Romans 15:26,27

DISCOURSE: 1924
CHRISTIANS DEBTORS TO THE JEWS

Romans 15:26. It hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem. 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.

AMONGST all the subjects which occupy the minds of men, there is one, which, though it has as great a claim to our attention as any other, is, as it were by the general consent of the Christian world, kept entirely upon the back ground, and is scarcely ever so much as named;—I mean, our obligations to the Jews. Our blessed Lord has said, that “salvation is of the Jews;” and yet notwithstanding we have received salvation from them, we scarcely ever think of making any return to them, or of bringing them to a participation of the blessings which they have transmitted to us. True indeed, in theory, we trace up all the great truths of Christianity to the writings of the Old Testament, where they were primarily revealed and shadowed forth: but beyond the consideration of Judaism as the foundation of Christianity, and of Christianity as the completion of Judaism, we have in general scarcely a thought upon the subject. We hope that no apology will be deemed necessary for bringing to your view a point, which confessedly is of great importance; and which, if regarded as it ought to be, by those whom I have the honour to address, would soon engage the attention of Christians throughout the land [Note: Written with a view to the University; but never preached before them.].

In the apostolic age, the converts, whether from amongst Jews or Gentiles, all considered themselves as one great family, of which Christ was the Head. Accordingly, when those of Judζa were brought into circumstances of peculiar distress, partly through persecutions, and partly through the famine that prevailed in the days of Claudius Cζsar, the Christians of other countries, especially of Macedonia and Achaia, gladly contributed for their relief. The pleasure with which they exerted themselves in this labour of love, is twice noticed by the Apostle: “It pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia; it pleased them verily;” that is, they took great delight in this act of kindness. But, whilst the Apostle thus records their benevolence, he acknowledges, that it was no more than the occasion justly demanded: for many of the Jewish Christians had shewn a very ardent zeal in extending to the Gentiles the knowledge of salvation through a crucified Redeemer; and therefore it was but right, that the Gentiles, who had been made partakers of their spiritual things, should impart liberally to their benefactors such a portion of their carnal things as the pressure of the times required: “It pleased them verily; and their debtors they are.”

Now this idea, that the Gentile Christians are debtors to the Jews, is that which we propose more largely to consider: and in the prosecution of it, we shall state,

I. Our obligations to the Jews;

II.

The returns we should make them.

I. Our obligations to the Jews—

To the whole nation of the Jews, from the earliest period of their existence, we are greatly indebted. Let us first notice our obligations to the patriarchs. And here we will begin with Abraham, the father of the faithful. With him was made the covenant of grace, that covenant which is at this very moment the one ground of all our hopes. We, especially we Christians, know nothing of uncovenanted mercies. It is in Christ only that we can obtain salvation; in Christ, as our Surety, who has undertaken to discharge our debt, and to make reconciliation for us through the blood of his cross. The covenant of which we speak, was made with Abraham and his seed, particularly with that promised Seed, the Lord Jesus Christ [Note: Galatians 3:16.]: and it is only as children of Abraham that we have any part in it [Note: Romans 4:11; Romans 4:16; Galatians 3:7; Galatians 3:29.]. Here then at once the obligations of the whole Christian world to Abraham are manifest to an unknown extent, inasmuch as every individual among them is indebted to him, for that covenant, which is the fountain and foundation of all their hopes.

To Isaac and Jacob also are we very greatly indebted: for they, in conjunction with Abraham, have shewn to us, in a way that has never been surpassed, the nature and operation of saving faith. God promised to Abraham a Seed in whom all the nations of the earth should be blessed. According to all human appearances, the accomplishment of that promise was impossible: but Abraham “hoped against hope,” and “staggered not at the promise through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God.” “Go out from thy house and kindred,” says God to him, “and sojourn in a land which I will give thee.” He went instantly, in dependence upon God’s word, “not knowing whither he went.” Go “take thy son Isaac, the promised seed whom I have given thee, and offer him up for a burnt-offering on a mount that I will tell thee of.” He instantly goes to execute the divine command, not doubting but that God will restore his son to life again, even after he should have been offered on the altar, and reduced to ashes. In like manner Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise, sojourned in the land of Canaan, in full expectation, that it should be inherited by their posterity, though as yet they had not a foot of ground in it. They had opportunities enough to return to their own country, if they had chosen it; but they determined rather to be as strangers and pilgrims on the earth all their days; thereby “declaring plainly, that they sought a better country, that is, an heavenly one, and looked for a city that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God [Note: Compare Romans 4:19. with Hebrews 11:8; Hebrews 11:13.].”

