Inexcusable Irreverence and Ingratitude

Inexcusable Irreverence and Ingratitude

(No. 2257)

INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, MAY 22, 1892.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, JULY
13, 1890.

"They are without excuse: because that, when they knew God, they
glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful." Romans 1:20,21.

THIS first chapter of the Epistle to the Romans is a dreadful portion
of the Word of God. I should hardly like to read it all through
aloud–it is not intended to be so used. Read it at home and be
startled at the awful vices of the Gentile world. Unmentionable crimes
were the common pleasures of those wicked ages! But the chapter is also
a striking picture of heathenism at the present time. After a
missionary had gone into a certain part of India and had given away New
Testaments, a Hindu waited upon him and asked him this question–"Did
you not write that first chapter in the Epistle to the Romans after you
came here?" "No," replied the missionary, "I did not write it at all.
It has been there nearly two thousand years." The Hindu said, "Well, if
it has not been written since you came here, all I can say is, that it
might have been so written, for it is a fearfully true description of
the sin of India."

It is also much more true, even of London, than some of us would like
to admit. Even here are committed those vices, the very mention of
which would make the cheek of modesty to crimson. However, I am not
going to talk about India– they are a long way off. I am not going to
speak about the ancient Romans–they lived a couple of thousand years
ago. I am going to speak about ourselves and about some persons here
whom my text admirably fits. I fear that I am speaking to some who are
"without excuse: because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him
not as God, neither were thankful."

I. The first charge against those who are mentioned in my text is LACK
OF REVERENCE. "They knew God," but "they glorified Him not as God."
They knew that there was a God–they never denied His existence–but
they had no reverence for His name. They did not render Him the homage
to which He is entitled–they did not glorify Him as God.

Of many this is still true in this form, they never think of God. They
go from year to year without any practical thought of God. Not only is
He not in their words, but He is not in their thoughts. As the Psalmist
puts it, "The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not
seek after God: God is not at all in his thoughts." The marginal
reading is very expressive–"All his thoughts are, There is no God."
Whether there is a God, or not, makes no practical difference to the
wicked–they have so little esteem for Him that, perhaps, if we could
prove that there were no God, they would feel easier in their
conscience. There must be something very wrong with you when you would
rather that there were no God.

"Well," said one, "I do not care much whether there is a God or not. I
am an agnostic." "Oh," I replied, "that is a Greek word, is it not? And
the equivalent Latin word is, 'Ignoramus.'" Somehow, he did not like
the Latin nearly as much as the Greek. Oh, dear Friends, I could not
bear to be an "ignoramus" or an "agnostic" about God! I must have a
God! I cannot do without Him. He is to me as necessary as food to my
body and air to my lungs. The sad thing is that many who believe that
there is a God, yet glorify Him not as God, for they do not even give
Him a thought! I appeal to some here, whether that is not true. You go
from the beginning of the week to the end of it without reflecting upon
God at all. You could do as well without God as with Him. Is not that
the case? And must there not be something very terrible in the
condition of your heart when, as a creature, you can do without a
thought of your Creator? When He that has nourished you and brought you
up, is nothing to you, One of whom you never think?

These people, further, have no right conceptions of God. The true
conception of God is that He is All in All. If God is anything, we
ought to make Him everything! You cannot put God in the second place.
He is Almighty, All-Wise, All-Gracious, knowing everything, being in
every place, constantly present, the emanations of His power found in
every part of the universe! God is infinitely glorious–and unless we
treat Him as such, we have not treated Him as He ought to be treated.
If there is a king and he is set to open the door or do menial work, he
is not honored as a king should be. Shall the great God be made a
lackey for our lusts? Shall we put God aside and say to Him, "When I
have a more convenient season, I will send for You–when I have more
money, I will attend to religion"? Or, "When I can be religious and not
lose anything by it, then I will seek You"? Do you treat God so? Oh,
beware, this is high treason against the King of Kings! Wrong ideas of
God, groveling thoughts of God come under the censure of the text,
"When they knew God, they glorified Him not as God."

