Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 829
Delivered on Lord’s Day Morning, September 6 1868, by C. H. SPURGEON, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington..
“And hope makes not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us.” Romans 5:5.
THE Apostle sets before us a ladder like that which Jacob saw—the foot rests upon the earth, but the top ascends to Heaven. Tribulation is the foot, but we mount as we see that it works patience. And we climb again, for patience works experience. And we ascend yet once again, for experience sustains hope, and hope that makes not ashamed climbs up to the very heart of God—and the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us. I might compare these verses to those songs of degrees which were sung by the people as they went up to the Temple—as they halted at each stage of the pilgrimage they sang a fresh Psalm—and so David said, “They go from strength to strength; every one of them in Zion appears before God.”
The pilgrim sets out from the dull and desolate vale of tribulation. He journeys on to patience, and lifts up his Psalm under the shadow of the rock. He removes his tent and journeys on to experience—beneath its wells and palm trees he refreshes himself. Soon he marches on again from experience to hope, and never stops till the love of God is shed abroad in his heart and he has reached the New Jerusalem where he worships the ever blessed God and drinks full draughts of His eternal love.
In this text it seems to me as though our great Melchisedec, the Lord Jesus, came forth to refresh His warring and wayfaring people with bread and wine. You read of tribulations—these are the battles of the faithful—and in them they overcome even as Abraham overthrew the kings and made them as driven stubble before his bow. The Lord’s warriors are often faint and weary in them, but the love of God is graciously shed abroad in their hearts—and this is that sacred bread and wine that refreshes the Lord’s people in their time of hunger. It becomes a sweet morsel to refresh them by the way and keep them in good spirits till they eat the heavenly bread and drink the new wine all fresh and sparkling at the table of the marriage banquet. There they shall sit forever and ever with the glorious Bridegroom.
This morning, if we may be so helped of the Holy Spirit, we shall, first of all, say a little upon the love of God. Then upon the love of God shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit. And then upon the confirmation which this gives to our hope, since the Apostle tells us that our hope is not ashamed for this reason—that the love of God cheers and sustains us, being shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
I. First, then, some little upon THE LOVE OF God—a theme for breadth and depth like unto the vast Atlantic— whereon my little skiff loses itself as a mere speck on the infinite expanse! How shall I profess fully to express Truths of God so vast that the greatest divines might lose themselves and the most eloquent of speakers might fail? The love of God—how shall I attempt to speak of it? I must but skim the surface! To dive into its depths were impossible for me.
Think, for a minute, first of all, of what it is—the love of God. Now the pity of God towards the suffering I can understand because of the goodness of His Nature. The kindness of God towards the needy I can comprehend because of the liberality of His Character. That He should have compassion upon such as are ignorant and out of the way—that He should look constantly with tenderness upon those that are sorely broken and ready to perish is easy enough for me to believe.
But this is not what is spoken of in the text. It is not compassion, nor tenderness, nor pity—it is LOVE—which is something more than all these. You pity the beggar whom you could not love. You have compassion upon the villain in whom you could have no complacency. You look with tenderness upon sufferers who have nothing in their character or in their persons to attract your affection. Men usually think that they have gone far enough when they have rendered kindness. Even if the heart glows with no affection, they, as a rule, take this to be the rendering of love towards their neighbor. When they have permitted their compassion and tenderness to exhibit themselves, they feel that all is done that is demanded of them.
But the text speaks not of this, but of love—direct attachment and affection—and of the love of God. I beseech you, my Brothers and Sisters, as you sit here, lift up your souls—bid your understandings stand on tiptoe and endeavor fully to grasp the idea of Divine love. If you are in Christ Jesus, this day God loves you, but to what shall I liken love as it streams from the heart of Jehovah? We try to guess at what God’s love to one of His people may be by our love to our own children, to our spouse, to our friend. Now, in a far higher degree and sublime sense, and after a loftier sort, even so God loves the people of His choice. Consider this, Believer, and be astonished that love should come from God to such a one as yourself!