From this he infers that if God has given us the Spirit whereby we call him "Father," then we are his children, which is plain, fair, and clear reasoning. Paul would turn round and laugh him to scorn "Get thee gone thou fisherman, get thee gone I a disciple of that imposter Jesus of Nazareth! Thine infinite wisdom, O God, is mine to guide me. Even when ignorance and perplexity are removed, we know not what we should pray for "as we ought." Now, beloved, it is in such a plight as this that the Holy Ghost aids us with his divine help. 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. There is nothing new in the book; no, for "the old is better," it tells of ancient covenants, and everlasting love, and full atonement, and final perseverance, grand old doctrines on which a soul may stand without fear when heaven and earth are passing away, and the Son of Man comes in His glory. "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.". I think he does, and this, then, is our comfort, that, if we have to meet the arch-fiend himself foot to foot in terrible duel, and we may, for men of God have had so to meet him, and he that does battle with the adversary will gain nothing by it but sweat of blood and aching heart, even if he shall win the victory, so that we may well pray, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one," still we have this comfort, that even though he may rejoice over us for a moment, and may cast us down, he cannot separate us from the love of Christ; he may open many of our veins, and make us bleed even to utter weakness, but the life-vein he can never touch. Let us now notice these four stupendous doctrines. It means, first of all, that our right to the divine heritage stands or falls with Christ's right to the same inheritance. When like David we can say, "I opened my mouth and panted," we are by no means in an ill state of mind. Oh, yes, I am sure ye ought. Then after you had heard what the natural religion of man is, I would ask what must his irreligion be? When we feel that we have power with God and can obtain anything we ask for at his hands, then our difficulties cease to oppress us. The sea is the house of storms, even when it is glassy as a lake; the thunder is still the mighty rolling thunder, when it is so much aloft that we hear it not. We are to stand at the door expecting the Beloved to open it and take us away to himself. Here he is covered with the sweat and dust which he acquired by Adam's fall; there his brow shall be bright with the immortality which is conferred upon him by the resurrection of Christ. They are lambs in the harmlessness of their dispositions, but they have the courage of lions when they defend the honours of their King. 14. The various rebellions of nations, the heavings of society, the strife of anarchy, the tumults of war all, all these things, overruled by God, have but made the chariot of the church progress more mightily; they have not failed of their predestinated purpose "good for the people of God." He declares it to be enmity against God. It was most natural, therefore, that a deep spiritual experience should bring him to a clear perception of the doctrines of grace, for such an experience is a school in which alone those great truths are effectually learned. O God, my God, thou hast not forsaken me: thou art not far from me, nor from the voice of my roaring. Little did he think that he was to turn him also. By Vernon J. Charlesworth. Dries he sit upon a throne? Believing in Jesus, we speak confidently, we have unspeakable blessings given to us by the Father of spirits. Note yet a little further concerning the special privilege of heirship, we are joint heirs with Christ. No condemnation: that is the beginning of the chapter. It is a traveller lost in the deep snow on the mountain pass. 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. Hallelujah to the grace that makes all things work together for good! Come now, though this be an exceedingly noisome spot, though it be a piece of ground which thou wouldst fain leave out and give to thine enemies, yet there is a possibility of getting great treasure and great riches out of it; therefore do not scorn it. Still, "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.". Go to www.ccontario.com for an . It is a wonderful thing. It was the gospel which taught Paul how to say brother. He must come out from his very dearest friends, from all his old acquaintances, from those friends with whom he used to drink, and swear, and take pleasure; he must go straight away from them all, to follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. He just repeated his master's name and office as many times as the other gentleman had titles. Who will feed my belly with hid treasures? Now these longings these pantings for something more than this world can give you were but the evidences of a child-like spirit, which was panting after its Father's presence. Remember the bloody day of St. Bartholomew, the valleys of Piedmont, and the mountains of Switzerland. And as we are debtors to all times, so we are all debtors to all classes. says the accuser, but you are still sinful. Thus much upon the sacred end of predestination. He shows us where our deficiencies are, what our sins are, and what our necessities are; he sheds a light upon our condition, and makes us feel deeply our helplessness, sinfulness, and dire poverty; and then he casts the same light upon the promises of the Word, and lays home to the heart that very text which was intended to meet the occasion the precise promise which was framed with foresight of our present distress. There were no seats whatever provided tor the priests. Yonder woman is one of the daughters of the King, but see how pale she is, what furrows are upon her brow! say you? As Christ was, as the only-begotten of the Father, far above mere creatures; so also to be begotten of God, in our case, means far more than even the first and perfect creation could imply. But it may be, beloved, that we groan because we are conscious of the littleness of our desire, and the narrowness of our faith. It may have seemed to him, as it does to some of us, to be almost too good to be true, and therefore the Holy Spirit so shed abroad this truth in the apostle's mind that he yielded to it, and said, "I am persuaded." Up with your shield, and say, "Yes, it is all true, or it might have been, for my heart is so evil that it would have led me to any sin; but 'It is Christ that died.'" As much as to say, it is a powerful argument for our salvation, that Christ died; but it is a still