A groan then is a part of prayer which we owe to the Holy Ghost, and the same is true of all the prayer which wells up from the deep fountains of our inner life. No. He who giveth the most light to the world, will always be able to discover his own darkness. O Christian, thou canst not be condemned, for Christ has paid the debt. He may see the earth burned, but into the fire of hell he can never go. God bless you, my beloved brethren, and may you feel the Spirit of the Lord thus working in you and with you. If any confront you with other confidences, still keep you to this almighty please, "Christ has died." From the first, and now, and to the last, "he that hath wrought us to the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given to us the earnest of the Spirit." II. And these appear to be four at least. Such a scene did not occur, but had there been any remonstrance given by men you may easily conceive that such would have been Saul's answer. 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. How many an event has seemed to be conflicting in its day, that has worked out good for us? Christ at the right hand of God signifies that all power is given unto him in heaven and in earth. when I can find enough for my faith to be satisfied with even in the digging of the well, what shall be my satisfaction when I see it overflowing its brim, and springing up with life everlasting? As the wave-sheaf was the first of the harvest, so the spiritual life which we have, and all the graces which adorn that life, are the first gifts, the first operations of the Spirit of God in our souls. Camillus had been banished from Rome by false accusations. What says the believer now? It is naught but "Look!" Or, to come nearer the truth, it is as when a mother puts her arms around the neck of her little child, and her child puts its tiny arms about the mother's neck; that is how we and God are joined together. And so addressing you, who love the Lord, under that title; I come at one to the text, "Brethren, we are debtors." Adam in this world was in liberty, perfect liberty; nothing confined him; paradise was exactly fitted to be his seat. "There!" Report of Visitor from the Sunday School Union (Lambeth Auxiliary). AMEN. Why, sometimes, it can drive us to Christ; let us pray that it may. Memory is fallen. Unless we are the sons of God the Holy Spirit's indwelling shall not be ours: we are shut out from the intercession of the Holy Ghost, ay, and from the intercession of Jesus too, for he hath said, "I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me.". And, did not that suffice, I would point you to the delusions of the heathen; I would tell you of their priestcraft, by which their souls have been enthralled in superstition; I would drag their gods before you; I would let you witness the horrid obscenities, the diabolical rites which are to these besotted men most sacred things. In English history, the days of Mary, when the saints at Smithfield bore witness for Christ at the stake, were grand days; and in Madagascar, did you ever read a more thrilling story than the record of the bravery of those Christian men and women who suffered the tyrant's cruelty? Ay, and when Christ would have pulled you away, you held hard on to your sin! 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. 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. Curtius puts on his helmet, and his armour, mounts his horse and leaps into the cleft, which is said to have filled at once, because courage, valour, and patriotism, were the best things in Rome. Romans 8:28-30 I. Where he is every saint shall be ere long. If thou pantest, and criest, and groanest after Christ, even this is his gift; bless him for it. Let me imagine a man entering heaven without a change of heart. The Leading of the Spirit, the Secret Token of the Sons of God January 1, 1970 The Leading of the Spirit, the Secret Token of the Sons of God "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God."Romans viii. Certainly no true child of God; he would not have it altered, even if he might. But Solomon did not add, that things are not what they seem. I wonder how many Christians there are who would leap like that into the cleft. Hear the voice of the Redeemer: "look unto me, and be ye saved." No priest sat down; he must always stand; for there was always work to be accomplished, always something to be done. His zeal in doing them proves that he has the spirit of a child of God, and the result of those works proves that God works in him as he will never do in any but his own children. In that light he makes the promise shine in all its truthfulness, certainty, sweetness, and suitability, so that we, poor trembling sons of men, dare take that word into our mouth which first came out of God's mouth, and then come with it as an argument, and plead it before the throne of the heavenly grace. Hath he joy? Did you notice how the text begins? Then, remember, it cannot be; when you refuse the one, you relinquish all claim to the other. 3. Say not, "Lutheranism and Popery are mighty." Beloved, if God be a father, where is honor? Say not, "There are giants in the land," ye are strong enough to smite them. When we know the matter of prayer, we yet fail to pray in a right manner. The text speaks "of the mind of the Spirit." We all know that the word "carnal" here signifies fleshly. The portals of heaven stand wide open for thee. Good men are labouring, at least with usual zeal, and bad men are strenuously plying their craft of evil. I always find when I have to deal with these "fat things full of marrow," that words fail us; and perhaps it is well, for then the excellency of the power is proved to be not by words of man but in the weight, and fullness, and richness of gospel matter. Christian men, do you feel this with regard to your sins. But this should not be so. The evil one may whisper, "If thou be the son of God." Are you, my dear hearer, persuaded that it is so with you? We know not what God is, nor the measure of his attributes. Consider how much you owe to his forgiving grace, that after ten thousand affronts he loves you as infinitely as ever; and after a myriad of sins, his Spirit still resides within you. 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? Are you persuaded that it is so with you, dear friends? Moreover, I doubt not that Paul remembered the doctrine of the union of believers with Christ, and he said to himself, "Shall Christ lose the members of his body? If the call be effectual, and you are brought out and brought in brought out of sin and brought to Christ, brought out of death into life, and out of slavery into liberty, then, though thou canst not see God's hand in it, yet it is there. Our third and last point is THE SURE SUCCESS OF ALL SUCH PRAYERS. "that HE might be the first-born among many brethren. Well, if not in this text, there is in another. To have anything to do with a great man is thought by some persons to be a distinguished mark of honor; to be set down in a will as co-heir with some great prince or noble would be considered indeed a great thing; but what honor is conferred on thee, believer, to be joint heir with the King of kings, the Wonderful, the Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace! We are already made "new creatures in Christ Jesus," by the effectual working of the mighty lower of God the Holy Ghost. And the Father says, "Yes, my beloved Son, I will love them; Jesus, I will love them for thy sake.". But he says, "Get thee hence, Satan, I know I am the son of God." And now this brings me to the challenge. We are to be conformed to Christ Jesus as to character. 