Romans 8

Romans 8:1-39

Romans 8:1. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. “No condemnation”: that is the beginning of the chapter. No separation: that is the end of the chapter. And all between is full of grace and truth. What a banquet this chapter has often proved to the souls of God’s hungry servants! May it be so now as we read it. No condemnation even now.

Many doubts, but no condemnation. Many chastisements, but no condemnation. Even frowns from the Father’s face apparently, but no condemnation. And this is not a bare statement, but an inference from powerful arguments. “There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” This is where they are. “Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” This is how they behave themselves, not under the government of the old nature, but under the rule of the divine Spirit of God.Romans 8:2-4. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. None keep the law so well as those who do not hope to be saved by it, but who, renouncing all confidence in their own works, and accepting the righteousness which is of God by faith in Christ Jesus, are moved by gratitude to a height of consecration and a purity of obedience which mere legalism can never know. The child will obey better without desire of reward, than the slave will under the dread of the lash, or in hope of a wage. The most potent motive for holiness is free grace. A dying Saviour is the death of sin. As we have been singing, we strove against its power until we learnt that Christ was the way, and then we conquered it.Romans 8:5. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. Everything according to its nature. Water will rise as high as its source, but it will not naturally flow any higher. The great thing, then, is to be brought under the dominion of the Holy Spirit, and of that new nature which is the offspring of the Spirit. Then we try to rise up to our source, and we rise vastly higher than human nature ever can under any force that you can apply to it. The new nature can do what the old nature cannot do.Romans 8:6. For to be carnally minded To have the mind of the flesh.Romans 8:6. Is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Flesh must die. Its tendency is to corruption; but the spirit never dies. Its tendency, its instinct, is growth, advance, immortality.Romans 8:7. Because the careful mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. The old nature is hopelessly bad. There is no mending it. It is enmity, not merely at enmity; but it is absolutely enmity. It is not subject to God’s law, and you cannot make it so.Romans 8:8. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. So long as we are under the dominion of the old nature, the depraved and-fallen nature, there is no pleasing God.Romans 8:9. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Oh! this is a very wonderful fact, that the Spirit of God should dwell in us. I have often said to you that I never know which of two mysteries most to admire — God incarnate in Christ, or the Holy Spirit indwelling in man; they are two marvelous things, miracles of miracles.Romans 8:9-10. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. The regeneration of the body, so to speak, is not performed in this life; Resurrection is tantamount to that. The body is still under the old law of death, and so we have pain and weakness, and we die; but the spirit, oh! how it triumphs, even in the midst of pain and weakness. “The Spirit is life, because of righteousness.” That will not die.Romans 8:11. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. So there is coming a time for your body to experience the adoption, to wit, the redemption of the body. He does not say that he will give you a new body. Do not believe this modern doctrine. But he shall quicken your mortal body; that is to say, the same body, which is now subject to death, and so is mortal, is to be quickened at the resurrection.Romans 8:12. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh What do we owe the old nature? Nothing, surely. Give it a decent burial. Let it be buried with Christ in baptism. Let the Spirit of God come and renew it. But we owe it nothing, and we are not debtors to it. Romans 8:13-14. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Your “universal fatherhood” is rubbish. “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God,” and none others. This is the essential to sonship — that we should have the Spirit of God within us.Romans 8:15-16. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear: but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: That is, when we have the Spirit, when we are renewed in the Spirit of our minds, when we come into the domain of Spirit, and quit the tyranny of the flesh. Then the Spirit beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.Romans 8:17. And if children, then heirs; It is not, of course, so in human families. All children are not heirs; but it is so in the family of God. Romans 8:17. Heirs of God, What a heritage! God himself becomes our heritage. We are heirs to all that God has, and all that God is.Romans 8:17. And joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. The whole chapter is rather too long for our reading, so we will pass on to the 28th verse.Romans 8:28. And we know This is not a matter of opinion. This is scarcely a matter of faith. “We know.” We are sure of it. We have proved it.Romans 8:28. That all things work together for good to them that love God, They all work. They work in harmony. They work for one purpose. That purpose is for good.Romans 8:28. To them who are the called according to his purpose. That is their private character, which God knows, and which he reveals to them in course of time.Romans 8:29. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren. This is their character, which they perceive, which others may in a measure perceive. We are to be like him then, conformed to his image; and if we be joint-heirs with him, what a joy it is that we are to be partakers of his nature, made like to him! Christ will be reflected, and in a measure repeated, in all his people; and this shall be the very glory of heaven, that, look which way you will, you shall see either Christ himself or his likeness in his people. If you have ever stood in a room that was full of mirrors everywhere, how wonderfully your own likeness has been repeated! And heaven shall be a mirror chamber, wherein Christ shall be seen in every one of his people. He did predestinate them to be conformed to the image of his Son.Romans 8:30. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified? That glorification we cannot see as yet. It is in the excessive brightness of the future, just as his divine election is in the brightness of the past. These are the two columns on either shore; but the swinging bridge in between is this — calling and justification. These are joined in one, stud if thou hast either of these, thou mayest know thy predestination and thy future glorificationRom_8:31. What shall we then say to these things? Oh! have you not often said that? When you have studied the plan of grace, the covenant of God, have you not said to yourself, “What can I say to all this? It is passing wonder; It exceeds the power of comprehension, for the greatness of this glory. What shall we then say to these things?” Well, we will say something practical that shall cheer our hearts.Romans 8:31-33. If God be for us who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. It may be read, “God that justifieth?” and properly may be read as a question.Romans 8:34. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, He is the Judge. Will he who died condemn?Romans 8:34. Yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. He alone is Judge. Has he done all this, and will he condemn us?Romans 8:35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? These have been tried on the saints for ages.Romans 8:36. As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long: we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. But has this divided them from Christ? Hear them all, as with united voice they answer.Romans 8:37-38. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, Somebody asked, “Pray, what persuasion may you be?” Well, this is my persuasion.Romans 8:38. That neither death, nor life, nor angels, Good or bad.Romans 8:38. Nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, Hard and grinding as they may be.Romans 8:38. Nor things to come. Unknown mysteries dreaded.Romans 8:39. 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.

