of natural inclination were
altogether crossed and denied. He preferred our benefit before his own
ease and pleasure. This the apostle chooses to express in scripture
language; for how can the things of the Spirit of God be better spoken
of than in the Spirit’s own words? And this scripture he alleges,
The reproaches of those that reproached thee fell on me.
[1.] The shame of those reproaches, which Christ underwent. Whatever
dishonour was done to God was a trouble to the Lord Jesus. He was
grieved for the hardness of people’s hearts, beheld a sinful place with
sorrow and tears. When the saints were persecuted, Christ so far
displeased himself as to take what was done to them as done against
himself: Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Christ also did
himself endure the greatest indignities; there was much of reproach in
his sufferings.
[2.] The sin of those reproaches, for which Christ undertook to
satisfy; so many understand it. Every sin is a kind of reproach to God,
especially presumptuous sins; now the guilt of these fell upon Christ,
when he was made sin, that is, a sacrifice, a sin-offering for us. When
the Lord laid upon him the iniquities of us all, and he bore our sins
in his own body upon the tree, they fell upon him as upon our surety.
Upon me be the curse. This was the greatest piece of
self-displacency that could be: considering his infinite spotless
purity and holiness, the infinite love of the Father to him, and his
eternal concern for his Father’s glory, nothing could be more contrary
to him, nor more against him, than to be made sin and a curse for us,
and to have the reproaches of God fall upon him, especially considering
for whom he thus displeased himself, for strangers, enemies, and
traitors, the just for the unjust,
1 Pet. iii. 18.
This seems to come in as a reason why we should bear the infirmities of
the weak. We must not please ourselves, for Christ pleased not himself;
we must bear the infirmities of the weak, for Christ bore the
reproaches of those that reproached God. He bore the guilt of sin and
the curse for it; we are only called to bear a little of the trouble of
it. He bore the presumptuous sins of the wicked; we are called only to
bear the infirmities of the weak.–Even Christ; kai gar ho
Christos. Even he who was infinitely happy in the enjoyment of
himself, who needed not us nor our services,–even he who thought it no
robbery to be equal with God, who had reason enough to pleas himself,
and no reason to be concerned, much less to be crossed, for us,–even
he pleased not himself, even he bore our sins. And should not we be
humble, and self-denying, and ready to consider one another, who are
members one of another?
(3.) That therefore we must go and do likewise: For whatsoever
things were written aforetime were written for our learning.
[1.] That which is written of Christ, concerning his self-denial and
sufferings, is written for our learning; he hath left us an
example. If Christ denied himself, surely we should deny ourselves,
from a principle of ingenuousness and of gratitude, and especially of
conformity to his image. The example of Christ, in what he did and
said, is recorded for our imitation.
[2.] That which is written in the scriptures of the Old Testament in
the general is written for our learning. What David had said in his own
person Paul had just now applied to Christ. Now lest this should look
like a straining of the scripture, he gives us this excellent rule in
general, that all the scriptures of the Old Testament (much more those
of the New) were written for our learning, and are not to be looked
upon as of private interpretation. What happened to the Old-Testament
saint happened to them for ensample; and the scriptures of the Old
Testament have many fulfillings. The scriptures are left for a standing
rule to us: they are written, that they might remain for our use
and benefit. First, For our learning. There are many things to
be learned out of the scriptures; and that is the best learning which
is drawn from these fountains. Those are the most learned that are most
mighty in the scriptures. We must therefore labour, not only to
understand the literal meaning of the scripture, but to learn out of it
that which will do us good; and we have need of help therefore not only
to roll away the stone, but to draw out the water, for in many places
the well is deep. Practical observations are more necessary than
critical expositions. Secondly, That we through patience and comfort
of the scriptures might have hope. That hope which hath eternal
life for its object is here proposed as the end of scripture-learning.
The scripture was written that we might know what to hope for from God,
and upon what grounds, and in what way. This should recommend the
scripture to us that it is a special friend to Christian hope. Now the
way of attaining this hope is through patience and comfort of the
scripture. Patience and comfort suppose trouble and sorrow; such is
the lot of the saints in this world; and, were it not so, we should
have no occasion for patience and comfort. But both these befriend that
hope which is the life of our souls. Patience works experience, and
experience hope, which maketh not ashamed,
The more patience we exercise under troubles the more hopefully we may
look through our troubles; nothing more destructive to hope than
impatience. And the comfort of the scriptures, that comfort
which springs from the word of God (that is the surest and sweetest
comfort) is likewise a great stay to hope, as it is an earnest in hand
of the good hoped for. The Spirit, as a comforter, is the earnest of
our inheritance.
| Christian Unity. | A. D. 58. |
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5 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be
like-minded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:
6 That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The apostle, having delivered two exhortations, before he proceeds to
more, intermixes here a prayer for the success of what he had said.
Faithful ministers water their preaching with their prayers, because,
whoever sows the seed, it is God that gives the increase. We can but
speak to the ear; it is God’s prerogative to speak to the heart.
Observe,
I. The title he gives to God: The God of patience and
consolation, who is both the author and the foundation of all the
patience and consolation of the saints, from whom it springs and on
whom it is built. He gives the grace of patience; he confirms and keeps
it up as the God of consolation; for the comforts of the Holy Ghost
help to support believers, and to bear them up with courage and
cheerfulness under all their afflictions. When he comes to beg the
pouring out of the spirit of love and unity he addresses himself to God
as the God of patience and consolation; that is,
1. As a God that bears with us and comforts us, is not extreme to mark
what we do amiss, but is ready to comfort those that are cast down–to
teach us so to testify our love to our brethren, and by these means to
preserve and maintain unity, by being patient one with another and
comfortable one to another. Or,
2. As a God that gives us patience and comfort. He had spoken
(v. 4)
of patience and comfort of the scriptures; but here he looks up to God
as the God of patience and consolation: it comes through the scripture
as the conduit-pipe, but from God as the fountain-head. The more
patience and comfort we receive from God, the better disposed we are to
love one another. Nothing breaks the peace more than an impatient, and
peevish, and fretful melancholy temper.
II. The mercy he begs of God: Grant you to be like-minded one
towards another, according to Christ Jesus.
1. The foundation of Christian love and peace is laid in
like-mindedness, a consent in judgment as far as you have attained, or
at least a concord and agreement in affection. To auto
phronein—to mind the same thing, all occasions of
difference removed, and all quarrels laid aside.
2. This like-mindedness must be according to Christ Jesus,
according to the precept of Christ, the royal law of love, according to
the pattern and example of Christ, which he had propounded to them for
their imitation,
v. 3.
Or, “Let Christ Jesus be the centre of your unity. Agree in the truth,
not in any error.” It was a cursed concord and harmony of those who
were of one mind to give their power and strength to the beast
this was not a like-mindedness according to Christ, but against Christ;
like the Babel-builders, who were one in their rebellion,
The method of our prayer must be first for truth, and then for peace;
for such is the method of the wisdom that is from above: it is first
pure, then peaceable. This is to be like-minded according to Christ
Jesus.
3. Like-mindedness among Christians, according to Christ Jesus, is the
gift of God; and a precious gift it is, for which we must earnestly
seek unto him. He is the Father of spirits, and fashions the
hearts of men alike
opens the understanding, softens the heart, sweetens the affections,
and gives the grace of love, and the Spirit as a Spirit of love, to
those that ask him. We are taught to pray that the will of God may be
done on earth as it is done in heaven–now there it is done
unanimously, among the angels, who are one in their praises and
services; and our desire must be that the saints on earth may be so
too.
