Romans 8:38-39

NO SEPARATION

‘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 8:38

The love of God! Nothing shall separate us from the love of God! These are the two thoughts that I give you this evening. Some of us believe in God; some of us do not. When I say that we do not believe I mean this, that we only give God a half-hearted faith. Some of us, on the other hand, believe in Him with all our heart and soul and strength. But whether we believe in Him in a half-hearted or a whole-hearted manner, the great thing we need to know is this, that God loves each one with an intensity and reality which the human mind cannot comprehend.

I. The greatest thing in the world.—The greatest thing in the world is the love of God. Take the love of God away and the world ceases to be what it is, for the love of God is the controlling factor in the world. But you say, ‘How do I know that the controlling factor in this world is the love of God?’ Every flower that grows in our garden, every flower that grows under the hedgerow, is but an expression of the goodness and beauty behind it that reign everywhere. The light that we all glory in, what does it tell us? That somewhere is living and reigning the great sun. I think of the beauty and goodness Divine as I take up the Gospels and Epistles, and they speak to me of the great and eternal love of Jesus Christ. How can I help seeing, unless I am absolutely blind, that Jesus Christ is the greatest revelation of the love of God to man?

II. No separation.—‘Nothing shall separate us from the love of Christ.’ St. Paul gives us a long list, but may I ignore that and take something a little closer? I think, first of all, of the guilt of sin. There is some one man and some one woman in this church feeling as they have never felt before—the pressure, the awfulness, the tremendousness of sin. Yet God will put away that sin. Sin separates man from God, but when that sin is put away by the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, there is no separation—nothing between. Some have come into the church feeling that sin is too much for them. They struggle and they struggle, and they begin to believe that God cannot save them. They know He has saved them from their sin, but they do not know whether He can keep them from sin. ‘Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.’ God means us to realise the intensity and reality of the love of Christ for us as we have never done before.

—Rev. F. W. Metcalfe.

Illustrations

(1) ‘There is a story told of a certain officer who went into the military hospital where a man was dying, and said, “You are very, very bad!” “I know, sir.” “To what Church do you belong?” “The Church of Christ.” “I do not mean that—I mean what persuasion?” The man replied: “My persuasion is this, ‘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.’ In this persuasion, sir, I neither fear life nor do I fear death.” ’

(2) ‘A preacher who had preached upon Christ’s redemption came down the pulpit steps and went into the vestry. Then there came a plain working-man to him and said, “Did you say all you wanted to say?” “I think I did—I think I said all I intended.” “I do not think you did. Some years ago I think I lived as bad a life as it was possible for any one to live. I found my way to the Cross and there I laid my burden at the foot of the Cross, and I came away feeling that my sins were all forgiven. I felt it. But next day the old temptation—that old passion, that old lust, that old desire—came upon me, and I met it on the battlefield, and I fell. I did try—God knows how I tried again and again, and I fell and fell again and again. I felt there was no chance for me whatever, and I began to despise myself, and then, one day, suddenly, something came to me and I lifted up my hands and said, ‘Oh Lord, I claim Thy promise. I claim Thy power,’ and for the last five years God has helped me. The old temptation has come but I have not given way. When you preach again say this, that Jesus Christ saves to the very uttermost, because we rely on Christ, not on our own strength, but on Him Who loves us.” ’