THESE words partly refer to the words that precede (Epistle for last Sunday), partly to those that follow. The Apostle is still warning against pride; here he warns against that form of it which gratifies itself by retaliation. Render to no man, &c. (cf. Matt. v. 39. Provide (i. e. take careful consideration for) things honest (i. e. honourable, seemly) before all men. St. Paul is teaching us to walk seemly towards men, as well as towards God (cf. Matt. v. 16; 2 Cor. viii. 21; Prov. iii. 4). 66 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you (or, as far as regards you). These words are often misunderstood. They mean, If it be possible, live peaceably with all men; at all events, let there be peace on your side, if not on theirs "* (Mark ix. 50; 2 Cor. xiii. 11; Thess. v. 13). Give place unto wrath.] “To give place” is to make room for, not to interfere with. "Do not," says the Apostle, "avenge yourselves, but give way to wrath, namely, to the wrath of your enemy; do not stop him, but let him have his way. God is the avenger, not you." The objection that to do this would be inviting injury and insult would apply equally to our Saviour's command in Matt. v. 24-38. The same answer will meet both objections. See note on the latter passage. The quotation is from Deut. xxxii. 35. In the present state of society, it is sometimes needful to punish; but St. Paul's principle holds good nevertheless. Punishment is not for vengeance, but for the good of society. Human law confesses God alone as the ultimate judge,—it feels its own blindness and ignorance, and only does what is needful for self-defence. Then we have a quotation from Prov. xxv. 21, 22. "Let this be your revenge," is the sense of the passage. "Seek occasions of showing kindness to those who have injured you; by doing so you will make them angry with themselves, and ashamed of what they have done. This is Christian revenge." Be not overcome by the evil (which others do to you); do not let it shake your patience, or tempt you to retaliation: instead of this, overcome evil with good; continue your persevering kindness until it has thoroughly overcome their malice. * Consequently in reading it, strong emphasis should be laid on "you,”—"as much as lieth in you." LET FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. Rom. xiii. 1-7. : ET every soul be subject unto the | be afraid; for he beareth not the sword higher powers; for there is no power in vain for he is the minister of God, but of God: the powers that be are or- a revenger to execute wrath upon him dained of God. Whosoever therefore re- that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs sisteth the power resisteth the ordinance be subject, not only for wrath, but also of God and they that resist shall receive for conscience sake. For for this cause to themselves damnation. For rulers are pay ye tribute also; for they are God's not a terror to good works, but to the ministers, attending continually upon this evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of very thing. Render therefore to all their the power? do that which is good, and dues; tribute to whom tribute is due, thou shalt have praise of the same for custom to whom custom, fear to whom he is the minister of God to thee for fear, honour to whom honour. good. But if thou do that which is evil, THE Church has given us the whole of the twelfth chapter of this Epistle in the course of the last three Sundays: to-day we begin the thirteenth. It has already been noticed that this constitutes the practical portion of the Epistle, and the Church shows how much value she sets upon it by continuing it unbroken. We have here St. Paul's exhortation concerning obedience to lawful authority. He rests the duty on the same principle which he has been laying down before; namely, our dependence on each other: that we are not separate beings, but members of an order, therefore we cannot claim to be absolute. At the time that this was written Nero was emperor, the worst and most cruel of all. Of him the Apostle says, that his rule is an ordinance of God.. How long a nation is bound to suffer cruelty and wickedness in a ruler, and when it becomes bound to depose such an one, we cannot gather here. The Bible does not make provision for each special case; it only give us principles. God has given us conscience and reason as well; and the Bible always takes for granted that these are to be exercised. So, then, St. Paul does not say, "Obey as long as they do not command what is wrong." He knew that they would so understand him, both as men of common sense and as Christians. We know that they had, even in those days, to exercise conscience, and some of them to die rather than obey. In the same way the Apostle has not discussed questions concerning revolutions, usurpations, rulers who break the laws, and the like. They are questions which we, by the great mercy of God, have no need to enter into. Men who lived in troublous times have had much sorrow and perplexity: excellent and noble men have oftentimes differed so widely as to fight against each other in civil war. In one well-known case, that of the English Revolution of 1688, we know how many Bishops and clergymen-among them the holy Bishop Ken-resigned their position rather than swear allegiance to William III., because they thought him a usurper in their conscience, and were bound to obey that conscience. Yet we can see now that they were mistaken. What, then, is the force of the Apostle's precept? Even this :-"All power is from God, therefore it must not be used arbitrarily all claim of a man to be : absolute is ungodly." And no man can assert his independence of authority above him, if doing so is merely an exercise of self-will. He is not to obey or to disobey, as he chooses. Obedience to lawful power is the broad line of duty, -the application of it, the limitations when they are needed, are left to the practical wisdom, the conscience, the light of the Holy Spirit, sought by diligent and humble prayer. The possibility even so, of sometimes erring, only renders more imperative the need of diligence and humility. And again we may note this: Nero was a wicked man; yet we must say even of him that he reigned by the grace of God. No doubt the phrase has often been misapplied and misunderstood. But it is a true phrase, for this reason:-Nero was the representative, as all monarchs are, of the state and the law. True, his power was not limited, as our Queen's is, by constitutional law; but it was by the Divine law, by the rules of common humanity, and by the responsibility which every man's conscience holds towards God. St. Paul showed in his practice, that he intended to maintain his rights (see Acts xxv. 11). We are bound to