III. The end of his desire: that God may be glorified,
v. 6.
This is his plea with God in prayer, and is likewise an argument with
them to seek it. We should have the glory of God in our eye in every
prayer; therefore our first petition, as the foundation of all the
rest, must be, Hallowed be thy name. Like-mindedness among
Christians is in order to our glorifying God,
1. With one mind and one mouth. It is desirable that Christians
should agree in every thing, that so they may agree in this, to praise
God together. It tends very much to the glory of God, who is one, and
his name one, when it is so. It will not suffice that there be one
mouth, but there must be one mind, for God looks at the heart; nay,
there will hardly be one mouth where there is not one mind, and God
will scarcely be glorified where there is not a sweet conjunction of
both. One mouth in confessing the truths of God, in praising the name
of God–one mouth in common converse, not jarring, biting, and
devouring one another–one mouth in the solemn assembly, one speaking,
but all joining.
2. As the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is his
New-Testament style. God must be glorified as he has now revealed
himself in the face of Jesus Christ, according to the rules of the
gospel, and with an eye to Christ, in whom he is our Father. The unity
of Christians glorifies God as the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, because it is a kind of counter-part or representation of
the oneness that is between the Father and the Son. We are warranted
so to speak of it, and, with that in our eye, to desire it, and pray
for it, from
That they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in
thee: a high expression of the honour and sweetness of the saints’
unity. And it follows, The the world may believe that thou hast sent
me; and so God may be glorified as the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
| Christian Unity. | A. D. 58. |
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7 Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us
to the glory of God.
8 Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the
circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made
unto the fathers:
9 And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as
it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the
Gentiles, and sing unto thy name.
10 And again he saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people.
11 And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him,
all ye people.
12 And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and
he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the
Gentiles trust.
The apostle here returns to his exhortation to Christians. What he says
here
(v. 7)
is to the same purport with the former; but the repetition shows how
much the apostle’s heart was upon it. “Receive one another into your
affection, into your communion, and into your common conversation, as
there is occasion.” He had exhorted the strong to receive the weak
(ch. xiv. 1),
here, Receive one another; for sometimes the prejudices of the
weak Christian make him shy of the strong, as much as the pride of the
strong Christian makes him shy of the weak, neither of which ought to
be. Let there be a mutual embracing among Christians. Those that have
received Christ by faith must receive all Christians by brotherly love;
though poor in the world, though persecuted and despised, though it may
be matter of reproach and danger to you to receive them, though in the
less weighty matters of the law they are of different apprehensions,
though there may have been occasion for private piques, yet, laying
aside these and the like considerations, receive you one
another. Now the reason why Christians must receive one another is
taken, as before, from the condescending love of Christ to us: As
Christ also received us, to the glory of God. Can there be a more
cogent argument? Has Christ been so kind to us, and shall we be so
unkind to those that are his? Was he so forward to entertain us, and
shall we be backward to entertain our brethren? Christ has received us
into the nearest and dearest relations to himself: has received us into
his fold, into his family, into the adoption of sons, into a covenant
of friendship, yea, into a marriage-covenant with himself; he has
received us (though we were strangers and enemies, and had played the
prodigal) into fellowship and communion with himself. Those words,
to the glory of God, may refer both to Christ’s receiving us,
which is our pattern, and to our receiving one another, which is our
practice according to that pattern.
I. Christ hath received us to the glory of God. The end of our
reception by Christ is that we might glorify God in this world, and be
glorified with him in that to come. It was the glory of God, and our
glory in the enjoyment of God, that Christ had in his eye when he
condescended to receive us. We are called to an eternal glory by Christ
Jesus,
See to what he received us-to a happiness transcending all
comprehension; see for what he received us–for his Father’s glory; he
had this in his eye in all the instances of his favour to us.
II. We must receive one another to the glory of God. This must be our
great end in all our actions, that God may be glorified; and nothing
more conduces to this than the mutual love and kindness of those that
profess religion; compare
v. 6,
That you may with one mind and one mouth glorify God. That which
was a bone of contention among them was a different apprehension about
meats and drinks, which took rise in distinction between Jews and
Gentiles. Now, to prevent and make up this different, he shows how
Jesus Christ has received both Jews and Gentiles; in him they are both
one, one new man,
Eph. ii. 14-16.
Now it is a rule, Quæ conveniunt in aliquo tertio, inter se
conveniunt–Things which agree with a third thing agree with each
other. Those that agree in Christ, who is the Alpha and the Omega,
the first and the last, and the great centre of unity, may well afford
to agree among themselves. This coalescence of the Jews and Gentiles in
Christ and Christianity was a thing that filled and affected Paul so
much that he could not mention it without some enlargement and
illustration.
1. He received the Jews,
v. 8.
Let not any think hardly or scornfully therefore of those that were
originally Jews, and still, through weakness, retain some savour of
their old Judaism; for,
(1.) Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision. That he
was a minister, diakonos—a servant,
bespeaks his great and exemplary condescension, and puts an honour upon
the ministry: but that he was a minister of the circumcision, was
himself circumcised and made under the law, and did in his own person
preach the gospel to the Jews, who were of the circumcision–this makes
the nation of the Jews more considerable than otherwise they appear to
be. Christ conversed with the Jews, blessed them, looked upon himself
as primarily sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, laid
hold of the seed of Abraham
margin), and by them, as it were, caught at the whole body of
mankind. Christ’s personal ministry was appropriated to them, though
the apostles had their commission enlarged.
(2.) He was so for the truth of God. That which he preached to them was
the truth; for he came into the world to bear witness to the truth,
And he is himself the truth,
Or, for the truth of God, that is, to make good the promises given to
the patriarchs concerning the special mercy God had in store for their
seed. It was not for the merit of the Jews, but for the truth of God,
that they were thus distinguished–that God might approve himself true
to this word which he had spoken.–To confirm the promises made unto
the fathers. The best confirmation of promises is the performance
of them. It was promised that in the seed of Abraham all the nations of
the earth should be blessed, that Shiloh should come from between the
feet of Judah, that out of Israel should he proceed that should have
the dominion, that out of Zion should go forth the law, and many the
like. There were many intermediate providences which seemed to weaken
those promises, providences which threatened the fatal decay of that
people; but when Messiah the Prince appeared in the fulness of time, as
a minister of the circumcision, all these promises were confirmed, and
the truth of them was made to appear; for in Christ all the promises of
God, both those of the Old Testament and those of the New, are Yea, and
in him Amen. Understanding by the promises made to the fathers
the whole covenant of grace, darkly administered under the Old
Testament, and brought to a clearer light now under the gospel, it was
Christ’s great errand to confirm that covenant,
He confirmed it by shedding the blood of the covenant.
2. He received the Gentiles likewise. This he shows,
(1.) Observe Christ’s favour to the Gentiles, in taking them in to
praise God–the work of the church on earth and the wages of that in
heaven. One design of Christ was that the Gentiles likewise might be
converted that they might be one with the Jews in Christ’s mystical
body. A good reason why they should not think the worse of any
Christian for his having been formerly a Gentile; for Christ has
received him. He invites the Gentiles, and welcomes them. Now observe
how their conversion is here expressed: That the Gentiles might
glorify God for his mercy. A periphrasis of conversion.