Romans 8:14-39

Romans 8:14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Leading implies following; and those who are enabled to follow the guidance of the Divine Spirit are most assuredly children of God, for the Lord ever leads his own children. If, then, you are following the lead of God’s Spirit, you have one of the evidences of sonship.Romans 8:15. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The spirit of bondage is the spirit of servants, not of sons; but that servitude is ended for us who are made free in Christ Jesus. We are no longer afraid of being called the children of God. We are not afraid of our own Father; we have a filial fear of him, but it is so mixed with love that there is no torment in it. Whether Jew or Gentile, we cry, “Abba, Father.”Romans 8:16. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: Our spirit knows that we are God’s children and then God’s Spirit adds his testimony to the witness of our spirit that we are the children of God.Romans 8:17. 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. This would not necessarily be true of any man’s family, for he might have children who were not his heirs; but, in God’s family, all who are born into it are born “heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.” We must take our part of Christ’s portion,— his portion here, and his portion hereafter; the rule for us who are in him shall be, “share and share alike.” He himself has said, “Where I am, there shall also my servant be;” and all that he has he will divide with us. Are you willing, dear brother, to take shares with Christ? If not, then I question whether you can be rightly reckoned among his saints.Romans 8:18. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. “Light afflictions” are contrasted with “an exceeding weight of glory.” Temporary afflictions, but for a moment, are to be followed by everlasting crowns that fade not away. What a contrast!Romans 8:19. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. All creation is, as it were, watching and waiting on tip-toe for the day when God shall manifest his sons who are at present hidden. In due time, they shall come forth, acknowledged of God, and then shall the whole creation rejoice.Romans 8:20-23. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. We have already obtained salvation for our souls, but our body is still under bondage,— subject to weariness,— to pain,— to infirmity,— to death; but, by-and-by, with the new creation, our newly-moulded bodies shall be fit to live in the new world, and fit for our newborn souls to inhabit. This is the full redemption for which we are waiting.Romans 8:24-28. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. “We know that all things work together for good.” That is a wonderfully positive statement, Paul. There are certain persons, nowadays, who say that we know nothing; yet the apostles constantly say, “We know this,” and “We know that.” These people tell us that there is a great distinction between believing and knowing,— but, evidently, it is a distinction of which the inspired apostles knew nothing at all. Read the Epistles of John, and note how he continually says, “We know, we know, we know,” and how frequently he adds, “We believe,” as though believing and knowing were the same thing. Agnostics may declare that they know nothing, if they please; but, as for us who do know, because we believe what we are taught of God in this Book, we will speak. He who has something to say has a right to say it; we know, and therefore we speak. Mark, brethren, how the apostle speaks here; he does not say that all things shall work together for good; no, but that they do work together, they are now working for your present good.