more cogent proof that every believer shall be saved, that Christ rose again from the dead. Now be quiet. God's grace will be sufficient for us; his strength will be made perfect in weakness. but thou wilt not leave one of the "many brethren" for whom he died: the Spirit shall be with them, and when they cannot so much as groan he will make intercession for them with groanings that cannot be uttered. Do not you recollect how, in your schoolboy days, you used to make a little almanack with a square for every day, and how you always crossed off the day as soon as ever it began, as though you would try and make the distance from your joy as short as possible? Impossible! No separation: that is the end of the chapter. Adam in this world was in liberty, perfect liberty; nothing confined him; paradise was exactly fitted to be his seat. "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." Well, if not in this text, there is in another. Be it so, then; but until you are, you must be ready to suffer in this world the afflictions of the chosen eons, for they are a part of the inheritance. Heavenly calling means a call from heaven. Is he omniscient? Who enters the lists against the believer? I do not know that it is for my good that I should be respectable and walk in good society; but I know that it is for my good that I should walk humbly with my God. For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. 12:1-21. I have died in Christ, and my life now is that of a child of God, for I have been lifted to that high estate by my redeeming Lord. For spiritual blessings which we know to be according to the divine will we could ask with confidence, but perhaps these would not meet our peculiar circumstances. Lecture 2: On Commenting. "Yea rather," said the apostle; as if he would have it, that this is a still more powerful argument. Dost thou love God, not with lip-language, but with heart-service? First, I shall give illustrations of the call; second, we shall come to examine whether we have been called; and then third, what delightful consequences flow therefrom. The desires which the Spirit prompts may be too spiritual for such babes in grace as we are actually to describe or to express, and yet the Spirit writes the desire on the renewed mind, and the Father sees it. Oh! He says in the tenth verse of that chapter, "If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more" that's the word I wanted "much more we shall be saved by his life." "For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand not of works, but of him that calleth; It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. "Christ has died, yea, rather, is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." Those of us who have passed through any spiritual conflicts know that Satan is a terribly real personage. All the saints make up one body in Christ, who is the Head of the body, and the common Centre of their unity. Now, as there is nothing like Scripture, let me read you a few texts, Romans viii. Ungodly men prosper well enough in this world, they root themselves, and spread themselves like green bay trees: it is their native soil; but the Christian needs the hothouse of grace to keep himself alive at all and out in the world he is like some strange foreign bird, native of a warm and sultry clime, that being let loose here under our wintry skies is ready to perish. That shows that this is used as an argument drawn from something mentioned before. And so addressing you, who love the Lord, under that title; I come at one to the text, "Brethren, we are debtors." So it is a grand thing, whenever Satan comes and begins to accuse you, just to say, "Christ has died, Christ has died." You are quite conscious that this is not your rest. The enemies of truth are more numerous and subtle than ever, and the needs of the Church are greater than at any preceding time. He draws near to teach us how to pray, and in this way he helps our infirmity, relieves our suffering, and enables us to bear the heavy burden without fainting under the load. None but he shall ever unroll that sacred record and read it to the assembled world. Learn, then, that it is wrong to ask, concerning any particular act of providence; is this for my good? And so, my friends, the wish that there were no God, proves that we dislike God. The shot took effect, the bird fell, down came Zaccheus, invited the Saviour to his house, and proved that he was really called not by the voice merely but by grace itself, for he said, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give unto the poor, and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore unto him fourfold;" and Jesus said, "This day is salvation come unto thy house." Pause and think of thy state; and if thou knowest thine own sinfulness this day, believe on Christ, who came to save sinners, and that done, all things shall work for thee, the tumbling avalanche, the rumbling earthquake the tottering pillars of heaven, all, when they fall or shake, shall not hurt thee, they shall still work out thy good. "We have," says the text, not "we hope and trust sometimes we have," nor yet "possibly we may have," but "we have, we know we have, we are sure we have." They love God also as their Portion, for in him they live and move and have their being; God is their all, without him they have nothing, but possessing him, however little they may have of outward good, they feel that they are rich to all the intents of bliss. There is a publican living in it, who is a hard, griping, grasping, miserly extortioner. I have thought it over, I have fully considered it, I have-thoroughly weighed it, and I have come to this persuasion, that the love of God is shed abroad in my heart.". "We know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 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. Have not you found it so too? She will retain evil, she will lose good. The grandest, most heroic, days in Christendom were the days of the Pagan persecutions, wined, to be a Christian, meant to be doomed to die. Fire such as martyrs felt at the stake were but a plaything compared with the flames of a burning conscience. There was a table for the shew-bread, an altar, and a brazen lover; yet there was no seat. But here are we who know both good and evil; we understand the one, and the other too, and now there is begotten in us a nature which loves holiness and cannot sin, because it is born of God; we are left free agents, yea, we are freer than ever we were, and yet in this life, and in the life to come, our path is like that of the