There is no word more beautiful than “hope.” It is alight with the radiance of futurity; in it murmurs a prophetic music of good times coming. Its influence upon mankind it is impossible to over-estimate. As it has waxed or waned, society has risen or declined. The sinfulness of the first pair threatened life with a collapse; but in the first promise the day star of humanity arose. A watery deluge rolled around the world; and in the solitary ark, among the dearest objects which survived was the hope of the race. At the time of Jesus, upon the universal heart was settling the sickness of hope deferred. The virtues of force, courage, endurance, had failed. The intellectual hope of the world likewise had suffered; philosophy had sunken into sophistry. Religious hope, too, was dead; buried in the superstition and atheism of the times. It was now that Christ appeared the dawn of the world--material, intellectual, and spiritual. Among the many obligations the Divine Man imposed upon mankind was the redemption of the hope of the race.
I. The nature of Christian hope.
1. Hope is sometimes confounded with desire; but the yearning of the soul after unrealised good may not only not be hope, but the keenest form of despair. It is also confused with belief; but as the perceptive faculty, faith may reveal to us evils that will befall us. Taken separately these conceptions are inadequate and untrue; in combination they yield the wished result. Hope is made up of desire and faith--it is the confident expectation of coming good.
2. This world is the special scene of hope. Because of the perennial freshness of the great source of all things, every life has about it a vigour of unlimited hope. To the young the disappointments of the past go for nothing. As if no anticipations had perished, every heart comes into life like the recurring spring crowned with flowers of hope. Until the summit of life is reached, earthly hope guides man onward; but the time must come when the summit of earthly welfare is reached and life becomes a subdued decline--when, from the guardianship of Hope, man is handed over to the weird sister Memory.
3. But to the Christian there is a higher hope, which knows no decay, which can sustain the spirit in an unending course of dignity. Christianity renews the youth of men.
II. Its ground. The best earthly expectations are based upon innumerable contingencies which any moment may give way. The Christian hope is built upon a rock--the being and providence of a gracious God. There are some to whom the throne of the universe is vacant and man an orphan. Others have filled the supreme seat with a formless shadow of fate--without knowledge, without love. In distinction from all such theories the ground of the Christian hope is, first, the infinite perfections of God’s character. In the grand unity which pervades the whole material universe, which guides even those matters disturbed by the perverse will of man towards a purpose of good, we gather that the Divine nature is a unity. Then, again, from the works of nature we gather suggestions of a power that is omnipotent, a wisdom that is boundless, a goodness that is infinite. Here, then, we seem to touch the very granite of mortal confidence--a personal, loving Godhead. Give us this, and the only fatal sin among men is despair. According to his faith shall it be done unto man. To illuminate and supplement the manifestation already given, the Almighty spoke the truths contained in the Bible. Beyond all, in the person of Christ, the very heart of the Father was unfolded to men. And is there no warrant for hope here? “He that withheld not His own Son but freely gave Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things!”
III. Its characteristics.
1. Solidity. It is “a good hope.’’ This fact arises from the nature of its foundation and from the character of its securities. Here, however, we prefer to notice some of the testimonies of experience, In support of Christianity we can show an array of witnesses unapproached in the defence of any other system. Surely, to follow the religious footsteps of Bacon, Milton, and Newton is no slight comfort. Not only in the vigour of their life have great men attested to the truth of Christianity, but likewise in the hour of their dissolution. “The best of all,” said the dying father of Methodism: “The Lord is with us.” “Hast thou hope?” said the attendants upon the death bed of John Knox. He answered not, but merely pointed his finger upward.
2. It is a purifying hope.
(1) This is so from the nature of the objects which excite it. The soul is tinged by the phenomena amid which it moves. He who anticipates the impure becomes impure; he who aspires after the trivial only becomes frivolous. Before the Christian, on the contrary, are placed objects of standard worth. In this world he is called to holiness; in the world to come he is promised heaven.
(2) It is purifying in itself. Give a man hope, and though steeped to the lips in evil, he will, under the Divine grace, clarify himself. Give a man hope, and you place his foot on the first stair of heaven. This is the reason of the success of the gospel over every other religious system.
3. It is a living or lively hope. There is such a thing as a dead hope. Some have made shipwreck of faith and have cast away their confidence. Then there are some who have a kind of galvanised hope--while operated upon by outward excitement it seems to move, but the moment this is taken away it collapses. The Divine principle which animates the Christian heart beats a pulse of undying ardour. When the soul enters heaven it only begins a career of endless progress. Throughout that course hope will be the unfailing guide of man.
