1. If we consider that it is a great act of grace that sinners should have a hope at all, there was a time when we were “without Christ, having no hope.” We had many false hopes, little will-o’-the-wisps, which danced before us, deceived us, and led us into the bogs of presumption and error. Each time we tried to rely on good works, outward ceremonies, and good resolutions, we were disappointed anew. Now, sinners though we be, we have a hope.
2. More marvellous still that our hope should be associated with heaven. It seems almost presumptuous for a sinner who so richly deserves hell even to lift up his eyes towards heaven. He might have some hope of purgatory, if there were such a place, but is not the hope of heaven too much? Yet we have no fear of hell or purgatory. Heaven awaits all believers. Not that we shall have a glance at it; we shall have it and be in it.
3. Still more marvellous, it is so substantial. Paul seems hardly to be speaking of the grace of hope, since that dwells in our bosoms, but rather the object, but not exclusively, because that which is laid up in heaven is not a hope, except to those who hope for it. The hope, then, is so substantial that Paul speaks of it as though it were the thing itself. A man may have hope of wealth, but that is a very different thing from being wealthy; and of old age, and yet not reach middle life; but this Divine hope can never be disappointed.
4. Because it is the subject of Divine revelation. No man could have invented it. The prince of dreamers could not have imagined it, nor the master of logic inferred it. The word of the truth of the gospel has opened a window in heaven, and bidden us look on our own.
5. Inasmuch as it came to us by hearing, “Whereof ye heard,” not by working, deserving, penance, and sacrifice. We heard that the pierced hand of Jesus had opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers, and we believed. Will we not prize to the uttermost the sacred word which has brought us such a hope?
6. Because the substance of it is most extraordinary.
(1) It is the hope of victory, for we shall overcome every foe;
(2) of perfection, for we shall be like Christ;
(3) of security from every danger, for no temporal evil shall come near us, no mental evil intrude upon us, no spiritual enemy assail us;
(4) of perfect rest, which shall be consistent with continual service, for, like the angels, we shall rest on the wing--no weary limb or fevered brain shall follow us;
(5) of happiness beyond compare;
(6) of everlasting fellowship with Christ.
II. A most secure hope.
1. Because it is laid up. Bank calamities make business men very careful where they lay up their treasures, but there is no room for anxiety for what God takes under His charge. “Laid up,” hidden in a safe place. We find it hard to lay up our valuables safely.
2. Laid up “for you.” There is a crown in heaven which will never be worn by any other head but yours.
3. Laid up “in heaven,” where, as our Saviour says--
(1) “Neither moth nor rust doth corrupt”--no process of decay will cause your treasure tobecome stale and worn out.
(2) “Nor do thieves break through and steal.” We cannot imagine Satan undermining the bastions of heaven. If your hope lies in the bank, it may break; if in an empire, it may melt away; if in an estate, the deeds may be questioned; if in any human creature, death may bereave you; if in yourself, it is deceitful altogether.
4. We have one indisputable certificate and guarantee for it. Notice three emphatic words.
(1) “In the word.” We take a good man’s words freely; and will we not take God’s word much more readily?
(2) “Of the truth.” It is not a word of guess or probable inference, but of infallible truth. There may be other true things in the world, but God’s word is the essence of truth.
(3) “Of the gospel.” The sum and substance of the good news is this glorious hope.
III. A powerfully influential hope.
1. It is the parent and nurse of love. “The love which ye have to all saints for the hope,” etc, That is no trifling fountain of action which leads believing hearts to love,
