romans 8 commentary spurgeon
It was the father bruising the firstborn son; and, if you and I, brethren, are to be conformed to the image of the firstborn, though we may expect from God much fatherly love, we may also reckon that it will show itself in parental discipline. When effectual calling comes to a man, at first he may not know that it is effectual calling. Yet am I there in Christ. believe that thou art secure; that voice which called thee, shall call thee yet again from earth to heaven, from death's dark gloom to immortality's unuttered splendours; Rest assured, the heart that called thee, beats with infinite love towards thee, a love undying, that many waters cannot quench, and that floods cannot drown. Expect not, then, that all things shall work together as for thy good. When we are poor, and in eternity have no shelter; when we in the next world shall find no heaven and no bliss, then, wandering as outcast orphans, we shall see our Elder Brother an outcast orphan too; if we be portionless and penniless, the Firstborn among many brethren must be portionless and penniless also, for with him we stand or we fall. Now, all them that love God love him because they have had a special, irresistible, supernatural call. Moreover, he well knew that our faith would be sternly attacked. Those who obey his promptings shall not walk in darkness. Now why call Zaccheus? Stern was the labour, toilsome was the work; he dug on, and on, and on, through rocks of suffering, into the deepest caverns of misery; but the resurrection was the springing up of the water. There are too many thorns in your nest, to permit you to hope for an abiding city below the skies. The gospel softened the breast of Paul, and made him forget all national animosities, otherwise, one of the down-trodden race would not have called his oppressor, "brother." He knows and comprehends the cryings, and meanings, and sighings, and chatterings of his bewildered children. It is as if a poor man were called into court to prove his right to some piece of land which was disputed. III. It is true that death was the payment of the debt, but resurrection was the public acknowledgment that the debt was paid. Do I suffer with him, suffer for him? But still I think if my life were in hazard, and I stood in the dock, and my counsel were pleading for me, my tongue would be itching to plead for myself, and I should want to get up and just say, "My lord, I am innocent, innocent as the babe newly born, of the crime laid to my charge. He had been exceedingly mad against the disciples of Christ, and had persecuted them even unto strange cities. if thou art called, if thou art called truly, there will be a going out, and a going out alone. I do not know a more beautiful sight to be seen on earth than a man who has served his Lord many years, and who, having grown grey in service, feels that, in the order of nature, he must soon be called home. All the saints make up one body in Christ, who is the Head of the body, and the common Centre of their unity. He attacks us on the right hand and on the left, from beneath and from above. Look ye, sirs, at Brutus; he has established a republic, he has put down tyranny, he sits upon the judgment seat; his two sons are brought before him, they have been traitors to the commonwealth. You will bear in mind that I discussed the doctrine of the satisfaction of Christ's atonement by his death, in the sermon of last Sunday morning. I have thus illustrated effectual calling. "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.". All that he has, all that he is, therefore, belongeth to us. What shall we say then? I have no sort of sympathy with those who cannot enjoy the beauties of nature. And wilt thou think, yet again, what cause there is that thou shouldest realize to-day thy union with Christ, since thou art joint heir with him. Our third and last point is THE SURE SUCCESS OF ALL SUCH PRAYERS. saith he, "I do not call gold good, but I call faith good! You are as bad as any one of us. It is Christ that died." (+44) 01236 827 978. As Paul's exposition in 5:12-21 has shown, "through one . The prophet cried, "My bowels, my bowels, I am pained at my very heart: my heart maketh a noise in me." If I could so read them the passage would certainly he very easy, and would very greatly alter my doctrinal views; but, as I do not find those words there, begging your pardon, I do not believe in them. Now, Christ is his people's representative. I see him putting his own imprimatur thereupon, stamping it with his own signet, dignifying it with his own seal, and again I cry, "Yea rather, who is risen from the dead," who then can condemn the believer? He ever liveth to secure effectually the eternal salvation of every soul for whom he died, even for every one who puts his trust in him. My spiritual distress robs me of the power to pour out my heart before my God. Now, there are some of you here incommoding us to-night, and making us very hot. The Prince of Preachers, Charles H. Spurgeon (19th June 1834 - 31 January 1892) was not only a wonderful orator but also magnificent with his pen. Such is the groan of the believer, who, though rescued and brought into the hospice of divine mercy, is longing to see his Father's face without a veil between, and to be united with the happy family on the other side the Jordan, where they rejoice for evermore. My brethren, what a glorious model! No condemnation: that is the beginning of the chapter. "It came to pass afterward that David's heart smote him." And all between is full of grace and