Sunlight for Cloudy Days
(No. 3345)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 1913.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT MENTONE.
"But I am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinks upon me." Psalm 40:17.
IT is not everybody who would like to apply to himself the first part
of the text. Perhaps we, most of us, accept it because it happens to be
Scriptural language–and yet we might not spontaneously say of
ourselves, "I am poor and needy." Some would even wish us to believe
the very opposite, for if I read their hearts aright, they say, "I am
not poor, nor needy." They have enough of this world's goods and as for
spiritual matters, they are strong and self-reliant. All this comes of
vainglory and, in the long run will end in vanity and vexation of
spirit–for if a man can do without God, it is certain that God can do
without him–and the day will come when God willdo without him,
according to His Word, "I will ease Me of My adversaries." He who has
tried throughout life to do without God will inherit remorse forever
and ever. It is well to begin, continue and end in this life with God's
favor, that we may enjoy it world without end! I therefore trust that
none among you would wish to say, "I am rich and increased in goods and
have need of nothing," for that would be tantamount to a proud resolve
to do without God–and it will end in your eternal ruin!
There are some who cry, "I am poor and needy, woe is me that I should
be so! But the Lord does not think of me. I have looked up to Heaven,
but no eye of pity looks down upon me in the depth of my misery." Many
a wretched mind, many a bereaved spirit, many a downcast heart has
cried, "The Lord has forgotten me! He counts the number of the stars
and calls them by their names, but as for me, I am too little, too
insignificant, too obscure–I cannot believe that God thinks upon me."
Dear Friend, I hope you will be converted from this unbelief! I pray
that you may not only be able to join in one half of my text by saying,
"I am poor and needy," but that you may humbly unite in the second
declaration, "Yet the Lord thinks upon me." Despite your insignificance
and unworthiness, you may yet learn that the Lord has thoughts of love
towards you and is causing all things to work together for your
external, internal and eternal good!
Do not let it surprise you that one of old should say, "I am poor and
needy, yet the Lord thinks upon me," for God has often thought of poor
and needy persons. Look at Joseph when he was in prison and the iron
entered into his soul– his reputation was gone, he was reproached and
even punished unjustly–yet we read that the Lord was with Joseph and,
in due time He brought him out and set him on the throne of Egypt!
Ruth, the Moabitess, came penniless to Israel's land and she went to
glean among the sheaves as a poor and needy peasant woman. But the Lord
was thinking upon her and so provided for her that she rose to an
honorable estate and her name is written among the progenitors of our
Lord Jesus! To give you a more modern instance–the Apostles were poor
fishermen with their little boats and well-worn nets, upon the Lake of
Galilee–yet the Lord looked upon them–unlearned and ignorant men as
they were, and made them to be the pioneers of His Kingdom! Never mind
how poor and needy you are, you may yet be heirs of God, joint-heirs
with Jesus Christ!
"Alas," you say, "my trouble is not a poverty of gold and silver, but I
am poor as to anything like goodness in the sight of God. I feel so
guilty and so far from being what I ought to be." Yet the Lord has
oftentimes thought of such people as you! Look at the blessed Master
sitting on the well at Sychar, talking with that wanton woman who had
had five husbands and he whom she then had was not her husband–she was
a woman whom none would honor–but the blessed Savior thought upon her!
Remember, too, the thief dying upon the cross next to the
Redeemer–with all his sins red upon him, for he had been a robber and
probably a murderer, too–his prayer, "Lord, remember me," touched the
heart of Jesus and, "Today you shall be with Me in Paradise" was the
gracious response! The Lord thought on him and yet there was never one
more poor and needy than he! There, too, was Saul of Tarsus, the
persecutor, breathing out
threats and slaughter against the Church of God! But the Merciful One
in Heaven, who saw his sin, thought on him with love and said, "Saul,
Saul, why do you persecute Me?" Poverty of all merit and need of all
Grace do not prevent the Lord from thinking upon men! Is not this fact
as clear as the sun in the heavens? However spiritually poor you may
be, you may yet partake of the riches of His Grace and so become rich
in faith–indeed, none but consciously needy ones ever obtain the
privilege of saying, "Yet the Lord thinks upon me."
