+I. Paul calls himself a prisoner of Christ for the Gentiles.+--The
liberality of his sentiments towards them and the boldness with which
he asserted their title to equal privileges with Jews were the
principal reasons why the latter persecuted him with such violence,
and caused him to be sent a prisoner to Rome. The spring of this
bitter enmity in the Jews was their spiritual pride and worldly
affection. Liberality of sentiment essentially belongs to true
religion. Bigotry, hatred, and envy among Christians debase their
character and scandalise their profession. We should entertain
exalted thoughts of the Divine Goodness. Such thoughts enlarge the
mind and liberalise the feelings.
+II. The Gospel is called a dispensation of the grace of God.+--It is
a discovery of that method which the wisdom of God has chosen for
dispensing His grace and mercy toward fallen men. It is called the
Gospel of God as it originated in His pleasure; and the Gospel of
Christ as He is the immediate author of it, and His doctrines and
works, His life and death, His resurrection and ascension, and the
blessings procured by Him are the subjects on which it principally
treats. The grace which the Gospel offers is pardon and glory. Under
such a dispensation how inexcusable are the impenitent, and how
amazing will be the punishment of those who finally perish in their
guilt!
+III. This dispensation was committed to the apostle for the benefit
of mankind.+--It was a trust committed to him by the will of God, not
a power arrogated by his own presumption. He did not rely on a
secret, internal call as what alone would warrant him to commence as
a preacher. He carefully conformed to the order which Christ has
instituted in His Church. He instructed Timothy and Titus to do
likewise. Ministers are not to found their warrant to preach on any
immediate revelation. If they should pretend to this, it would be no
warrant for them to assume it, unless they can by miracles prove to
the world the reality of the pretended revelation.
+IV. The knowledge of the Gospel was communicated to Paul by
revelation.+--God did not, at the expense of inspiration, teach the
apostles those things which they knew or might know by other means.
But where actual knowledge and the means of obtaining it were
wanting, there inspiration supplied the defect. It is not necessary
for us to know the nature of this inspiration, or the manner in which
the apostles were assured of its divinity. If we believe there is an
infinite and all-perfect Spirit, who pervades universal nature, we
must believe He can reveal His will to men by such an immediate
influence as shall carry its own evidence and leave no possible doubt
of its reality. If we deny the possibility of a certain inspiration
from God, we deny that power to Him which we ourselves possess, for
we can speak to men in such a manner that they shall certainly know
we speak to them and perfectly understand our meaning.--_Lathrop._
Vers. 4, 6. _The Knowledge of Christ intended for All._--It is
significant that the inscription on the cross was written in Hebrew,
Greek, and Latin. 1. _Hebrew,_ the language of religion, of the
revelation concerning the one true God. 2. _Greek,_ the language of
literature, of arts and culture, the best medium in which to transmit
the literature of the New Testament, as Hebrew was for that of the
Old. It might be designated as the _human_ language. 3. _Latin,_ the
language of the conquerors and masters of the world--also of the
Roman Empire, as that kingdom of worldly aggrandisement and power,
falsehood and wrong, in opposition to the kingdom of God destined to
uproot and replace it. The Roman soldiers stationed throughout Europe
became useful factors in the spread of the Gospel. Note also the
synoptic gospels of 1. _Matthew_--Hebrew in thought and diction,
written to convince Jews. 2. _Mark_--Latin in thought, and written
for the Roman mind. 3. _Luke_--Greek in thought and style, written
for Gentiles.
Vers. 4, 5. _God known in Christ._--After the death of Pascal there
was found in the lining of his coat a parchment which he never parted
from, in order to keep in his memory a certain epoch in his life. It
contained these words: "Certainty--joy--the God of Jesus Christ, not
of the philosophers and savants. O that I may never be separated from
Him!" The explanation of this is, that on one memorable night, during
a holy watching, he had met, not merely the Machinist of the
universe, the God who is but the substance or the law of the world,
but the God who wills and creates the happiness of His children.
Vers. 5, 6. _The Comprehensiveness of the Gospel._--1. God's purpose
to call the Gentiles was not altogether unknown to the ancient
Church; but it was not so clearly revealed under the Old Testament as
under the New. 2. Though God might easily communicate the knowledge
of Himself unto all immediately and without the help of second means,
yet He hath chosen so to communicate His mind to some few only who
have, at His appointment, set down in sacred writ what they
immediately received, by which means the knowledge of God may, in an
ordinary way, be conveyed to others. 3. It is a great and glorious
privilege to be a part of that mystical body of which Christ is Head,
because of the strict union such have with Christ and with all
believers in Christ, and because of their interest in all the
privileges of that body and in the gifts and graces of every member
of it.--_Fergusson._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 7-9.