Now here we see what faith is: it is such a practical dependence upon the word of God, as leads us to trust in it without doubting, and to obey it without reserve. It is true, we are not required to go forth from our native country, and to live in a foreign land, as they did; but the same mind must be in us as was in them: like them we must consider ourselves altogether “as pilgrims and sojourners” here, having our hearts fixed entirely on things above, and our lives conformed to the precepts and injunctions of our God. If we had not such bright patterns of holiness before our eyes, we should be ready to think, that lower attainments would suffice; and that some limit might be assigned to the exercise of faith, or to the efforts of obedience: but here we see in men of like passions with ourselves, what a life of faith really is, and what is required of all those who profess themselves the people of the Lord. What an advantage is it to have such patterns before our eyes, and to behold before us the footsteps which will infallibly lead us to everlasting happiness and glory!
From the patriarchs we will proceed to notice the prophets, and our obligations to them. Of these, the first whom we will mention is Moses, that great prophet, like unto whom the Saviour himself was to arise [Note: Acts 3:22.]. To him we owe the moral law, even that law which discovers to us the extent of God’s requirements, and consequently the depth of our depravity, and the impossibility of ever being saved by any obedience of our own. It is the knowledge of this law that alone can convince the soul of its lost and undone state without Christ; and it is intended by God as a schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we may be justified by faith. Now we all consider ourselves indebted to those who have instructed us in our youth, especially if they have taught us important things which none other was able to communicate. How then are we all indebted to Moses for this infinitely important knowledge, which we never could have derived from any other source, and without which even the gift of God’s only dear Son to die for us would never have been effectual for its desired ends! Besides, from this law every believer is in structed how to please and serve his God. It is a compendium of all that God requires of us: and, if only we follow that in all things, we are as infallibly sure of pleasing God, and of being rewarded by him at the last, as we are sure that there is a God in heaven. Are we not then greatly indebted to the man who has given us this directory?

But there is another law which we have received from Moses, even the ceremonial law; which though, as given to the Jews, it was an insupportable yoke of bondage, yet, as handed down to us, it is scarcely less profitable than the moral law itself. To the Jews it was a dark and shadowy representation of good things to come: those shadows now are all explained by the Gospel; so that, through the light of the Gospel, all the mysterious rites and ceremonies of the law are presented in a clear, definite, and instructive view, as typifying Christ in all his work and offices: and, whilst it thus derives light from the Gospel, it reflects light back again upon the Gospel itself, and renders that incomparably more clear than it would otherwise be. To illustrate this a little:—A drawing that should represent all the constituent parts of a complicated engine, would not be intelligible without a distinct explanation of them: but with the help of the explanation, it would be clear enough. On the other hand, the explanation itself would not be clear, if it had not the drawing to illustrate it. So it is with the Law as explained by the Gospel: it does indeed receive in the first instance all its light from the Gospel; but afterwards it presents such an elucidation of Gospel truths, as conveys them with astonishing beauty and force to the mind. Take, for instance, the scape-goat. You are told in the Gospel, that “the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin;” and that “all who believe are justified from all things:” but behold the high-priest slaying one goat, and sprinkling its blood upon the mercy-seat within the vail; and then laying both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confessing over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and then sending him away into the wilderness never more to be seen by man [Note: Leviticus 16:15; Leviticus 16:21.]: who that contemplates this, and realizes in his mind the transaction, does not see the actual transfer of his sins to Christ, and the everlasting removal of them from his own soul? I say then, that for the ceremonial, no less than the moral law, we are greatly indebted to this faithful servant of our God.

