CHRISTIAN
HOPE
By John Angell James, 1859
THE FOUNDATION OF HOPE
"It is a fearful thing," says a distinguished writer,
"for an immortal being to have no hope for eternity. But it is
scarcely less dreadful to have a false hope—though it is a confident
hope—which must make him who cherishes it ashamed and confounded, world
without end." Hence the necessity and tremendous importance of looking well
to the foundation on which we rest our expectations of everlasting
happiness. Every wise builder will take especial care, when he is about to
erect an edifice, that the foundation is good, and his solicitude will be in
exact proportion to the magnitude, height, and importance of the intended
structure. Our Lord closes his Sermon upon the Mount with an allusion to
this, where he speaks of the different results of building upon the sand or
upon a rock. What deep concern, then, should be felt by him whose
superstructure of hope is to rise as high as heaven, to stand against all
the assaults of time, and to last through eternity. What is a palace, a
pyramid, a castle, or a temple, compared with this?
The cloud-capped towers—the gorgeous palaces—
The solemn temples—Yes, the great globe itself,
With all which it inherits, shall dissolve;
And—like the baseless fabric of a vision—
Leave not a wreck behind!
But the superstructure of a believer's hope, if well
based, shall outlive this whole material frame, and at length converted into
full and blessed fruition, shall exist forever! But how dreadful the
consideration that, if ill-placed—he will see all his expectations vanish in
a moment, and will sink to the depths of despair—just when he looked for
ineffable and eternal enjoyment!
Every hope must rest upon something. To desire and expect
a future good without some ground for it, is a folly men are very rarely
guilty of. Though very common is the folly, very near akin to it, of
indulging in anticipations which rest upon the sand.
When we consider the object of Christian hope—its
immeasurable vastness, its infinite glory, and its eternal duration—and
consider also that this is an expectation cherished by a creature so base
and so sinful as man—it seems indeed, at first sight, a high presumption to
anticipate such an eternal destiny. To see a man guilty of a thousand sins,
and depraved in his nature, pointing up to heaven, and on to eternal glory,
and hear him say, "I am looking for all that"—is something very surprising.
Surely such a man ought to look well to the basis on which rest such high
expectations.
In searching for this basis, we must be guided
exclusively by Scripture. It is not what man says—but what God says. It is
not by the teaching of philosophy—but by the revelations of Scripture, that
we can come to a knowledge of this. Speculation will not do here. Conjecture
is worthless here. We know nothing about heaven itself, and can know nothing
about the way to it—but what the Bible tells us. Woe, eternal woe, to the
man who sets aside the testimony of inspiration, and ventures forward into
the darkness of the invisible world with no better light than the glimmering
candle of his own reason! While blessed is the man who, in his progress to
eternity, says, "Your word is a light unto my feet, and a lamp unto my
path," and who is guided by the light of this heaven-kindled lamp, to his
everlasting home.
And what does this inspired and infallible record say? In
one short, simple, beautiful passage, which he who runs may read, the whole
matter is summarily expressed. The apostle thus commences his first epistle
to Timothy—"Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our
Savior, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our hope." The same view is
presented in another much misunderstood passage—I mean Col. 1:27—"Christ in
you, the hope of glory." It is usual to consider the Apostle as referring to
the indwelling of Christ in the heart, forming his image there, and
new-creating the soul by his Spirit. But is the work of Christ in us, or the
work of Christ for us, the foundation of our hope? Is it Christ,
subjectively or objectively, on which we found our hope? If it be Christ in
us, then our dependence is upon something of our own. The true translation
is "Christ among you," set forth before you, exhibited to you in the
preaching of the word. This rendering is given in those Bibles which have
marginal references.
The Lord Jesus Christ our hope! These few precious words
deserve to be written in letters of gold, to be engraved on every rock where
mortals could read them, to have monumental pillars erected in every abode
of lost sinners and mortal men, to bear the glorious inscription—yes, to be
printed in starry characters in the sky, that men may look upward from the
sins and sorrows of time, the ravages of death, and the extinction of their
earthly expectations, and read them with raptures of delight! Yet, since
they are written on the imperishable page of Scripture, this is unnecessary;
for there they are presented in legible characters to the eye of every man
that has a Bible. The Lord Jesus Christ our hope! It is blissful to repeat
it. Yes, there is hope for lost, sinful man—and Christ is that hope. Hear
it, you children of mortality, who all your life, "through fear of death,
are subject to bondage." Hear it, you tribes of the earth, "groaning and
travailing in pain together until now." Hear it, you subjects of incurable
disease, casting longing, lingering looks behind, as you bend your steps,
weak and weary, yet reluctant, towards the gloomy valley from which none
return—there is hope of immortality—and Christ alone is that hope! This is
plainly told us in another place, "Other foundation can no man lay than that
is laid, which is Jesus Christ,"—1 Cor. 3:11. So again even in the prophetic
scriptures it is said, "Behold, I lay in Zion, for a foundation, a stone, a
tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation," Isaiah 28:16. This
is quoted by the apostle Peter, "To whom coming, as to a living stone,
disallowed indeed of men—but chosen of God, and precious."
