St. Paul was no narrow dogmatist. He was a man of profound sympathy and charity even for those from whom he differed. Yet there are some strong assertions in his writings. Nowadays it is almost considered a virtue to be in doubt, and a rash presumption to be sure of anything. In the revolt from superstition, men have gone into an unbelief that almost amounts to a superstition in itself. There was no superstition about St. Paul. He was a man of thoughtful mind, of wise judgment. But he did not think it either presumption or dogmatism to be firmly persuaded and convinced of certain things. It is no dogmatism to assert that the sun is shining, when its warm bright rays are flashing down upon us and around us. It is no dogmatism to assert the existence of frost, when the earth grows hard beneath its grasp, and we feel its icy breath upon our faces and in our throats. With all the uncertainties and unrealities of life, there is such a thing as certainty and truth. To St. Paul the love of Christ was such a certainty. He had felt it, not as the frost, but as the warm sunshine in his heart. He had yielded himself to its influence, till it became to him what the steam is to the steam-engine, till he could say, "The love of Christ constraineth me;" or again, "I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." There are few finer or more complete pictures of that love and its power than this eighth chapter of Romans presents to us. Here St. Paul shows us the Christian, under the influence of that love, gaining the victory over sin and temptation, glorying in tribulation, receiving the Spirit of adoption, standing fearlessly before the judgment-seat in the irresistible conviction that he is a child of God, shielded and strengthened by the love of Christ; and, as he gazes from point to point, from time to eternity, and sees the Christian secure and safe at every point, his conviction, his rapture, increase in intensity till they carry him away in that grand outburst, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?... 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." Here are the uncertainties and the certainties of life contrasted.

I. THE UNCERTAINTIES OF A NEW YEAR.

1. The new year may be a time of prosperity. If it is God's will to give us worldly prosperity and wealth, let us pray for grace and wisdom to use them aright. Prosperity has its dangers. It comes in as a separating barrier between the soul and God. Our Saviour, in one of his parables, speaks of the deceitfulness of riches, and tells us that, along with the cares of this world, it is like thorns that choke the good seed of Divine truth, so that it becomes unfruitful. Let not riches "separate us from the love of Christ."

2. The new year may be a time of trial. St. Paul felt convinced that no trials could separate him from that wondrous love. "Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?... Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us" (vers. 35, 37). No trial, or the prospect of it, brings dismay or terror to the apostle's heart.

"Come one, come all! this rock shall fly
From its firm base as soon as I." Conquerors! Yes, and more than conquerors of our trials! We do more than vanquish them. We turn them, or rather the love of Christ turns them for us, into our friends. So Paul found it in his experience. So did many a child of God. Martin Luther was sent to prison in the Wartburg, apparently a heavy blow to himself and his friends, and the cause of the Reformation. But the love of Christ was stronger than the castle walls. They could not keep Christ out. Luther was more than conqueror. He not only endured his imprisonment, but while he was a prisoner he translated the Scriptures into that great German version of his, and wrote besides some of his great commentaries. The walls of Bedford Jail could not separate John Bunyan from the love of Christ, and during his imprisonment for conscience' sake he wrote that matchless allegory, 'The Pilgrim's Progress.' Samuel Rutherford, a prisoner in Aberdeen Castle, wrote his beautiful 'Letters,' of which Richard Baxter said that, after the Bible, such a book the world never saw. All of these were more than conquerors through him that loved them. Whatever trials we may meet with, there is the great certainty of the love of Christ. "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? If God be for us, who can be against us?" (ver. 31). We may lose our earthly friends, but Jesus remains - the Friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

3. The new year may be to some of us a year of death. Philip Henry, father of Matthew Henry the commentator, used frequently to pray this prayer, "Fit us to leave or to be left." Whatever uncertainty we may feel about the earthly lot that is in store for us, whether our days may be many or few, let us make sure that we are clinging to the cross of Jesus, and then we have a safety and a security which no trials can ever shake.

II. THE CERTAINTIES OF A NEW YEAR. While there is much that is uncertain about each new year, there is much also that we may with confidence expect.

