THE GOD OF HOPE
‘Now the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.’
This hope is the handmaid of faith. The Apostle speaks of those ‘dead in trespasses and sins’ as being ‘without hope and without God in the world.’ The two facts are closely interwoven.
I. Once grasp the idea that God presides over and controls the affairs of men, and that His object is their salvation and perfection, no matter how far beyond our understanding the means He uses may be, then we may hope for the future. In the language of the text, He becomes to us ‘The God of Hope.’ He cheers and comforts despondent hearts, and bids them look forward to that ‘blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ.’
II. No better word could be chosen to more correctly express our attitude towards the future. It holds within it a carefully adjusted balance of thought. It is expressive of certainty, mingled with uncertainty. There are not a few people in the world who would tell you that your faith is defective, if you were to say that you hoped to be saved, and that nothing less than absolute certainty ought to satisfy you. But does it not savour of presumption to say that we can be sure about anything, much less of a thing that depends on our own conduct. Only they that endure to the end shall be saved.
III. The uncertainty which surrounds every action and relation of our present life does not hinder us from enjoying that life moderately and rationally. The fact that death may occur at any moment, whilst it acts as a healthy restraint upon the follies and indulgences into which we are prone to fall, yet it is not intended, and indeed does not rob us of the beauty and enjoyment of life. So in God’s fatherly dealings with us in preparation for eternity He saves us from gloom and despair by revealing Himself to us, through His Son Jesus Christ. He does not flatter us by too much confidence. And yet withal, to those who listen to and obey His voice, He fills them ‘with joy and peace in believing.’ He makes them to ‘abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost.’
Rev. C. Rhodes Hall.
Illustration
‘All through the Bible it is the men of hope who stand out as heroes, because it is the men of hope who discern the Divine purpose, and fall into line with it, from Abraham, who rejoiced to see the day of Christ, who saw it and was glad, who, against hope, believed in hope; all along the line of worthies, the clear-sighted of every age, who died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, were persuaded of them and embraced them; down to those of the new Covenant, who owned that if in this life only they had hope in Christ they were of all men most miserable; St. Paul, rising from height to height of spiritual glory, as outward things looked more untoward, and John, in exile and tribulation, crying wistfully, “Come, Lord Jesus.” Yes, it is the men of hope who stand out conspicuous, and call out to us to take sides with them. And it is the abandonment of hope which marks the utmost reach of murmuring and sin in God’s people of old.’