Again, dear Friends, there are some who think of God a little, but they
never offer Him any humble, spiritual worship. Do not imagine that God
can be worshipped by anything which is merely mechanical or
external–and which is not from the heart! A strange god must that god
be who is pleased with what some men call worship! I have been into
many a Roman Catholic church and seen upon the altar paper flowers that
would have been a disgrace to a tap-room! And I have asked, "Is God
pleased with this kind of thing?" Then I have been into a better
building and I have seen crucifixes and altars adorned like a fine
lapidary's shop–and I have said to myself, "They might adorn a bride,
but God cares not for jewels." Is your conception of God that He
desires your gold and your silver, your brass and your fine linen and
all these adornments? You think that He is such an One as yourself!
Surely you have poor conceptions of God!

When the organ peals out its melodious tones, but the heart is not in
the singing, do you think that God has ears like a man, that can be
tickled with sweet sounds? Why have you brought Him down to your level?
He is spiritual! The music that delights Him is the love of a true
heart, the prayer of an anxious spirit! He has better music than all
your organs and drums can ever bring to Him! If He wanted music, He
would not have asked you, for winds and wave make melodies
tran-scendently superior to all your chief musicians can compose! Does
He want candles when His torch makes the mountains to be great altars
smoking with the incense of praise to the God of Creation? Oh, Brothers
and Sisters, I fear that it has been true of many who externally
appeared to be devout–"when they knew God, they glorified Him not as
God!" Weep over your sins–then have you glorified Him as God! Fall on
your face and be nothing before the Most High–then you have glorified
Him as God! Accept His righteousness. Adore His bleeding Son. Trust in
His infinite compassion. THEN you have glorified Him as God, for, "God
is a Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in
truth." How far, my dear Hearers, have you complied with that
requisition?

Further, the people mentioned in my text did not glorify God, for they
did not obediently serve Him. My dear Hearer, have you served God? Have
you looked upon yourself as a servant of God? When you awake in the
morning, do you ask, "What does God expect me to do today?" When you
have summed up the day, have you applied this test, "How far have I
endeavored to serve God today?" There are many who are the servants of
themselves–and there is no master more tyrannical than unsanctified
self! Many are toiling like slaves at the galleys for wealth, for
honor, for respectability, for something for themselves. But remember,
if the Lord is God and He made us, we are bound to serve Him. How is it
that God has kept you alive these 40 years, perhaps twice forty and you
have never glorified Him as God by rendering Him any service whatever?
This is a very solemn enquiry. I should like everyone whom it concerns
to take it home to his own conscience.

There is another charge to be brought against those who glorified not
God, although they knew Him. That is, they did not trust Him. The place
for man is under the shadow of God's wings. If He made me, I ought to
seek Him in the hour of trouble. In the time of my need I should apply
to His bounty. If I feel unhappy I should look to Him for comfort. My
dear Hearers, are there not some of you who have never trusted God? You
run to your neighbors as soon as you are in difficulties! You trust
your old uncle, but you never trust your God. Oh, what a wretched
business is this, if God, who is all Truth and all Love, does not have
the confidence of His own creatures! Remember how the Lord spoke by the
mouth of Jeremiah–"Cursed is the man that trusts in man and makes
flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the Lord. For he shall be
like the heath in the desert, and shall not see good when it comes; but
shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and
not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusts in the Lord, and whose
hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and
that spreads out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat

comes, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the
year of drought; neither shall cease from yielding fruit." The people
mentioned in the text knew God, but they did not trust Him.

In addition to this, they did not seek to commune with Him. Are there
not some here who never tried to speak to God? It never occurred to
you, did it? And God has not spoken to you–at least you have not known
whose voice it was when He did speak. It is a very sad business when a
boy, who has been at home with his father and mother for years, has
never spoken to them. He came down in the morning and ate his
breakfast. He came in and devoured his dinner. He took his supper with
them by night, but never spoke to them. Would you have a boy of that
kind living with you? You would be obliged to say. "John, you must
leave–it pains me to send you away, but I cannot bear to have you
sitting here in silence. If I speak to you, you never answer me." Some
of you cannot remember the time when you spoke to God, or God spoke to
you! It is so very long ago, if it ever did occur in your past
experience.