1. The new year will be a time of opportunities. This is as certain as that the sun will shine, and the seasons come, and the ocean ebb and flow. Every day will bring to each of us its opportunities. Opportunities save souls. John Williams, a careless young man, was persuaded by a friend to go one sabbath evening to a place of worship, and there he heard a sermon on the words, "What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" That opportunity, availed of, saved his soul and led him to decide for Christ, and he became the famous missionary and martyr of Erromanga. Had he refused that invitation, rejected that opportunity, a similar opportunity might never have returned. Opportunities test character. Some one has said that "opportunities are importunities." Every opportunity appeals to us. It appeals to us to avail ourselves of it, to show what side we are on, to make our choice for time and eternity. Abraham had his opportunity when the call came to him to leave his father's house, and he used it well. It showed him to be a man of faith, a man who would do God's bidding at any cost. Joseph, Joshua, Daniel - each of these had his opportunity, and well he used it. Herod had his opportunity, and seemed to be impressed by the preaching of John the Baptist, for "he did many things, and heard him gladly;" but when the critical and testing opportunity came of making his choice, of choosing good rather than evil, he lost it. So it was with Felix and Agrippa. But let our life be dominated by the constraining influence of the love of Christ, and then the opportunities which the passing hours are sure to bring will only show more and more clearly that we are on the Lord's side.

2. The new year will be a time of duties. It is well to begin the year with a high sense of our obligations and responsibilities. Duties are a certainty which every day brings with it. There are the duties of daffy prayer and daily thanksgiving to God; the duties of parents to their children, of employers to their servants, of all Christians to those who are around them. Here, again, let every duty be discharged in the spirit of love to Christ, and there will be no uncertainty about our faithfulness. "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" - C.H.I.

First, here's the supposition "If God be for us." This "if" is not an if of doubting or ambiguity, but rather of certainty and assurance. That God is, indeed, for all true believers, cannot be denied (Psalm 46:7; Psalm 124:1; Psalm 118:6, 7). There are two manner of ways especially wherein God may be said to be for His servants: First, by way of allowance, God is so far said to be with His people, as He does own them and approve of them. And this again extends itself to three particulars more, wherein it is considerable: First, the persons of His servants, God is for them (Psalm 147:10, 11; Malachi 3:16). Secondly, He is for them in their principles; the doctrines, and truths, and graces which are eminent in them, and whereby they are acted and moved. These God does own them in and approve them for; whatever is of God's planting, it is of God's owning; He will maintain His own work. Thirdly, He is for them also in their practices and actions. The ways of good men as good, and as living in the power of religion, are so far forth allowed of by God. He that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God and approved of men, as the apostle speaks in Romans 14:18. Secondly, God is for all true believers, not only by way of allowance, but also by way of assistance; not only to own them, but to help them, and to be useful to them for their greatest advantage. The ground hereof is laid in two particulars: First, in regard of His interest which He has in them, as they do belong unto Him; interest it does engage affection, and so consequently endeavour and assistance. Secondly, there is not only his relation, but also His covenant; persons who are confederates, they are assistant one to another. For answer hereunto we must say thus much, that God is indeed with His servants, but with these qualifications: — First, in His own time. Secondly, in His own manner. Thirdly, upon His own terms and conditions we must take in that also. And that is of faith, and repentance, and new obedience, and close walking with Him, as we may see (2 Chronicles 15:2). It holds also as to engagement; if God be with us it concerns us to be with Him, and to carry ourselves answerably towards Him we should own Him, and all that is His; it is that which He both requires and expects from us. There are two things in the world which God is especially interested in, and whatever is done for them He counts as done to Himself, His truth, and His children; goodness itself, and those who are good. Now, therefore, when we own these, and are for them, we own Him, and shall have the reward of it bestowed upon us. The second is the inference, or that which is deduced from it, in these words, "Who can be against us?" Who can be against us? What a strange question is this? Who rather cannot be against? There's none who are so likely or ready to have any against them than those who are most for God, or God for them. Let any men look after religion, and they shall be sure to have enough against them. First, who can be against us? That is, who can be rationally against us? It is not so much what any are de facto, but what they are de jure, not what they are in the thing itself, but what they ought to be, and what is fitting for them. Secondly, who can be against us? That is, who can be against us effectually. All the enmity of men, it is a limited and confined enmity, because their hearts, and hands, and affections, and endeavours, are all at God's disposing. First, Satan, the great and grand enemy of all, he shall not prevail against us. Secondly, evil men who are subservient and instrumental to Satan, they shall not prevail neither in all their attempts and endeavours in the Church. Now there is a threefold ground whereupon this truth does proceed and may be made good to us: First, from God's omnipotency. Secondly, from God's immutability; therefore those whom God is for can have none to prevail against them, because those whom He is truly for He is for them for ever. Thirdly, from God's eternity; He is one who ever continues, therefore those whom He is for, they are sure to have none against them. The third and last may be this, Who can be against us? That is, who can be safely against us? who can be against us with any convenience, or peace, or comfort, or contentment to themselves.