[1.] They shall have matter for praise, even the mercy of God.
Considering the miserable and deplorable condition that the Gentile
world was in, the receiving of them appears more as an act of mercy
than the receiving of the Jews. Those that were Lo-ammi–not a
people, were Lo-ruhama–not obtaining mercy,
Hos. i. 6, 9; ii. 23.
The greatest mercy of God to any people is the receiving of them into
covenant with himself: and it is good to take notice of God’s mercy in
receiving us.
[2.] They shall have a heart for praise. They shall glorify God for his
mercy. Unconverted sinners do nothing to glorify God; but converting
grace works in the soul a disposition to speak and do all to the glory
of God; God intended to reap a harvest of glory from the Gentiles, who
had been so long turning his glory into shame.
(2.) The fulfilling of the scriptures in this. The favour of God to the
Gentiles was not only mercy, but truth. Though there were not promises
directly given to them, as to the fathers of the Jews, yet there were
many prophesies concerning them, which related to the calling of them,
and the embodying of them in the church, some of which he mentions
because it was a thing that the Jews were hardly persuaded to believe.
Thus, by referring them to the Old Testament, he labours to qualify
their dislike of the Gentiles, and so to reconcile the parties at
variance.
[1.] It was foretold that the Gentiles should have the gospel preached
to them: “I will confess to thee among the Gentiles
(v. 9),
that is, thy name shall be known and owned in the Gentile world, there
shall gospel grace and love be celebrated.” This is quoted from
I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen. A
thankful explication and commemoration of the name of God are an
excellent means of drawing others to know and praise God. Christ, in
and by his apostles and ministers, whom he sent to disciple all
nations, did confess to God among the Gentiles. The exaltation of
Christ, as well as the conversion of sinners, is set forth by the
praising of God. Christ’s declaring God’s name to his brethren is
called his praising God in the midst of the congregation,
Ps. xxii. 22.
Taking these words as spoken by David, they were spoken when he was old
and dying, and he was not likely to confess to God among the Gentiles;
but when David’s psalms are read and sung among the Gentiles, to the
praise and glory of God, it may be said that David is confessing to
God among the Gentiles, and singing to his name. He that was the
sweet psalmist of the Gentiles. Converting grace makes people greatly
in love with David’s psalms. Taking them as spoken by Christ, the Son
of David, it may be understood of his spiritual indwelling by faith in
the hearts of all the praising saints. If any confess to God among the
Gentiles, and sing to his name, it is not they, but Christ and his
grace in them. I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; so, I
praise, yet not I, but Christ in me.
[2.] That the Gentiles should rejoice with his people,
v. 10.
This is quoted from that song of Moses,
Observe, Those who were incorporated among his people are said to
rejoice with his people. No greater joy can come to any people than
the coming of the gospel among them in power. Those Jews that retain a
prejudice against the Gentiles will by no means admit them to any of
their joyful festivities; for (say they) a stranger intermeddleth not
with the joy,
But, the partition-wall being taken down, the Gentiles are welcome to
rejoice with his people. Being brought into the church, they share in
its sufferings, are companions in patience and tribulation, to
recompense which they share in the joy.
[3.] That they should praise God
(v. 11):
Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles. This is quoted out of that
short psalm,
Converting grace sets people a praising God, furnishes with the richest
matter for praise, and gives a heart to it. The Gentiles had been, for
many ages, praising their idols of wood and stone, but now they are
brought to praise the Lord; and this David in spirit speaks of. In
calling upon all the nations to praise the Lord, it is intimated that
they shall have the knowledge of him.
[4.] That they should believe in Christ
(v. 12),
quoted from
where observe, First, The revelation of Christ, as the Gentiles’
king. He is here called the root of Jesse, that is, such a
branch from the family of David as is the very life and strength of the
family: compare
Christ was David’s Lord, and yet withal he was the Son of David
for he was the root and offspring of David,
Rev. xxii. 16.
Christ, as God, was David’s root; Christ, as man, was David’s
offspring.–And he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles.
This explains the figurative expression of the prophet, he shall
stand for an ensign of the people. When Christ rose from the
dead, when he ascended on high, it was to reign over the Gentiles.
Secondly, The recourse of the Gentiles to him: In him shall
the Gentiles trust. Faith is the soul’s confidence in Christ and
dependence on him. The prophet has it, to him shall the Gentiles
seek. The method of faith is first to seek unto Christ, as to one
proposed to us for a Saviour; and, finding him able and willing to
save, then to trust in him. Those that know him will trust in him. Or,
this seeking to him is the effect of a trust in him; seeking him by
prayer, and pursuant endeavours. We shall never seek to Christ till we
trust in him. Trust is the mother; diligence in the use of means the
daughter. Jews and Gentiles being thus united in Christ’s love, why
should they not be united in one another’s love?
| The God of Hope. | A. D. 58. |
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13 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.
Here is another prayer directed to God, as the God of hope; and it is,
as the former
(v. 5, 6),
for spiritual blessings: these are the blest blessings, and to be first
and chiefly prayed for.
I. Observe how he addresses himself to God, as the God of hope.
It is good in prayer to fasten upon those names, titles, and attributes
of God, which are most suitable to the errand we come upon, and will
best serve to encourage our faith concerning it. Every word in the
prayer should be a plea. Thus should the cause be skilfully ordered,
and the mouth filled with arguments. God is the God of hope. He is the
foundation on which our hope is built, and he is the builder that doth
himself raise it: he is both the object of our hope, and the author of
it. That hope is but fancy, and will deceive us, which is not fastened
upon God (as the goodness hoped for, and the truth hoped in), and which
is not of his working in us. We have both together,
Thy word–there is God the object; on which thou hast caused
me to hope–there is God the author of our hope,
II. What he asks of God, not for himself, but for them.
1. That they might be filled with all joy and peace in
believing. Joy and peace are two of those things in which the
kingdom of God consists,
Joy in God, peace of conscience, both arising from a sense of our
justification; see
Joy and peace in our own bosoms would promote a cheerful unity and
unanimity with our brethren. Observe,
(1.) How desirable this joy and peace are: they are filling. Carnal joy
puffs up the soul, but cannot fill it; therefore in laughter the heart
is sad. True, heavenly, spiritual joy is filling to the soul; it has a
satisfaction in it, answerable to the soul’s vast and just desires.
Thus does God satiate and replenish the weary soul. Nothing more than
this joy, only more of it, even the perfection of it in glory, is the
desire of the soul that hath it,
Ps. iv. 6, 7; xxxvi. 8; lxiii. 5; lxv. 4.
(2.) How it is attainable.
[1.] By prayer. We must go to God for it; he will for this be enquired
of. Prayer fetches in spiritual joy and peace.
[2.] By believing; that is the means to be used. It is vain, and
flashy, and transient joy, that is the product of fancy; true
substantial joy is the fruit of faith. Believing, you rejoice with
joy unspeakable,
1 Pet. i. 8.
It is owing to the weakness of our faith that we are so much wanting in
joy and peace. Only believe; believe the goodness of Christ, the love
of Christ, the promises of the covenant, and the joys and glories of
heaven; let faith be the substance and evidence of these things, and
the result must needs be joy and peace. Observe, It is all joy
and peace–all sorts of true joy and peace. When we come to God by
prayer we must enlarge our desires; we are not straitened in him, why
should we be straitened in ourselves? Ask for all joy; open thy mouth
wide, and he will fill it.
