They are, as Paul puts it in his letter to the Ephesians, "predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his will. We read of "the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood." Sometimes, too, the spirit feels that God is its Father not only by love but by trust. As a Son he served his Father, you could see the nature of God in him, in his deep sympathy with God and in his exact imitation of God. And yet another picture. You will remember while the sinner is dead in sin, he is alive enough so far as any opposition to God may be concerned. He attacks us on the right hand and on the left, from beneath and from above. "Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man" (Proverbs 8:4 ). We will think of our bodies, for that is a point surrounded with consolation, since he shall change our vile body and make it like unto his glorious body. Should thine house of business threaten to tumble about thine ears so long as thou hast acted honourably, still bear thy cross. But my counsel would say, "Now just be quiet, my dear sir, you perhaps may plead more earnestly than I can, because it is for your own life, but then you do not understand the law, you will make some blunder or other, and commit yourself and spoil your own cause." We heard of a certain clergyman who was said to have given forth "the finest prayer ever offered to a Boston audience." He has called not the righteous but sinners to repentance. At such times we should thank God for direction and give our desire a clear road: the Holy Spirit is granting us inward direction as to how we should reckon upon good success in our pleadings. What then is to be said to this, "These are not the children of God." Is he eternal? God is angry with them, and they know it. Dear brethren, let us not wonder if we have to work too. And now as a matter of EXAMINATION let each man judge himself by certain characteristics of heavenly calling which I am about to mention. Brethren, we who know and love the Lord, are debtors, not to one creditor, but to many. May God the Holy Spirit lead you to trust in "Christ that died"! I recommend that we should, each one of us, have but one hope of salvation. "'Tis heaven on earth, 'tis heaven above. "These are thy glorious works, parent of good, Thus wondrous fair; thyself how wondrous then!". The death of Christ gives us a full salvation. He ruleth over all. He is the ambassador; he it is who can make peace through his blood; and though you came in here an enemy, it is possible you may go out through that door a friend yet, if you can but look to Jesus Christ, the brazen serpent which was lifted up. We ask, but we are afraid that we shall not have, because we do not exercise the thought, or the faith, which we judge to be essential to prayer. It finds the sinner dead, it gives him life, and he obeys the call of life and lives. And now a little capful of wind blows on you and the tears run down your cheeks, and you say, "Lord, let me die; I am no better than my fathers." but it is possible to pay too dear, especially when you could get on as well without them as with them.) ", 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. If he adds anything at all, it is still something about that same Christ "yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. By Vernon J. Charlesworth. Many believers make a mistake when they long to die and long for heaven. Then after you had heard what the natural religion of man is, I would ask what must his irreligion be? If you have proved by your works that the grace of God is within you, God will not forget you; he will not leave you, he will not cast you away. Can he still be valiant, and maintain his ground, calling out, "Who is he that condemneth?" I, for my part, take only one objection to it, which is that it is perfectly untrue and utterly unfounded, having not the lightest shadow of a pretence of being proved by the Word of God. If one says, "I was christened, and confirmed," answer him by saying, "Christ has died." I am not certain that it is altogether for my good to have kind and generous friends, with whom I may hold fellowship; but I know that it is for my good that I should hold fellowship with Christ, that I should have communion with him, even though it should be in his sufferings. Then secondly, there is the secret mind of God, the will of his eternal predestination and decree, of which we know nothing; but we do know this, that the Spirit of God never prompts us to ask anything which is contrary to the eternal purpose of God. "Oh," say some, "it may be true that we are at times opposed to God, but surely we are not always so." Oh! Not the "liberty, equality and fraternity," which the democrat seeks for, which is frequently another name for his own superiority, but that which is true and real that which will make us all free in the Spirit, make us all equal in the person of Christ Jesus, and give us all the fraternity of brethren, seeing that we are all one with our Lord, in the common bond of gospel relationship. But, again, there is another point in which the saint is deficient as yet, namely, in the manifestation of our adoption. It is upon Psalms 105:37 ; and, if the Lord will, it will be published next week. But, before we enter upon a discussion of the doctrine of the text, observe how strongly the Apostle expresses it. Go to the next house, and hear another groan. 