IX. SPECIAL AND UNIVERSAL DUTIES. SECOND SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY. ROM. XII. 9. Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. IX. epistle. I. ST PAUL has been speaking in this chapter of the SERMON Christian sacrifice, not that "perfect sacrifice, obla- Divisions tion, and satisfaction," which Christ offered on the of the cross once for all for the sins of the whole world, but that other sacrifice which still continues, the willing thank-offering of ourselves to God's glory. I beseech Rom. xii. you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And having briefly explained the general principle of self-dedication to God, he proceeds, in the sixth verse of the chapter, the first of to-day's epistle, to apply it to the details and particulars of daily Christian duty, and to shew how each of us, in his whole behaviour, in his dealings with his brethren and with his own soul, must ever remember that he is called to a life of self-sacrifice, of duty, of care for others, SERMON even as his Lord came down from heaven, not to do His own will, but the will of Him that sent Him. Joh. vi. 38. And the particulars thus enumerated by the Apostle, so far as they are contained in the epistle for this day, may be roughly separated into two divisions, connected by the words which I have chosen as the text. I know that any one who undertakes to expound St Paul's writings must beware of the love of systematizing, and confining the inspired fervour of the great Apostle by mere logical and intellectual forms. For when he poured forth his heavenly utterances of faith and love, his absorbing thought was of the conversion and edification of souls, he did not dwell on rules of rhetoric, or exactness of classification. Commentators and preachers have often lowered or misrepresented his meaning by technical divisions, and by forgetting, that when God's Spirit filled his soul with some holy thought, he was wont to turn suddenly from his main subject to pursue this new current of exhortation or reproof. And so doubtless, in this chapter, there is much which appears irregular in the expression or order of his thoughts, something perhaps of repetition and abrupt transition, as he hurries from one self-denying grace to another. But this arises from the enthusiasm of devotion with which he sets before his readers, in all its details, the full sublimity of the Christian character: we can imagine him, as he dictated the verses to his amanuRom. xvi. ensis Tertius, who, as we are afterwards told, copied down this epistle from the Apostle's lips, carried 22. IX. ́away by the grandeur and beauty of his subject, and SERMON rapidly enumerating, with little heed to method or order, the glorious succession of heavenly virtues by which Christians are to offer their bodies a living sacrifice to God. Still, as I said, we may discern two instructive divisions in this fervid enumeration: he seems first to mention the various special duties which we severally owe to one another in virtue of the peculiar gifts which we have each received from God, or the various positions to which He has called us, and then our universal duties, those which all Christians must alike fulfil. And the text connects them by stating the spirit in which both classes of duties must be discharged. For it is only when our outward actions are inspired and guided by that love which is without dissimulation, that abhorrence of evil and earnest cleaving to good, which are the signs of the renewed and Christian heart, that they are pleasing in the sight of God. It will be desirable for us briefly to survey to-day's epistle as a whole; then to examine a little more carefully the precepts which regulate (i) our special, and (ii) our general duties; and finally to regard them both in connection with the text. 2. St Paul then begins by telling us that every Paraone has some talent, some opportunity, some special the epistle. phrase of calling or occupation, which he may use in God's service. Having each of us then gifts according to Rom. xii. the amount of favour which God has shewn us, the circumstances in which He has placed us, and the .6. IX. ver. 7. ver. 8. SERMON talents which He has committed to our charge, if our gift be prophecy (that is, inspired or fervent preaching), let us exercise it according to the measure of our faith, that is, the degree in which we have received and appropriated God's gift; never falling short of it through indolence, or trying to push beyond it through vain glory or impatience: or if our gift be that of ministering to the poor by distributing the alms of the church (like Stephen and his six Acts vi. 3. colleagues in the book of Acts), let us give ourselves wholly to that ministry; or if there be among us one who has the gift of teaching regularly and systematically, let him be engrossed in the duty of teaching; if there is one who exhorteth, whose special gift is to cheer and encourage the weak and wavering, let him devote himself to the work of exhortation: he who imparteth to the wants of others, spending his time and substance on works of benevolence, let him do it with simple modest liberality; he who is filling any office of government, whether in the church or as the head of a household, let him perform its duties with conscientious diligence; he that sheweth mercy, who exercises any calling of kindness and compassion, let him fulfil it, not grudgingly or of necessity, but with cheerfulness. Here the Apostle leaves the consideration of our special or professional duties, and passes to those which every Christian is bound to fulfil, connecting the one with the other by the exhortation to base all that we do on principle, to seek for that spirit which is the source of all holy deeds, whether IX. ver. 10. ver. II. special or general, whether done by us as holding SERMON different powers and offices, or simply as redeemed from sin by Jesus Christ. Let love be without dissi- ver. 9. mulation, genuine, unaffected; such a love as arises from abhorring that which is evil and cleaving to that which is good, not such as proceeds from any private ends or personal motives, but from a simple desire for that which Christ approves, and abhorrence of that which He condemns. And then the Apostle begins his second enumeration of particulars. In the matter of brotherly love, he says, be affectionate one to another; with regard to honour, let each esteem the other above himself; in zeal not remiss, in spirit fervent, to the Lord doing service; rejoic- ver. 12. ing confidently in the sure hope set before you in Christ Jesus; patient in tribulation; and, above all, in order that you may be supported in every sorrow, and strengthened against every temptation, continuing instant, that is, unwearied and urgent, in prayer to Him who has promised to hear and answer you for the sake of His Son. With regard to your neighbours, you must be always forward in imparting to ver. 13. the necessities of your fellow Christians, given to hospitality and kindness to strangers; or rather, (for the original word is much stronger,) not only given to it, but pursuing it, not waiting for the requests of those who need your help, but seeking them out, and running as it were to find them. Then, quoting almost Matt. v. literally our Lord's words in the Sermon on the Mount, which is cited or alluded to with especial 44. |