IV. Its proper objects. These comprehend all that is good, i.e., all that is in accordance with the will of God. It only requires a moment’s reflection to see the necessity of such a condition. The mind of man is necessarily defective, and confounds shows with realities. As a child perplexed in an intricate path gladly resigns himself to the guidance of his father, so the Christian exclaims, in the presence of Divine love, “Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel.” Another reason for making hope contingent upon the Divine will is found in God’s infinite goodness. Assured of this, man realises his highest blessedness. Carry with you the thought of Divine rectitude, and you cannot anticipate too much from infinite compassion. The fact of God’s willingness to bless man being manifested in all the mercies received, should add zest to their enjoyment. “No good thing is withheld from them that walk uprightly.” But, in regard to religious benefits, the certainties of hope are still greater. They have regard--
1. To man individually, and begin with human life. “Of such is the kingdom of heaven.” “Their angels do always behold the face of My Father which is in heaven,” are passages which hang like a luminous cloud over the heads of little children. In them is opened a boundless field of hope in regard to incipient life. All who depart before the years of responsibility are safe in the protection of Christ. In the case of those who survive it is made possible to train them up in the way they should go. Still, so early does man become sinful that the prophet said, “We go astray from the womb, speaking lies.” Just as the prodigal left the house of his father, men go astray from the Divine rectitude, and then there is only a single voice which speaks of hope, that is the voice of the gospel. The promises of God suggest that there is no room for despondency on the part of the vilest, but every reason for hope.
2. To Christian attainments. The real life of man is that of progress. The objects which are held up to us in the Christian course are calculated to stir the pulse, to call forth the continued aspiration of the soul. Above all, there is a standard of Christian character placed before us we can never transcend--namely, that of Jesus Christ. “We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” Well was it added, “He that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself.”
3. To heaven. The life above will be of--
(1) An intenser character.
(2) Permanent blessedness.
(3) Improved circumstances. There the religious life instead of being hindered will be helped by the surroundings.
(4) Better society. (Stephen Clarke.)
The glorious hope
Consider--
I. The confidence or our hope. We are not ashamed--
1. Of our hope. Some persons have no hope, or only one of which they might justly be ashamed. “I shall die like a dog,” says one. “When I am dead there’s an end of me.” The agnostic knows nothing, and therefore I suppose he hopes nothing. The Romanist’s best hope is that he may undergo the purging fires of purgatory. There is no great excellence in these hopes. But we are not ashamed of our hope who believe that those who are absent from the body are present with the Lord.
2. Of the object of our hope. We do not hope for gross carnal delights as making up our heaven, or we might very well be ashamed of it. Whatever imagery we may use, we intend thereby pure, holy, spiritual, and refined happiness. Our hope is that we shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of the Father; that we shall be like our perfect Lord, and where He is that we may behold His glory.
3. Of the ground of our hope. The solemn promises of God confirmed in the person and work of Christ. Inasmuch as Jesus died and rose, we that are one with Him are sure that we shall rise and live with Him.
4. Of our personal appropriation of this hope. Our expectation is not based upon any proud claim of personal deservings, but upon the promise of a faithful God. He hath said, “He that believeth in Him hath everlasting life.” We do believe in Him, and therefore we know that we have eternal life. Our hope is not based on mere feeling, but on the fact that God hath promised everlasting life to them that believe in His Son Jesus.
5. As to the absolute certainty that our hope will be realised. We do not expect to be deserted, for “He hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” “Who shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord?”
II. The reason of this confidence.
1. Our hope has for one of its main supports the love of God. I trust not to my love of God, but to God’s love for me. We are sure that He will fulfil our hope because He is too loving to fail us. If it were not for the Father’s love, there would have been no covenant of grace, no atoning sacrifice, no Holy Spirit to renew us, and all that is good in us would soon pass away.
2. This love has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost--like a rain cloud, black with exceeding blessing, which pours forth a shower of silver drops innumerable, fertilising every place whereon it falls, making the drooping herbs to lift up their heads and rejoice in the heaven-sent revival. After a while, from that spot where fell the rain, there rises a gentle steam, which ascends to heaven and forms fresh clouds. Thus is the love of God poured upon our heart, and shed abroad in our nature till our spirit drinks it in, and its new life is made to put forth its flowers of joy and fruits of holiness, and by and by grateful praise ascends like the incense which in the temple smoked upon Jehovah’s altar. Love is shed abroad in us, and it works upon our heart to love in return.