Let us turn from him to the prophets at large, comprehending the whole collective body of them: what a chain of prophecy have they given us! what an accumulation of particulars, so as to render it impossible for any one who candidly compares the predictions with the events, to entertain a doubt, but that Jesus is the Christ! And let it be remembered, that they all suffered much at the hands of their fellow-creatures for their fidelity to God: and, at the time that they were delivering their prophecies, they knew that it was not for their own benefit, or the benefit of the existing generation, that they were testifying of these things, but for the instruction and benefit of generations yet unborn, even of us, to whom the Gospel is now fully revealed [Note: 1 Peter 1:11.]. Do we owe them no gratitude for these self-denying labours? But, in order to appreciate more justly our obligations to them, let us suppose for a moment, that none of them had recorded the things revealed unto them, and that all their predictions had been forgotten: what would now have been the state of our minds in relation to the Saviour? With what doubts and fears should we have been agitated, and how uncertain should we have been at this hour, whether Christianity were not altogether “a cunningly-devised fable!” Do not let us forget, that the assurance which we enjoy respecting the truth of our holy religion, is altogether derived from them: for though the miracles of our Lord were a convincing evidence of his Messiahship to those who saw them, yet to us at this remote period the completion of prophecy is a far surer and firmer ground of confidence: and therefore to those who gave us such a minute and connected series of prophecies we ought to feel the greatest obligations.

There is however one prophet in particular whose name we cannot possibly pass over in silence;—I mean, the Prophet David. He has committed to writing all the secret workings of his heart, under all the diversified conditions into which he was brought, and has given to the Church this invaluable record, that all future saints, into whatever situation they might be brought, might be comforted and edified by his example. Where is there a child of God in the whole universe that does not account the Psalms of David his richest treasure? Who does not read them, and meditate upon them, and find them as marrow and fatness to his soul? Who that has any true religion in his soul, does not find the Psalms the means of his communication with heaven; the ladder, by which he daily, and as it were hourly, ascends to God? Is this no benefit? or is the conferring of it no ground of obligation? Verily the man to whom the name of David is not dear, evinces, that he has no taste for heavenly things, no just discernment of what is truly excellent.
It will of course be expected, that we should not overlook the Apostles, those faithful instructors in the whole counsel of God, and those bright examples of all holy obedience. What did not they endure, that they might carry the Gospel to the Gentiles? How did they go throughout all the known world, in labours most abundant, and in deaths oft, “not counting their lives dear unto them, so that they might but fulfil the ministry which they had received of the Lord Jesus, and testify the Gospel of the grace of God!” How many millions are now blessing God for them in heaven! How many too are daily adoring God for them on earth, for all the light of their instructions, and all the benefit of their examples! If those who have extended the blessings of civilization, of liberty, and of science, are called benefactors, what name shall we find whereby to testify our gratitude to the Apostles, for all the light, and peace, and joy, and holiness, which through their instrumentality we possess.

We will content ourselves however with this brief mention of them, that we may fix our attention on Him to whom infinitely above all we are indebted,—the Lord Jesus Christ. He also was a Jew, “of the seed of David as pertaining to the flesh,” though in his divine nature he was “over all, God blessed for ever.” Where shall we begin to speak of the obligations which we owe to him? or, having begun, where shall we make an end? He did not merely engage in the covenant of grace as a party, like Abraham, but was the very Mediator and Surety of the covenant, who confirmed and ratified it with his own blood, and undertook, both on the part of God and man, that all the conditions of it should be fulfilled. He did not, like the prophets, merely utter predictions that should be afterwards accomplished, but actually accomplished in his own person all that had been predicted, and fulfilled every iota of what they had said should come to pass. Nor did he, like the Apostles, merely preach salvation to us, though at the expense of his own life; but he actually wrought out salvation for us, bearing our sins in his own body on the tree; and “becoming a curse for us,” that we might be delivered from the curse of the broken law, and the wrath of an offended God. Nay more; after having wrought out an everlasting righteousness for us by his own obedience unto death, he has for nearly eighteen hundred years been incessantly occupied in securing to us the blessings of redemption by the efficacy of his all-prevailing intercession, and by the all-sufficient operations of his grace. He is at this very moment the Head of the whole mystical body, the Church; and is the source of life and strength to all his members. There is not amongst all the saints upon earth one holy desire, one good counsel, or one just thought, which does not proceed from him as its true and proper source: whatever any man possesses, he has received it out of the inexhaustible fulness of Jesus Christ: so that neither on earth nor in heaven is there one who can arrogate any glory to himself: it all belongs to that blessed Saviour, “who liveth in us:” and to all eternity our song must be, “Not unto us, not unto us, but unto thy name be the praise:” “To Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and made us kings and priests unto God and our Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.” Say now, brethren, whether, or not, ye are indebted to our ever adorable Emmanuel; and whether, if you neglect to praise him, the very stones will not cry out against you?