I was troubled, when I was asking the Lord, with the notion that I was
so utterly insignificant that the Lord would never notice me. There is
no reason for such fear, since the Lord has thought upon very obscure
people. Think of the Sy-ro-Phoenician woman's daughter. What was her
name? Do you know what sort of a girl she was? Can you tell her
after-history? She is quite unknown to fame, yet the Lord thought upon
her and healed her. That little daughter of Jairus, a child of 12 years
of age, what could she do? Did she become a distinguished woman? What
lifework did she perform? She makes no figure in history, yet the Lord
thought upon her and even restored her from the dead! The widow's son,
who was being carried out of the city of Nain, what did he achieve?
What post of honor did he occupy? What lofty path did he pursue? We
know nothing of him except that the Lord thought upon him! The most of
the persons whom the Lord Jesus thought upon in the days of His flesh
were unknown to fame and, for my part, I judge that the happiest
persons are those who pass through life unknown of men, but known of
God! During the French Revolution, a man of great influence escaped the
guillotine and when asked how it was, he replied, "I made myself of no
reputation and kept silent." Those who are content to follow the cool
sequestered vale of life are often happier than those who climb the
high places of the earth. Do not, therefore, think that your being in
the background is any hindrance to the Lord's thinking upon you! He
cares nothing about the blare of trumpets, or the blaze of fame–the
Lord looks upon the meek and lowly and finds out the men that are of a
broken heart and of a contrite spirit, and that tremble at His
Word–and with these He deigns to dwell. May we be found among them!
At this time my desire is to do four things upon each of which I would
speak briefly. By the words of the text I desire, first, to help your
faith to remember that if you are poor and needy, yet the Lord thinks
upon you. Then I long to enlarge your hope. Thirdly, to inflame your
love and fourthly, to direct your life. May God the Holy Spirit perform
all these things for us! First, let me–
I. HELP YOUR FAITH. You say to yourself, "I cannot understand why God
should think of me." Why not? "Because I am so little." Let me ask you
if there is anything in the world which is not little to God? You say,
"There is the world, itself," and I answer that the earth which we
think so large, is no more to God than a single grain of dust! The
solar system and all the other systems that make up the Creation of God
are as nothing to the Infinite Jehovah! So great is the universe that
the most elevated conception of the most enlarged mind has never
compassed more than a fragment of it–yet God is infinitely beyond the
inconceivable whole of created existence! A man must always be really
greater than his own works and certainly God must be infinitely greater
than all that He has ever made. Now, if you think it difficult that God
should think upon the little, what else should God think upon? You
reply that you expect Him to think of the great ones of the earth.
Alas, the most of them think very little of Him–the Lord has had the
least worthy treatment from those who are ranked as rich and honorable.
When we reach Heaven, we shall find few kings and princes, few of the
learned and lauded–"God has chosen the poor of this world, rich in
faith"–so says the Inspired Apostle.
Again, if it should seem difficult to you for God to think upon the
poor and needy, I invite you to answer the question, "Who need God's
thoughts most?" On the field of battle, after the fight, if a surgeon
should be there to attend to the wounded, where will he go first? Of
course he will go to those whose gaping wounds have almost opened the
gates of death for them! And the slightly wounded he will leave till he
has more time. The Lord will not look upon us according to what we
deserve, for if He did, He would destroy us all! He will look upon us
in proportion to our needs. Our urgent needs move His mercy and He will
go first to those who require Him most. Do you need His Grace more than
anyone else? Then He will hasten at once to you! If I see a physician's
carriage hurrying down the street, I feel morally certain that he is
not driving to my door, for I am not dangerously ill. But if I know of
one who has fallen in a fit, or has been badly injured by an accident,
I conclude that he is going to him. When the Angel of Mercy is made to
fly very swiftly, you can be sure that he is speeding to one who is in
urgent need of Divine Grace.
Remember, too, that God has always dealt with men from that point of
view. When God made His election of men before the earth was, He chose
them as fallen and undeserving, that He might lift them up to the
praise of the glory of His
Grace. His choice of men was never guided by anything good that He saw
in them! As says the Apostle Paul, "For the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God
according to election might stand, not of works, but of Him that
calls." The decree still stands, "I will have mercy on whom I will have
mercy, and I will have compassion upon whom I will have compassion."