2. Love is part of its operation on ourselves, but it affects others also.
(1) It leads ministers and gracious people to give thanks to God;
(2) to pray (Col_1:9). (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The heavenly hope
I. There is given to man a prospect of future good. The apostle here speaks about a hope. Hope is the expectation of future good. There is no being who is not the subject of hope. We are not content to exercise this passion merely in reference to objects which are on this side the grave. We all think of the state into which we expect to remove. Man would fain live for ever; futurity rises on the soul; and hope implants the high desire of enjoying it. This hope is inspired by the goodness of the God who formed us; He has been pleased to grant us a knowledge by which our hopes may be confirmed and conducted to their final goal in heaven. A beautiful vista of enjoyment is opened before us, exactly corresponding with our views and wishes. Hope is the balm of life; and but for it life would be but a dreadful dungeon, and we should sink into all the horrors of despair. Now, look on the future; survey the landscape which revelation has sketched out. There are the many mansions in which God the Father, His Son, His people reside. These are the beautiful similitudes which are employed to inspire our hopes. They are abodes of purity; they are the abodes of knowledge. There we shall know even as we are known. They are abodes of triumph; they are the abodes of blessed companionship. There we come to God, to Jesus, to the spirits of the just made perfect. They are the abodes of life and immortality.
II. Certain requisites are necessary for participating in that prospect. Hope is founded on faith; and we must believe before we can hope for the enjoyment of heaven.
1. There must be faith in the declarations of God by which the nature of these prospects is disclosed. No man can hope for that in which he does not believe. There must be faith, else all this beautiful scenery will only be like the work of fancy or falsehood.
2. Faith in the method of mercy revealed by God as the only way through which a participation in these prospects can be enjoyed. God has not only revealed these prospects, but also the way to the enjoyment of them.
III. The prospect of future good rests on the most firm and inviolable security. It is said to be “laid up.” The apostle uses the same expression, “There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.” In Heb_9:27 the same word is rendered” appointed.” It is a thing granted on a firm and imperishable security. How different, then, is it from the hopes of earth. Here the object is as certain as if you grasped it in your hand.
1. It rests on the authority of the Word of God. Let it be assumed that the author of your hope is God. Did He ever inspire hope, and plunge into despair? Did He ever erect a building which He will not protect? Has He not power? Is He not wise? Is He destitute of goodness? “My counsel shall stand, and will do all My pleasure.”
2. The word of God is ratified by the work of the Redeemer. All the work of Christ is to give firmness to what God has sworn. “All the promises of God in Christ Jesus are yea, and in Him amen.” The death of Christ does its part, as it is the sacrifice by which the curse is taken away. The resurrection of Christ is the testimony that the atonement is accepted. The present residence of the Saviour is another foundation on which this hope rests. “I go to prepare a place for you.” “Jesus the forerunner hath entered in.”
IV. These prospects, when enjoyed and possessed, must produce the most powerful influence on the heart.
1. It excites to moral purity and holiness of life. You hope to enter heaven. Heaven is a holy place. God is holy. The inhabitants are holy. All their praises centre in this perfection. You must be holy in heaven; and will you not be so here? “Every one that hath this hope purifieth himself as He is pure.”
2. It produces calmness and peace amidst the troubles and trials of the world. The man who has so good a hope of heaven need not grudge to encounter a few troubles on earth.
3. It gives confidence amid the approaches of decay and dissolution. This is “the hope which is laid up for Christians in heaven!” “It is a good hope, alively hope, a sweet hope--a hope which makes the coward bold, a hope which bears above the world,” etc. But is it mine? (J. Parsons.)
Hope laid up in heaven
What is this hope but the glorious life we look for? Now, where should the life of the branches of a tree be kept but where the root is? So where should our glorious life be hid but where Christ, the root of us all, is with him? Yea, this is most meet and behoveful for us. If an Englishman should sojourn in France a while, and had great treasure to receive, would he not choose rather to have it paid him at the Exchange in his own country than to have it there, far from his home, and stand to the hazard of transporting of it? So it fareth with us. It is safer that our wealth should be paid us in heaven,our own country, than here where we are but strangers wayfaring for a season. (P. Bayne, B. D.)
Christian hope
“Our hope is not hung upon such an untwisted thread as ‘I imagine so,’ or ‘It is likely’; but the cable, the strong rope of our fastened anchor, is the oath and promise of Him who is eternal verity; our salvation is fastened with God’s own hand, and Christ’s own strength, to the strong stake of God’s unchangeable nature.” (S. Rutherford.)