2. That they might abound in hope through the power of the Holy
Ghost. The joy and peace of believers arise chiefly from their
hopes. What is laid out upon them is but little, compared with what is
laid up for them; therefore the more hope they have the more joy and
peace they have. We do then abound in hope when we hope for great
things from God, and are greatly established and confirmed in these
hopes. Christians should desire and labour after an abundance of hope,
such hope as will not make ashamed. This is through the power of the
Holy Ghost. The same almighty power that works grace begets and
strengthens this hope. Our own power will never reach it; and therefore
where this hope is, and is abounding, the blessed Spirit must have all
the glory.
| Paul Commends the Brethren. | A. D. 58. |
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14 And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye
also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also
to admonish one another.
15 Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto
you in some sort, as putting you in mind, because of the grace
that is given to me of God,
16 That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the
Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of
the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy
Ghost.
Here,
I. He commends these Christians with the highest characters that could
be. He began his epistle with their praises
(ch. i. 8),
Your faith is spoken of throughout the world, thereby to make
way for his discourse: and, because sometimes he had reproved them
sharply, he now concludes with the like commendation, to qualify them,
and to part friends. This he does like an orator. It was not a piece of
idle flattery and compliment, but a due acknowledgment of their worth,
and of the grace of God in them. We must be forward to observe and
commend in others that which is excellent and praise-worthy; it is part
of the present recompence of virtue and usefulness, and will be of use
to quicken others to a holy emulation. It was a great credit to the
Romans to be commended by Paul, a man of such great judgment and
integrity, too skilful to be deceived and too honest to flatter. Paul
had no personal acquaintance with these Christians, and yet he says he
was persuaded of their excellencies, though he knew them only be
hearsay. As we must not, on the one hand, be so simple as to believe
every word; so, on the other hand, we must not be so skeptical as to
believe nothing; but especially we must be forward to believe good
concerning others: in this case charity hopeth all things, and
believeth all things, and (if the probabilities be any way strong, as
here they were) is persuaded. It is safer to err on this side. Now
observe what it was that he commended them for.
1. That they were full of goodness; therefore the more likely to
take in good part what he had written, and to account it a kindness;
and not only so, but to comply with it, and to put it in practice,
especially that which relates to their union and to the healing of
their differences. A good understanding of one another, and a good will
to one another, would soon put an end to strife.
2. Filled with all knowledge. Goodness and knowledge together! A
very rare and an excellent conjunction; the head and the heart of the
new man. All knowledge, all necessary knowledge, all the knowledge of
those things which belong to their everlasting peace.
3. Able to admonish one another. To this there is a further
gift requisite, even the gift of utterance. Those that have goodness
and knowledge should communicate what they have for the use and benefit
of others. “You that excel so much in good gifts may think you have no
need of any instructions of mine.” It is a comfort to faithful
ministers to see their work superseded by the gifts and graces of their
people. How gladly would ministers leave off their admonishing work, if
people were able and willing to admonish one another! Would to God that
all the Lord’s people were prophets. But that which is every body’s
work is nobody’s work; and therefore,
II. He clears himself from the suspicion of intermeddling needlessly
with that which did not belong to him,
Observe how affectionately he speaks to them: My brethren
(v. 14),
and again, brethren,
v. 15.
He had himself, and taught others, the art of obliging. He calls them
all his brethren, to teach them brotherly love one to another. Probably
he wrote the more courteously to them because, being Roman citizens
living near the court, they were more genteel, and made a better
figure; and therefore Paul, who became all things to all men, was
willing, by the respectfulness of his style, to please them for their
good. He acknowledges he had written boldly in some
sort—tolmeroteron apo merous, in a manner that
looked like boldness and presumption, and for which some might perhaps
charge him with taking too much upon him. But then consider,
1. He did it only as their remembrancer: As putting you in mind.
such humble thoughts had Paul of himself, though he excelled in
knowledge, that he would not pretend to tell them that which they did
not know before, but only to remind them of that in which they had
formerly been by others instructed. So Peter,
People commonly excuse themselves from hearing the word with this, that
the minister can tell them nothing but what they knew before. If it be
so, yet have they not need to know it better, and to be put in mind of
it?
2. He did it as the apostle of the Gentiles. It was in pursuance of his
office: Because of the grace (that is, the apostleship,
ch. i. 5)
given to me of God, to be the minister of Jesus Christ to the
Gentiles,
v. 16.
Paul reckoned it a great favour, and an honour that God had put upon
him, in putting him into that office,
Now, because of this grace given to him, he thus laid out himself among
the Gentiles, that he might not receive that grace of God in vain.
Christ received that he might give; so did Paul; so have we talents
which must not be buried. Places and offices must be filled up with
duty. It is good for ministers to be often remembering the grace that
is given unto them of God. Minister verbi es, hoc age–You are a
minister of the word; give yourself wholly to it, was Mr. Perkins’s
motto. Paul was a minister. Observe here,
(1.) Whose minister he was: the minister of Jesus Christ,
1 Cor. iv. 1.
He is our Master; his we are, and him we serve.
(2.) To whom: to the Gentiles. So God had appointed him,
So Peter and he had agreed,
These Romans were Gentiles: “Now,” says he, “I do not thrust myself
upon you, nor seek any lordship over you; I am appointed to it: if you
think I am rude and bold, my commission is my warrant, and must bear me
out.”
(3.) What he ministered: the gospel of God; hierourgounta
to euangelion—ministering as about holy things (so the
word signifies), executing the office of a Christian priest, more
spiritual, and therefore more excellent, than the Levitical priesthood.
(4.) For what end: that the offering up (or sacrificing) of
the Gentiles might be acceptable–that god might have the glory
which would redound to his name by the conversion of the Gentiles. Paul
laid out himself thus to bring about something that might be acceptable
to God. Observe how the conversion of the Gentiles is expressed: it is
the offering up of the Gentiles; it is prosphora ton
ethnon—the oblation of the Gentiles, in which the
Gentiles are looked upon either,
[1.] As the priests, offering the oblation of prayer and praise and
other acts of religion. Long had the Jews been the holy nation, the
kingdom of priests, but now the Gentiles are made priests unto God
(Rev. v. 10),
by their conversion to the Christian faith consecrated to the service
of God, that the scripture may be fulfilled, In ever place incense
shall be offered, and a pure offering,
Mal. i. 11.
The converted Gentiles are said to be made nigh
(Eph. ii. 13)–
the periphrasis of priests. Or,
[2.] The Gentiles are themselves the sacrifice offered up to God by
Paul, in the name of Christ, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to
God,
A sanctified soul is offered up to God in the flames of love, upon
Christ the altar. Paul gathered in souls by his preaching, not to keep
them to himself, but to offer them up to God: Behold, I, and the
children that God hath given me. And it is an acceptable offering,
being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. Paul preached to them, and
dealt with them; but that which made them sacrifices to God was their
sanctification; and this was not his work, but the work of the Holy
Ghost. None are acceptably offered to God but those that are
sanctified: unholy things can never be pleasing to the holy God.
| The Apostle’s Labours. | A. D. 58. |
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17 I have therefore whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ in
those things which pertain to God.