The Lord of Grace asks in His Sovereignty, "Shall I not do as I will
with My own?" God views all men as guilty and, finding them guilty, He
yet chooses unto Himself a people in whom His Grace shall be
resplendent! Therefore do not conclude that He will pass you by because
you are poor and needy.
Moreover, the redemption of Christ obviously views us as fallen and
guilty. Did He lay down His life to redeem those who were not captives?
Did He pour out His blood to cleanse those who were already clean? If
we had not needed a great salvation, would the Darling of Heaven have
stooped to the death of the Cross that we might be saved? They who
think that sinners cannot be saved, or that men can be saved by any
other means than by true faith in Jesus, make a superfluity of the
death of Christ–and this is a blasphemy atrocious to the last degree!
"While we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly." "This is a
faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came
into the world to save"– the righteous?–oh no, but, "to save sinners,
even the chief." Stagger not at the Grace of God to your own hurt but
say, "Though I am spiritually poor and needy, yet the Lord thinks upon
me."
Furthermore, the gift of God the Holy Spirit proves that God regards us
as poor and needy. If we were strong and full of all spiritual forces,
we would not have needed the Spirit of God to quicken and regenerate
us! And we would not have needed that Spirit to abide in us as our
Teacher and Helper. Why, Brothers and Sisters, you cannot even pray
without the Spirit of God! The Spirit is given to help your infirmity
in prayer because that infirmity most surely exists. The gift of the
Spirit of God to men is a proof that God looks upon them as being poor
and needy in spiritual things. Now, if you feel that you cannot pray,
that you cannot repent, that you cannot believe, that you cannot do
anything that is good in your own strength, fret not about it, but fly
to the Strong for strength! Say, "I am poor and needy, but the gift of
the Holy Spirit is an evidence that the Lord thinks upon me."
Let me further say, to help your faith, that though you say you are
very poor and spiritually needy, you are not alone in this, for so are
all God's saints–and the brighter the saints the more they feel their
own poverty and need! Certain boasters talk "exceedingly proud" about
their religious attainments. But the more they glory, the more vain is
their glory. True saints are humble. In a company where certain people
were displaying their spiritual attainments, it was noticed that one
devout person remained silent. Finally a talkative man turned to him
and asked, "Have you no sanctifica-tion?" He replied, "I never had any
to boast of, and I hope I never shall have." The more high in Grace,
the more low in self-esteem! Ask the man who has the most holiness what
he thinks of himself and he will be the first to lament that he has not
yet reached the point which he desires. We are like those old-fashioned
wine glasses which had no foot to them, so that they could not stand
upon the table, but must be held in the hand. When Jesus has us in His
hand, we can be filled with the Water of Life–but out of His hand we
cannot hold a drop, nor even stand! We are nothing at all without our
All-in-All! "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me,"
said one. "Without Me you can do nothing," is the true word of Christ
to every branch of the living Vine. Now, if all God's saints say that
they are nobodies, do not despair because you are a nobody! If they all
confess that they can do nothing without Christ, do not despond because
you, also, can do nothing without Him!
Do you reply, "I wish I had a greater sense of spiritual riches"? If
you had more faith in Christ, it would be well, but to have any
confidence in your own experience would do you mischief!
Let me here relate a story which may cheer those who feel themselves to
be so guilty that the Lord will not think upon them. The Lord looks
upon those who feel their guilt. A Savior is on the lookout for sinners
quite as much as sinners are on the lookout for a Savior. I have heard
that a great English prince on one occasion went to visit a famous king
of Spain. The prince was taken down to the galleys, to see the men who
were chained to the oars and doomed to be slaves for life. The king of
Spain promised, in honor of the prince's visit, that he would set free
any one of these men that the prince might choose. So the prince went
to one prisoner and said, "My poor fellow, I am sorry to see you in
this plight, how came you here?" "Ah, Sire," he answered, "false
witnesses gave evidence against me. I am suffering wrongfully."