11. He leads the spiritual eye to take good and steady aim at the very centre of the target, and thus we hit the mark in our pleadings. There is nothing in man that can deserve this call; nothing in the best of men that can invite it; but God quickeneth whom he will, and when he sends that call, though it come to the vilest of the vile, down they come speedily and swiftly; they come down from the tree of their sin, and fall prostrate in penitence at the feet of Jesus Christ. View the Saviour in his agonies, with streams of blood purchasing thy soul, and with intensest agonies enduring thy punishment. Thus, in relationship, as well as in nature, we are conformed to the image of Christ. Thou in the midst of thy sickness and infirmity art girt about with robes of glory, which make the spirits in heaven look down upon the earth with awe. Amen and amen. Romans 8:38-39 . The enemy is in front of us. "Brethren, ye have been called into liberty." Fire such as martyrs felt at the stake were but a plaything compared with the flames of a burning conscience. Then, I shall leave off these plebeian garments, and be robed as becomes my senatorial rank." Let the truths of Christianity work out their perfect work: and pride, bitterness, wrath, envy, and malice, must see their graves. When Napoleon was on the island of St. Helena, he was watched by many guards, but after many complaints, he enjoyed comparative liberty, and walked alone. For which of these works do ye hate God? In these days of daring infidelity, and awful treason against the Most High, I count it an unspeakable honour to be permitted to testify to the power of the old truths, and the pleasantness of the old paths, and the unfailing faithfulness of God in the fulfilment of each and all of His precious promises; and though my voice is less than a Whisper amid the roar and turmoil of conflicting opinions and blasphemous theories, I know that God can hear it, and that He will accept the loving tribute which my heart thus offers to Him. The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits." Here, then, in the nick of time, as a very present help in time of trouble, comes in the Holy Spirit. That is, your spirit beareth witness that you are the child of God. Now, the divine will or mind may be viewed two ways. If he says, "Let there be light," the impenetrable darkness gives way to light; if he says, "Let there be grace," unutterable sin gives way, and the hardest-hearted sinner melts before the fire of effectual calling. Why is this? C. H. Spurgeon At Exeter Hall, Strand. Oh! He thought that a sufficient reason why he should neither lie nor cheat. I will not say, "Let us sink or swim together," for there is no sinking to a soul that rests in Christ. But I repeat it, this universal call is rejected by man; it is a call, but it is not a attended with divine force and energy of the Holy Spirit in such a degree as to make it an unconquerable call, consequently men perish, even though they have the universal call of the gospel ringing in their ears. Yet we are persuaded that he did it, and that the love of God is most clearly to be seen in the faot that he gave his Son Jesus Christ to die instead of us. The debt is paid, and Christ is at the right hand of God. Oh, wherefore art thou at enmity with him? Oh, before those days fully come, quit the service of the master who never can reward you except with death! He is powerless to obey, but he is mighty enough to resist the call of divine grace. But oh! 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. He was fighting evil in the high places and evil in the low, evil among the priests and evil among the people, evil in a religious dress, in Pharisaism, and evil in the dress of philosophy amongst the Sadducees; he fought it everywhere: he was the foe of everything that was wrong, false, selfish, unholy or impure. While dwelling upon this joint heirship, let us remark what an honor is conferred upon us. When Christ pleads, he does not plead with one who is stronger than him or inimical to him, but with his own Father. To the Christian, however, the highest good he can receive on earth is to grow in grace. The whole "carnal mind is enmity against God. May you be holy, harmless, sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. But rather, lest there should be a shadow of a doubt, that thou canst not be condemned, thy debts are cancelled. 2. You and I are also groaning for it. He loves Christ so much that he loves us notwithstanding our unloveliness, because Jesus Christ has covered us with his robe of righteousness, and he has said, "My Father, consider them as lost in me, hidden in me, made one with me." 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. Romans 8 - A New and Wonderful Life in the Spirit A. and hence he is "a very present help in time of trouble.". And if thou be called, it follows as a natural inference thou art predestinated. But, at any rate, certain knight-errants have set themselves to do battle with windmills, and really believe that they shall actually destroy from the face of the earth that which is a fundamental and abiding distinction, without which the Scriptures are not to be understood. let the cross and bloody sweat remind thee of thine obligation. 