This is not merely something which shall eventually turn out right; it is all right now, “We know that all things are working together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” No sooner does the apostle mention that word “purpose” than he must needs found a long discourse upon it. He was not afraid or ashamed to speak of the purposes of God. There are some preachers who say nothing about God’s purpose, or God’s decree; they seem to be afraid of it, they say it is “Calvinistic doctrine.” Why, it was here, in the Scriptures, long before Calvin was born, so what right have they to call it by his name? Listen to what the apostle has to say:Romans 8:29-30. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed, to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. There is no separating these golden links of love and mercy. That foreknowledge, to which all things future are open and present, begins the deed of love. Predestination comes in, and chooses a people for God who shall be eternally his. Upon this, in due time, follows effectual calling, by which the chosen ones are brought out, from the impure mass of mankind, and set apart unto God. Then follows justification by faith, through the precious blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ; and where this is, glory will certainly come, for “whom he justified, them he also glorified.”Romans 8:31-32. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things ? Notice, it is not simply “freely give us all things;” but, “with him also freely give us all things.” You shall get all things with Christ; but you shall get nothing without Christ, for all the other gifts come in this one. God first gave us his Son; and he gives us everything in him.Romans 8:33. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Ring out the challenge in heaven itself; trumpet it through all the caverns of hell; let the whole universe hear it: “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect ?” None can, for “it is God that justifieth,” and his justification blocks every charge that is brought against his people. Who shall the Lord’s elect condemn? ‘Tis God that justifies their souls; And mercy like a mighty stream, O’er all their sins divinely rolls. Romans 8:34. Who is he that condemneth ? None will answer to that challenge, forRom_8:34-35. It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ ? Oh, this blessed question — this touching question! It seems to come at the end of all the others,— a rear-guard which effectually prevents our treasures from being taken from us. “Quis separabit?” “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”Romans 8:35. Shall tribulation ? That has been tried. Have not the saints been beaten like wheat upon the threshing-floor? Has not addiction been to them a stern test of the reality of their faith? But Christ has loved them none the less for all the suffering that he has permitted to fall upon them.Romans 8:35. Or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? When they have been in famine or poverty, has Christ ever forsaken his saints? Ah, no! he has loved them all the more. Have any of these things separated us from our Saviour? No; but they have, to our own consciousness, knitted us even more closely to our Divine Lord. Cruel men have tried every form of persecuting the saints of God; they have been more inventive in the torments which they have applied to Christians than in almost anything else; yet no torture, no rack, no imprisonment, has ever divided them from Christ. They have clung to him still, after the manner of John Bunyan, who, when they said, that he might go free if he would promise not to preach the gospel, said, “I will lie in prison till the moss grows on my eyelids rather than I will ever make such a promise as that.

If you let me out of prison today, I will preach tomorrow, by the grace of God.”Romans 8:36. As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. But there has been no triumph over the saints in this case.Romans 8:37-39. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 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. Not all that men on earth can do, Nor powers on high, nor powers below, Shall cause his mercy to remove, Or wean our hearts from Christ our love. Glory be unto his holy name! Amen.

Romans 8:15-31

Romans 8:15. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; You did receive it once. You needed it. You were in sin, and it was well for you when sin became bondage to you. It was grievous, but it was salutary; but you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear.Romans 8:15. But ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Does your spirit cry in that way tonight? Even if you be in the dark, yet if you cry for your Father, you will soon be in the light. There is no need to be distressed with any form of doubt so long as the Spirit makes this continual breathing, “Abba, Father, show thyself to me. Do what thou wilt to me. Let me taste thy love. Let me at least bow under thy hand.”Romans 8:16. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. Our spirit feels the spirit of adoption, and so there is a double witness, the witness of our spirit, and the witness of God’s Spirit, that we are the children of God. In the mouth of these two witnesses the whole shall be established.Romans 8:17. And if children, then heirs; That does not follow in other cases, but it does in the case of the family of God. In a man’s family, only one son can be an heir; but in God’s family, of all is it declared “if children, then heirs.”Romans 8:17. Heirs of God, Not only heirs to God, but heirs of God. God himself is the heritage of his people; he belongs to them now, as an eternal endowment. “Heirs of God.”Romans 8:17. And joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. We are to take the rough and the smooth, the bitter and the sweet, with Christ; and who will make any demur to that? If we are to be heirs with Christ, we do not wish to split the inheritance in pieces. Nay! we will take the cross as well as the crown — the reproach as well as the honour.Romans 8:18. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. He had just mentioned the sufferings. They are too little. They are mere specks in the sun. They are too small to be weighed in comparison with the exceeding weight of glory which God has prepared for us.Romans 8:19. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestly, of the sons of God. So great is to be the glory of God’s children that all the world is waiting for it. Every creature stands on tip-toe, looking for the coming of Christ and the manifestation of the redeemed. What must be the greatness of this thing which the whole creation has learned to expect?Romans 8:20-21. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope. Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. We were in bondage, and we have come out in a measure into the liberty of the children of God. Now the world in which we live is in sympathy with us, and it is part under bondage because of sin, but it is only temporary bondage. There will come a day when the whole creation shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God — a new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.Romans 8:22. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. Deep groans are in the world. Have you not heard of earthquakes? Do you not know how the whole world is in a tremor? There is something coming, and all the world is groaning for that coming. God makes the universe to be like an instrument of music played upon by the fingers of mortal men: so that when they are sorrowful, the world is sorrowful, and when they go forth with joy and are led forth with peace, then the mountains and the hills shall break forth before them into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. “We know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.”Romans 8:23. 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. As yet the body is under bondage. The body is dead because of sin: hence those headaches — this palpitation of the heart — this heaviness of the day which incases us: but by-and-bye, as the material world is to be delivered from its bondage, so shall these bodies also pass away from all the encumbrance of weakness, and disease, and death, into a better state.Romans 8:24. Far we are saved by hope: As yet.Romans 8:24-25. But hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. What a lesson that is, and how seldom do we learn it! Oh! in this present state our main duty is, “Then do we with patience wait for it.” You want to have your cake and keep it. but you cannot eat it and keep it too. With patience wait for it. There see some fruits of the earth that are not ripe yet. You lay them by in store, and there are many good things that God has laid by in store for his people, and he says to us, “With patience wait for it:” Oh! but you would fain have heavenly joy on earthly ground. It would be a sorry misfit if it were so.