"Indeed!" said the prince, and passed on to the next man. "My poor
fellow, I am sorry to see you here, how did it happen?" "Sire, I
certainly did wrong, but not to any great extent. I ought not to be
here." "Indeed!" said the prince, and he went on to others who told him
similar tales. At last he came to one prisoner who said, "Sire, I am
often thankful that I am here, for I am sorry to admit that if I had
received my due, I would have been executed. I am certainly guilty of
all that was laid to my charge–and my severest punishment is just."
The prince replied wittily to him, "It is a pity that such a guilty
wretch as you are should be chained among these innocent men and,
therefore, I will set you free." You smile, and well you may. How you
will smile if Jesus does the same for you! Assuredly this is the manner
of Him–He passes by those who think highly of themselves and looks
upon those who are self-condemned and plead guilty before God. He came
not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance! When we have
nothing to pay, He frankly forgives the debt! He thinks upon the poor
and needy.
I ask you to look at the text again, by way of–
II. ENLARGEMENT OF YOUR HOPE. "I am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinks
upon me." It is a great thing that God should think upon us. Is it true
that the great heart of God is thinking upon me, an inconsiderable atom
of existence? What then? It is enough to make the bells of our hearts
ring for joy! Let us listen again to the silver note of the text, "The
Lord thinks upon me." The Lord thinks as much of one of His people as
if there were nobody else for Him to think upon! Poor needy one, the
Lord thinks upon you as intensely as if you were the only being now
existing! The Lord is able to concentrate His whole mind upon any one
point without dividing that mind–He has such an infinite capacity that
each one of us may be the center of God's thoughts–and yet He will not
be forgetting any other beloved one! God is a Being whose center is
everywhere, but His circumference is nowhere! "The Lord thinks upon
me." Is it not beautiful to notice how God thought of the first man
whom He placed on this earth? He did not make man till He had prepared
everything for his happiness! The Lord would not rest until He had
finished His work, until He had lighted up the heavens and created all
manner of comforts and conveniences for His child. Not till He had even
prepared the birds to sing to him and the flowers to breathe their
perfume upon him, did God create man. Why did God rest on the seventh
day? Because He had thought of all that man needed and had made all
things good for Him. Our Lord Jesus never rested till He had finished
the work that His Father gave Him to do, which work was all for us–and
the great Providence of God will never rest till all the chosen of God
are brought safely home to Heaven! Thus you see how God thinks upon us.
Remember, also, that God's thoughts are not dumb thoughts. They break
out into words and this precious Bible contains the expression of those
thoughts of love. This priceless Book is a love letter from our Father
who is in Heaven. Read each line as if it were freshly written and it
will make you say, "I am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinks upon me,
and here are His thoughts."
Nor does the Lord rest in words. I have heard of a waiter who said to a
guest, "I hope you will remember me, Sir." "Yes," replied the other, "I
shall never forget your bad behavior." It would be well for us if our
fellow men would not think of us when we have done them wrong, but
God's thoughts of us are always kind and forgiving. His thoughts are
practical and produce deeds of kindness. He thinks to give and forgive,
to save and succor, to cheer and cherish. The Lord is thinking what He
will give you, what He will make of you and what mansion in Heaven He
will appoint for you! If He has thought upon you, He always will think
upon you, for the Lord never changes! Our God, in whom we trust, is not
fickle. He is not thoughtful of us today and forgetful of us tomorrow.
If you should live to be as old as Methuselah, the promises of God will
never wear out–and if all the troubles that ever fell upon humanity
should pounce upon you– God's strength will be put forth to sustain
you and to bear you to a triumphant close!
Oh, the joy of knowing that God thinks upon us! It is better to have
God thinking upon us than to have all the kings of earth and all the
angels of Heaven thinking upon us. Thirdly, and very briefly–
III. LET THIS INFLAME YOUR LOVE. "I am poor and needy, yet the Lord
thinks upon me." Dear Friends, think much of God since He thinks much
of you. Let your hearts go out towards Him on whose heart your name is
written. It ought to be impossible for a Christian to wander among
these olive groves without saying, "Beneath such trees as these my
Savior sweat great drops of blood." We ought not to sit on the beach
without thinking, "The Lord has cast my sins into the depths of the
sea." As the palm tree lifts itself to Heaven, without an earthward
branch, so send all your thoughts upward! As the vine, though sharply
pruned, yields its cluster, so bear fruit unto your Lord. Upon yonder
sea the Apostle of the Gentiles was tossed and wrecked for love of
Jesus–yield to that same Lord, your whole hearts as you think upon His
thoughts of you! Everything about this place should make us think of
our Lord, for in many respects it is the counterpart of "Your land, O
Immanuel!" This day God is thinking upon you! This day think upon God!