(1) The Holy Ghost imparts an intense appreciation and sense of that love. We have heard of it, believed in it, and meditated upon it, and at last we are overpowered by its greatness I
(2) Then there comes an appropriation of it. We cry, “He loved me, and gave Himself for me.”
(3) Then follows, as a matter of course, that return of love which the human heart must feel--we love Him because He first loved us.
3. But notice the special sweetness which struck our apostle as being so amazingly noteworthy.
(1) That God should give His Son for the ungodly. He loved us when we hated Him. Marvellous fact!
(2) That Christ died for us. That Christ should love us in heaven was a great thing; that He should then come down to earth was a greater; but that He should die, this is the climax of love’s sacrifice, the summit of the Alp of love.
(3) That the Lord must ever us now that we are reconciled.
(4) That “we have now received the atonement.” The hope of glory burns in the golden lamp of a heart reconciled to God by Jesus Christ. Grace is glory in the bud. Agreement with God is the seed corn of perfect holiness and perfect happiness.
4. Note the Divine Person by whom this has been done. Only by the Holy Ghost could this have been done. We can shed that love abroad by preaching, but we cannot shed it abroad in the heart. If the Holy Ghost dwells in you, He is the guarantee of everlasting joy. Where grace is given by His Divine indwelling, glory must follow it.
III. The result of this confident hope.
1. Inward joy.
2. Holy boldness in the avowal of our hope. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The hope that maketh not ashamed
I.Its glorious object.
II. Its signal triumphs.
III. Its unfailing support. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
Hopes that make and the hope that maketh not ashamed
I.Hopes that make ashamed.
1. By the insufficiency of the object--that of the worldling.
2. By the weakness of the foundation--that of the Pharisee.
3. By the falsity of the warrant--that of the antinomian.
II. The hope that maketh not ashamed.
1. Its nature.
(1) Holy.
(2) Solid.
(3) Certain.
2. Its value. It can never disappoint and thus put to shame. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
Believers not ashamed,
for they have--
1. A good Master.
2. A good cause.
3. A good hope. (M. Henry.)
Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts.
The love of God shed abroad in the heart
I. The love of God is His love to us. The fact that we are the objects of a love which embraces all the creatures of God would not be ground of hope. But this love is--
1. Special. It stands opposed to wrath, and includes reconciliation and Divine favour, and secures to us all the benefits of redemption.
2. Infinitely great. It led to the gift of God’s Son.
3. Gratuitous. It is not founded on our character, but was exercised towards us when sinners.
4. Immutable. If founded on anything in us it would continue no longer than our attractiveness continued: but flowing from the mysterious fulness of the Divine nature it cannot change.
II. This love is shed abroad in our hearts: i.e., We have a full conviction and assurance that we are its objects. There might be a conviction that God is love, and that His love toward some men is infinitely great, and that it is gratuitous and unchangeable, and yet we might remain in the blackness of despair. It is only when we are assured that we are its objects that we have a hope which sustains and renders blessed.
III. We know that we are the objects of this love.
1. Not simply because God loves all men.
2. Nor because we see in ourselves effects of regeneration and the evidences of holiness; for--
(1) This love was prior to regeneration.
(2) Holiness is the fruit of the assurance of it.
3. But by the Holy Ghost. How we cannot tell, and it is unreasonable to ask. We might as well ask how He produces faith, peace, joy, or any other grace. It is enough to say negatively that it is not--
(1) By exciting our love to God, whence we infer His love to us: the order is the reverse. Nor--
(2) By simply opening our eyes to see what a wonderful display of love is made in redemption: for that we might see and yet suppose ourselves excluded.
IV. The proof that we are not deluded is this matter is to be found in the effects of this conviction.
1. The effects of such a conviction when unfounded are seen in the Jews, Papists, and Antinomians, and are--
(1) Pride.
(2) Malignity.
(3) Immorality.
2. When produced by the Holy Ghost the effects are--
(1) Humility. Nothing so bows down the soul as a sense of undeserved love.
(2) The tenderest concern for those who are not thus favoured, and an earnest desire that they may share our blessedness.
(3) Love to God. Love begets love: and our love to God is mingled with admiration, wonder, gratitude, and zeal for His glory.