There is a man somewhere here who did speak to God the other day. He
called upon God with a foul and blasphemous oath. When he was telling a
lie, he called upon God to witness it. Ah, yes, you have broken the
silence, but it would have been better not to have spoken than to have
uttered those vile blasphemies against the Most High! Your horrible
words have entered into the ears of the Lord God of Sabaoth and, as the
Lord lives, you will have to answer for them to the great Judge of all
men unless you seek His face and find forgiveness through His Son! Our
Savior said that for every idle word that men shall speak, they shall
give account in the Day of Judgement–how much more shall they be
required to answer for every evil, false, slanderous, blasphemous word
they have spoken? But are there not many persons who have never uttered
an oath and are scrupulously careful about speaking the truth, who have
never had any spiritual converse with God? Wretched creatures, indeed,
are you, even though you are healthy and prosperous, you have missed
the highest good, the best blessing that man can know!

There are some who, although they know God, they do not want to be
reconciled to Him. There is a way of perfect reconciliation between God
and man. Whoever believes in Christ Jesus is at once forgiven–he is
adopted into the family of God, he drinks the wine of the love of
God–he is saved with an everlasting salvation! There are many who know
this in their minds, but it never excites any desire for it in their
hearts. No, whether reconciled or unreconciled, does not trouble them.
Do you not know, O man, that the English of it is, "I defy God! I
neither want His love, nor fear His hate! I will lift my face before
His thunderbolts and dare Him to do His worst"? Oh, fatal defiance of
the blessed God! May the Spirit of God work upon your conscience, now,
to make you see the evil of this condition and turn from it! While I
speak, I feel deeply troubled to have to say what I do, but I am only
speaking of what many a conscience here must confess to be true. You
live, some of you, knowing God, but not glorifying Him as God.

II. Now I take from my text the second accusation which is certainly
quite as sad as the other. Those who are mentioned by Paul are accused
of LACK OF GRATITUDE. It is said of them that, "when they knew God,
they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful."

I cannot say anything much worse of a man than that he is not thankful
to those who have been his benefactors, but when you say that he is not
thankful to God, you have said about the worst thing you can say of
him. Now look not merely at the people who lived in Paul's day, but at
those who are living now. I will soon prove ingratitude on the part of
many. There are many counts in the indictment we have to bring against
them in God's High Court of Justice.

First, God is despised. You young men and women who are beginning life,
if you are intelligent and wise, say, "We wish that we knew what we
ought to do for our own preservation and happiness. And we should also
like to know what to avoid lest we should do ourselves harm." Well,
now. The book of the Law of the Ten Commandments is simply the sanitary
regulation of the moral world, telling us what would damage us and what
would benefit us. We ought to be very thankful to have such plain
directions. "You shall." "You shall not." But look! God has taken the
trouble to give us this map of the way and to direct us in the right
road–yet some have despised the heavenly Guide. They have gone
directly in the teeth of the Law of God. In fact, it looks as if the
very existence of the Law has been a provocation for them to break it!
Is not this a piece of dreadful ingratitude? Whenever God says, "You
shall not," it is because it would be mischievous for us to do it.
Sometimes, in London, when the ice in the parks is not strong enough to
bear, they put up boards on which is the word, "Dangerous." Who but a
fool would go where that danger signal is? The Ten Commandments
indicate what is dangerous–no, what is fatal! Keep clear of all that
is forbidden.

Next, God's Day is dishonored by those who are not thankful to Him. God
has, in great mercy, given us a day–one day in seven, wherein to rest,
and to think of holy things. There were seven days that God had in the
week. He said, "Take six and use them in your business." No, we must
have the seventh as well! It is as if one upon the road saw a poor man
in distress and, having but seven shillings, the generous person gave
the poor man six–but when the wretch had scrambled to his feet, He
followed his benefactor to knock him down and steal the seventh
shilling from him! How many do this! The is but one in seven. This is
base unthankfulness! May not many here confess that they have been
guilty of it? If so, let no more Sabbaths be wasted, but let their
sacred hours, and all the week between, be spent in diligent search
after God! And then, when you have found Him, the Lord's-Day will be
the brightest gem of all the seven, and you will sing

with Dr. Watts–

"Welcome, sweet day of rest, That saw the Lord arise; Welcome to this
reviving breast, And these rejoicing eyes!"

Moreover, God's Book is neglected by these ungrateful beings. He has
given us a Book–here is a copy of it. Was there ever such a Book so
full of wisdom and so full of love? Let a man look at it on bended
knees, for he may find Heaven between those pages! But, when God has
taken the trouble to make this wonderful Book, there are many who do
not take the trouble to read it. Ah, me, what ingratitude! A father's
love letter to his son, and his son leaves it unread! Here is a Book,
the likes of which is not beneath the cope of Heaven, and God has
exercised even His Omniscience to make it a perfect Book for all ranks
and conditions of men, in all periods of the world's history–and yet,
such is man's ingratitude, that he turns away from it!