(Thos. Horton, D.D.)

"These things." The only question as to the meaning of this expression is, whether it covers the whole Epistle, or is to be confined to this chapter or to the immediately preceding verses. In any case the emphasis of the appeal must be chiefly on the last — things which are so much above the reach of the carnal mind, and so likely to produce a feeling of wonder or revolt. There the things are; they cannot be reasoned away. "We can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.

I. THE FACT. The world will have much to say against the doctrines of grace. "But if God be for us," then we can afford to have the world against us. The plan of mercy which determines the way of salvation may surpass all human wisdom and experience, but if it be God's plan it will take effect. The method of grace by which the sinner's heart is renewed may surpass the carnal judgment. Yet if it be God's method it will work His purpose in spite of man's ridicule and unbelief. The subserviency of Providence to the purposes of redemption will work itself out, though men may be blind to the issue. Now let us apply this to our —

1. Doctrinal opinions. God is for us when our views are in accordance with the Scripture. Reason, experience, received opinions, learning and wisdom, may seem to be against us, but God is more than all. "Let God be true and every man a liar."

2. The interest and safety of attainments and privileges of the believer's state. The world has much to say upon the subject of the work of grace. There are some who resolve the facts of Christian experience into disease or deception. According to our view this work of grace is God's most beautiful and costly work. Now, if we are indeed God's workmanship, if what we call the work of grace be indeed the work of the Holy Spirit, then we may say in the view of the world's contumely and scorn, "If God be for us, who then can be against us?"

3. The believer's safety. The text does not imply the absence of danger and opposition. Both Scripture and experience teach us the contrary. The meaning is that nothing shall prevail against us (2. Chronicles 32:7, 8).

4. The interest which believers have in the plan of Providence. According to the teaching of the apostle, the entire administration of this present world is determined in the interest of Christ and His Church. Yet how strangely does it appear to be contradicted by the facts around us. How often is the cause of slavery and tyranny seen to triumph over the cause of freedom or piety! But faith, when asked, What shall we say to these things? is still ready with its reply, "If God be for us, who can be against us?"

II. ITS INFLUENCE. It will produce —

1. An independence, in matters of conscience and religion, of human authority. Independence of man is necessary to a thorough dependence on God (Acts 4:19). Thus Luther, "Here I stand, I cannot recant; I rest on the Word of God. Let God see to it."

2. A spirit of patience under the pressure of trial. If God is with us, on our side, why should we faint in our minds?

3. Confidence of the final triumph of the Christian's interest, and the clearing up of all the dark clouds that rest upon the ways of God. Iniquity shall not always prevail.

(P. Strutt.)

I. THE QUESTION SUPPOSES THE EXISTENCE OF A COMBINED AND POWERFUL HOSTILITY TO THE CHRISTIAN. The Bible declares this, observation confirms it, and experience demonstrates it. The believer may be compares to an individual who has thrown off allegiance to his king, has disowned his country, and refuses obedience to its laws, yet continues to dwell in the land he had renounced, and hard by the sovereign he has foresworn.

1. Satan is against us. All his force, malice, subtlety, and skill, and all his myrmidons are marshalled in opposition to the interests of the child of God.

2. The world, too, is against us. It will never forgive the act by which we broke from it. Nor can it forget that the life of the Christian is a constant and solemn rebuke of it (John 15:18, 19).

3. Our own heart is against us.

II. BUT GOD IS FOR US. It was this assurance that calmed the fears and strengthened the faith of Abraham (Genesis 15:1); Isaac (Genesis 26:24); Elisha's servant (2 Kings 6:15, 16); David (Psalm 27:1); Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:17-19); and Paul (Acts 18:9, 10). And Christ's last words were, "Lo, I am with you alway; even unto the end."

1. God must be on the side of His people since He has, in an everlasting covenant, made Himself over to be their God. There is nothing in God, in His dealings, or in His providences, but what is on the side of His people.

2. Not the Father only, but the Son of God is also on our side. Has He not amply proved it? Who, when there was no eye to pity, and no arm to Save, undertook our cause, and embarked all His grace and glory in our salvation?

3. And so of the Holy Spirit. Who quickened us when we were dead; taught us when we were ignorant, comforted us when we were distressed?

