'A Sermon Preached by the Rev. A. N. Rowland on June 29, 1924 in Union Church, Shanghai. am proud of the Gospel: it is God's saving power for everyone who has faith, for the Jew first and for the Greek as well. God's righteousness is revealed in it by faith and for faith."- (Romans 1: 16f. Moffat's Translation).
Paul was writing to the Jewish Christian Church at Rome. Its members lived in a distant city, surroundings that were veligiously repugnant. We are in a similar situation heve-and can so far be good commentators on the epistle. Wo fan guess these people would be keen fon their home connexions, conserva tive of their old fFaditions. We can fee they would be slow to realive the bearing of thei faith on the people among whom they lived, for missionary enterprise 1s beat focussed from a distance. Now the' apostle did not fail to observe all his and what he saw made him say that he longed to come to impart a spiritual gift (verse 11). What was that gift? Not faith in Christ, as the Messiah who was already came, 4 the King who was still to come: 'The Church at Rome was already strong in thet faith. Their' Chris tian loyalty" was already" widely known (verse 8).
The spiritual gift Paul wanted to. bring was evidently a new Targeness of vision a sense of the full international bearings of the Gospel. God's salvation for Tome was not confined to the Jewish ghetto and its concerns. Tt was a Power that could be harnessed. the problems of the Empire. We must remember that "salvation" in the Bible is a big inclusive word, we can toon find from a study Of the prophets and the psalmists. 'And it Wwas when he thought of ite wide ogial sweep and universal pounibilities that Paul wrote proud of the Gospel,—I am eager to expound it, especially at Rome, eenuse Rome isthe hub of the world, the seat of those forces that affect' its destiny for good or evil. Tam proud of it because it pats with-reach of mankind the saving power of God".
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.