18 For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which
Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by
word and deed,
19 Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit
of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I
have fully preached the gospel of Christ.
20 Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where
Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s
foundation:
21 But as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they
shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand.
The apostle here gives some account of himself and of his own affairs.
Having mentioned his ministry and apostleship, he goes on further to
magnify his office in the efficacy of it, and to mention to the glory
of God the great success of his ministry and the wonderful things that
God had done by him, for encouragement to the Christian church at Rome,
that they were not alone in the profession of Christianity, but though,
compared with the multitude of their idolatrous neighbours, they were
but a little flock, yet, up and down the country, there were many that
were their companions in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ. It
was likewise a great confirmation of the truth of the Christian
doctrine that it had such strange success, and was so far propagated by
such weak and unlikely means, such multitudes captivated to the
obedience of Christ by the foolishness of preaching. Therefore Paul
gives them this account, which he makes the matter of his glorying; not
vain glory, but holy gracious glorying, which appears by the
limitations; it is through Jesus Christ. Thus does he centre all
his glorying in Christ; he teaches us so to do,
Not unto us,
Ps. cxv. 1.
And it is in those things which pertain to God. The conversion
of souls is one of those things that pertain to God, and therefore is
the matter of Paul’s glorying; not the things of the flesh. Whereof
I may glory, echo oun kauchesin en Christo Iesou ta pros
Theon. I would rather read it thus: Therefore I have a
rejoicing in Christ Jesus (it is the same word that is used,
2 Cor. i. 12, and Phil. iii. 3,
where it is the character of the circumcision that they
rejoice—kauchomenoi, in Christ Jesus)
concerning the things of God; or those things that are offered
to God–the living sacrifices of the Gentiles,
Paul would have them to rejoice with him in the extent and efficacy of
his ministry, of which he speaks not only with the greatest deference
possible to the power of Christ, and the effectual working of the
Spirit as all in all; but with a protestation of the truth of what he
said
(v. 18):
I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath
not wrought by me. He would not boast of things without his line,
nor take the praise of another man’s work, as he might have done when
he was writing to distant strangers, who perhaps could not contradict
him; but (says he) I dare not do it: a faithful man dares not lie,
however he be tempted, dares be true, however he be terrified. Now, in
this account of himself, we may observe,
I. His unwearied diligence and industry in his work. He was one that
laboured more abundantly than they all.
1. He preached in many places: From Jerusalem, whence the law
went forth as a lamp that shineth, and round about unto
Illyricum, many hundred miles distant from Jerusalem. We have in
the book of the Acts an account of Paul’s travels. There we find him,
after he was sent forth to preach to the Gentiles
(Acts xiii.),
labouring in that blessed work in Seleucia, Cyprus, Pamphylia, Pisidia,
and Lycaonia
afterwards travelling through Syria and Cilicia, Phrygia, Galatia,
Mysia, Troas, and thence called over to Macedonia, and so into Europe,
Then we find him very busy at Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, Corinth,
Ephesus, and the parts adjacent. Those that know the extent and
distance of these countries will conclude Paul an active man, rejoicing
as a strong man to run a race. Illyricum is the country now called
Sclavonia, bordering upon Hungary. Some take it for the same with
Bulgaria; others for the lower Pannonia: however, it was a great way
from Jerusalem. Now it might be suspected that if Paul undertook so
much work, surely he did it by the halves. “No,” says he, “I have
fully preached the Gospel of Christ–have given them a full account
of the truth and terms of the gospel, have not shunned to declare the
whole counsel of God
(Acts xx. 27),
have kept back nothing that was necessary for them to know.” Filled
the gospel, so the word is; peplerokenai to
euangelion, filled it as the net is filled with fishes in a
large draught; or filled the gospel, that is, filled them with the
gospel. Such a change does the gospel make that, when it comes in power
to any place, it fills the place. Other knowledge is airy, and leaves
souls empty, but he knowledge of the gospel is filling.
2. He preached in places that had not heard the gospel before,
He broke up the fallow ground, laid the first stone in many places, and
introduced Christianity where nothing had reigned for many ages but
idolatry and witchcraft, and all sorts of diabolism. Paul broke the
ice, and therefore must needs meet with the more difficulties and
discouragements in his work. Those who preached in Judea had upon this
account a much easier task than Paul, who was the apostle of the
Gentiles; for they entered into the labours of others,
Paul, being a hardy man, was called out to the hardest work; there were
many instructors, but Paul was the great father–many that watered, but
Paul was the great planter. Well, he was a bold man that made the first
attack upon the palace of the strong man armed in the Gentile world,
that first assaulted Satan’s interest there, and Paul was that man who
ventured the first onset in many places, and suffered greatly for it.
He mentions this as a proof of his apostleship; for the office of the
apostles was especially to bring in those that were without, and to lay
the foundations of the new Jerusalem; see
Not but that Paul preached in many places where others had been at work
before him; but he principally and mainly laid himself out for the good
of those that sat in darkness. He was in care not to build upon
another man’s foundation, lest he should thereby disprove his
apostleship, and give occasion to those who sought occasion to reflect
upon him. He quotes a scripture for this out of
To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see. That which had not
been told them, shall they see; so the prophet has it, much to the
same purport. This made the success of Paul’s preaching the more
remarkable. The transition from darkness to light is more sensible
than the after-growth and increase of that light. And commonly the
greatest success of the gospel is at its first coming to a place;
afterwards people become sermon-proof.
II. The great and wonderful success that he had in his work: It was
effectual to make the Gentiles obedient. The design of the
gospel is to bring people to be obedient; it is not only a truth
to be believed, but a law to be obeyed. This Paul aimed at in all his
travels; not his own wealth and honour (if he had, he had sadly missed
his aim), but the conversion and salvation of souls: this his heart was
upon, and for this he travailed in birth again. Now how was this great
work wrought?
1. Christ was the principal agent. He does not say, “which I worked,”
but “which Christ wrought by me,”
Whatever good we do, it is not we, but Christ by us, that does it; the
work is his, the strength his; he is all in all, he works all our
works,
Paul takes all occasions to own this, that the whole praise might be
transmitted to Christ.
2. Paul was a very active instrument: By word and deed, that is,
by his preaching, and by the miracles he wrought to confirm his
doctrine; or his preaching and his living. Those ministers are likely
to win souls that preach both by word and deed, by their conversation
showing forth the power of the truths they preach. This is according
to Christ’s example, who began both to do and teach,
Through mighty signs and wonders: en dynamei
semeion—by the power, or in the strength, of signs and
wonders. These made the preaching of the word so effectual, being the
appointed means of conviction, and the divine seal affixed to the
gospel-charter,
3. The power of the Spirit of God made this effectual, and
crowned all with the desired success,
(1.) The power of the Spirit in Paul, as in the other apostles, for the
working of those miracles. Miracles were wrought by the power of the
Holy Ghost
(Acts i. 8),
therefore reproaching the miracles is called the blasphemy against the
Holy Ghost. Or,
(2.) The power of the Spirit in the hearts of those to whom the word
was preached, and who saw the miracles, making these means effectual to
some and not to others. It is the Spirit’s operation that makes the
difference. Paul himself, as great a preacher as he was, with all his
might signs and wonders, could not make one soul obedient further than
the power of the Spirit of God accompanied his labours. It was the
Spirit of the Lord of hosts that made those great mountains plain
before this Zerubbabel. This is an encouragement to faithful ministers,
who labour under the sense of great weakness and infirmity, that it is
all one to the blessed Spirit to work by many, or by those that have on
power. The same almighty Spirit that wrought with Paul often perfects
strength in weakness, and ordains praise out of the mouths of babes and
sucklings. This success which he had in preaching is that which he here
rejoices in; for the converted nations were his joy and crown of
rejoicing: and he tells them of it, not only that they might rejoice
with him, but that they might be the more ready to receive the truths
which he had written to them, and to own him whom Christ had thus
signally owned.
| The Apostle’s Labours; Paul’s Desire to See the Romans; Contributions for the Poor Saints. | A. D. 58. |
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22 For which cause also I have been much hindered from coming
to you.