III. It may then well be asked, "WHO CAN BE AGAINST US?" The law cannot, for the Law-fulfiller has magnified and made it honourable. Justice cannot, for Jesus has met its demands, and His resurrection is a full discharge of all its claims; nor sin, nor Satan, nor men, nor suffering, nor death, since the condemnation of sin is removed, and Satan is vanquished, and the ungodly are restrained, and suffering works for good, and the sting of death is taken away. We will fear nothing, therefore, but the disobedience that grieves and the sin that offends God. Fearing this, we need fear nothing else (Isaiah 41:10). Conclusion:

1. The subject, if most consolatory to the Christian, is, in its converse, a solemn one to the unregenerate. It is an awful thing not to have God for us. And if God is not for us there is no neutral course — He must be against us.

2. Would we always have God for us? then let us aim to be for God. God deals with us His creatures by an equitable rule (Leviticus 26:27, 28).

(O. Winslow, D.D.)

I. HOW GOD IS FOR US.

1. Because He hath predestinated His people to be conformed to the image of His own dear Son. "No weapon which is formed against thee shall prosper," etc.

2. He has called us. When Abraham left the land of his forefathers and went forth, not knowing whither he went, he was quite safe, because God had called him.

3. He has justified us. All the people of God are wrapped about with the righteousness of Christ, and God regards them with the same affection as that wherewith He loves His only-begotten Son.

4. He hath also glorified us, "for He hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." He will also glorify us, for He hath prepared a kingdom for us from the foundation of the world. But though this brings in the context, I cannot bring out the depth of the meaning of how God is for us. He was for us before the worlds; He was for us, or else He would never have given His Son. He has been for us in many struggles — how could we have held on until now had it not been so? He is for us with all the omnipotence of His love and with all His boundless wisdom.

II. WHO ARE AGAINST US?

1. Man. How man has struggled against man! We do not in this age feel the cruelty of man to the same extent as the Reformers did, but in many cases we are misrepresented, slandered, abused, ridiculed for truth's sake. Well did Jesus say, "Beware of men." " Behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves." But what are they all? Suppose every man were against you, you might say, as did, "I have truth on my side, and therefore against the world I stand." Of what use was the malice of men against Martin Luther? Men are only puppets moved by God's hand; therefore be not afraid of them. Latimer greatly displeased . by his boldness in a sermon, and was ordered to make an apology on the following Sabbath. After reading his text he began: — "Hugh Latimer dost thou know before whom thou art this day to speak? To the king's most excellent majesty, who can take away thy life; therefore, take heed that thou speakest not a word that may displease; but then consider well, Hugh, from whence thou comest; upon whose message thou art sent! Even by the mighty God! who is all-present, and who beholdeth all thy ways, and who is able to cast thy soul into hell! Therefore, take care that thou deliverest thy message faithfully." He then proceeded with the same sermon, but with more energy. Such courage should all God's children show when they have to do with man. Modesty is very becoming, but an ambassador of God must recollect there are other virtues besides modesty.

2. The world. This world is like a great field covered with brambles and thorns and thistles, and the Christian is continually in danger of rending his garments or cutting his feet. Luther used to say there was no love lost between him and the world, for the world hated him and he hated it no less. Care little for this world, but think much of the world to come. This poor quicksand, get off it lest it swallow thee up; but yonder rock of ages, build thou on it, and thou shalt never suffer loss.

3. The flesh, the worst of the three. We should never need to fear man nor the world if we had not this to contend with. Some have an irritable temper, others a covetous disposition. Some have to fight against levity, others against pride or despondency. But despite all this we shall one day be found without fault before the throne of God.

4. The devil. He knows our weak points, he understands how to cover up the hook with the bait; and how to take one this way and the other the opposite. But what matters the devil when we have this text. The devil is mighty, but God is almighty.

III. WHO ARE NOT AGAINST US.

1. God the Father. He cannot be against His own children.

2. God the Son. How sweetly He has been for us! The Cross says, "Christ is for you," and to-day the tenor of His plea before the throne is, "I am for you." When He shall come a second time the trumpet will ring out, "Christ is for you."

3. The Holy Spirit as the Comforter, the Illuminator, the giver of life.

4. The holy angels, who are our ministers.

5. The law of God, once our enemy, is now our friend.Conclusion: —

1. There is an opposite to all this. If God be against you, who can be for you?

2. But if God be for you, you ought to be for God. If God has espoused your cause, ought you not to espouse His?

(C. H. Spurgeon.)

The inscription on the front of Downing Hall, North Wales, translated, runs thus, "Without God, without all; with God, enough."

I. ITS STRENGTH This consists in the grounds on which it rests.

1. The all-sufficiency of God.

2. The covenant relationship of God to His people. "If God be for us."

3. The demonstrations of love which God has already given (ver. 32).

4. God's acquittal and acceptance of His people, as the moral Governor of men (ver. 33).

5. The completeness of Christ's mediatorial work (ver. 34).

II. ITS SPIRIT. This will be illustrated if we contemplate —

1. The circumstances under which the words are uttered. This is the language of a man who says, "For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter."