But there is something much worse–God's Son is refused by the
unthankful. God had but one Son–and such a Son–One with Himself,
infinite, holy, His delight! He took Him from His bosom and sent Him to
this earth. The Son took our nature and became a Servant and then died
the death of a felon–the death of the Cross–and all to save us! To
save the guilty–men who were His enemies! I feel so guilty, myself,
while I am talking about it, that I do not burst into tears. This must
be one of the mysteries that the angels cannot comprehend, that after
Christ had died, there were found sinners who would not be saved by
Him! They refused to be washed in the fountain filled with His blood!
They rejected eternal life, even though it streamed from the five great
fountains of His wounded body! They chose Hell rather than salvation by
His blood! They were so in love with their dire enemy, sin, that they
would not be reconciled to God, even by the death of His Son! Oh,
Ingratitude, you have reached your utmost limit, now, for you have trod
under foot the Son of God and have counted the blood of the Covenant,
wherewith He was sanctified, an unholy thing, and have done despite
unto the Spirit of Grace! Is it not terrible?

I might stop here, but, for the sake of pricking the conscience of
some, I want to say, dear Friends, that there are some persons so
ungrateful, that God's deliverances are forgotten. Some years ago I
spoke with a soldier who rode in the fatal charge at Balaclava. And
when he told me so, I took him by the hand–I could not help it! Though
he was a stranger to me, the tears were in my eyes, and I said, "Sir, I
hope that you are God's man after such a deliverance as that." Almost
all the saddles emptied, shot and shell flying to the right and left,
death mowing down the whole brigade, yet he escaped! But I did not find
that he had given his heart to Christ. Over there is a man who has been
in a half-a-dozen shipwrecks and if he does not mind, he will be
shipwrecked to all eternity! One here has had yellow fever. Ah, Sir,
there is a worse fever than that on you, now! I cannot speak of all the
cases here of strange deliverances, but I do not doubt that I address
some who have been between the jaws of death! They have looked over the
edge of that dread precipice, beneath which is the fathomless abyss!
You vowed that if God would spare your life, you would never be what
you were before– and in truth you are not–you are worse than ever!
You are now sinning against the Light of God and in shameful
ingratitude. God have mercy upon you!

How often, dear Friends, is there ingratitude on the part of
unconverted men in the matter of God Providence ignored? Why, look at
some of you! You never missed a meal in your lives. When you went to
the table, there was always something on it. You never had to lose a
night's rest for need of a bed. Some of you, from your childhood, have
had all that heart could wish. If God has treated you so, while many
are crushed with poverty, should He not have some gratitude from you?
You had a good mother. You had a tender father. You have gone from one
form of relationship to another with increasing comfort. You are spared
and your mother is spared–your wife and children are spared. Indeed,

God has made your path very smooth! Some of you are getting on in
business, while other men are failing–some of you have every comfort
at home, while others have been widowed and their children have fallen,
one after the other. Will you never be grateful? Hard, hard heart, will
you never break? Will any mercy bend you? I appeal to some here, whose
path has been so full of mercies, that they ought to think of God and
turn to Him with sincere repentance and faith!

But one says, "I have had good luck." What can be worse than that? Here
is unthankfulness to God, indeed, when you ascribe His good gifts to,
"good luck!" "Well, you know, but I have been a very hard-working man."
I know you have, but who gave you this strength for your work? "I have
a good supply of brains while others do not." Did you make your own
brains? Do you not feel that any man who talks about his own wisdom and
his own wit, writes, "FOOL," across his forehead in capital letters? We
owe everything to God! Shall we not give God something? Shall we have
no gratitude to Him from whom all our blessings have come? God forgive
us if it has been so–and give us Grace to alter our past course at
once!

Once more, there is another piece of ingratitude of which many are
guilty, God's Spirit is resisted by them. The Spirit of God comes to
them and gently touches them. Perhaps He has done so tonight while you
have been sitting here. You have said, "Do not talk quite so plainly to
us. Give us a little comfort, a little breathing space! Do not be quite
so hard on us." I hope that it was the Spirit of God rather than the
preacher who was dealing with you! At any rate, He has done so a good
many times, and you have tried to drive from your heart your best
Friend! You have been so ungenerous to Him that when He came to lead
you to Christ, you summoned all your strength and the devil came to
help you. And, up till now, you have resisted the Spirit of God with
some degree of success. The Lord have mercy on you! How true is my
text, still, even of many who are found in the House of Prayer, "When
they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful!"

