Go not into thy brother's house in the day of thine adversity. Or, perhaps, you were more polite; you did not curse and swear, but the accusation comes: "You argued against God and his Son, and against his blessed gospel; you have robbed him of his glory." We can work spiritual miracles. Wherever we go, we gather fresh proofs of the common observation, that we are living in a most marvellous age. He gave to us his crown; he gave to us his throne; for "to him that overcometh will I give to sit upon my throne, even as I have overcome, and have sat down with my Father upon his throne." I know thou dost not seriously ask the question, for thou knowest the answer of it. One will wickedly say, "If I am a child of God, I may live as I like." And yet another picture. Nay, ye say, we have some little gratitude towards earthly relatives. 13:1-14. Spurgeon's Bible Commentary Romans 8:28-39 Romans 8:28. ", Now, my hearers, "the Bible alone is the religion of Protestants;" but whenever I find a certain book much held in reverence by our Episcopalian brethren, entirely on my side, I always feel the greatest delight in quoting from it. Brethren, we are free! Do not, therefore, fear death. The world is a great machine, but it is never standing still: silently all through the watches of the night, and through the hours of day, the earth revolveth on its axis, and works out its predestinated course. Yet there is the church, and how can she in the slightest degree incur condemnation, when she is already at the right hand of the Father with her covenant head. Naturally we never will towards good without God, but God works in us to will and to do. Christ will not belie himself. Oh! We may say of the prayers which the Holy Spirit works in us that they are prayers of knowledge. If there had been a man, in the history of the world, who from his infancy had known God, and who had grown up serving him, devoting himself entirely to the cause of the Lord Christ; and if he had kept the commandments without fail, as far as man could judge, it would be a very hazardous thing even for him to say. Nay, his law never asked for more than human righteousness divine. So they are, but he that is with you is mightier far. Does the apostle mean devils, fallen angels, that would overthrow us, some of them as "principalities" by their dignity, others of them as "powers" by their subtle, crafty force, does he refer to devils? And although there is no condemnation for them that believe and are baptized, yet the apostle doth confess, that concupiscence and lust hath of itself the nature of sin." It does not always follow in human reasoning "if children, then heirs," because in our families but one is the heir. God has given Christ the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost ends of the earth for his possession, and we are co-heirs with him. In Hebrews 3:1 , you find this sentence. Do you hate God for all this? Would you forge the iron and strike the dagger into the heart of your best friend? Our blessed Lord delights in fellowship; such is the greatness of his heart that he would not be alone in his glory, but would have associates in his happiness. The law of God says, "Thou shalt," and we have not done what it commands. though that bell hath the very sound of heaven, and though all men do in a measure hear it, for "their line is gone out into all the earth and their Word unto the end of the world" yet there was never an instance of any man having been brought to God simply by that sound. First, God predestinates us to be like Jesus that his dear Son might be the first of a new order of beings, elevated above all other creatures, and nearer to God than any other existences. Cannot we say this morning with thankful hearts, "By the grace of God I am what I am?" But mark, although this call be rejected, man is without excuse in the rejection; the universal call has in it such authority, that the man who will not obey it shall be without excuse in the day of judgment. But distinguishing grace has made a difference where no difference naturally was; we are now no longer treated as criminals condemned, but as children and heirs of God. Yet one more remark before we leave this point. He first of all stirred up their pure minds by way of remembrance as to their sonship, for saith he "as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." No separation: that is the end of the chapter. Possibly they fancy that creation is a paternal act, that all created things are sons. And when he surroundeth thee with favors, girdeth thee with mercies, encircleth thee with loving kindness, dost thou hate him for this? Say not, "There are giants in the land," ye are strong enough to smite them. The words of the Scriptures are words of infinite wisdom, and if reason cannot see the ground of a statement of revelation, it is bound, most reverently, to believe it, since we are well assured, even should it be above our reason, that it cannot be contrary thereunto. "Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man" (Proverbs 8:4 ). No priest sat down; he must always stand; for there was always work to be accomplished, always something to be done. It is almost as good as Scripture; for Scripture leads us to think of the sufferings of Christ as an unfathomable deep. that love belongs to us. Brethren, we are debtors to our covenant God; that is the point which swallows up all. My brethren, we are debtors to the poor. The will, if valid for one, is valid for all. Oh! In prayer we might grow weary, but the Comforter encourages and refreshes us with cheering thoughts. God grant to you all to be believers in Christ, now and for ever. She is, "when unadorned, adorned the most." Our text begins by the expression, "Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate," and many senses have been given to this word "foreknow" though in this case one commends itself beyond every other. To that I give the same answer, "It is Christ that died." I suppose you say, "Injustice, no; God has a right to do as he wills with his own; I could not claim grace, nor could my companions, God chose to