2. The boldness of his defiance (vers. 38, 39).

3. The objects of his defiance. Death, life, angels, etc.

4. The influence it exerts. — It leads to patience in suffering, and cheerfulness in doing, the will of God.

(T. Ely.)

There are two ways in which a man may be deprived, against his will, of his privileges and possessions — by the lawless violence of the oppressor, or by legal forfeiture for his offences. And, if these two ways are effectually provided against, there is nothing to fear. Our apostle seems to have an eye to this, and shows us that the child of God has nothing to fear from —

I. VIOLENCE. Let us look at —

1. The premises of his argument. From which we gather —(1) That God is a Friend. "If God be for us." It is something to have a friend at all, i.e., one who would help us if he could: but the believer's friend is the mighty God.(2) What sort of a friend God has been. "He spared not His own Son," etc. See what a length His friendship carried Him I(3) What sort of a friend God will be. The future may be judged of from the past. "He spared not His own Son; how then shall He not with Him also freely give us all things!"

2. The conclusion — "Who can be against us?" But here occurs a difficulty. "God is for us." Most true. "None can be against us." Is that a necessary consequence? Then, again, a conclusion, though illogical, might yet be a truth. Is that the case here? "None can be against us." Why, our apostle himself speaks of "many adversaries." The seeming difficulty is unreal.(1) The true idea is that the friendship of God shall so completely protect us from all our enemies, that our interests shall be as secure as if our enemies had no existence. You know what desperate attempts were made by Satan to ruin Job; but God was for Job, and he was not ruined. For the same reason he was foiled in the case of Peter, and his messenger in the case of Paul.(2) But sometimes the mere tone of a denial implies an affirmation of the contrary. Had we heard the apostle, his exulting tone would have conveyed the meaning (ver. 28). "Who can help being for us, when God is for us?" God was for Joseph, and so were his unnatural brethren. God was for the Church; and so were the princes of the world when they slew the Lord of glory! God is for the believer; and so is Satan, who but tries his faith. God is for the dying saint; and so is death, which hastens his translation to Paradise.

II. LEGAL PROCESS BEFORE THE BAR OF GOD.

1. The first step in a legal process is to produce a charge; and so the apostle inquires, "Who shall lay anything," etc. What! have not many things, in all ages, been alleged against the righteous? No doubt. But —(1) Irrelevant charges will not do. Sometimes, e.g., the accusation has been that they have kept God's laws and proclaimed His truth. But such charges are irrelevant. They make that an offence which is a duty.(2) Nor will false charges do. Elijah was called a troubler of Israel. But the troubler of Israel was the prophet's accuser. Drunkenness was imputed to the apostles, when they were under the influence of the Holy Ghost. Disloyalty and sedition are hackneyed imputations. And so is hypocrisy. Such charges may be safely despised by the Christian. They are relevant, indeed; but they are false, and God will not listen to them.(3) Has the child of God, then, no sins? Ah, he will never deny it. What then becomes of the text? Stay; it asks, "Who" is to bring the charge? Is a fellow-sinner competent to undertake the task? No. There must be clean hands, in the first place, and a commission and warrant, in the second; and a fellow-sinner has neither the one nor the other. None but God can do it, and He never will; for they are God's elect. Their names would not have been written in heaven if God was going to appear against them.

2. The next stage is that of the verdict — Guilty, or not guilty. The apostle has already shown that there can be no charge; but, if there were one, the believer will not be convicted of it. "It is God that justifieth: who is he that condemneth?" etc. "There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus."(1) They cannot be condemned, when nothing is laid to their charge. But then God is just, and justice demands the punishment of sin. The charge was made, but Christ bore it. For God made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.(2) But what if no punishment followed? Was God to turn His wrath upon His own Son? Yes, "it is Christ that died" — died in thy room to expiate thy sins.(3) But was the punishment adequate — the expiation complete? If not, the believer may tremble still — he is not beyond the reach of condemnation. Christ "is risen again." But He would not be risen if He had not given justice every jot and tittle of its due.(4) But can we be sure that the sacrifice of Christ was accepted? The circumstance that the Son acted by the Father's commandment, shows that the sacrifice, if in itself complete and sufficient, must have been well-pleasing and acceptable; and to prove it beyond all doubt, Paul says, "Who is even at the right hand of God."(5) But we have not yet reached the end of the believer's guarantees, "Who also maketh intercession for us." Ye must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ. And if we are ever condemned, it is Christ that will do it. But an advocate never condemns his own clients. And the apostle announces the happy issue of his advocacy when he tells us, "It is God that justifieth."