But God keeps time and season, and there is harmony in his music. You shall have earthly sorrow on earthly ground, and you shall have heavenly bliss on the heavenly shore: but not till then. We do with patience wait for it.Romans 8:26. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; Especially our infirmities in prayer. I think that if anywhere our infirmities come out, it is in prayer: even the strongest are, on their knees, comparatively weak. How few there are among us that prevail with God. as Elias did! We ought to do so. We need, none of us, stop short of the fullest stature of a man in Christ Jesus. and a man of full stature in Christ would surely carry the keys of heaven’s treasury at his girdle. He would have but to ask, and to receive — to seek and to find. May the Spirit help our infirmities.Romans 8:26. For we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. See what little worlds we are. Microcosms, — to use a harder word; for as there are groanings and travailings in the whole creation, so are there such in the little world of our own heart. Only nature’s travail is but natural; but our travail is supernatural. It is the Spirit himself groaning within chosen breasts with groanings that cannot be uttered.Romans 8:27. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. When we ourselves hardly know the mind of the Spirit, he that searches all hearts knows it. When we feel as if we could not pray, yet the Spirit of God makes intercession in us, and the great Father reads the purport of the intercessions, and blesses us, not according to our knowledge of our own prayer, but according to his knowledge of what the Spirit means by those prayers. Have you never noticed that holy men of old sometimes spoke much greater things than they thought they should, for the Spirit of God in them spoke by them more than they themselves understood; and I believe that it is so in prayer. Oh! oftentimes the groaning, wrestling believer may have no inkling of the full purport of his own prayer, but he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.Romans 8:28. And we know – Now we are getting upon a dear old passage which reads like music. There is no eloquence in the world that ever touches the eloquence of the Apostle here.Romans 8:28. That all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. I do not like to hear this text quoted, as I often do, only in part — only half of it. “All things work together for good,” say people. “Oh! yes; somehow or other, good will come of it.” It does not say so here. It says, “All things work together for good to them that love God; to them that are the called according to his purpose.” A special purpose and object of God for a special people. And if you do not belong to this people, things are not working together for your good. No; but you may find that they will work together for your banishment from life and from the presence of God. Take your heed to this. The stars in their courses fight against you, if you fight against God; and the very earth groans and complains of bearing up your weight if you are a rebel against the Most High.

You must, first of all, be reconciled so as to love God, and the eternal purpose must be wrought in you by your effectual calling from out of the world, or else you must not dare to intrude into the holy sanctuary of my text. “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God.” Of course, they do, for God loves them. “To them that are the called according to his purpose.” Of course, they do, for that purpose which called them is not consistent with anything, but a purpose of infinite love to them. The great eternal purpose encompasses all things that happen, and bends all to the grand object of the good of the called ones.Romans 8:29-30. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. He spoke of it as if it were done because it is so sure, so certain to be done; he puts it down as a fact.Romans 8:31. What shall we then say to these things? Ah! indeed, what shall we say? If we had the tongues of men and angels, what could we say? Well, we will say this much at any rate.Romans 8:31. If God be for us, who can be against us? Those afflictions that we read of just now — these reproaches which we share with Christ — what of them? They are not worth calling anything. “If God be for us, who can be against us?”