(4) Obedience. (C. Hodge, D. D.)
The love of God shed abroad in the heart
I.The love of God. If you would have this love shed abroad in your hearts you must consider carefully--
1. Who it is that loves you, namely, the most high God. To be loved is a sublime thought, but to be loved of Him is a right royal thing, A courtier will often think it quite enough if he hath the favour of his prince. It means riches, pleasure, honour. And what means the love of the King of kings to you? All that you ever can need.
2. What He is who so loves you. Very much of the value of affection depends upon whom it comes from. It would be a very small thing to have the complacency of some of our fellow creatures whose praise might almost be considered censure. To have the love of the good, the excellent, this is truest wealth; and so to enjoy the love of God is an utterly priceless thing!
3. The remarkable characteristics of that love,
(1) It is heaven born; it sprang from no source but itself, and is not caused by any excellence in the creature.
(2) It is self-sustaining. It borrows nothing from without. It lives, and shall live as long as God lives.
(3) Utterly unbounded and altogether unequalled. You cannot say of God’s love it has gone thereto, but it shall go no further. There is no love that can any more be compared with God’s than the faint gleam of a candle with the blaze of the sun at noonday. He loves His people so much that He gives them all that He hath.
(4) It is unvarying and unsleeping. He never loves us less, He cannot love us more. The multiplicity of the saints doth not diminish the infinite love which each one enjoys. Never for a single moment does He forget His Church.
(5) It is undying and unfailing.
II. The love of God is shed abroad. Here is an alabaster box of very precious ointment, it holds within the costly frankincense of the love of God; but we know nothing of it, it is closed up, a mystery, a secret. The Holy Spirit opens the box, and now the fragrance fills the chamber; every spiritual taste perceives it, heaven and earth are perfumed with it.
1. No one can shed abroad the love of God in the heart but the Holy Ghost. It is He that first puts it there.
2. Do you inquire in what way is the love of God shed abroad?
(1) The Holy Spirit enables the man to be assured that he is an object of the Divine love in the first place. The man comes to the Cross as a guilty sinner, looks up to the Cross, trusts in the living Saviour, and then cries, “I am saved, for I have God’s promise to that effect. Now, since I am saved, I must have been the object of the Lord’s love.”
(2) Next thing, the Spirit makes the man understand what kind of love this is, not all at once, but by degrees, until he apprehends Jehovah’s love in its length and breadth and height.
(3) But then comes the essence of the matter--the Holy Spirit enables the soul to meditate upon this love, casts out the cares of the world, and then the man, while he meditates, finds a fire begins to burn within his soul. Meditating yet more, he is lifted up from the things of earth. Meditating still, he is astonished, and then, filled with strong emotion, he cries, “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.” Then while gratitude is still within his soul a Divine resignation to all the Master’s will keeps rule within him. Then follows a rapturous leaping over this devout calm, a joy unutterable, next akin to heaven, fills the heart.
III. This love becomes the confirmation of our hope. Hope rests itself mainly upon that which is not seen; the promise of God whom eye hath not beheld. Still it is exceedingly sweet to us if we receive some evidence and token of Divine love which we can positively enjoy even now. And there are some of us who do not want Butler’s “Analogy” or Paley’s “Evidences” to back our faith; we have our own analogy and our own evidences within, for the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, and we have tasted and seen that the Lord is gracious. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The love of God shed abroad in the heart
It does not descend upon us as dew in drops, but as a stream which spreads itself abroad through the whole soul, filling it with consciousness of His presence and favour. (Philippi.)
The love of God shed abroad by the Holy Ghost
Frequently at the great Roman games the emperors, in order to gratify the citizens of Rome, would cause sweet perfumes to be rained down upon them through the awning which covered the amphitheatre. Behold the vases, the huge vessels of perfume! Yes; but there is nought here to delight you so long as the jars are sealed; but let the vases be opened and the vessels be poured out, and let the drops of perfumed rain begin to descend, and everyone is refreshed and gratified thereby. Such is the love of God. There is a richness and a fulness in it, but it is not perceived till the Spirit of God pours it out like the rain of fragrance over the heads and hearts of all the living children of God. See, then, the need of having the love of God shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The love of God in the heart
This love--
I. Is not naturally revealed to man. It beams on all, like the sun which shines whether the clouds hide his heat or not. So God’s love always exists, although the clouds of sin may dim and obscure its rays. It existed in Paradise, in the fall, when man is most depraved and dark. It exists amid all the sin of the earth, in the wretched corners where crime and vice exist. It exists amid all the negligence with which God is treated.
