September 16

1 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.

2 For I hear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.

3 For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

5 For Moses desorbeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.

6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above.)

7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep?

(that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)

8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

11 For the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek; for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

We read, in verse 8, that the word is nigh us, namely, that it is declared to us; that we have it in the heart—where the Holy Spirit has impressed it, and in the mouth, by which we declare it.

"The mouth and the heart cannot be separated."—Cramer.

"The heart without the mouth is timidity; the mouth without the heart is hypocrisy."—Hedinger.

Living preaching is God's chosen means of instruction (verse 14).

"It is the first and most pressing duty of the Church to cause all men to hear the gospel. The solemn question, 'How can they believe without a preacher?' should sound day and night in the ears of the churches. The gospel's want of success, or the fact that few believe our report, is only a reason for its wider extension. The more who hear, the more will be saved, even should it be but a small proportion of the whole."—Hodge.

"Let us rejoice in the spread which the gospel has already had, and let us earnestly and daily pray that the voices of those Divine messengers that proclaim it may go forth unto all the earth, and their words reach, in a literal sense, to the remotest ends of the globe. Lord, give us any plague rather than the plague of the heart."—Doddridge.

Closet Promise.—I am the way, the truth, and the life.—John xiv. 6.

He is a path, if any be misled;

He is a robe, if any naked be;

If any chance to hunger, he is bread;

If any be a bondman, he is free;

If any be but weak, how strong is He?

To dead men life He is, to sick men health,

To blind men sight, and to the needy wealth—

A pleasure without loss, a treasure without stealth. —Giles Fletcher.