apply this day's Epistle to all cases of lawful authority. Obedience of children to parents, of servants to masters, of clergy to their Bishop, are all inculcated here; whilst the rulers in each of these cases are reminded that their power is not their own to exert as they like, it is delegated from God. There is little difficulty with regard to the language of this passage. Two or three notes are all that are needed. Damnation.] God. Literally "judgment," i. e. (1) of the ruler; and (2) of Wilt thou then not be afraid, &c., i. e., Do you wish to have no cause to be afraid of the power? If so, do that which is good. Then you will have praise; for he is a minister of God to do you good, to keep you safe and exalt you. Wherefore, i. e. because he is God's minister, ye must be subject, not only for wrath, not only because of the ruler's anger if you disobey, but also for conscience sake, i. e. because you have need to preserve that conscience pure and blameless in the sight of God (Acts xxiv. 16). For this cause (i. e., For this is the reason why it is right) pay ye tribute also, for they (who have a right to demand it) are God's ministers. The Greek word here is different from that translated "ministers" in the preceding verse. It means properly" providers." They are God's providers, constantly attending upon this very thing, i. e., they gather tribute to employ it in God's work. The preservation of order, the maintenance of the safety of the country, are strictly God's work. Render therefore (i. e. strictly give back what God has given you), to all their dues; tribute (direct money payments); custom, indirect taxes, taxes on things, as the other upon persons. THE Apostle here, as everywhere, exhorts his disciples to holiness of life, on the ground of their being already sanctified, redeemed creatures. "You have been baptized, you are risen with Christ; you have put off the old man;" Put on, therefore, &c. What are we to understand by the expression, so common in the New Testament, the elect of God? All Christians, all who have been baptized. They are all chosen out of the world, to set forth the glory of God. It was His Eternal Purpose to gather together in the fulness of the times all things in Christ: this purpose He is carrying out by means of His Church. Each member of it is gathered to Christ; is made a member of Him; one of God's children. Each one, therefore, is bidden to believe in God's good will to himself, to know that God has chosen him "to be holy and without blame before Him in love." His Baptism is a sign of God's choice; it is God's mark set upon him. What he has to do is to "make his calling and election sure.' Holy and beloved.] Holy, seeing that they have a new nature bestowed upon them, a new life hidden with Christ in God; they have put off the old man, and put on the new man, the nature of Christ. Hearts.] The Greek word signifies the seat of the affections, and therefore is better translated thus than by "bowels" (so in 2 Cor. vi. 12; Philem. 7, 20, &c.). Mercy, compassion for the sufferings and sorrows of others (Luke i. 78). Kindness, gentleness of manner and disposition; that which wins men's hearts to us. Humbleness of mind also signifies a virtue to be exercised towards men, "lowliness towards each other." Meekness is humble-mindedness in action, receiving men's dealing with us, as the children of God should (2 Sam. xvi. 11). Our Lord's meekness is shown by St. Peter (1 Ep. ii. 28). Long-suffering, patience under injuries; forbearance, not revenging, but being always ready to forgive. (Quarrel here means, as generally in old English, "cause of complaint.") These things especially are sometimes hard to do, therefore St. Paul gives the ground for doing them-the power by which we may do them-even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And over all these things.] He began with the idea of clothing: "Put on therefore." He is still writing with this idea before him: "having put on these things, put on Charity over all, for that is the bond, or girdle, of perfectness." Without love, the garments of righteousness hang loosely: love is the garment of completeness, and keeps them all together (cf. 2 Pet. i. 7, and Collect for Quinquagesima), And let the peace of Christ—that is, the peace which Christ gives, that which He bequeathed to His disciples (John xiv. 27)—rule* in your hearts, and so produce love and concord with your brethren. No lower motive could secure such a result; but if Christ rule supreme over us, all temptations to disunion or ill-will which may assault us, will not harm. To the which peace ye were indeed called in one body. They were united in one body, in order to promote and keep this peace of Christ. And be ye thankful, i. e. to God, There could be no such thing, if they were divided one against another. And this spirit of thankfulness will be secured by the indwelling Word of Christ, His Spirit, the knowledge of His Will. "Strive," the Apostle would say, "to bring all your thoughts and words into union with the will of Christ." In all wisdom is probably connected with what follows, according to the punctuation above given. Psalms were originally songs with musical accompaniment, and hymns without it. Perhaps here we may take the latter word as meaning songs of praise to God, and the former as songs either of a penitential or a didactic character. Songs ("odes") were lyrical compositions of any kind. "Let the songs you sing be spiritual," says St. Paul. He does not seem to be speaking here of Divine service, but of communication of religious life in their daily social intercourse. Church historians relate how the primitive Christians sang sacred songs to each other at their daily work. Singing with grace, i. e. with the grace of Christ accompanying the singing; not with the lips only, but with the Spirit also. They are to admonish one another outwardly, and also to sing inwardly unto the Lord. Then the Apostle gathers together in a sentence the substance of what he has been saying. Whatsoever ye do, whether in word or work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. Let everything which you do spring out of the Eternal Life which you have in Him. Let every daily work be done as done to Him. By so doing, you will be showing praise and thanksgiving to God the Father. SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 1 John iii. 1-8. EHOLD, what manner of love the gression of the law. And ye know that us, manifested to take away our sins, we should be called the sons of God: : and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you : he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil: for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. *Literally, "sit as supreme judge." |