II. Is not appreciated or responded to. If it were, the lives of men would be far different to what “they are. The reason is that clouds of sin and its effects intervene to prevent its influence. For the most part men keep in the shade when they might live in the warmth and brightness of the sunshine.
III. Must be felt and responded to. It is impossible to be a child of God without. For to realise the love of God is the only foundation on which we can build any substantial hope for the future. Nothing but love could consider guilty, fallen creatures, or have contrived a method of salvation. Nothing but love can guide us safely through life and through death.
IV. Can be realised and appreciated.
1. The method--“shed abroad.” God does nothing with a niggardly hand. The love of God is not sent in a puny dribble; it comes like the waters of an incoming tide, mighty, resistless. His love fills the soul and surrounds it and permeates our nature.
2. The place--“in our hearts.” The heart is the spring of life, and metaphorically is the centre of spiritual life. It is the heart that is said to feel love. And so it is represented that the heart receives the love of God. Our hearts receive all the blood from the body, and then, after purifying it, sends it back to all parts of the body. So we are to receive the love of God in the heart to be distributed over all our life and actions.
3. The means--“by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” The great King always uses means. The Holy Spirit is the appointed channel through which all the graces are sent from heaven to earth.
(1) The value of the Holy Spirit is, it is always a present means. It is not “should” be given, but “is” given.
(2) The certainty of the blessing. Like the Holy Spirit, it is always present.
(3) The value of the gift--the love of God. What will not love accomplish? What will it not attain? The love of God is infinite. And if we appreciate it, if we share it, if we enjoy it, then is our lot the most blessed. (U. R. Thomas.)
Personal piety
I.Its source and seat.
1. Its source: “the love of God.” False religions spring from fear, but true religion springs from love. God’s love, as revealed in the gift of His Son, begets love in us, and just as the sun is the author of life in the natural world, so God is the Author of all life and light in the human soul.
2. Its seat: “in our hearts.” All life and growth must begin within, or they will prove to be nothing but fruitless fungus. Morality in the life may be the outcome of self-respect, or early culture, or fear of shame and sorrow. Personal piety has to do not only with the conduct, but the character; and the character is decided by the condition of the heart in the sight of God. Out of the heart are the issues of life, and if the love of God be there holiness will be stamped upon thought, word, and deed. The love of God diffuses itself in the heart like light, life, warmth, fragrance, and spreads through every avenue of the soul till the possessor of it becomes a temple of the Holy Ghost.
II. Its operation and outcome. Hope is the natural and inevitable outcome of love. We expect to derive joy and blessedness from the persons upon whom our affections become fixed, and who take possession of our hearts, and we are “not ashamed” of those we love, but are ready at any time to acknowledge them and identify ourselves with them. Courageous and confiding hope--
1. Sanctifies. If we love God, and hope one day to see Him and be with Him, we shall seek to please Him and become like Him.
2. Sustains. While we look at the things which are unseen and eternal, the sorrows and sufferings of the present seem very light and small.
3. Stimulates. Hope, springing from love in the heart, will quicken all the faculties of the mind and fire all the passions of the soul. Love will constrain to consecration, and hope stimulate to action.
III. Its generator and guardian. Whatever the means we use, or the channels through which Divine blessings come to us, they all proceed from the Holy Ghost which is given unto us; the rise, progress, and perfection of personal piety must be attributed to that source. Let us, then, be careful that we grieve not, quench not the Holy Spirit, nor dishonour God by trusting too much to outward forms and worldly noise and show. If we lose the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, if the love of God expire in our hearts, there will only remain within us the white ashes of a former fire, and “Ichabod” will be written upon our desolated and darkened brows. (F. W. Brown.)
By the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.--
The gift of the Holy Ghost is
I. The pledge of what is to come (Rom_8:23; 2Co_1:22; 2Co_5:5; Eph_1:14).
II. The witness of our sonship (Rom_8:16; Gal_4:6).
III. The Author of all gracious fruits and experiences (Gal_5:22-23).
IV. The Revealer of all Divine truth (Joh_16:13-14; 1Co_2:10-12; 1Jn_2:20; 1Jn_2:27). The seal and bond of our union with Christ and God (Eph_4:20; Rom_8:9-11). (T. Robinson, D. D.)