23 But now having no more place in these parts, and having a
great desire these many years to come unto you;
24 Whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you:
for I trust to see you in my journey, and to be brought on my way
thitherward by you, if first I be somewhat filled with your
company.
25 But now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints.
26 For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a
certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem.
27 It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For
if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual
things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal
things.
28 When therefore I have performed this, and have sealed to
them this fruit, I will come by you into Spain.
29 And I am sure that, when I come unto you, I shall come in
the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.
St. Paul here declares his purpose to come and see the Christians at
Rome. Upon this head his matter is but common and ordinary, appointing
a visit to his friends; but the manner of his expression is gracious
and savoury, very instructive, and for our imitation. We should learn
by it to speak of our common affairs in the language of Canaan. Even
our common discourse should have an air of grace; by this it will
appear what country we belong to. It should seem that Paul’s company
was very much desired at Rome. He was a man that had as many friends
and as many enemies as most men ever had: he passed through evil report
and good report. No doubt they had heard much of him at Rome, and
longed to see him. Should the apostle of the Gentiles be a stranger at
Rome, the metropolis of the Gentile world? Why as to this he excuses it
that he had not come yet, he promises to come shortly, and gives a good
reason why he could not come now.
I. He excuses it that he never came yet. Observe how careful Paul was
to keep in with his friends, and to prevent or anticipate any
exceptions against him; not as one that lorded it over God’s heritage.
1. He assures them that he had a great desire to see them; not to see
Rome, though it was now in its greatest pomp and splendour, nor to see
the emperor’s court, nor to converse with the philosophers and learned
men that were then at Rome, though such conversation must needs be very
desirable to so great a scholar as Paul was, but to come unto
you
(v. 3),
a company of poor despised saints in Rome, hated of the world, but
loving God, and beloved of him. These were the men that Paul was
ambitious of an acquaintance with at Rome; they were the excellent ones
in whom he delighted,
And he had a special desire to see them, because of the great character
they had in all the churches for faith and holiness; they were men that
excelled in virtue, and therefore Paul was so desirous to come to them.
This desire Paul had had for many years, and yet could never compass
it. The providence of God wisely overrules the purposes and desires of
men. God’s dearest servants are not always gratified in every thing
that they have a mind to. Yet all that delight in God have the desire
of their heart fulfilled
though all the desires in their heart be not humoured.
2. He tells them that the reason why he could not come to them was
because he had so much work cut out for him elsewhere. For which
cause, that is, because of his labours in other countries, he was
so much hindered. God had opened a wide door for him in other
places, and so turned him aside. Observe in this,
(1.) The gracious providence of God conversant in a special manner
about his ministers, casting their lot, not according to their
contrivance, but according to his own purpose. Paul was several times
crossed in his intentions; sometimes hindered by Satan (as
sometimes forbidden by the Spirit
(Acts xvi. 7),
and here diverted by other work. Man purposes but God disposes,
Prov. xvi. 9; xix. 21; Jer. x. 23.
Ministers purpose, and their friends purpose concerning them, but God
overrules both, and orders the journeys, removals, and settlements, of
his faithful ministers as he pleases. The stars are in the right hand
of Christ, to shine where he sets them. The gospel does not come by
chance to any place, but by the will and counsel of God.
(2.) The gracious prudence of Paul, in bestowing his time and pains
where there was most need. Had Paul consulted his own ease, wealth, and
honour, the greatness of the word would never have hindered him from
seeing Rome, but would rather have driven him thither, where he might
have had more preferment and taken less pains. But Paul sought the
things of Christ more than his own things, and therefore would not
leave his work of planting churches, no, not for a time, to go and see
Rome. The Romans were whole, and needed not the physician as other poor
places that were sick and dying. While men and women were every day
dropping into eternity, and their precious souls perishing for lack of
vision, it was no time for Paul to trifle. There was now a gale of
opportunity, the fields were white unto the harvest; such a season
slipped might never be retrieved; the necessities of poor souls were
pressing, and called aloud, and therefore Paul must be busy. It
concerns us all to do that first which is most needful. True grace
teaches us to prefer that which is necessary before that which is
unnecessary,
And Christian prudence teaches us to prefer that which is more
necessary before that which is less so. This Paul mentions as a
sufficient satisfying reason. We must not take it ill of our friends if
they prefer necessary work, which is pleasing to God, before
unnecessary visits and compliments, which may be pleasing to us. In
this, as in other things, we must deny ourselves.
II. He promised to come and see them shortly,
Having no more place in these parts, namely, in Greece, where he
then was. The whole of that country being more or less leavened with
the savour of the gospel, churches being planted in the most
considerable towns and pastors settled to carry on the work which Paul
had begun, he had little more to do there. He had driven the chariot of
the gospel to the sea-coast, and having thus conquered Greece he is
ready to wish there were another Greece to conquer. Paul was one that
went through with his work, and yet then did not think of taking his
ease, but set himself to contrive more work, to devise liberal things.
Here was a workman that needed not to be ashamed. Observe,
1. How he forecasted his intended visit. His project was to see them in
his way to Spain. It appears by this that Paul intended a journey into
Spain, to plant Christianity there. The difficulty and peril of the
work, the distance of the place, the danger of the voyage, the other
good works (though less needful, he thinks) which Paul might find to do
in other places, did not quench the flame of his holy zeal for the
propagating of the gospel, which did even eat him up, and make him
forget himself. But it is not certain whether ever he fulfilled his
purpose, and went to Spain. Many of the best expositors think he did
not, but was hindered in this as he was in others of his purposes. He
did indeed come to Rome, but he was brought thither a prisoner, and
there was detained two years; and whither he went after is uncertain:
but several of his epistles which he wrote in prison intimate his
purpose to go eastward, and not towards Spain. However, Paul, forasmuch
as it was in thine heart to bring the light of the gospel into Spain,
thou didst well, in that it was in thine heart; as God said to David,
The grace of God often with favour accepts the sincere intention, when
the providence of God in wisdom prohibits the execution. And do not we
serve a good Master then?
Now, in his way to Spain he proposed to come to them. Observe his
prudence. It is wisdom for every one of us to order our affairs so that
we may do the most work in the least time. Observe how doubtfully he
speaks: I trust to see you: not, “I am resolved I will,” but, “I
hope I shall.” We must purpose all our purposes and make all our
promises in like manner with a submission to the divine providence; not
boasting ourselves of to-morrow, because we know not what a day may
bring forth,
Prov. xxvii. 1; James iv. 13-15.