3. When a criminal process succeeds there is execution. Suppose the believer condemned, all that remained would be to inflict the punishment. Yes: but there would be an insurmountable obstacle. "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" The believer's confidence has no cause to be shaken, unless he can be separated from Christ's love. In order to this —(1) You must prove that love to be nothing but a dream. But surely Christ's death is sufficient to prove its reality.(2) That love must be made to cease. It is not uncommon for the human love to fade. But Christ's love is everlasting. "Can a woman forget her sucking child," etc.(3) One way remains. Who shall prevail against the believer in spite of Christ's love? Love can do little, however great it may be in itself, if it has not corresponding power at its back. But the love of Christ has omnipotence at its command. "Shall tribulation, or distress," etc., separate? Nay. For(a) They are temporary evils.(b) The worst they can do is to separate the body from the soul for a season; but that is the indispensable and immediate preliminary to the full enjoying of the benefits of Christ's love, and therefore not a step towards our separation from it! Like the puny insects which mutilate themselves by striking with their stings, they are incapable of hurting us again.(c) The whole action and influence of these evils will be overruled for our good. Therefore, "in all these things we are more than conquerors, through Him that loved us."

(Andrew Gray.)

Why should I fear? Is man stronger than God? I go up to the Soudan alone, with an infinite Almighty God to direct and guide me, and am glad to so trust Him as to fear nothing; and indeed to feel sure of success.

(General Gordon.)

before the Roman emperor was a beautiful example of Christian courage. The emperor threatened him with banishment if he still remained a Christian. Chrysostom replied, "Thou canst not, for the world is my Father's house; thou canst not banish me." "But I will slay thee," said the emperor. "Nay, but thou canst not," said the noble champion of the faith again; "for my life is hid with Christ in God." "I will take away thy treasures." "Nay, but thou canst not," was the retort; "for, in the first place, I have none that thou knowest of. My treasure is in heaven, and my heart is there." "But I will drive thee away from man, and thou shalt have no friend left." "Nay, and that thou canst not," once more said the faithful witness; "for I have a Friend in heaven, from whom thou canst not separate me. I defy thee; there is nothing thou canst do to hurt me."

When the army of Antigonus went into battle his soldiers were very much discouraged, and they rushed up to the general and said to him, "Don't you see we have few forces, and they have so many more?" and the soldiers were affrighted at the smallness of their number and the greatness of the enemy. Antigonus, their commander, straightened himself up and said with indignation and vehemence, "How many do you reckon me to be?" And when we see the vast armies arrayed against the cause of sobriety, it may sometimes be very discouraging, but I ask you, in making up your estimate of the forces of righteousness, I ask you how many do you reckon the Lord God Almighty to be? He is our Commander. The Lord of Hosts is His name. I have the best authority for saying that the chariots of God are twenty thousand, and the mountains are full of them.

Paul, RomansRomeAppear1. Those who are in Christ are free from condemnation.
5. What harm comes of the flesh;
13. and what good of the Spirit.
19. The glorious deliverance the creation longs for,
29. was beforehand decreed from God.
38. Nothing can sever us from his love.

Romans 8:31

     2227   Immanuel
     5511   safety
     5955   strength, divine
     6249   temptation, universal
     8787   opposition, to God

Romans 8:28-33

     6622   choice

Romans 8:28-39

     5805   comfort
     6708   predestination

Romans 8:29-39

     6639   election, to salvation

Romans 8:30-34

     6679   justification, results

Romans 8:31-32

     5490   refuge

Romans 8:31-33

     8214   confidence, basis of

Romans 8:31-34

     6125   condemnation, divine

Romans 8:31-35

     2424   gospel, promises

Romans 8:31-39

     5292   defence, divine
     6126   condemnation, human
     6704   peace, divine NT
     8112   certainty
     8117   discipleship, benefits

December 18:
December 18th. The misgiving which will creep sometimes over the brightest faith has already received its expression and its rebuke: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" Shall these "changes in the physical state of the environment" which threaten death to the natural man, destroy the spiritual? Shall death, or life, or angels, or principalities, or powers, arrest or tamper with his eternal correspondences? …
Henry Drummond—Beautiful Thoughts