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. God hath not forsaken us; the tokens of his goodness are with us, and we may rejoice in full many a gracious boon which is ours this very day. To such who have preceded us we owe the purity of the Church, and to them we are debtors. Wherefore, seek the Lord now ere it be too late. This is condescension indeed! How then am I to know whether I am predestinated by God unto eternal life or not? Well, in the first place, there is one part of the property which we may enjoy at once. The portals of heaven stand wide open for thee. "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: but that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned. 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. There is much to sadden us in a view of the ruins of our race. all his wisdom is engaged in our behalf. My brother, thou art a Christian. And now I come to the fourth; and this also hath an encomium passed upon it "WHO ALSO MAKETH INTERCESSION FOR US." The first who takes up the believer's challenge is Satan. 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. Do I suffer with him, suffer for him? This call is sent to the predestinated, and to them only; they by grace hear the call, obey it, and receive it. 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. Blessed be his name. Prayer is a great outlet for grief; it draws up the sluices, and abates the swelling flood, which else might be too strong for us. I am not so much afraid of dying as I am of sinning; that is ten times worse than death. 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. The doctrine must be stated in its naked truth. All we can do for God is but a trifling acknowledgment of an infinite obligation; yea, more, our good works are gifts of his grace, and do but put us under greater debt to the author of them. "How art thou fallen from heaven, thou son of the morning!" Whatever God would have done under the circumstances, that Jesus did. The apostle endorses that sentiment by quoting it, and against that endorsement we can of course have no contention; but the word there used for "offspring," expresses no idea of Fatherhood in the majestic sense of the term, it is a word which might be used as appropriately for the young of animals, the young of any other creature, it has not about it the human sympathies which belong to a father and a son. "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" Still, true as it is that we are free agents, yet the Lord is the potter and we are the clay upon the wheel, and it is his work, and not ours, that makes us like to Christ. Charles Haddon Spurgeon October 18, 1857 Scripture: Romans 8:28 From: New Park Street Pulpit Volume 3 The True Christian's Blessedness "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."Romans 8:28 The true life is hereafter. Would you forge the iron and strike the dagger into the heart of your best friend? Jonah went down to the depths of the sea, but he oame up with this testimony, that there was nothing there to separate us from the love of God. It is Christ that died." For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of low, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And you and I must be conformed to Christ in this respect. But now in the breast of this "Hebrew of Hebrews," there is the holy recognition of Christian fraternity without reserve or hypocrisy. Here is the 9th article, upon Original or Birth Sin: "Original Sin standeth not in the following of Adam; (as the Pelagians do vainly talk); but it is the fault and corruption of the nature of every man, that naturally is engendered of the offspring of Adam; whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil, so that the flesh lusteth always contrary to the spirit; and, therefore, in every person born into this world, it deserveth God's wrath and damnation. Our first reason for knowing that we cannot be condemned is, because Christ has died for us. Believe then that all things work together for thy good; if thou lovest God, and art called according to his purpose. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." If it sinks, I am lost; but it will not sink, for the Plot of the Galilean Lake is on board. An adversary in the court might plead against him, and overthrow him, for he could not answer him. Nay, he himself is ours. The sermons he preached touched the lives of thousands. But perhaps there may be a suit in law made against the will; some antagonist may set up a counter claim; an enemy to the entire family may proceed at once to attack the will with venom and with malice; he may take it into the Heavenly Court of Chancery, and there, before the great Judge, the question may be tried as to whether the inheritance be legally and lawfully ours. Nothing is idle. Ay, and when Christ would have pulled you away, you held hard on to your sin! I fear, if all the truth were written, we should rise up from reading the lives of earth's mightiest heroes and proudest sages, and would say at once of all of them, "They are clean gone out of the way; they are altogether become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 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