just which shineth more and more unto the perfect day. If he hath called thee, nothing can divide thee from his love. OLD TESTAMENT. You are not to be conformed to the mightiest of the apostles, you will one day be purer than were Paul or John while here below; you are not to be conformed to the sublimest of the prophets, you shall be like the prophets' Master; you are not to be content with your own conception of that which is beautiful and lovely, but God's perfect conception incarnated in his own Son is that to which you shall certainly be brought by the predestination of God. Christ is risen from the dead, how can we be condemned? When he sits down, he has done his worst; and his witnesses also condemn you; but if the verdict is in your favour, and the judge says that you leave the court with a stainless character, you do not care about the condemnation of others. Napoleon had been used to gilded halls, and all the pomp and glory of imperial state, and it was hard to be reduced to a handful of servants. satanic enormity! Surely no one is so daring as to say, that all men are led by the Spirit of God; yet may it readily enough be inferred from our text, that those who are not led by the Spirit of God are not the sons of God, but that they and they alone who are led, guided and inspired by the Holy Spirit, are the sons of God. But since we have become enemies, how much less can we hope to be saved by works! Illustration, examination, consolation. That short sentence completely answers to all his accusations. Have they not had the desire that it might turn out that all these divine realities were a delusion, a farce, and an imposture? We were once an undistinguished part of the creation, subject to the same curse as the rest of the world, "heirs of wrath, even as others." A second consolation is drawn from the grand truth, that if a man be called he will certainly be saved at last. If we are joint heirs with him, we, too, must partake of the same. Even as Solomon built the temple because he superintended and ordained all, and yet I know not that he ever fashioned a timber or prepared a stone, so doth the Holy Spirit pray and plead within us by leading us to pray and plead. Added to this you must also be the heir of persecution. And if thou be called, it follows as a natural inference thou art predestinated. 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. There is not only enough to put our sins to death, but enough to bury them and hide them out of sight. All things work together for a Christian's lasting good. Hear David: he was none of those who boast of a holy nature and a pure disposition. By G. Rogers (Continued.). Then, beloved, I have reason to hope that thou hast been called of God, for it is a holy calling wherewith God doth call his people. Not he; his life is given solely by God. III. Until this question be answered my heart cannot rest, for I am intensely anxious about it. Come on, slanderers! The Spirit saith Come, and the bride saith Come not the bride on earth only, but the bride in heaven saith the same, bidding the happy day speed on when the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. God that cannot lie, in the person of the Holy Ghost, graciously condescendeth to say "Amen" to the testimony of our conscience. We shall notice in our text, first, whereunto the saints have already attained; secondly, wherein we are deficient; and thirdly, what is the state of mind of the saints in regard to the whole of the matter. Romans 8:34 . He uses a noun, and not an adjective. if thou art called, if thou art called truly, there will be a going out, and a going out alone. Therefore, our rights and our property extend to all things whatsoever they may be. Delivered on Sabbath Evening, August 10, 1856, by the. You were murmuring at the dispensations of God. Shall an eye of Christ be put out in darkness?" This call is sent to the predestinated, and to them only; they by grace hear the call, obey it, and receive it. Let the gospel be really felt in the mind and it will toll the knell of selfishness, it will bring down the proud from their elevated solitude, and it will restore the down-trodden to the rights of our common manhood. I do consider that in this there is an argument why no believer ever can perish. And there may be many differences between godly men, as there undoubtedly are; they may belong to different sects, they may hold very opposite opinions, but all godly men agree in this, that they love God. We are to be conformed to the image of his Son, fifthly, as to our inheritance for he is heir of all things, and what less are we heirs of, since all things are ours? I. Am I one of those who are ordained unto eternal life, or am I to be left to follow my own lusts and passions, and to destroy my own soul? Saul was anointed to be king when he was seeking his father's asses; and many a man has been called when he has been seeking his own lust, but he will leave the asses, and leave the lust, when once he is called. He cannot perish who relies on Christ, and he who hath faith in Jesus may see the heavens pass away, but not God's Word. It is true the world is always active, but it is with the activity of the battle-field, wherein hosts encounter hosts and the weaker are overcome." And so, too, it is rather God's work than our work. He goes into the tent of King Pyrrhus with the intention to put him to death, because he is the enemy of his country; he slays the wrong man; Pyrrhus orders him to be taken captive. Ever let humility bow thee to the very earth while thine adoption lifts thee up to the third heaven. These are they who can now say, "Draw us, and we will run after thee.". Now, brethren, this word I say and send you home. Now, to come to what is evidently in the text, and to dwell upon it for a little while, Paul being thus persuaded that there was a love of God, and that there was a union through love between the soul and its God, now says that HE IS PERSUADED THAT NOTHING CAN EVER BREAK THOSE BONDS. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. He does not say, "I am persuaded;" he does not say, "I believe;" but with unblushing confidence he appears before you and says, "We" (I have many witnesses) we know that all things work together." The tempest strives not with the peaceful calm they are linked together and work together, although they seem to be in opposition. At least, they seem to have lost their first love to him far sooner than they did to his servant. Look again at that noble youth, Mutius Scoevola. 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