Romans 8:18-39

Romans 8:18. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Paul made “the sufferings of this present time” into a matter of simple arithmetic and careful reckoning. He added them all up, and saw what the total was, he seemed to be about to state a proportion sum, but he gave it up, and said that the sufferings were “not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed.” Did they stand as one to a thousand? No, else they had been worthy to be compared. Did they stand as one to ten thousand, — or one to a million, — or one to a million of millions? If so, they would still have been worthy to be compared; but Paul saw that there was no proportion whatever between them. The sufferings seemed to be but as a single drop, and the glory to be as a boundless ocean. “Not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” That glory is not yet fully revealed; it is revealed to us, but not yet in us. What, then, shall we do in the meantime? Why, wait with patience, and bear our appointed burden until the time comes for us to be relieved of it; — wait, however, with hope, — wait, too, as we must, quietly enduring the pains and pangs which precede so glorious a birth. In this respect, we are not alone, as the apostle goes on to say, — Romans 8:19-22. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. We live in a world that is under a curse, — a world that was made subject to bondage through human sin. What means this cold? What mean these fogs? What mean the general mourning and sighing of the air all through the winter? What mean the disturbances, and convulsions, and catastrophes that we hear about on all hands? It is the creation groaning, travailing, waiting, — waiting till there shall be a new heaven and a new earth, because the former things shall have passed away.Romans 8:23. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. Our soul has been delivered from the curse. The redemption of the soul is complete, but not yet that of the body. That must suffer pain and weariness, and even descend into the tomb, but its day of manifestation shall surely come. At the appearing of our Lord from heaven, then shall the body itself be delivered, and the whole creation shall also be delivered, so we wait in a travailing condition; and we may well be content to wait, for these pangs within us and around all signify the glorious birth for which we may wait in hope.Romans 8:24-25. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. This is our attitude and our condition now, — waiting for the glory which is to be revealed in us, and accepting the sorrow which is appointed to us as an introduction to the joy which is to come to us mysteriously, through it but while we are waiting, we are not without present comfort.Romans 8:26. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. You must, I am sure, as children of God, often have felt that Spirit within you groaning in prayer what you could not express. How often have you risen from your knees feeling the utter inadequacy of words to express the desires of your heart! And you have felt that you had larger desires than you have been able to interpret. There have been mighty pangs within you telling of the presence of this wrestling spirit.Romans 8:27. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, When you do not know your own mind, God knows the mind of the Spirit, and that is the very essence of prayer. He “knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit,” —Romans 8:27. Because he maketh intercession for (or, in) the saints according to the will of God. Whatever the spirit of God prompts us to pray for, is according to the mind of God, for it is not possible that the Holy Spirit should ever be otherwise than in perfect accord with the Divine Father. The eternal degrees, if we could read them, would convey to us the same truth as the impulses of the Spirit in our heart. And this is the true exploration of prayer, — that what God intends to do, his spirit leads his people to ask him to do; and thus there is no conflict between the eternal predestination of God and the earnest entreaties of his people. They are, in fact, the outcome of that very predestination.Romans 8:28-30. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. These great truths must never be separated. Any one of these things befog true of us, it is most certain that the rest are also true. Now, my dear brother, you cannot read God’s foreknowledge, neither can you enter into the secrets of predestination; but you can tell whether you are called, or not; you can know whether you are justified by faith, or not; and if you get hold of those links, you have got a grip of that endless chain which is firmly fastened to the granite rock of eternity past, and which is also fastened to the rock of the glorious eternity which is yet to be revealed.Romans 8:31-33. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. For so we think it ought to be read. That is another question. Can God lay anything to our charge after having justified us? Will he contradict himself?Romans 8:34. Who is he that condemneth? There is only One who can, for there is only one Judge, and that Judge is Jesus. So, the apostle puts it again in the form of a question, — shall he condemn us?Romans 8:34. It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Shall he condemn us? It is altogether impossible.Romans 8:35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword ? What a long list of ills! They seem to make up a Jeremiah’s roll of sorrow. Can they separate us from the love of Christ? They have all been tried; have they ever succeeded?Romans 8:36. As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. But did they succeed in separating saints from the love of Christ even in the days of martyrdom?Romans 8:37-39. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 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. “Wherefore, comfort one another with these words.”