We hope by this time that the body of evidence which has been adduced has sufficiently established our obligations to the Jews, and has prepared us with some measure of sincerity to inquire into,

II.

The returns we should make to them—

It is something more than mere acknowledgments that we are called to make: our duty towards them may be comprised under two particulars: first, We should endeavour to secure for ourselves that salvation which the Jews of former ages have handed down to us: and next, We should endeavour by all possible means to make the Jews of this and future ages partakers of the same.

1. We should endeavour to secure for ourselves that salvation which the Jews of former ages have handed down to us—

I would ask, Can it be conceived, that we are at liberty to neglect a salvation, which has been purchased for us at so great a price, and has been proclaimed to us in such a variety of ways? Have not all those who in successive ages have laboured for us, a right to expect from us some fruit of their labours? Hear the appeal which God himself makes to us respecting this matter: “O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes [Note: Isaiah 5:3.]?” Here is the very case in point. There is not any thing which we could possibly have desired, either for our conviction or encouragement, which God has not done; yea, he has far exceeded any thing we could have desired, or even thought. And is all this kindness to be requited with neglect? No: the Apostle justly says, “How shall ye escape, if ye neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him [Note: Hebrews 2:3.]!” “If so many things had not been done for us, we had not, comparatively, had sin: but now we have no cloak for our sin:” and all who have sought our welfare, whether patriarchs, or prophets, or Apostles, yea and our Lord Jesus Christ himself, will be swift witnesses against us, if we suffer all their labour to be in vain. All that they have done for us, “if it be not unto us a savour of life unto life, will be a savour of death unto death.” The first return then which we are bound to make to God, and to all who, as his instruments, have sought our welfare, is, to give up ourselves wholly and unfeignedly to the Lord: and it is remarkable that the Apostle Paul, expressly referring to the collection made at Corinth on the very occasion mentioned in our text, says, “To their power, (I bear record,) yea and beyond their power, they were willing of themselves; praying us with much entreaty, that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their ownselves to the Lord [Note: 2 Corinthians 8:3.].” This then must have the precedence of all. Whatever returns we may make either to God or man for the benefits we have received from the Jews, they are all nothing without this: we must “first give our ownselves to the Lord.” “I beseech you then, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies and souls a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service [Note: Romans 12:1.].” I would, in the name of the Most High God, lay claim to every soul here present, and say, “Ye are not your own; ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God with your bodies and your spirits, which are his [Note: 1 Corinthians 6:19.].” We call upon you, not to perform a work of supererogation, but to pay a debt: for God’s debtors ye are; and this debt must be paid to him at the peril of your souls.