Christ in
Heaven is preparing Heaven for us–let us be preparing a place on earth
for Him. I have often wondered what is meant by our Lord's preparing a
place for us, since Heaven is prepared for us from before the
foundation of the world. I suppose Heaven was not fully fit for us till
Jesus went there and the very going there of our Well-Beloved has
prepared Heaven for redeemed men and women to live in it in His own
sweet society! Jesus is watching in Heaven for the time when we shall
come Home and He is praying for that Homecoming–"Father, I will that
they, also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am."
Do you not receive frequent tokens that the Lord Jesus is thinking upon
you? Special mercies in answer to prayer, sweet visits of love–do not
these cheer your heart? Our sacred joys, which come from Jesus, are
like those boxes of flowers that we send to our friends who are
freezing in the cold at this time in England. They know that we
remember them as they look upon every rosebud, violet and anemone that
comes to them through the post. Our heavenly Father sends us many such
tokens of His loving remembrance while we are hearing the Gospel, or
enjoying the Lord's Supper, or occupied in our private prayers and
meditations. "How precious, also, are Your thoughts unto me, O God, how
great is the sum of them!" To close, let me use this text to–
IV. DIRECT YOUR CONDUCT. "I am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinks upon
me." The whole of what I say shall go into this one thought–if God
thinks upon you, leave off all anxious and carking care about yourself!
I do not suppose there is any place in the world that has more care and
anxiety in it than this little town which nestles beneath the mountains
and suns itself by the sea.
Many of you come here with dear ones who are pining away before your
eyes, or you are alarmed about your own health. Do not unduly trouble
yourselves, for if you do so, you cannot remove sickness, thereby, but
you may even increase it. If I could do any good by worrying, I would
worry away to my heart's content! But as it is useless, I find it best
to let it alone. They tell me that if a man were to fall into the sea,
he would float if he would remain quiet, but because he struggles, he
sinks. I am sure it is so when we are in affliction. Fretfulness
results in weakening us, in hiding from us wise methods of relief and,
in general, in doubling our pains. It is folly to kick against the
pricks! It is wisdom to kiss the rod. Trust more and fear lees. If you
have trusted your soul with Christ, can you not trust Him with
everything else? Can you not trust Him with your sick child, or your
sick husband? With your wealth, with your business, with your life?
"Oh," says one, "I hardly like to do that. It is almost presumption to
take our minor cares to the great Lord." But in so doing you will prove
the truthfulness of your faith! I heard of a man who was walking along
the high road with a pack on his back. He was growing weary and was,
therefore, glad when a gentleman came along in a chaise and asked him
to take a seat with him. The gentleman noticed that he kept his pack
strapped to his shoulders, and so he said, "Why do you not put your
pack down?" "Why, Sir," said the traveler, "I did not venture to
impose. It was very kind of you to take me up, and I could not expect
you to carry my pack as well." "Why," said his friend, "do you not see
that whether your pack is on your back, or off your back, I have to
carry it?"
My Hearer, it is so with your trouble. Whether you care, or do not
care, it is the Lord who must care for you! "But my daily trouble seems
too mean a thing to bring before the Lord in prayer." Then I fear you
forgot my text, or fail to see the spirit which dictated it–God thinks
upon the poor and needy–and all the concerns of the poor and needy
are, like themselves, poor affairs. Why do you weary yourself with care
when God cares for you? If I were afraid of burglars and kept a
watchman to guard my house at night, I certainly would not sit up all
night, myself! The Lord is your Keeper, why are you fearful? It is
infinitely better that you should be able to say, "The Lord thinks upon
me," than that you should have all power, wisdom and wealth in your own
hands! I charge you, then, to rest in the Lord and fret no longer!