give it to me, the other has rejected grace wilfully to his own fault, and I should have done the same, but that he gave 'more grace,' whereby my will was constrained." If it be possible that by some decree in heaven's high court, it should be certified and determined that the inheritance is not rightly ours, because some one part of the covenant was left in a precarious state so that it became void and of no effect, then, thine inheritance, O thou King of kings, has failed thee in the very day when it hath failed us. If you have the Spirit of God in your soul, you may rejoice over it as the pledge and token of the fulness of bliss and perfection "which God hath prepared for them that love him.". We little know how many a blessing the poor man's prayer brings down upon us. We have the witness of the Spirit within, bearing witness with our spirits that we are born of God. Oh, that you would come and learn it! Brethren, faith can do wonders. Hezekiah said, "like a crane or a swallow did I chatter." I repeat it again, any one of them is all-sufficient. We shall behold his glory, we shall be with him where he is, and we shall be ourselves glorious in his glory. Oh! But, do you know, I have never felt that with regard to Christ. As to his spirit, sin hath no more dominion over him, and the law hath no further claims against him. Come with me, believer, to your estates, and behold, just on the edge of your Father's great inheritance, lies the swamp and morass of affliction. If thou canst but look to Jesus, thou art safe. I think I have shown this; only may God give us grace to rest upon this precious "yea, rather, who is risen from the dead.". ", We are not only debtors to God in the light of gratitude for all these things; but because of our relationship to him. Let me say now, before I turn from this point, that it is possible for a man to know whether God has called him or not, and he may know it too beyond a doubt. Do you think so? Our first birth gave us humanity; our second birth allies us with Deity. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy." When you have been sitting on the judgment bench; there has been some favourite sin brought up, and you have, oh, let me blush to say it, you have wished to spare it, it was so near your heart, you have wished to let it live, whereas should you not as the son of God have said, "If my eye offend me, I will pluck it out and cast it from me, if my right hand offend me, I will cut it off, rather than I should in anything offend my God." "My Father," saith he "it is my delight to do thy will and it is thy delight to do my will, I will then that they, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am." A dying Saviour brings more glory to the love of God, ay, and to the justice of God, than any mortal sinner could have done; more than any perfect man, though he lived throughout eternity, could have done. See you that stone rolled at the mouth of the sepulchre? I will now proclaim to you the way of salvation. That prayer which came from heaven will certainly go back to heaven. I think I may say to those who are the beginners in the divine life, so long as your call is real, rest assured it is divine. Those who are called, are men who before the calling, groaned in sin. ", I. Oh, how sweet it is to believe our names were on Jehovah's heart, and graven on Jesus' hands before the universe had a being! Examine yourselves then whether you have been called. Who can condemn? I beseech thee, "Agree with thy creditor quickly, whilst thou art in the way with him; lest he deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer to cast thee into prison: verily I say unto thee, thou shall not come out till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing." He gave to us his person, it has become our meat and our drink; we eat his flesh and drink his blood. I have wished I might indulge in folly; I have wished there were no laws to restrain me; I have wished, as the fool, that there were no God." Everywhere the earth works; mountains work: nature in its inmost bowels is at work; even the center of the great heart of the world is ever beating; sometimes we discover its working in the volcano and the earthquake, but even when most still all things are ever working. If one says, "I was christened, and confirmed," answer him by saying, "Christ has died." and uttered it under the inspiration of God, did not, however, occupy the position of a sinless man. The Spirit of God has come unto us so that our "bodies are the temples of the Holy Ghost." Brethren, the work of the Spirit is called "first-fruits," because the first-fruits were not the harvest. That is, the entire man, every part of him every power, every passion. He had been exceedingly mad against the disciples of Christ, and had persecuted them even unto strange cities. Whatever God would have done under the circumstances, that Jesus did. But oh! We will go into the next. Now, thirdly, and this is the practical part of the discourse, let us proceed to ADMINISTER TO THE EFFECTS. But this know, O man, whatever thou sayest of this doctrine, it is a stone upon which, if any man fall, he shall suffer loss, but if it fall upon him it shall grind him to powder. and silence reigns through earth and heaven. being made bold to do so because we have believed in the Christ that died. The mind of God is one and harmonious; if, therefore, the Holy Spirit dwells in you, and he move you to any desire, then his mind is in your prayer, and it is not possible that the eternal Father should reject your petitions. Why some of you can do so by preaching the gospel to poor sinners in the streets. You have been very generous to yourselves by coming here, but not very just to your ministers in neglecting the places of worship where you ought to have gone. God would not go down to the earth for payment; it must be brought to him. What! I know you have an a cross, or if you have not, I hope you will soon have one, for where there is no cross there is no Christ. My own little experience leads me to believe that apart from the Word of God, there are immediate dealings