Romans 8:19-39

Romans 8:19. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. The whole creation is in a waiting posture, waiting for the glory yet to be revealed.Romans 8:20-21. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Everything here is blighted, and subject to storm, or to decay, or to sudden death, or to calamity of some sort. It is a fair world, but there is the shadow of the curse over it all. The slime of the serpent is on all our Edens now. “The creature itself was made subject to vanity,” but it “also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”Romans 8:22. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. The birth-pangs of the creation are on it; the living creature within is moving itself to break its shell, and come forth.Romans 8:23. 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. That is our state now; at least, it is the condition of the most of us. Some of our brethren have gone ahead so tremendously that they have passed out of the world of groaning altogether; they are perfect. I regret that they are not in heaven; it would seem to be a much more proper place for them than this imperfect earth is. But as for us, our experience leads us, in sympathy with the apostle, to say that we are groaning after something better. We have not received it yet; we have the beginnings of it, we have the earnest of it, we have the sure pledge of it; but it is not as yet our portion to enjoy; we are “waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body;” for, though the soul be born again, the body is not. “The body in dead,” says the apostle, in the tenth verse of this chapter, “because of sin; but the spirit is life because of righteousness.” There is a wonderful process through which this body shall yet pass, and then it shall be raised again, a glorious body, fitted for our regenerated spirit; but as yet it remains unregenerate.Romans 8:24. For we are saved by hope: Hope contains the major part of our salvation within itself.Romans 8:24-26. But hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: That same Spirit who gave us the spirit of adoption, that same Spirit who set us longing for something higher and better, “also helpeth our infirmities;” and we have so many of them that we show them even when we are on our knees.Romans 8:26. For we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. There seems to be a good deal of this groaning; it is only in heaven that there are- “No groans to mingle with the songs which warble from immortal tongues.” But down here a groan is sometimes the fittest wheel for the chariot of progress. We sigh, and cry, and groan, to grow out of ourselves, and to grow more like our Lord, and so to become more fit for the glory which shall be revealed in us.Romans 8:27. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. That is the whole process of prayer. The Spirit of God knows the will of the Father, and he comes and writes it on our hearts. A true prayer is the revelation of the Spirit of God to our heart, making us desire what God has appointed to give to us. Hence the success of prayer is no difficulty to the predestinarian. Some foolishly say, “If God has ordained everything, what is the use of praying?” If God had not ordained everything, there would be no use in praying; but prayer is the shadow of the coming mercy which falls across the spirit, and we become in prayer in some degree gifted like the seers of old. The spirit of prophecy is upon the man who knows how to pray; the Spirit of God has moved him to ask for what God is about to give.Romans 8:28. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, “All things.” That is a very comprehensive expression, is it not? It includes your present trouble, your aching head, your heavy heart: “all things.” “All things work.” There is nothing idle in God’s domain. “All things work together.” There is no discord in the providence of God. The strangest ingredients go to make up the one matchless medicine for all our maladies. “All things work together for good” — for lasting and eternal good, — “to them that love God,” that is their outward character, —Romans 8:28. To them who are the called according to his purpose. That is their secret character, and the reason why they love God at all.Romans 8:29. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Oh, what a glorious privilege is yours and mine, if we are indeed children of God! We are, in some respects, children of God in the same sense as Christ himself is; he is the firstborn, and we are among his “many brethren.”Romans 8:30. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. Notice that personal pronoun “he” — how it comes at the beginning, and goes on to the end. “Salvation is of the Lord.” This is so often forgotten that, trite as it may appear, we cannot repeat it too often: “Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” You might suppose, from the talk of some men, that, salvation is all of the man himself; — that is free agency pushed into a falsehood, a plain truth puffed into a lie. There is such a thing as free agency, and we should make a great mistake if we forgot it; but there is also such a thing as free grace, and we shall make a still greater mistake if we limit that to the agency of man; it is God who works our salvation from the beginning to the end.Romans 8:31. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? If God is that great working One who does all this, who can be against us? “Why, a great many,” says one. But they are nothing, nor are all put together anything at all, as compared with him who is on our side.Romans 8:32-33. He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth? No, that is impossible; and if he does not lay anything to their charge, what cause have they to fear?Romans 8:34. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. What, die for them, and then condemn them? Nobody can condemn them but the Judge; and if he is unable to condemn them, in consequence of what he has already done for them, then none can. But this is not all.Romans 8:34. Yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Will he blow hot and mild, and first intercede for them, and then condemn them? It cannot be.Romans 8:35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? “Quis separabit?” That shall be our motto in every time of trial: “who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”Romans 8:35-36. Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword, As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. They have all had their turn; but did any of them, or all of them put together, ever divide the saints from Christ?Romans 8:37-39. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 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. Blessed, forever blessed, be his holy name! Amen.