III. Now I finish with my third point which is that THIS IRREVERENCE
AND INGRATITUDE WERE

AGAINST KNOWLEDGE. "When they knew God, they glorified Him not as God,
neither were thankful."

Will you kindly notice that, according to my text, knowledge is of no
use if it does not lead to holy practice? "They knew God." It was no
good to them to know God for, "they glorified Him not as God." So my
theological friend over there, who knows so much that he can split
hairs over doctrines–it does not matter what you think, or even what
you know unless it leads you to glorify God and to be thankful! No,
your knowledge may be a millstone about your neck to sink you down in
eternal woe unless your knowledge is turned to holy practice.

Indeed, knowledge will increase the responsibility of those who are
irreverent and ungrateful. Paul says, "They are without excuse: because
that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were
thankful." Whatever excuse might be made for those who never heard of
God, there was none for these people! My dear Hearers, you also are
"without excuse." Many of you have had godly parents. You have attended
a Gospel ministry. Your Sunday school teachers and Christian friends
have taught you the way of salvation–you are not ignorant! If you do
not glorify God. If you are not thankful to Him, it will be more
tolerable for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah at the day of judgment
than for you, for they never had the privileges that you have despised!

Remember how the Savior upbraided the cities wherein most of His mighty
works were done because they repented not–"Woe unto you, Chorazin! Woe
unto you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you,
had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in
sackcloth and ashes." I hardly know which is the greater wonder–that
the poor people who saw Christ's mighty works did not repent–or that
those who would have repented if they had seen those works were not
permitted to see them!

I wish, dear Friends, that you could get out of this state of not
glorifying God and not being thankful. Surely, you only need to have
the case stated and the Spirit of God to speak to your conscience, to
cause you to say, "I cannot any longer bear to be in such a dreadful
condition without regard to God." May God enable you to repent tonight!
Change your mind! That is the meaning of the word, "repent." Change
your mind and say, "We will glorify God. There is a Great First Cause.
There is a Creator. There must be an Omnipotent, All-Wise Being. We
will worship Him. We will say in our hearts, 'This God shall be our
God, and we will trust Him, if He will but accept us."

Then remember the years that are past. They involve a great debt and
you cannot pay it, for, if you go on serving God without a flaw to the
end of your life, there is the old debt still due! There are the years
that are gone and, "God requires the years that are past." Well, now,
hear what He has done! He has given His dear Son to "bear our sins in
His

own body on the tree"–and if you will trust Christ–then know for sure
that Christ has put away your sin and you are forgiven! "Look"–that is
His Word–"Look unto Me, and be you saved, all you ends of the earth."
When the bronze serpent was lifted up, all those who were bitten had to
do was to look at the serpent of brass–and everyone that looked,
lived! If any man of that crowd had looked at Moses, that would not
have healed him. If he had looked at the fiery serpents and tried to
pull them off, that would not have healed him. But as he looked to the
bronze serpent and, as his eyes caught the gleam of the brass, the
deadly serpent's bites were healed and the man lived! Look to Jesus!
Look now! May God the Holy Spirit lead you to do so!

"I do not feel fit," says one. That is looking to yourself. "I do not
feel my need enough," says another. That is trusting to your sense of
need. Away with everything that is in you, or about you–and just trust
Christ–and you shall immediately be saved. Whoever in this great
congregation will but look to Jesus shall be saved upon the spot!
However great your iniquities, however stony your heart, however
despairing your mind, look, look, look, look! And then, when you look
to Christ, your ingratitude will be forgiven and it will die. You will
love Him who has loved you and you shall be saved and saved forever!

When we received 82 into the Church last Lord's-Day evening, I could
not help breathing an earnest prayer that this might be the beginning
of a revival. May it come tonight and may many in these two galleries,
and down below, be carried away by that blessed tide of mighty Grace
that shall sweep them off their feet and land them safe on the Rock of
Ages!