2. In the next place, having secured this salvation for ourselves, we should endeavour to make the Jews of this and future ages partakers of the same—

It may be thought, perhaps, that though we are debtors to the Jews of former ages, we owe nothing to those of this generation. But we would beg leave to state a case, which we apprehend will place this matter in its true point of view. Let us suppose, that a man of vast opulence had disinherited his own children on account of their misconduct towards him, and had bequeathed his whole possessions to us. Let us further suppose, that, after his descendants to the third or fourth generation had suffered all the most lamentable effects of his displeasure, it were in our power to benefit them, without at all injuring ourselves; yea, and perhaps to elevate them to their former rank and happiness, without the smallest diminution of our own property; should we not think that it was our duty to help them? Would not the very consideration of our having, without any merit or service on our part, come to the possession of their inheritance, give them some claim upon our compassion; so far at least as to benefit them, if we could do it without any loss to ourselves? Here then is the very case: “They were broken off from their own olive-tree, that we might be graffed in [Note: Romans 11:17.]:” and it is “of the root and fatness of their olive-tree that we are partaking” from day to day [Note: Romans 11:24.]: and, as we may by God’s help be instrumental to the “graffing them again upon their own olive-tree,” it is our bounden duty to do it, more especially as it is God’s avowed purpose, that “they shall be graffed in,” as soon as ever they repent them of their former sins, and look with sorrow on the Messiah, whom they have pierced. In this respect we may regard the Jews of this generation as the representatives of those of former ages, and discharge to them the debt which can no otherwise be paid to our original benefactors. If, notwithstanding their present degraded state, they are still “beloved by God for their fathers’ sakes,” much more should a regard for their fathers cause them to be beloved by us.

But if this illustration be not sufficient to convince us, then we will come to an express command of God, which cannot fail to carry conviction to every heart. It will be recollected by all who have paid any attention to the New Testament, that, in the 11th chapter to the Romans, it is said, that “through the fall of the Jews salvation is come unto the Gentiles [Note: ver. 11.];”—that “the fall of the Jews is the riches of the world, and the diminishing of the Jews the riches of the Gentiles [Note: ver. 12.];”—and, finally, that “the casting away of the Jews is the reconciling of the world [Note: ver. 15.].” But is this blessing which we inherit through them, to be engrossed by us, and no endeavour to be made on our part for their restoration to the Divine favour? No: if is committed to us as a sacred deposit, to be improved for their good: (I repeat these words; It is a sacred deposit, to be improved for their good:) it is delivered to us, not as proprietors, to use it as we please, but as stewards, to use it for the express purpose that our Lord and Master has enjoined: and this avowed purpose is, that by every means in our power we should bring the poor outcast Jews to the renewed enjoyment of their paternal inheritance: nor should we ever see a Jew without saying in our hearts, There is a man whose inheritance I possess, and to whom I am very deeply in debt. Let us hear the express declaration of God respecting it: “As ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief; even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy [Note: ver. 30, 31.].” Here let it be clearly seen, that the very end for which this mercy is committed unto us is, “that through our mercy they also may obtain mercy:” and if we do not improve, for the restoration of God’s ancient people, the light and knowledge, the means and privileges, which we enjoy, we are unfaithful stewards. Were we speaking of a steward, who had alienated to his own use the property which we had entrusted to him for the benefit of others, we should find no terms too severe, not even those of thief and robber, whereby to characterize his conduct. We are unwilling to use such terms in reference to the Christian world, who have so long neglected their Jewish brethren; for we are persuaded, that this neglect has proceeded from ignorance and inattention to the subject, rather than from any wilful dereliction of the trust committed to them: but we must say, that, if the Jews continue to be neglected by us as they have been, we shall contract a fearful responsibility before God.