truth. Death has not abated a single note of their song; nay, more, I have known some of them who are like the fabled swan which is said never to sing till it dies. Men do not reach what they do not aspire to, and Paul says, "We are more than conquerors." When we consider what man once was, only second to the angels, the companion of God, who walked with him in the garden of Eden in the cool of the day; when we think of him as being made in the very image of his Creator, pure, spotless, and unblemished, we cannot but feel bitterly grieved to find such an accusation as this preferred against us as a race. When the poor man was baffled by a question asked in court, he would run home and ask his adviser, and he would tell him exactly how to meet the objector. It is true that you are a believer, but you have sinned often, for years, in all sorts of way." III. We can work spiritual miracles. It is not black, but blackness; it is not at enmity, but enmity itself; it is not corrupt, but corruption; it is not rebellious, it is rebellion; it is not wicked, it is wickedness itself. A tempted head involves tempted members. At any rate, meet the attack of the world as you met the attack of Satan, with this weapon only: "It is Christ that died," and you will be "more than conquerors through him that loved us.". If I may be allowed the simile, I would say that this represents in part the work of the Spirit of God in us, suggesting to us the right desire, and bringing all things to our remembrance whatsoever Christ has told us. They love him as their King, they are willing to obey him, to walk in his commands is their delight; no path is so soft to their feet as the path of God's precepts, the way of obedience thereunto. Some men are the cisterns that hold God's rain; but other men are those who pray the rain from heaven, like very Elijahs, and many of these are to be found in the lower ranks of society. The angels of heaven veil their faces; and the angels of God on earth, his chosen people, must always veil their faces with humility, when they think of what they were. "Brethren, we are debtors.". Scripture everywhere represents the chosen people of the Lord, under their visible character of believers, penitents, and spiritual men, as being "the children of God," and to none but such is that holy title given. He may see the earth burned, but into the fire of hell he can never go. Fellowship in his sufferings is needful to communion with his glory. Without a solitary exception the answer would be this "If I am a Christian and he is not, unto God be the honor." There is a publican living in it, who is a hard, griping, grasping, miserly extortioner. blessed thought for the believer! In his light shall we see light: I pray, therefore, that we may be helped of the Spirit while we consider his mysterious operations, that we may not fall into error or miss precious truth through blindness of heart. When at any time then the Holy Spirit comforts you sheds a sweet calm over your disturbed spirit; when at any period he instructs you, opens to you a mystery you did not understand before; when at some special period he inspires you with an unwonted affection, an unusual faith in Christ; when you experience a hatred of sin, a faith in Jesus, a death to the world, and a life to God, these are the works of the Spirit. In the previous chapter, Paul was writing to some who ought to have been teachers, but who needed still to be taught the first principles of the gospel; they were such babes in grace that they needed the milk of the Word, the very simplest elements of gospel truth, and not the strong meat of solid doctrine. The text says, "The carnal mind is enmity against God." 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! Hidden in your heart there is a damning spot which your eye has not discovered." Do not, therefore, fear death. And then he adds this blessed argument, "Father those for whom I plead are thine own children, and thou lovest them as much as I do," yea, "thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me." And men of every kindred, and of every tribe, shall see in the face of every man, a relative allied to them by ties of blood. Now, first, brethren, as co-heirs with Christ, we are heirs of God so the text tells us. Yea, I am certain that we do not. Poor prodigal sinner, may our Father bring thee home, for there is an inheritance even for thee. Next survey our dear covenant Head in his experience in relation to men. Soul, this suggests to thee a solemn enquiry, "Art thou in Christ or not?" God has punished sin; and when men say, "God must punish sin," we answer, "Sin has been punished, for Christ has died.". As he turns over each of these love-tokens, and as he reads the words of his reconciled prince, he asks "When will the vessel sail to take me back to my native shore?" Has not thine heart ever desired, since there is a God, that he were a little less holy, a little less pure, so that those things which are now great crimes might be regarded as venial offences, as peccadillos? The apostle tells us that not only is there a groan from creation, but this is shared in by God's people. Now, beloved, the practical use to which I put this, I am afraid somewhat discursive, discourse of this morning is just this. Paul points us to the cross in two ways. It is clear then the prayers which are indited in us by the spirit of God are those which arise from our inmost soul. He that is most endowed with worldly goods, and he who has the fewest; he that is blessed in health, and he who is racked with sickness; we all have in our measure an earnest inward groaning towards the redemption of our body. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." So is it also with us. I have broken away from its thralldom; the new law, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, the law of grace has set me free from the domination of the law of sin and death. At least, they seem to have lost their first love to him far sooner than they did to his servant. The law of God says, "Thou shalt," and we have not done what it commands. it is forgotten! How can we deserve anything from the being we hate? HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN HYMN BOOK" 1009, 978, 400. 1. If that is not the meaning of the text I do not understand the English language. What was the nature of Christ, then, as divine? He has written concerning the spirit of bondage, and the spirit of adoption, the infirmities of the flesh, and the helpings of the spirit; the waiting for the redemption of the body, and the groanings which cannot be uttered. The first ears of corn were offered to the Most High, and surely our new nature, with all its powers, must be regarded by us as a consecrated thing. It must condemn sin, for "the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just and good." "To the very uttermost" he is able to save, seeing he ever lives to intercede the strongest argument of the whole four. Being the father of lies, he will accuse us of things of which we are not guilty, or, when it suits his purpose, he will exaggerate our guilt, and make it appear worse than it is, in order that he may drive us to despair. OLD TESTAMENT. And now I come to my last point, upon which briefly but I hope interestingly. This detailed study of Romans 8 will encourage you to live free of sin's shackles and enjoy victorious, confident communion with Christ. And, believer, there is no fear that Christ shall be the possessor of nothing or heir of little things. I believe that there have been some professors, such as Judas and Simon Magus, who have come very near to this condition, and others who are said, after a certain sort, to have believed, to have received the Holy Spirit in miraculous gifts, and to have been specially enlightened so as to have been able to teach others; but the work of grace did not affect their hearts, it did not renew their natures, it did not transform their spirits, and so it was impossible to renew them to repentance. I have broken away from its thralldom; the new law, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, the law of grace has set me free from the domination of the law of sin and death. holy Immanuel, exalted as thou art, thy co-heirs here below begin by faith to partake of thy glory. Amen and amen. If there be some points in the covenant of grace where wisdom has been deficient, and therefore by error it may miscarry, or by lack of legal right may prove null and void, it is as surely null towards Christ as towards ourselves, for he is jointly concerned therein. Now Secondly, we are called upon to notice the universality of this evil. Oh! He says, "I fear not that assize, for who can condemn?" Hope operated spiritually upon our spiritual faculties, and so does the Holy Spirit, in some mysterious way, divinely operate upon the new-born faculties of the believer, so that he is sustained under his infirmities. The plain, simple spirit of the humble-minded Christian cries, "I am God's child." 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." Many times you put him away. The Spirit is one with the Father, and the Father knows what the Spirit means. The Lord in boundless grace has resolved that a company whom no man can number, called here "many brethren," shall be restored to his image, in the particular form in which his Eternal Son displays it. 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. I want nothing more. Dear brethren, let us not wonder if we have to work too. The first one is, "Yea rather;" the second one is, "Much more." None but he hath a right to condemn, for he is the sole judge of right and wrong, and if he hath died shall he put us to death, and if he hath risen for us, shall he thrust us downwards to the pit, and if he hath reigned for us and hath been accepted for us, shall he cast us away, and if he hath pleaded for us, shall he curse us at the last? For which of these works do ye hate God? O how much we owe them. Is he a victor? Speak the truth! Upon these two words the meaning of my text will hinge. Thus, in relationship, as well as in nature, we are conformed to the image of Christ. 14. Is he omnipotent? It does not strike man upon the head; it penetrates into his heart; it lays the axe at the root of the tree, and pronounces him "enmity against God," against the person of the Godhead, against the Deity, against the mighty Maker of this world; not at enmity against his Bible or against his gospel, though that were true, but against God himself, against his essence, his existence, and his person. We go to our lowly homes; we meet with our brethren and sisters here in their earth-built temples; and we are content, so far as these things go, still, how can kings be content till they mount their thrones? We believe that the tabernacle of God will be among men, that he will dwell among them, and they shall see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads. To use another figure, Christ's death was as it were the digging out of the gold of grace out of the deep mines of Jesus' sufferings. The whole creation is said to be groaning for its share in