Will you, dear Friends, pray for this? I shall feel that even my poor,
weak instrumentality will be quite sufficient for the greatest work if
I have your prayers at my back. Will you, tonight, at the family altar,
or at your own bedsides, make it a special subject of prayer that men
and women who knew God, but glorified Him not as God, and were not
thankful, may tonight turn to God? If I could get at some of you who
are living without Christ, I should like to do what the Roman
ambassadors used to do. When they came to a king who was at war with
the empire, they said to him, "Will you have peace with Rome, or not?"
If he said that he must have time to think it over, the ambassador,
with his rod, drew a ring around the man and said, "You must decide
before you cross that line, for, if you do not say, 'Peace,' before you
step out of it, Rome will crush you with her armies."

There are no doors to the pews, otherwise I would say, "Shut those
doors, and do not let the people out until God decides them." Lord,
shut them in! Lord, arrest them! Hold them fast and let them not go
till each one of them has said, "I believe; help You my unbelief!" May
God bless you all, for Jesus' sake! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON ROMANS1:1-25

Verse 1. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an Apostle,
separated unto the Gospel of God. Paul had not seen the Romans when he
wrote this Epistle. They were strangers to him and, therefore, he
begins by asserting his Apostle-ship, "called to be an Apostle,
separated unto the Gospel of God." That expression should be true of
every Christian minister! We are not Apostles, but we are, "separated
unto the Gospel of God." I do not think that we are called to have
anything to do with party politics, or social problems, or any such
questions–we are set apart for this purpose– "separated unto the
Gospel of God." There are plenty of people who can attend to those
things better than we can. If we mind our own business, or rather, if
we mind our Master's business, we who are ministers will have quite
enough to do. "Separated unto the Gospel of God." There are some
Brothers who, in preaching, are as timid as mice–but on a political
platform they can roar like lions! Had not they better take to what
they like best and give up the work at which they are not at home? For
my part, I believe that I am like Paul when he says that he was
"separated unto the Gospel of God." I am set apart unto the Gospel, cut
off from everything else so that I may preach the glorious Gospel of
the blessed God to the perishing sons of men!

2. (Which He had promised afore by His Prophets in the Holy
Scriptures). Notice, Brothers and Sisters, how reverent the Apostles
were to Holy Scripture. They had no doubt about its Inspiration! They
quoted the Old Testament and delighted to make it a kind of basis for
the New Testament–"which He had promised afore by His Prophets in the
Holy Scriptures."

3, 4. Concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made the seed
of David according to the flesh; and declared to be the Son of God with
power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from
the dead. What a glorious Lord we serve! He is God's Son–"Jesus Christ
our Lord." In His Human Nature, He is a Man of royal race–"of the seed
of David." He was a Man, therefore He died, but He rose again, for He
was more than Man–"declared to be the Son of God with power."

5, 6. By whom we have received Grace and Apostleship, for obedience to
the faith among all nations, for His name: among whom are you also the
called of Jesus Christ. That is a sweet name for every truly converted
man, "called of Jesus Christ." He has called you personally. He has
called you effectually. He has called you out of the world. He has
called you into fellowship with Himself–"the called of Jesus Christ."
The revised version has it–"called to be Jesus Christ's." Those who
are called by Christ, are called to be His.

7, 8. To all that are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith
is spoken of throughout the whole world. What contrasts we have in the
seventh verse! "In Rome, beloved of God." "In Rome called to be
saints." God has beloved ones in the darkest parts of the earth! There
is all the more reason for them to be saints because they are
surrounded by sinners. They must have had true faith, or they could not
have confessed Christ between the jaws of a lion, for they lived in
Rome, with Nero hunting after Christians as if they had been wild
beasts! And yet they were not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ.

9. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the Gospel of
His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my
prayers. This man, Paul, did a great deal by prayer. I remember a
minister, who is now with the Lord, who was thanked by his people for
his wonderful sermons. But he said to them, "You never thanked me for
my prayers, yet they were the best part of my service for you." When
men of God are mighty in prayer, we owe much to them.

10. Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a
prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you. Paul wanted to
go to Rome, but I do not suppose that he ever thought that he would go
there at the expense of the government, with an imperial guard to take
care of him all the way! We pray and God gives us the answer to our
peti-tions–but often in a way in which we would never have dreamed!
Paul goes to Rome as a prisoner for Christ's sake. Now suppose Paul had
gone to Rome in any other capacity–he could not have seen Caesar. He
could not have obtained admission into Caesar's house. The prison of
the Palatine was just under the vast palace of the Caesars and
everybody in the house could come into the guard room–and have a talk
with Paul if they were minded to do so. I suppose that whatever I might
be willing to pay, I could not have preached in the palace of the
Queen, even in this nominally Christian country! But Paul was installed
as a royal chaplain over Caesar's household in the guard room of the
Palatine prison! How wonderfully God works to accomplish His Divine
purposes!

11. 12. For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some
spiritual gift, to the end you may be established; that is, that I may
be comforted together with you by the mutual faith of you and me. Paul
wanted his faith to establish theirs, and their faith to establish his.
Christians grow rich by and exchange of spiritual commodities, but I am
afraid some Christians are very poor because they do not engage in the
spiritual bartering with one another. You know how it was in the old
time, "They that feared the Lord spoke often, one to another." Shall I
tell you how it is now? They that fear not the Lord speak often, one
against another! That is a very sad difference. Oh, for more Christian
communion, for when we blend our "mutual faith," we are "comforted
together"–each Believer grows stronger as he cheers his Brothers and
Sisters in the Lord!

13. Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I
purposed to come unto you, (but was hindered until now), that I might
have some fruit among you, also, even as among other Gentiles. Ah,
Paul, you could not go when you wished! Caesar must convoy you. Your
Master would have you go to Rome under the protection of the eagles of
the empire. God has servants everywhere–He can make Satan, himself,
provide the bodyguard for His faithful Apostle's journey!

14. I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the
wise, and to the unwise. Paul felt a debt to everybody. The God who
saved him had saved him that he might preach the Gospel in every place
he could reach. Brethren, if you have received much from God, you are
so much the debtor to men and you are debtors not only to the
respectable,

but to the disreputable–debtors not only to those who come to a place
of worship, but to the dwellers in the slums– "to the Greeks, and to
the barbarians; to the wise and to the unwise."

15. So, as much as in me, I am ready to preach the Gospel to you that
are at Rome, also. For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Many other people were ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. It was too
simple–it had not enough of mystery about it. It had not enough of
worldly wisdom about it. Paul says, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of
Christ," and then gives his reason for not being ashamed of it–

16,17. For it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that
believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the
righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written,
The just shall live by faith. The Gospel tells us about this living by
faith, this believing, this receiving righteousness through believing
and not through working. This is the sweet story of the Cross, of which
Paul was not ashamed!

18. For the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the Truth in
unrighteousness. Those last words may be read, "Who hold down the Truth
of God in unrighteousness." They will not let the Truth work upon their
hearts. They will not allow it to operate in their minds, but they try
to make it an excuse for their sin. Is there anybody here who is
holding down the Truth of God to prevent its entering his heart? I fear
that there are some such persons who have come here for years–and the
Truth of God has pricked them, troubled them, made them lie awake at
night–but they are holding it down, like one who grasps a wild animal
by the ears and holds it down for fear it should bite him! Oh, Sirs,
when you are afraid of the Truth, you may well be afraid of Hell! When
you and the Truth quarrel, you had better end your fighting soon, for
you will have the worst of it if you do not yield, "For the wrath of
God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men, who hold down the Truth in unrighteousness."

19, 20. Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for
God has showed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the
creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things
that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are
without excuse. Men who never heard the Gospel can see God in His works
if they open their eyes. There is written upon the face of Nature
enough to condemn men if they do not turn to God. There is a Gospel of
the sea, of the heavens, of the stars and of the sun–and if men will
not read it, they are guilty–for they are willfully ignorant of what
they might know and ought to know.

21, 22. Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as
God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and
their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise,
they became fools. The way to be a fool is to pretend to be wise! A
short cut to wisdom is the confession of folly. The near way to folly
is the profession of wisdom.

23, 24. And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image
made like corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and
creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through
the lust of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between
themselves. It is very easy to make a beast of yourself when you have
made a beast to be your god, as the Egyptians did, when they worshipped
the god that they had made in the form of an ox, or a crocodile, or a
cat.

25. Who changed the Truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served
the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. There
are many preachers who have "changed the Truth of God into a lie"–and
by their exaltation of man, they have "worshipped and served the
creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever." God save all
of us from such idolatry as that! Amen.