There is an idea, which is often suggested in order to excuse our supineness, namely, that they are so blind and hardened, that it is in vain to attempt their conversion. But whose fault is it that they are so blind and hardened? Is it not ours? If Christians had universally displayed in their life and conversation the superior excellence of their religion, is there not reason to think, that the Jews might by this time have been led to view it in a more favourable light? Is there not also reason to apprehend, that they have been confirmed in their prejudices against Christianity by the misconduct of its professors? What wonder is it that they are ignorant of Christianity, when the professors of it now for so many hundred years have made no efforts to enlighten them with respect to it? I say again, The fault is ours. If Christians had universally laboured for their salvation, as their forefathers did for ours, would there have been no converts from among them? Would none of them have been stirred up to make inquiry into the evidences of our religion, and to seek its blessings? But be it so, They are blind and obdurate. And what were we, when in our Gentile state? yea, what should we at this very instant have been, if their fathers had done no more for us, than we have for them? But the same grace that has wrought in us, can work in them; and the same divine power that converted myriads of their forefathers, can work effectually in the hearts of men in the present day: the power that first “commanded the light to shine out of darkness, can shine into the hearts of the very darkest among them; to give them the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
By some it will be said, The time is not come. But who is authorized to say that the time is not come? We have rather reason to hope, that the time is come, or at least is near at hand: for there is confessedly at this present moment a greater zeal among Christians for the conversion of the Gentile world, and for the dissemination of God’s word throughout the habitable globe, than has been at any other period since the apostolic age: and this gives reason to hope, not only that God is about to do great things among the Gentiles, but that he is about to visit the Jews also: for as, on the one hand, “blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in,” that is, till the period for the fuller diffusion of divine light among the Gentiles be arrived; so, on the other hand, it is the fulness of the Jews, or the general conversion of them to Christianity, that is to be the riches of the Gentile world: according as it is written, “If the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the fall of them the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fulness [Note: Romans 11:12; Romans 11:25.]?” Here is a fulness of the Jews, as well as a fulness of the Gentiles: and each is to be subservient to the completion of the other. In neither case is it to be understood as the completion of the work of divine grace among them; but in both cases it relates to the commencement of that period when the work shall be completed. The diminution of the Jews was progressive; and so we trust will be the bringing in of the complement both of Jews and Gentiles. Indeed so far is it from being true that the whole Gentile world must be converted before the work of conversion shall begin among the Jews, that, as appears from the passage just referred to, the Jews in their converted state will be eminently instrumental in converting the Gentile world: and the circumstance of their dispersion through the world, and their knowledge of the languages of the countries where they dwell, peculiarly fits them for communicating to the Gentiles the light of divine truth, the very moment that they themselves receive it. We trust therefore that the very exertions which are now making for the Gentiles, have a favourable aspect on the Jews also. But there is at this time among the Jews themselves, and especially on the continent, a considerable expectation of their Messiah [Note: In Britain also this now (1832) obtains to a considerable extent.]: nor is it an ill omen, that the Christian world have begun to pay some attention to them, and to use means for their restoration to the Divine favour. We lay not any great stress upon the success of past endeavours; though that is by no means contemptible, considering what difficulties there have been to contend with; but we say, that, whether the time for their full conversion be come, or not, the time for exertion on our part is always come: the time for us to pay our debts is always at hand: and therefore, without presuming to judge of secrets which God has reserved in his own bosom, we call on all to discharge to that benighted people their debt of love.

Is it asked, What shall we do? we feel that we are their debtors; but we know not how to discharge our debts? I answer, What their fathers did for us, that is the thing which we should do for them. St. Paul said, “I am a debtor both to the Jews and to the Greeks:” and how did he discharge his debt? He gave himself up altogether to the work of his ministry among the Gentiles; and counted not his life dear unto him, so that he might but fulfil it to their greatest advantage. He indeed had a particular call to the ministry, which does not extend to us: but we in our private capacity should be as strenuous for the welfare of our fellow-creatures, as he was in this official character as an Apostle: our modes of manifesting our regard for them will of course differ from his: but as far as our respective situations and characters will admit, we should exert ourselves to make known to them that Saviour, whom they have rejected and despised. It was not every Jew that preached to the Gentiles; nor is it every Christian that is to preach to the Jews: but in conversation with them we may do much good, and in putting into their hands the New Testament, or other useful books; and particularly in earnestly praying to God for them, we may bring down his blessing upon them. Besides, many united together for that end may effect incomparably more than the same number could in their separate and individual state. By encouraging therefore the Society that has been formed for the advancement of their welfare, we, though but small contributors ourselves, may be instrumental to the accomplishing of much good amongst them. The translating of the New Testament into pure Biblical Hebrew, and circulating that throughout all the world, is a work which we in particular, as patrons of learning and religion, shall do well to encourage. Were nothing more than the assisting of the Jews under some temporal calamity the object of this discourse, we should feel that we were warranted in calling upon you, not to be liberal, but to be just; not to present gifts, but to pay your debts, to that much neglected people: for “if we have been made partakers of their spiritual things, our duty is to minister unto them in carnal things.” But we stand on far higher ground than the Apostle, and prefer a higher claim. It is the souls of the Jews which we would commend to your care, and their eternal welfare which we would urge you to promote: and in this view all our claims upon you as debtors come with ten-fold weight. Alas! we are greatly and shamefully in arrears; but in proportion to our past neglect should be our future exertions: and, as we know not how little time may be allotted us for fulfilling our duties to them, “whatever our hand findeth to do, we should do it with our might.”