2. What he expected in his intended visit.
(1.) What he expected from them. He expected they would bring him on
his way towards Spain. It was not a stately attendance, such as princes
have but a loving attendance, such as friends give, that Paul expected.
Spain was then a province of the empire, well known to the Romans, who
had a great correspondence with it, and therefore they might be helpful
to Paul in his voyage thither; and it was not barely their accompanying
him part of the way, but their furthering him in his expedition, that
he counted upon: not only out of their respect to Paul, but out of
respect to the souls of those poor Spaniards that Paul was going to
preach to. It is justly expected from all Christians that they should
lay out themselves for the promoting and furthering of every good work,
especially that blessed work of the conversion of souls, which they
should contrive to make as easy as may be to their ministers, and as
successful as may be to poor souls.
(2.) What he expected in them: to be somewhat filled with their
company. That which Paul desired was their company and
conversation. The good company of the saints is very desirable and
delightful. Paul was himself a man of great attainments in knowledge
and grace, taller by head and shoulders than other Christians in these
things, and yet see how he pleased himself with the thoughts of good
company; for as iron sharpens iron so does a man the countenance of his
friend. He intimates that he intended to make some stay with them, for
he would be filled with their company; not just look at them, and away:
and yet he thinks their converse so pleasant that he should never have
enough of it; it is but somewhat filled, he thought he should leave
them with a desire of more of their company. Christian society, rightly
managed and improved, is a heaven upon earth, a comfortable earnest of
our gathering together unto Christ at the great day. Yet observe, It is
but somewhat filled, apo merous—in part. The
satisfaction we have in communion with the saints in this world is but
partial; we are but somewhat filled. It is partial compared with our
communion with Christ; that, and that only, will completely satisfy,
that will fill the soul. It is partial compared with the communion we
hope to have with the saints in the other world. When we shall sit down
with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, with all the saints, and none but
saints, and saints made perfect, we shall have enough of that society,
and be quite filled with that company.
(3.) What he expected from God with them,
He expected to come in the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of
Christ. Observe, Concerning what he expected from
them he speaks doubtfully: I trust to be brought on my way,
and to be filled with your company. Paul had learnt not to be too
confident of the best. These very men slipped from him afterwards,
when he had occasion to use them
At my first answer, no man stood by me; none of the Christians
at Rome. The Lord teach us to cease from man. But concerning what he
expected from God he speaks confidently. It was uncertain whether he
should come or no, but I am sure when I do come I shall come in the
fulness, &c. We cannot expect too little from man, nor too much
from God. Now Paul expected that God would bring him to them, loaded
with blessings, so that he should be an instrument of doing a great
deal of good among them, and fill them with the blessings of the
gospel. Compare
That I may impart unto you some spiritual gift. The blessing of
the gospel of Christ is the best and most desirable blessing. When Paul
would raise their expectation of something great and good in his
coming, he directs them to hope for the blessings of the gospel,
spiritual blessings, knowledge, and grace, and comfort. There is then a
happy meeting between people and ministers, when they are both under
the fulness of the blessing. The blessing of the gospel is the treasure
which we have in earthen vessels. When ministers are fully prepared to
give out, and people fully prepared to receive, this blessing, both are
happy. Many have the gospel who have not the blessing of the gospel,
and so they have it in vain. The gospel will not profit, unless God
bless it to us; and it is our duty to wait upon him for that blessing,
and for the fulness of it.
III. He gives them a good reason why he could not come and see them
now, because he had other business upon his hands, which required his
attendance, upon which he must first make a journey to Jerusalem,
He gives a particular account of it, to show that the excuse was real.
He was going to Jerusalem, as the messenger of the church’s charity to
the poor saints there. Observe what he says,
1. Concerning this charity itself. And he speaks of that upon this
occasion probably to excite the Roman Christians to do the like,
according to their ability. Examples are moving, and Paul was very
ingenious at begging, not for himself, but for others. Observe,
(1.) For whom it was intended: For the poor saints which are at
Jerusalem,
v. 26.
It is no strange thing for saints to be poor. Those whom God favours
the world often frowns upon; therefore riches are not the best things,
nor is poverty a curse. It seems, the saints at Jerusalem were poorer
than other saints, either because the wealth of that people in general
was now declining, as their utter ruin was hastening on (and, to be
sure, if any must be kept poor, the saints must), or because the famine
that was over all the world in the days of Claudius Cæsar did in
a special manner prevail in Judea, a dry country; and, God having
called the poor of this world, the Christians smarted most by it. This
was the occasion of that contribution mentioned
Or, because the saints at Jerusalem suffered most by persecution; for
of all people the unbelieving Jews were most inveterate in their rage
and malice against the Christians, wrath having come upon them to the
uttermost,
The Christian Hebrews are particularly noted too as having had their
good spoiled
(Heb. x. 34),
in consideration of which this contribution was made for them. Though
the saints at Jerusalem were at a great distance form them, yet they
thus extended their bounty and liberality to them, to teach us as we
have ability, and as there is occasion, to stretch out the hand of our
charity to all that are of the household of faith, though in places
distant from us. Though in personal instances of poverty every church
should take care to maintain their own poor (for such poor we have
always with us), yet sometimes, when more public instances of poverty
are presented as objects of our charity, though a great way off from
us, we must extend our bounty, as the sun his beams; and, with the
virtuous woman, stretch out our hands to the poor, and reach forth
our hands to the needy,
Prov. xxxi. 20.
(2.) By whom it was collected: By those of Macedonia (the chief
of whom were the Philippians) and Achaia (the chief of whom were
the Corinthians), two flourishing churches, though yet in their
infancy, newly converted to Christianity. And I wish the observation
did not hold that people are commonly more liberal at their first
acquaintance with the gospel than they are afterwards, that, as well as
other instances of the first love and the love of the espousals, being
apt to cool and decay after a while. It seems those of Macedonia and
Achaia were rich and wealthy, while those at Jerusalem were poor and
needy, Infinite Wisdom ordering it so that some should have what others
want, and so this mutual dependence of Christians one upon another
might be maintained.–It pleased them. This intimates how ready
they were to it–they were not pressed nor constrained to it, but they
did it of their own accord; and how cheerful they were in it–they took
a pleasure in doing good; and God loves a cheerful giver.–To make a
certain contribution; koinonian tina—a
communication, in token of the communion of saints, and their
fellow-membership, as in the natural body one member communicates to
the relief, and succour, and preservation of another, as there is
occasion. Every thing that passes between Christians should be a proof
and instance of that common union which they have one with another in
Jesus Christ. Time was when the saints at Jerusalem were on the giving
hand, and very liberal they were, when they laid their estates at the
apostles’ feet for charitable uses, and took special care that the
Grecian widows should not be neglected in the daily ministration,
&c. And now that the providence of God had turned the scale, and made
them necessitous, they found the Grecians kind to them; for the
merciful shall obtain mercy. We should give a portion to seven, and
also to eight, because we know not what evil may be on the earth, which
may make us glad to be beholden to others.