with the conscience and soul of man by the Holy Spirit, without any instrumentality, without even the agency of the truth. But, secondly, the object of grace is that there may be some in heaven with whom Christ can hold brotherly converse. We groan within ourselves. I know the world turns this into ridicule and says, "That the hypocrite loves persecution;" no, not the hypocrite, but the true believer; he feels that though the suffering must ever be painful, yet for Christ's sake, it becomes so glorious that the pain is all forgotten. If he had willed it, thou wouldst have been among the damned; if he had not willed thy salvation, all thou couldst do would have been utterly powerless to deliver thee from perdition. There you see, that man does not know that he is a debtor. Paul points us to the cross in two ways. To prove that, however, I will refer you to the express words of scripture: Romans 11:29 "The gifts and calling of God are without repentance." The apostle opens with the grandest part of the inheritance first heirs of God heirs not of God's gifts, and God's works, but heirs of God himself. ", This is a subject upon which I delight to speak; for here is all my hope and confidence. The rod has been upon our back and we have smarted very sore, but in the darkest hour we have been able to say, "The time is in my Father's hands; I cannot murmur; I would not repine; I feel it is but right that I should suffer, otherwise my Father would never have made me suffer." But I think must go a little further than this. Man! He died for his murderers, for those that mocked and insulted him; for he commanded his disciples to begin preaching the gospel at Jerusalem, where they crucified him, to preach it even to those who had hounded him to his doom. "'We know;' In the mouth of two or three witnesses it shall all be established; but I have tens of thousands of witnesses." Again, notice the universality of this at all times. The body is still subject to the evils which Paul mentions, when he says of it that it is subject to corruption, to dishonour, to weakness, and is still a natural body. They surrounded it; they were about to sack it, and Camillus was the only man who could deliver it. Look at our history. Will you take the cross? Behold, O trembling penitent, the means of thy deliverance. If you are joint heir and would claim one part of the estate, you must take the rest. If this be his ardent love of the Godhead, what must his hatred thereof be? Yes, he quickens sinners into spiritual life, and he strives with them to overcome their sinfulness and turn them into the right way; but in the saints he works with us and enables us to pray after his mind and according to the will of God. I say, it is utterly needless for me to refresh your memories about your present condition; but I feel it will be a good and profitable work if I remind you that there are high privileges of which you are possessors even now; there are divine joys which even this day you may taste. Conecte-se Inscrever-se; Incio. Camillus had been banished from Rome by false accusations. But in the case of the believing poor, their claim upon us is far more binding, and I beseech you do not neglect it. Dost thou love to pay him homage? Blessed is the man to whom this reasoning is not abstract, but experimental. At present I am at enmity with God. Now, why did you come here till you had paid your debt? The physician," says he, "prescribes medicine; you go to the chemist, and he makes it up; there is something taken from this drawer, something from that phial, something from that shelf: any one of those ingredients, it is very possible, would be a deadly poison, and kill you outright, if you should take it separately, but he puts one into the mortar, and then another, and then another, and when he has worked them all up with his pestle, and has made a compound, he gives them all to you as a whole, and together they work for your good, but any one of the ingredients might either have operated fatally, or in a manner detrimental to your health." There is no holiness in us of our own creating; no good thing in us of our own fashioning. Mark then, with care, that OUR CONFORMITY TO CHRIST IS THE SACRED OBJECT OF PREDESTINATION. LONDON: PASSMORE AND ALABASTER, Paternoster Buildings; and of all Booksellers. Soul, this suggests to thee a solemn enquiry, "Art thou in Christ or not?" This is condescension indeed! Go up; take them. "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God; and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." YOU WILL DIEYOU WILL LIVE. The title of joint heir contains another mystery which I cannot withhold, although it must be judiciously handled Christ, as coheir, has (of his own free grace) so identified himself with what his rights as co-heir are not to be separated or viewed apart from ours. Then he gave the words I used, and continued, "It was a true description of myself. The more you search the Bible, the more sure will you be that sonship is the special privilege of the chosen people of God and of none beside. Who will feed my belly with hid treasures? And this infection of nature doth remain, yea, in them that are regenerated; whereby the lust of the flesh, called in the Greek, phronema sarkos, which some do expound the wisdom, some sensuality, some the affection, some the desire, of the flesh, is not subject to the Law of God. Hear another, 2 Corinthians, vi. "Yes," he could say, "and a blessed thing it would be for you if you had the same thing to groan after that I have." Could oppression, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? When a Roman general came home from the wars, he entered Rome by stealth, and slept at night, and tarried by day, perhaps for a week or two, among his friends. IN VIEWING THE ESTATES we must remark that to our present apprehension they are divided into two parts, the first part of the inheritance is one which flesh and blood would fain do without it is the inheritance of suffering. Here is all my hope and confidence glory, we are debtors our. 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