For the sake of those who may wish for a short compendious view of the subject, the following Skeleton is annexed.

Romans 15:26.

CHRISTIANITY a religion of love—exemplified on the day of Pentecost, and here—
But this exercise of love was a debt:—“their debtors they are.”

I. Our obligations to the Jews;

II.

The return we should make them.

I. Our obligations to the Jews—

These Christians were Greeks, of a different nation from the Jews—
Yet were they debtors to the Jews; as we also are,

1. To the Patriarchs—

[Abraham—for the covenant of grace—and for a display of faith—
Isaac and Jacob—for illustrating a life of faith—]

2. To the Prophets—

[Moses—for the law

{

1. Moral{a schoolmaster— a rule— 2. Ceremonial—Scape-goat—This, as a complicated drawing, both receives light from the Gospel, and reflects light on it—

All the prophets—for a chain of prophecy—
David—for records of his experience—Ladder—]

3. To the Apostles—

[For so full an account of Christ—
For their zeal, in risking life for us—
For their example—of highest virtues—]

4. To the Lord Jesus Christ—

[He did not,

{

like Abraham, merely engage as a party in the covenant, but ratified it with his blood— like the prophets, utter predictions; but fulfilled them— like the Apostles, merely preach salvation; but obtained it for us—

He secures to us also by his life, what he procured for us by his death—
Who can tell the height and depth of his love?]

II.

The return we should make them—

1. Endeavour to secure the salvation which the Jews of former ages have handed down to us—

[It would requite them ill to neglect it—
And would greatly aggravate our guilt—
The heathen are sinless in comparison—

“How shall we escape if, &c.?” Hebrews 2:3—

Our duty then is,
To trust in Christ—

To follow the counsels and example

{

of Patriarchs— of Prophets— of Apostles—]

2. Endeavour to make the Jews of this and future ages partakers of the blessings which we derive from their fathers—

[If they are beloved of God for the fathers’ sake, much more should they be by us; Romans 11:28.

Obj.—We owe nothing to them—
Ans.—We do, as the bereaved children of our blessed Benefactor.
Query—How are we to do it?
Ans.—As their fathers did for us: Use all active self-denying exertions—
Obj.—‘Tis in vain—they are hardened.
Ans.—Whose fault is that?—Ours—
Had we done for them as their fathers did for us, would it have been so?
Have we not rather been a stumbling-block?
Obj.—The time is not come in their way—
Ans.—Who is authorized to say so?
We affirm that it is come—

1. God is awakening an attention to the world—in Bible Societies—Mission Societies, ’c.

2. He has stirred up attention to the Jews—

3. He has excited an expectation of the Messiah, here and on the Continent—

4. He has given success already—

Some pious—and studious, preparing—
Success great, considering the efforts—

Ergo, it is come.

Romans 11:25, misunderstood. See ver. 12.

But if it were not come, our duty is the same—

Romans 11:30, proves us unjust stewards if we do not—

We call you then, not to be generous but just—Pay your debts—

If we called on you for temporal relief only, we should say so—text— “Our Duty is to minister to their relief”—
But we stand on higher ground than Paul—
Think what arrears are due—

Let not our importunity, like that of common creditors or claimants, offend—
Let all the means in our power be used—
Do all with holy zeal—“It pleased” twice—

But let us, in the first place, give up our ownselves to the Lord; 2 Corinthians 8:5—

Then may we hope for most success, when we can say, “Come, and I will go also;” Zechariah 8:21.]