(3.) What reason there was for it
(v. 27):
And their debtors they are. Alms are called righteousness,
Being but stewards of what we have, we owe it where our great Master
(by the calls of providence, concurring with the precepts of the word)
orders us to dispose of it: but here there was a special debt owing;
the Gentiles were greatly beholden to the Jews, and were bound in
gratitude to be very kind to them. From the stock of Israel came Christ
himself, according to the flesh, who is the light to enlighten the
Gentiles; out of the same stock came the prophets, and apostles, and
first preachers of the gospel. The Jews, having had the lively oracles
committed to them, were the Christians’ library-keepers–out of Zion
went forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem; their
political church-state was dissolved, and they were cut off, that the
Gentiles might be admitted in. Thus did the Gentiles partake of their
spiritual things, and receive the gospel of salvation as it were at
second-hand from the Jews; and therefore their duty is, they are
bound in gratitude to minister unto them in carnal things: it is
the least they can do: leitourgesai—to minister as
unto God in holy things; so the word signifies. A conscientious
regard to God in works of charity and almsgiving makes them an
acceptable service and sacrifice to God, and fruit abounding to a good
account. Paul mentions this, probably, as the argument he had used with
them to persuade them to it, and it is an argument of equal cogency to
other Gentile churches.
2. Concerning Paul’s agency in this business. He could himself
contribute nothing; silver and gold he had none, but lived upon the
kindness of his friends; yet he ministered unto the saints
(v. 25)
by stirring up others, receiving what was gathered, and transmitting it
to Jerusalem. Many good works of that kind stand at a stay for want of
some one active person to lead in them, and to set the wheels a going.
Paul’s labour in this work is not to be interpreted as any neglect of
his preaching-work, nor did Paul leave the word of God, to serve
tables; for, besides this, Paul had other business in this journey, to
visit and confirm the churches, and took this by the bye; this was
indeed a part of the trust committed to him, in which he was concerned
to approve himself faithful
(Gal. ii. 10):
They would that we should remember the poor. Paul was one that
laid out himself to do good every way, like his Master, to the bodies
as well as to the souls of people. Ministering to the saints is good
work, and is not below the greatest apostles. This Paul had undertaken,
and therefore he resolves to go through with it, before he fell upon
other work
(v. 28):
When I have sealed to them this fruit. He calls the alms
fruit, for it is one of the fruits of righteousness; it sprang
from a root of grace in the givers, and redounded to the benefit and
comfort of the receivers. And his sealing it intimates his great care
about it, that what was given might be kept entire, and not embezzled,
but disposed of according to the design of the givers. Paul was very
solicitous to approve himself faithful in the management of this
matter: an excellent pattern for ministers to write after, that the
ministry may in nothing be blamed.
| Paul’s Desire for the Church’s Prayers. | A. D. 58. |
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30 Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s
sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together
with me in your prayers to God for me;
31 That I may be delivered from them that do not believe in
Judæa; and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be
accepted of the saints;
32 That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and
may with you be refreshed.
33 Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.
Here we have, I. St. Paul’s desire of a share in the prayers of the
Romans for him, expressed very earnestly,
Though Paul was a great apostle, yet he begged the prayers of the
meanest Christians, not here only, but in several other of the
epistles. He had prayed much for them, and this he desires as the
return of his kindness. Interchanging prayers is an excellent token of
the interchanging of loves. Paul speaks like one that knew himself, and
would hereby teach us how to value the effectual fervent prayer of the
righteous. How careful should we be lest we do any thing to forfeit our
interest in the love and prayers of god’s praying people!
1. Observe why they must pray for him. He begs it with the greatest
importunity. He might suspect they would forget him in their prayers,
because they had no personal acquaintance with him, and therefore he
urges it so closely, and begs it with the most affectionate
obtestations, by all that is sacred and valuable: I beseech you,
(1.) “For the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake. He is my Master, I am
going about his work, and his glory is interested in the success of it:
if you have any regard to Jesus Christ, and to his cause and kingdom,
pray for me. You love Christ, and own Christ; for his sake then do me
this kindness.”
(2.) “For the love of the Spirit. As a proof and instance of
that love which the Spirit works in the hearts of believers one to
another, pray for me; as a fruit of that communion which we have one
with another by the Spirit though we never saw one another. If ever you
experienced the Spirit’s love to you, and would be found returning your
love to the Spirit, be not wanting in this office of kindness.”
2. How they must pray for him: That you strive together.
(1.) That you strive in prayer. We must put forth all that is
within us in that duty; pray with fixedness, faith, and fervency;
wrestle with God, as Jacob did; pray in praying, as Elias did
(Jam. v. 17),
and stir up ourselves to take hold on God
(Isa. lxiv. 7);
and this is not only when we are praying for ourselves, but when we are
praying for our friends. True love to our brethren should make us as
earnest for them as sense of our own need makes us for ourselves.
(2.) That you strive together with me. When he begged their prayers for
him, he did not intend thereby to excuse his praying for himself; no,
“Strive together with me, who am wrestling with God daily, upon
my own and my friends’ account.” He would have them to ply the same
oar. Paul and these Romans were distant in place, and likely to be so,
and yet they might join together in prayer; those who are put far
asunder by the disposal of God’s providence may yet meet together at
the throne of his grace. Those who beg the prayers of others must not
neglect to pray for themselves.
3. What they must beg of God for him. He mentions particulars; for, in
praying both for ourselves and for our friends, it is good to be
particular. What wilt thou that I shall do for thee? So says
Christ, when he holds out the golden sceptre. Though he knows our
state and wants perfectly, he will know them from us. He recommends
himself to their prayers, with reference to three things:–
(1.) The dangers which he was exposed to: That I may be delivered
from those that do not believe in Judea. The unbelieving Jews were
the most violent enemies Paul had and most enraged against him, and
some prospect he had of trouble from them in this journey; and
therefore they must pray that God would deliver him. We may, and must,
pray against persecution. This prayer was answered in several
remarkable deliverances of Paul, recorded
Acts xxi., xxii., xxiii., and xxiv.
(2.) His services: Pray that my service which I have for Jerusalem
may be accepted of the saints. Why, was there any danger that it
would not be accepted? Can money be otherwise than acceptable to the
poor? Yes, there was some ground of suspicion in this case; for Paul
was the apostle of the Gentiles, and as the unbelieving Jews looked
spitefully at him, which was their wickedness, so those that believed
were shy of him upon that account, which was their weakness. He does
not say, “Let them choose whether they will accept it or no; if they
will not, it shall be better bestowed;” but, “Pray that it may be
accepted.” As God must be sought unto for the restraining of the ill
will of our enemies, so also for the preserving and increasing of the
good will of our friends; for God has the hearts both of the one and of
the other in his hands.
(3.) His journey to them. To engage their prayers for him, he interests
them in his concerns
(v. 32):
That I may come unto you with joy. If his present journey to
Jerusalem proved unsuccessful, his intended journey to Rome would be
uncomfortable. If he should not do good, and prosper, in one visit, he
thought he should have small joy of the next: may come with joy, by
the will of God. All our joy depends upon the will of God. The
comfort of the creature is in every thing according to the disposal of
the Creator.
II. Here is another prayer of the apostle for them
(v. 33):
Now the God of peace be with you all, Amen. The Lord of hosts,
the God of battle, is the God of peace, the author and lover of peace.
He describes God under this title here, because of the divisions among
them, to recommend peace to them; if God be the God of peace, let us be
men of peace. The Old-Testament blessing was, Peace be with you;
now, The god of peace be with you. Those who have the fountain
cannot want any of the streams. With you all; both weak and
strong. To dispose them to a nearer union, he puts them altogether in
this prayer. Those who are united in the blessing of God should be
united in affection one to another.
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