_An Exalted Ministerial Commission_--
+I. To distribute the unbounded wealth of the Gospel.+--"Unto
me . . . is this grace given, that I should preach the unsearchable
riches of Christ" (ver. 8). In calling the Gospel "the unsearchable
riches of Christ" the apostle signifies that Christ, the whole truth
about Him and centred in Him, is the theme of his preaching, and that
in Christ he finds a mine of inexhaustible wealth, a treasure of
truth which cannot be told. He speaks as one who has
searched--searched so long, so far, as to have produced on his mind
the impression of unsearchableness. His whole style of writing in
this chapter is that of a man overwhelmed with a sense of the
infinite grace of God revealed in Christ. The expression
"unsearchable riches," while conveying the impression of infinitude
as the words "breadth," "length," "height," "depth," suggests a
different idea--that of a mine of precious metal, rather than that of
a vast continent of great length and breadth with high mountains and
deep valleys spread over its surface. Paul speaks as a man digging in
a recently discovered gold-field, who finds particles of the precious
metal in such abundance that he cannot refrain from exclaiming ever
and anon, "What an inexhaustible supply of gold is here!" He speaks
further as one who feels it his special business to let all the world
know of this gold-field, and invite all to come and get a share of
its wealth (_A. B. Bruce_).
+II. To reveal to men the secret mind of God.+--1. _The Gospel was
for long hidden alone in God._ "Which from the beginning of the world
hath been hid in God" (ver. 9). It was a mystery hid _in_ God, not
_from_ God. The idea of the universality of the Gospel, though veiled
for ages by the limitations of the Divine dealings with the Jewish
people, was never absent from the mind of God. Down through the
rolling years one eternal purpose runs, and now and then the most
gifted of the Hebrew seers caught a glimpse of its ever-widening
range. This great secret of the ages was revealed to Paul in such
clearness and fulness that he regarded it as the one purpose of his
life--his heaven-sent commission--to make it known to his fellow-men,
of whatever nationality.
2. _The purpose of the creation of all things by Christ was also a
part of the Divine mystery._--"Who created all things by Jesus
Christ" (ver. 9). The statement of this fact--thrown in by way of
parenthesis--links the whole created things with the development of
the Divine purpose, and asserts the absolute sovereignty of Jesus
over all worlds. In some way yet to be more fully explained as the
Divine purpose ripens all created beings are to be advantaged by the
sublime redemptive work unfolded in the Gospel. "For He hath created
all things, and by Him all things consist."
3. _The mystery was revealed to one for the benefit of all._--"And to
make all men see what is the fellowship [the stewardship] of the
mystery" (ver. 9). It was well for us and the race that the
revelation and commission were committed to one who by training and
gifts was so well qualified to explain and propagate the grand Divine
idea. The barriers of Jewish prejudice in Paul were swept away by the
vastness and universality of the message. He saw it included his
Hebrew brethren--and to them the Gospel was first preached--but he
saw also it included all in its comprehensive sweep. Paul was not
alone among the apostles in comprehending the breadth of the Gospel;
but he was foremost and most resolute and unbending in battling for
the right of the Gentiles to be admitted to all its blessed
privileges. He thought out the Gospel for himself, and he became the
fearless and astute champion of the sinning race. What is accepted as
a commonplace to-day was not won without argument, suffering, and
struggle.
+III. Bestowed as an act of Divine grace.+--1. _As an act of Divine
grace it was confirmed by the conscious possession of Divine power._
"Given unto me by the effectual working of His power" (ver. 7). Paul
himself experienced the transforming power of the Gospel. He was
deeply convinced of its truth, he believed and embraced its
provisions, he accepted Christ as the living core of the Gospel, and
he was thrilled with the Divine power that wrought in him a great
moral change. He spoke not only with the force and authority of
clearly apprehended truth, but with the unfaltering certitude of
personal experience. He was henceforth the willing agent of the
Divine power working within him.
2. _As an act of Divine grace his commission overwhelmed him with a
sense of personal unworthiness._--"Unto me, who am less than the
least of all saints, is this grace given" (ver. 8). The immense
favour humbles him to the dust. That Saul, the Pharisee and the
persecutor, the most unworthy and unlikely of men, should be the
chosen vessel to bear Christ's riches to the Gentile world, how shall
he sufficiently give thanks for this! how express his wonder at the
unfathomable wisdom and goodness that the choice displays in the mind
of God! But we can see that this choice was precisely the fittest. A
Hebrew of the Hebrews, steeped in Jewish traditions and glorying in
his sacred ancestry, none knew better than the apostle Paul how rich
were the treasures stored in the house of Abraham that he had to make
over to the Gentiles. A true son of that house, he was the fittest to
lead in the aliens, to show them its precious things, and make them
at home within its walls (_Findlay_).
+Lessons.+--1. _The minster of the Gospel has a solemn
responsibility._ 2. _Should be faithful and earnest in his work._
3. _Should guard against temptations to pride._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 7. _A God-made Minister._--1. It is not sufficient warrant for
any to meddle with the ministerial office that he hath competent
gifts, except he have also ministerial power and authority conveyed
to him, either immediately by God, as it was in the calling of the
apostles, or mediately according to that order which God has
established in His Church, as in the calling of ordinary ministers.
2. As it is required to make a man a minister that he be endued with
competent abilities and gifts for that employment, so it is no less
requisite that God concur with him. God giveth not to all one and the
same gift, or in the same measure, but to some a greater, to others a
less, as He hath more or less to do with them. 3. So great and many
are the difficulties of ministers before they attain to freedom and
boldness in exercising their ministerial gift that no less is
required than the power of God, working effectually with a kind of
pith and energy. A minister will be always ready to acknowledge his
gifts as from God and His powerful working in him, and not to his own
dignity, diligence, or parts.--_Fergusson._