that freedom. The true life is hereafter. But how! Look to-day upon thine own being, not as a stray spark, but as a portion of Christ's fire, not as a solitary drop, but as a part of that deep sea of love which we can Christ Jesus. Oh for 400 Scoevolas, 400 men who for Christ's sake would burn, not their right hands, but their bodies, if indeed Christ's name night be glorified, and sin might be stabbed to the heart. MY venerable friend, who, on the first Sabbath of the year, always sends me a text to preach from, has on this occasion selected one which it is very far from easy to handle. And shall a Christian man break his promise? I do feel that he loves me better than I love myself. It is a traveller lost in the deep snow on the mountain pass. Ask ye why? There was a young man here, who exactly answered to the description I gave, and who wrote home to his mother something like this (I have the letter): "I went to Spurgeon's Tabernacle on Sunday night, and I heard such a sermon. He has called not the righteous but sinners to repentance. If such be the bright hope that cheers us, we may well groan for its realisation, crying out. But, remember, Christ is coheir with you in this. Reprinted from "Mrs. C. H. Spurgeon's Work-room" in "The Sword and the Trowel," December, 1896. We see the mercy-seat, and we perceive that God will hear us: we have no doubt about that, for we know that we are his own favoured children, and yet we hardly know what to desire. And the heart, when we perceive not its ebullitions, when it belches not forth its lava, and sendeth not forth the hot stones of its corruption, is still the same dread volcano. Look around you and learn your duty. That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. This is readily granted, but a reader must wear very powerful magnifying spectacles before he will be able to discover that sense in the text. And now, what with strifes between men and masters, which are banishing trade from England, and what with political convulsions, which unhinge everything, the vessel of the state is drifting fast to the shallows. I must not speculate, for I know nothing about it; but it is no speculation to say that we look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness; and that there will come a time when the lion shall eat straw like an ox, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid. There are four things of which I shall speak this morning. Death is terrible to them; the tomb affrights them, they can scarcely understand the possibility of having any confidence this side of the grave. "We are the children of God." Would it not be well for all the churches to hold special meetings for prayer concerning the deadly scourge of influenza? Look at the imagination, too. In prayer we should often come to a dead stand, but he incites, suggests, and inspires, and so we go onward. He looked forward with glad anticipation to the time when the wain should creak beneath the sheaves, and when the harvest home should be shouted at the door of the barn. I am glad that you have them, brother, may you always keep them; and if I cannot have them, I shall sit down in my struggles and temptations, and still say that there is nothing in the heights, in high doctrine or in high living, that can separate me from the love of Christ. And he goes to Eli, and it is not till afterwards, perhaps, that he finds that Eli had nothing to do with the impression, but that the Lord had called him. and he casts his eyes to heaven. Yes, my lady, thou art a debtor to the poorest man that ever walked the earth. Charity to the poor is a debt. We will answer these and other questions along the way: Should sin in my life cause me to question whether or not I am in Christ? Then again I say to you, "Tell it not in Gath and publish it not in Askelon, then has a heathen eclipsed a Christian." The 6,000 years of continual labor, and toil, and travail, have happened not to us alone, but to the whole of God's great universe; the whole world is groaning, and travailing. There may be a few who do, but it has never been my misfortune to meet with them. The world, our own sin, and the devil, he foresaw would be continually molesting us; therefore hath he entrenched us within these four walls, he hath engarrisoned us in four strong lines of circumvallation. Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Beloved, are ye brothers of Christ, and do ye think that ye owe him no love? Many men cavil at election; the very word with some is a great bug ear; they no sooner hear it than they turn upon their heel indignantly. The man is perfectly safe, and quite content, so far as that goes, and exceedingly grateful to think that he has been rescued; but yet I hear him groan because he has a wife and children down in yonder plain, and the snow is lying too deep for travelling, and the wind is howling, and the blinding snow flakes are falling so thickly that he cannot pursue his journey. We expect to see this world that is now so full of sin as to be an Aceldama, a field of blood, turned into a paradise, a garden of God. And to conclude, let me remind you and it is in the text after all that this change must be worked by a power beyond your own. O Christian, thou canst not be condemned, for Christ has paid the debt. Whether you will receive it, or not, must rest with yourselves. "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." "No," says he, "I can stop his mouth with this cry, 'It is Christ that died;' that will make him tremble, for he crushed the serpent's head in that victorious hour.