First, trust your Lord with your souls, and then trust Him with
everything else! First, surrender yourself to His love, to be saved by
His infinite compassion–and then bring all your burdens, cares and
troubles–and lay them down at His dear feet and go and live a happy,
joyful life, saying, as I will say, and close–
"All that remains for me, Is but to love and sing! And wait until the
angels come, To bear me to my King."
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: ROMANS 8:1-31.
Verse 1. There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them which are in
Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.To my
mind one of the sweetest words of that verse is that little word now.
"There is, therefore, now no condemnation–at this very moment! Walking
under the power of the Spirit of God in Christ Jesus, there is,
therefore, now no condemnation to Believers! It is a logical
conclusion, too, from something that went before. You and I are not
absolved from sin apart from the Truth of God, but there is a great
truth at the back of it which necessitates it. "There is, therefore,
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not
after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
2. For the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free
from the Law of sin and death Sin and death cannot govern me–cannot
condemn me–cannot destroy me. Another Law has come in. The Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus has brought me into another kingdom wherein I
cannot be affected, so as to condemn me, by the Law of sin and death.
3, 4. 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 The Law of God was a good Law, a just and holy Law. It was weak,
not in itself, for, verily, if righteousness could have been by any
Law, it would have been by the Law of God! But it was weak through our
flesh. We could not keep it. We could not fulfill the conditions of
life laid down under it. Therefore, what the Law could not do, God has
now done for us! He has found a way of making us righteous through the
righteousness of His own dear Son, whom He has sent in the likeness of
sinful flesh. He has found out a way of condemning sin, without
condemning us! He condemned sin in the flesh, but we escaped. And He
has found a way of making us practically righteous, too, through the
abundance of His Grace, enabling us to walk no longer after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. Blessed be God for this, for when we had broken
His Law, He might justly have left us to take the consequences, but He
has stepped aside–He has gone beyond all that might have been expected
of Him–and brought in a Law by which a remedy is applied to all our
ills. Glory be to His name!
5. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh.
They live to eat and drink. They live for self-aggrandizement. They
live for the world and its pleasures. It is according to their nature.
Everything acts according to its nature. The wolf devours–the sheep
patiently feeds. They that are after the flesh do mind the things of
the flesh.
5. But they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit God has
given us, then, the Spirit to dwell in us and now I trust we can say
that we desire holiness, righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy
Spirit, for these things are the things of the Spirit!
6, 7. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded
is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for
it is not subject to the Law of God, neither indeed can be. It is so
deeply vitiated, so thoroughly depraved, that so long as the fleshly
mind exists, it will be in rebellion against God. "You must be
born-again," for that which is born of the flesh is flesh–and only
that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Unless we are renewed,
then, by the Spirit of God, we never shall be subject to the Law of
God–neither, indeed, can we be.
8, 9. So then, they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But you
are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if, indeed, the Spirit of God
dwells in you. Now if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none
ofHis. Christ does not acknowledge any that are not indwelt by His
Spirit. They may wear the Christian name. They may perform some acts
which look like Christian acts–but all this means nothing. You must
have the Spirit of God within you, or else you are none of His! And
what a thing it is to be "none of His." "Verily," says Christ, "I never
knew you." "But, Lord, we ate and drank with You! You preached in our
streets." But He says, "I never knew you." They are none of His. Oh,
dear Friends, the highest point to which human nature can reach of
itself falls short of being in Christ! There must be the Spirit of God
dwelling in us or else we are none of His!
10. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin.
Therefore, it suffers disease and pain, for the soul is regenerated,
but not the body. If I may so speak, the Regeneration of the body
happens at the Resurrection. It is then that it will receive its full
share of the blessed work of Christ! "The body is dead because of sin."
10, 11. But the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the
Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He that
raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by
His Spirit that dwells in
you.So there is a complete deliverance provided for body, soul and
spirit! As Moses said to Pharaoh when he agreed to let the people of
Israel go, but said that they must leave behind their flocks, "Not a
hoof shall be left behind," so no particle of our real manhood shall be
left under the thralldom of sin and death! The soul is already
emancipated and the body shall be–by the Spirit which dwells in you!
12. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live
after the flesh. For we owe the flesh nothing by way of gratitude or
service. The flesh has dragged us down. The flesh has ruined us. We owe
it nothing except mastery of it. We are not debtors to it, to live
after it.