Romans 8:23-39

Romans 8:23. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. That is what we are waiting for: “ the redemption of our body; “ and we shall not wait in vain for it, for Christ is the Saviour of our body as well as of our soul, and the day shall come when even our bodies shall be free from pain, and weakness, and weariness, and sin, and death. Happy day! we may well look forward to it with the loftiest anticipations.Romans 8:24-25. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it? This is our present position, patiently waiting for “the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ,” patiently waiting for “the manifestation of the sons of God,” for “it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”Romans 8:26. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. There is much in this chapter about groaning, and that is but natural, for it so largely concerns our present imperfect state; but, by-and-by, there will be “No groans to mingle with the songs which warble from immortal tongues.” Romans 8:27. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. This explains what to many is the mystery of prayer. The Holy Spirit, being himself God, knows the secret purposes of the divine will, and therefore moves the saints to pray in accordance with that will, and makes their supplications effectual through his own prevailing intercession.Romans 8:28. And we know— Paul, like John, was no agnostic; he did not even say, “We think, we imagine, we suppose.” No; “ we know”—Romans 8:28. That all things work together for good— We must not stop there, otherwise the statement will not be true, for all things do not work together for good to all men, but only—Romans 8:28. To them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. How are we to know who they are who are the called according to God’s eternal purpose? The previous clause informs us, for both relate to the same individuals; “ them that love God” are “ them who are the saved according to his purpose.” We cannot peer into the pages of the Lamb’s book of life, yet we can tell by this simple test whether our names are recorded there, do we truly love the Lord? If so, all things are working for our present and eternal good, all things visible and invisible, all things friendly and unfriendly, all things in providence and grace.Romans 8:29. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” What an eternal honour for all believers, that they might be among the “many brethren” of Christ, God’s firstborn and well-beloved Son! Here too, we see the purpose of God’s foreknowledge and predestination, that we should be “ conformed to the image of his Son.”Romans 8:30. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. You see that these great declarations relate to the same persons right through the whole series: “Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate;… whom he did predestinate, them he also called,… them he also justified,… them he also glorified.” There is not a single link missing from the eternal purpose and foreknowledge of God to the everlasting glory in which the saints’ bliss shall be consummated. The practical question’s for each one of us to answer are just these, have I been “called” by grace out of nature’s darkness into God’s marvelous light? Have I been “justified” by faith, and have I peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ? Then, being called and justified, I may rest assured that I have been predestinated, and that in due time I shall be glorified. “There, where my blessed Jesus reigns, In heaven’s unmeasured space, I’ll spend a long eternity In pleasure and in praise.” Romans 8:31-32. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also give us all things. After having given us his own Son, what is there that he can withhold from us if it is for our real good? Nay, he has already virtually given us all things in giving him to us. Romans 8:33-34. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Well might the apostle ring out these confident challenges to heaven, and earth, and hell. As it is God that justifieth, who can bring any charge against his elect? Who can condemn those for whom Christ died, for whom he has risen, and for whom he is now making intercession at the right hand of God?Romans 8:35-37. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. “All these things” have only made the saints cling the more closely to their Lord, instead of separating them from him. Their persecutors thought they were triumphing over them, but it was the martyrs who were the victors all the while.Romans 8:38-39. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 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. Paul had good reason for being persuaded that there was no separation for those for whom there was no condemnation, may we be among them by God’s grace! Amen.

Romans 8:26-39

Romans 8:26. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: Oh, how many these are! Want of memory, want of faith, want of earnestness, ignorance, pride, deadness, coldness of heart, — these are some of our infirmities; but, thank God, we have the omnipotent Spirit of God to help us.Romans 8:26. For we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. These groanings are too deep, too full of meaning to be expressed in words. There are some things the Christian wants for which he cannot ask; perhaps he does not even know what it is that he wants. There is a vacuum in his heart, but he does not know what would fill it. There is a hunger in his spirit, but he knows not what the bread is, nor where the bread is, that can satisfy his wants. But the Holy Ghost can articulate these unuttered groans, and the deepest needs of our soul can thus be brought before God by his own Spirit. You, then, who find it difficult to pray, do not give up praying.