October 10. "If Ye, through the Spirit, do Mortify the Deeds of the Body, Ye Shall Live" (Rom. viii. 13).
"If ye, through the Spirit, do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live" (Rom. viii. 13). The Holy Spirit is the only one who can kill us and keep us dead. Many Christians try to do this disagreeable work themselves, and they are going through a continual crucifixion, but they can never accomplish the work permanently. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, and when you really yield yourself to the death, it is delightful to find how sweetly He can slay you. By the touch of the electric spark they …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

August 6. "As Many as are Led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God" (Rom. viii. 14).
"As many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God" (Rom. viii. 14). The blessed Holy Spirit is our Guide, our Leader, and our Resting-place. There are times when He presses us forward into prayer, into service, into suffering, into new experiences, new duties, new claims of faith, and hope, and love, but there are times when He arrests us in our activity, and rests us under His overshadowing wing, and quiets us in the secret place of the Most High, teaching us some new lessons, breathing …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

October 12. "The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus Hath Made Me Free" (Rom. viii. 2).
"The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free" (Rom. viii. 2). The life of Jesus Christ brought into our heart by the Holy Spirit, operates there as a new law of divine strength and vitality, and counteracts, overcomes and lifts us above the old law of sin and death. Let us illustrate these two laws by a simple comparison. Look at my hand. By the law of gravitation it naturally falls upon the desk and lies there, attracted downward by that natural law which makes heavy bodies fall …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

November 8. "For the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus Hath Made Me Free" (Rom. viii. 2).
"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free" (Rom. viii. 2). There is a natural law of sin and sickness, and if we just let ourselves go and sink into the trend of circumstances we shall go down and sink under the power of the tempter. But there is another law of spiritual life and of physical life in Christ Jesus to which we can rise and through which we can counterpoise and overcome the other law that bears us down. But to do this requires real spiritual energy and fixed …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

September 27. "The Glorious Liberty of the Children of God" (Rom. viii. 21).
"The glorious liberty of the children of God" (Rom. viii. 21). Are you above self and self-pleasing in every way? Have you got above circumstances so that you are not influenced by them? Are you above sickness and the evil forces around that would drag down your physical life into the quicksands? These forces are all around, and if yielded to would quickly swamp us. God does not destroy sickness, or its power to hurt, but He lifts us above it. Are you above your feelings, moods, emotions and states? …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

October 11. "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" (Rom. viii. 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" (Rom. viii. 27). The Holy Spirit becomes to the consecrated heart the Spirit of intercession. We have two Advocates. We have an Advocate with the Father, who prays for us at God's right hand; but the Holy Spirit is the Advocate within, who prays in us, inspiring our petitions and presenting them, through Christ, to God. We need this Advocate. We know …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

October 21. "Who Shall Separate us from the Love of Christ?" (Rom. viii. 35).
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" (Rom. viii. 35). And then comes the triumphant answer, after all the possible obstacles and enemies have been mentioned one by one, "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through Him that loved us." Our trials will be turned to helps; our enemies will be taken prisoners and made to fight our battles. Like the weights on yonder clock, which keep it going, our very difficulties will prove incentives to faith and prayer, and occasions …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

June 1. "That the Righteousness of the Law Might be Fulfilled in Us" (Rom. viii. 4).
"That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us" (Rom. viii. 4). Beloved friends, do you know the mistake some of you are making? Some of you say: "It is not possible for me to be good; no man ever was perfect, and it is no use for me to try." That is the mistake many of you are making. I agree with the first sentence, "No man ever was perfect"; but I don't agree with the second, "There is no use trying." There is a divine righteousness that we may have. I don't mean merely that which …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

October 13. "The Carnal Mind is Enmity against God" (Rom. viii. 7).
"The carnal mind is enmity against God" (Rom. viii. 7). The flesh is incurably bad. "It is not subject to the law of God, neither, indeed, can be." It never can be any better. It is no use trying to improve the flesh. You may educate it all you please. You may train it by the most approved methods, you may set before it the brightest examples, you may pipe to it or mourn to it, treat it with encouragement or severity; its nature will always be incorrigibly the same. Like the wild hawk which the little …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

August 4. "Ye are not in the Flesh but in the Spirit if So be that the Spirit of God Dwell in You. Now if any Man have not the Spirit of Christ He is None of His" (Rom. viii. 9).
"Ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of His" (Rom. viii. 9). A spiritual man is not so much a man possessing a strong spiritual character as a man filled with the Holy Spirit. So the apostle said: "Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you." The glory of the new creation, then, is not only that it recreates the human spirit, but that it fits …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Fourth Sunday after Trinity Consolation in Suffering, and Patience.
Text: Romans 8, 18-22. 18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to vanity not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III