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? I can recollect evil things far better than those which savor of piety. Oh, where there is real cause for fighting, there cannot be victory without striving! Oh, it is no hard task to plead, when you are pleading with a Father for a brother, and when the advocate can say, "I go to my Father and to your Father, to my God and to your God." O God, my God, thou hast not forsaken me: thou art not far from me, nor from the voice of my roaring. 1. "Ah!" A thousand sources of joy are opened in that one blessing of adoption. Never martyr suffered more for Christ than that man suffered for his word's sake. I will make no answer to that accusation but this: "It is Christ that died." I refer to the poets, men who stand aloft like Colossi, mightier than we, seeming to be descended from celestial spheres. Otherwise, he could not have said, "I am persuaded that things present and things to come shall not be able to separate us." The raising and elevation of Christ to that throne of dignity and favour, is the elevation, the acceptance, the enshrinement, the glorifying of all his people, for he is their common head, and stands as their representative. God would not go down to the earth for payment; it must be brought to him. If he had taken the first-fruits home, and said, "I have all I want," and had rested satisfied month after month, he would have given proof of madness, for the first-fruit does but whet the appetite does but stir up the desire it never was meant to satisfy. 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. For when God made promise to Abraham because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. If one says, "I was christened, and confirmed," answer him by saying, "Christ has died." And this solemn text drops an awful warning: "How shall ye escape, if ye neglect so great salvation." It is almost as good as Scripture; for Scripture leads us to think of the sufferings of Christ as an unfathomable deep. You perceive at once, by his deeds, that his nature was godlike. For human righteousness is only human; being human, it is finite; and, being finite, it falls short somewhere or other. He was happy enough in the bosom of his father's household, but idolatry crept into it, and when God called Abraham, he called him alone and blessed him out of Ur of the Chaldees, and said to him, "Go forth, Abraham!" It is not the Spirit that groans, but we that groan; but as I have shown you, the Spirit excited the emotion which causes us to groan. Do I love what he loves; do I hate what he hates? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who sitteth on the right hand of God, who maketh intercession for him. His possessions shall be shared by his spouse; and when Christ took his Church unto himself he endowed her with all his goods, both temporal and eternal. Oh, yes, I am sure ye ought. Oh! 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. Others, this afternoon, by teaching your children in the class. Only let the gospel be preached, and there shall be an end of war; let it thoroughly pervade all ranks of society, and saturate the mind of nations, and there shall be no more lifting of the spears, they shall be used for pruning hooks; no bathing of swords in blood, for they shall be turned into the peaceful ploughshares of the soil; we shall then have no hosts encountering hosts; we shall have no millions slain for widows to deplore; but every man shall meet every other man, and call him "brother." We all confess that if we are brought to the marriage-banquet, "'Twas the same love that spread the feast. Christ is entering into Jericho to preach. 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. But the crime may seem to be worse when we think of what God is. It is as when a man doth marry. This week, mother, thou mayest see thy first-born carried to the tomb. This glorious truth is most sweet when earth's honeyed words are taken away, and most lustrous when we no longer attempt to illuminate her with human language. 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. To renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. And as Paul thought of the nature of this new life, he felt persuaded that it would not die; he was convinced that he would never be separated from the love of God. How much have you done after all, young man? The influence of his holy religion has made abundant atonement to the world for any wrong that you ever did to it. No! Let me ask myself again this question, Have the fetters of my sin been broken off, and am I God's free man? It is not left to my pleasure whether I will do it or no; but I am a debtor, and I must serve him. The will, if valid for one, is valid for all. 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. I have known a surly man act in that way; but Christ never turns us away because we only come to him when others fail us. Who enters the lists against the believer? IV. 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. "Now," says Paul, "yea rather, he is risen from the dead." My mind wanders: I chatter like a crane; I roar like a beast in pain; I moan in the brokenness of my heart, but oh, my God, I know not what it is my inmost spirit needs; or if I know it, I know not how to frame my petition aright before thee. "These are thy glorious works, parent of good, Thus wondrous fair; thyself how wondrous then!". And we may add, the text also means good eternal, lasting good. How, then, can election be unjust, if its effect is not unjust? If it sinks, I am lost; but it will not sink, for the Plot of the Galilean Lake is on board. He is safe, and he must be saved, though all things pass away. This was my subject last Sabbath day, therefore I take it I shall be fully justified in leaving the first point that Christ hath died, while I pass on to the other three. This was pictured by the high priest of old. What a debtor thou art to Divine Sovereignty! And yet I must say here, that sometimes all things work together for the Christian's temporal good. The text says, "The carnal mind is enmity against God." He said within himself, "Does Jesus love me? I will count it to be my highest glory if I may be made a knight of the cross, and may carry that cross upon my shoulder: to the world a badge of dishonor, but to me the ensign of glory, the escutcheon of honor. 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. Does he challenge purity to convict him of guilt? A man's heart is moved when he groans. Here is an argument which hath much more power, much more strength, much more force than even Christ's death. says the accuser "but you sinned against light and knowledge. 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." God worketh, and he worketh in you not to sleep, but to will and to do according to his own good pleasure. You may judge of a man by what he groans after. 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. The death of Christ gives us a full salvation. Let a man once get that, and it will anoint his head with fresh oil, it will clothe him with the white garment of praise, and put the song of the angel into his mouth. 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