13. For if you live after the flesh, you shall die. It will die and so
will you who make it your master!
13. But if you, through the Spirit, do mortify the deeds of the body,
you shall live. "Mortify," kill, put to death.
14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of
God. There may be a great many weaknesses and infirmities about them,
but if they follow the Divine Leadership of the Spirit of God, they are
the sons of God!
15. For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but
you have received the Spirit of Adoption, whereby we cry Abba, Father
Is this true of you? "You have received the Spirit of Adoption, whereby
we cry, Abba, Father." Dear Friends, hearing these words, can you
respond to them? Are they true of you?
16. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the
children of God. Many of you make a profession of being the children of
God. Can your own spirit say that it is true? And is there, in addition
to this, the witness of the Spirit within you that it is true? If not,
unless there is a witness to our testimony, it avails nothing. Our Lord
Jesus Christ said, "If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not
true." And if He chooses to put Himself on a level, as it were, with
the rest of humanity in that respect, we cannot expect that our witness
will stand for anything if it stands alone! No, there must be the
Spirit, Himself, bearing witness with our spirit that we are the
children of God!
17. And if children, then heirs: heirs of God, and joint-heirs with
Christ Oh that if–"ifchildren." There are some that get over all that.
They believe in a universal fatherhood–which is not worth the words in
which they describe it. This is a different fatherhood altogether!
17. If indeed we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified
together. Oh, this blessed co-partnership–this fellowship! Joint-heirs
with Christ! Taking part in the whole heritage–as well the heritage of
suffering as the heritage of glory. "It shall bruise Your heel, but You
shall bruise his head." There is to be the heel-bruising for the
Christ, as well as for us, but there is to be the head-crushing of sin
and Satan for Him and for us, too!
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.
Glory in us? Only think of that! You know the Revelation that is in the
Book–but how grand will be the revelation that is in the man! "The
glory which shall be revealed in us." We shall be full of glory! And a
part of God's Glory, which otherwise must have lain concealed, will be
revealed in His people to His own praise forever and ever–but also to
our own eternal joy.
19. For the earnest expectation of the creation waits for the
manifestation of the sons of God. There is something that the whole
creation is waiting for and it cannot come till God's children are
manifested–till the glory is revealed in them!
20. 22. For the creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but
by reason of Him who has subjected the same in hope. Because the
creation 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 groans and travails in pain together until now. "The
whole creation." It is the same word all through–so I have used the
same word. The whole world is in its pangs and birth throes, and there
can never come its complete deliverance into the new heavens and the
new earth, except there shall also be the manifestation of the children
of God and their deliverance from all that now hampers and hinders the
Divine Life that is within them!
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. This is what we are
looking for! Our manhood is not all soul–it is body, too! And here, as
yet, this poor body seems to lie outside the gate, like Lazarus, while
the soul rejoices in God. But its time of glorifying is coming! The
trumpet of the archangel shall proclaim it!
24. For we are saved by hope. As yet we are saved by hope.
24-26. But hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man sees, why does
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 helps our infirmities.
That is a grand thing! We have got the first fruits of the Spirit to be
the pledge of all the glorious harvest. The very fact that the Spirit
dwells in us is the conclusive proof that our bodies shall be raised
from the dead! Meanwhile, the Spirit of God is helping us, as we groan
and labor, towards the complete perfection. "The Spirit helps our
infirmities."
27. And He that searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the
Spirit, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the
will of God.Nor is it only the Holy Spirit who is thus helping us
onward towards the grand finale!
28, 29. And we know that all things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are the calledac-cording 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 first-born among many brethren. And
you know that He is the First-Born in this sense–not only as the
greatest, but that as the First-Begotten from among the dead, He has
risen from the dead! He has risen from the dead and in this He leads
the way for us all. "That he might be the first-born among many
brethren."
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.No slips, no gaps or chasms by the way. The foreknown are
predestinated. The predestinated are the called. The called are
justified. The justified are glorified!
31. What shall we say, then, to these things.?Shall we succumb under
the sufferings of the body? Shall we yield to doubt because of all our
heavy feelings and the dullness that comes of the flesh? By no means!
31. If God is for us, who can be against us?We can get through all
these difficulties if God is with us!