Fourth Sunday after Trinity Redemption of the Creatures.
Second Sermon. Text: Romans 8, 18-22. REDEMPTION OF THE CREATURES. 1. We have heard how Paul comforts the Christians in their sufferings, pointing them to the future inconceivable and eternal glory to be revealed in us in the world to come; and how he has, for our greater consolation, reminded us that the whole creation as one being suffers in company with the Christian Church. We have noted how he sees, with the clear, keen eye of an apostle, the holy cross in every creature. He brings out this …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III

Eighth Sunday after Trinity Living in the Spirit as God's Children.
Text: Romans 8, 12-17. 12 So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh: 13 for if ye live after the flesh, ye must die; but if by the Spirit ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III

Divine Support and Protection
[What shall we say then to these things?] If God be for us, who can be against us? T he passions of joy or grief, of admiration or gratitude, are moderate when we are able to find words which fully describe their emotions. When they rise very high, language is too faint to express them; and the person is either lost in silence, or feels something which, after his most laboured efforts, is too big for utterance. We may often observe the Apostle Paul under this difficulty, when attempting to excite …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

Accusers Challenged
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God who justifies. T hough the collating of manuscripts and various readings has undoubtedly been of use in rectifying some mistakes which, through the inadvertency of transcribers, had crept into different copies of the New Testament, yet such supposed corrections of the text ought to be admitted with caution, and not unless supported by strong reasons and authorities. The whole Scripture is given by inspiration of God: and they who thankfully …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

The Intercession of Christ
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! T he Redemption of the soul is precious. Fools make mock of sin (Proverbs 14:9) . But they will not think lightly of it, who duly consider the majesty, authority, and goodness of Him, against whom it is committed; and who are taught, by what God actually has done, what sin rendered necessary to be done, before a sinner could have a well-grounded …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

Triumph Over Death and the Grave
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin: and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. T he Christian soldier may with the greatest propriety, be said to war a good warfare (I Timothy 1:18) . He is engaged in a good cause. He fights under the eye of the Captain of his salvation. Though he be weak in himself, and though his enemies are many and mighty, he may do that which in other soldiers …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

August the Twenty-Fifth Impotent Enemies
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" --ROMANS viii. 31-39. Who can get between the love of Christ and me? What sharp dividing minister can cleave the two in twain, and leave me like a dismembered and dying branch? Terrible experiences cannot do it. "Tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or sword!" All these may come about my house, but they cannot reach the inner sanctuary where my Lord and I are closeted in loving communion and peace. They may bruise my skin, …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

May the Twenty-Eighth the Sons of God
"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God." --ROMANS viii. 9-17. And how unspeakably wealthy are the implications of the great word! If a son, then what holy freedom is mine! Mine is not "the spirit of bondage." The son has "the run of the house." That is the great contrast between lodgings and home. And I am to be at home with the Lord. And if a son, then heir! "All things are yours." Samuel Rutherford used to counsel his friends to "take a turn" round their estate. …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

Sons and Heirs
'If children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.'--ROMANS viii. 17. God Himself is His greatest gift. The loftiest blessing which we can receive is that we should be heirs, possessors of God. There is a sublime and wonderful mutual possession of which Scripture speaks much wherein the Lord is the inheritance of Israel, and Israel is the inheritance of the Lord. 'The Lord hath taken you to be to Him a people of inheritance,' says Moses; 'Ye are a people for a possession,' says …
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

Suffering with Christ, a Condition of Glory with Christ
'...Joint heirs with Christ: if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.'--ROMANS viii. 17. In the former part of this verse the Apostle tells us that in order to be heirs of God, we must become sons through and joint-heirs with Christ. He seems at first sight to add in these words of our text another condition to those already specified, namely, that of suffering with Christ. Now, of course, whatever may be the operation of suffering in fitting for the possession of …
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

The Witness of the Spirit
'The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.'--ROMANS viii. 18. The sin of the world is a false confidence, a careless, complacent taking for granted that a man is a Christian when he is not. The fault, and sorrow, and weakness of the Church is a false diffidence, an anxious fear whether a man be a Christian when he is. There are none so far away from false confidence as those who tremble lest they be cherishing it. There are none so inextricably caught in …
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

The Revelation of Sons
'For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.'--ROMANS viii. 19. The Apostle has been describing believers as 'sons' and 'heirs.' He drops from these transcendent heights to contrast their present apparent condition with their true character and their future glory. The sad realities of suffering darken his lofty hopes, even although these sad realities are to his faith tokens of joint-heirship with Jesus, and pledges that if our inheritance is here …
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

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