The devil tells you that such poor prayers as yours are can never reach the ear of God. Do not believe him. The Spirit helps your infirmities: and when he helps you, you shall, you must prevail.Romans 8:27. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. It cannot be supposed that the Father does not know what is the mind of the Spirit, since they are one God, and, moreover, inasmuch as the Spirit of God never intercedes for anything which is not according to God’s will, we are sure that our heavenly Father will grant every Spirit-indited prayer.Romans 8:28. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Almost everything in this world looks to us to be in confusion, but to God’s eye all is in order. One wave dashes this way, and another that, but they are all working together, and they are all working with one great purpose too. Say not, Christian, “All these things are against me.” Ah, poor soul! this is the verdict of your unbelief, but you will know better than that one of these days. All things are working for you, and not one of them is working against you; therefore, be not dismayed. They are all working together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose.Romans 8:29. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. That was the very end and object of their predestination that they might become like Christ, their great perfect elder Brother. “’Christ, be my first elect,’ he said, Then chose our souls in Christ our Head Before he gave the mountains birth Or laid foundations for the earth.”Romans 8:30. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: My soul, hast thou been called of God? Has the Spirit of God ever called thee? If so, rejoice in thy predestinator. Have no doubts and fears concerning that matter, for he would never have called thee if he had not intended to save thee from before the foundation of the world.Romans 8:30. And whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. My son, dost thou believe in Jesus? Hast thou trusted in his precious blood? Then thou art justified. Never give way, then, to any fears concerning thine eternal salvation, for, as surely as there is a heaven, thou shalt be a partaker of its glories, for never was there a soul justified who was not afterwards glorified.Romans 8:31. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Hast thou the world against the Christian? What is the opposition of the world when God is on thy side? Is thine own heart against thee? What then? God is greater than thy heart. Is the devil against thee? Ah! he is mighty, but God is almighty, and he shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. Paul was no fanatic; he was a man of great experience and of sound sense; yet he makes nothing of all our foes when God is on our side.Romans 8:32. He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? When God gave us Christ, he gave us everything, for all the blessings of this life and of the life that is to come lie hidden in Christ as the kernel is within the shell of the nut. What encouragement we have here for believing prayer! Christian, Christ is the golden key of God’s treasuries; you have but to use him aright, and whatever you need shall be yours.Romans 8:33. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? Here is true boldness; Paul, who called himself the very chief of sinners dares to challenge anyone to lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? Surely God can do so. No,” says Paul, —Romans 8:33. It is God that justifieth. He is both just and the Justifier of all who believe in Jesus, and they are “God’s elect.”Romans 8:34. Who is he that condemneth? “Why,” saith one, “Christ, the great Judge, will condemn.” No, that he will not, for —Romans 8:34. It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Christian, as Christ makes intercession for you, he will never condemn you. Did he shed his blood for you, and yet will he cast you into hell? Did he rise from the dead for you, and yet will he leave you among the dead and the lost? Think not so strangely of the Christ of God, who is the same yesterday, and today, and forever, and who will never condemn those who trust in him.Romans 8:35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? They have been tried again and again.Romans 8:36. It is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. What was the effect of this persecution? Were the saints turned away from Christ by it?Romans 8:37-39. Nay, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 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.

Romans 8:28-39

Romans 8:28-30. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. No breaks between the links of this chain. Foreknowledge is welded to the predestination: the predestination is infallibly linked with the calling, the calling with the justification, and the justification with the glorification. There is no hint given that there may be a flaw or break in the series. Get a hold of any one, and you possess the whole. The called man is the predestinated man. Let him be sure of that. And the justified man shall be a glorified man. Let him have no doubt whatever about that.Romans 8:31. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? A great many, but they are all nothing. If God be for us, all they that be against us are not worth mentioning: they are ciphers. If he were on their side, then the one would swell the ciphers to the full, but if he be not there, we may put them all into the scale and reckon them as less than nothing.Romans 8:32-33. He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? Who, indeed.Romans 8:33-34. It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? No one can, for: —Romans 8:34. It is Christ that died, And so put our sins to death. Romans 8:34. Yea rather, that is risen again, And so hath justified us. Romans 8:34. Who is even at the right hand of God, And so has carried us into heaven by his representing us there.Romans 8:34. Who also maketh intercession for us. Whose everlasting plea, therefore, silences all the accusations of the devil.Romans 8:35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress or persecution, or famine, or nakedness or peril, or sword? They have all been tried. In different ages of the world, the saints have undergone all these, and yet has never one of them been taken away from the love of Christ. They have not left off loving him, nor has he left off loving them. They have been tried, I say. Romans 8:36. As it is written. For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. What is the result of it? Romans 8:37-39. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 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. Halleluiah! Blessed be his name. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 138.; Isaiah 55:1-11; Romans 8:28-39.