But it will be necessary here to explain in what sense
Christ is the foundation of hope. "All have sinned and come short of the
glory of God"—and thus heaven is forfeited by us all. "There is none
righteous, no, not one." No man can now hope for eternal happiness on the
ground of his own obedience. Everyone has not only forfeited heaven, by his
personal transgression—but deserved hell. The fall, so far as what man can
do for himself, extinguished hope forever. The gate of Paradise above is as
truly closed and barred against him, as regards his own ability to open it,
as was the gate of Paradise on earth to Adam after his apostasy. If it be
ever opened again to the children of men, it must be done by God's own hand.
If ever the hope of immortality be kindled in the bosom of man, it must be
by God himself. His infinite benignity desired to open the closed gates, and
render heaven accessible to guilty men.
But how can he do it consistently with his truth,
which declared that death should be the punishment of sin? How can he do it
consistently with his holiness, which must demonstrate itself before
the universe, as opposed to sin, and infinitely hating it? How can he do it
consistently with his justice, which must manifest itself, by
inflicting the threatened and deserved punishment? How can he do it in
harmony with the wisdom and authority of his law? How can he do it
and uphold the principles of his moral government, and the majesty of
his throne be maintained? Can he open heaven to the aspirations, the
pursuit, and the possession of the apostate race of Adam? Will not the holy
angels in heaven stand aghast when they see such rebels entering? Will not
the moral universe be perplexed by such a seeming eclipse of God's infinite
holiness and justice—and feel as if his mercy had demolished the throne of
his majesty, and raised her seat upon the ruins of righteousness?
And yet it is a fact that God has opened the kingdom of
heaven to the children of men. How shall harmony then be restored to the
seemingly jarring attributes of justice and of mercy? The apostle explains
the mystery in that wondrous language—"and are justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a
sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to
demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins
committed beforehand unpunished-- he did it to demonstrate his justice at
the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have
faith in Jesus." Romans 3:24-26. Glorious passage! Wondrous language! Divine
light is here seen throwing its splendor back upon the dark shadows of the
Levitical law, and all the dispensations of grace since the fall of man;
extending its illumination to the shadowy terms of the revelation to our
first parents in the garden; explaining the words of the prophet, as well as
the symbols of the priest; exhibiting the moral law given in thunder from
Sinai, in all its unviolated authority; covering with a flood of radiance
the throne of the eternal Governor of the universe; and yet at the same time
proclaiming the mercy of God in all its fullness and freeness—and thus
laying the foundation of hope for the vilest sinner upon earth.
Yes, the atonement of Christ—the real, all-sufficient,
and complete atonement of Christ—the atonement, in its true sacrificial
intent, was a means of manifesting the glory, by satisfying the claims of
divine justice. This is the only doctrine which can give meaning to
Scripture, glory to God, and hope to man—without which Judaism is an
insoluble enigma—and Christianity a contradiction. This, this is the
foundation, the only foundation of a sinner's hope, and a sinner's
consolation. This is expressed in innumerable passages of both the Old
Testament and the New. Isaiah declared it in the verse already quoted, and
in another no less clear and explicit, where he says, "The chastisement of
our peace was upon him—the Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us all,
and by his stripes we are healed." Jeremiah declared it where he calls him
"the Lord our Righteousness." Daniel declared it where he speaks of Messiah
as "finishing transgression, making an end of sins, making reconciliation
for iniquity, and bringing in everlasting righteousness." And Zechariah
declared it where he speaks of "a fountain opened for sin and uncleanness."
In all these passages, and very many others, is Christ set forth as the
foundation of our hope—the ground on which we are to rest all our
expectations of eternal salvation!
A more extended and minute consideration of one of these
passages may now with propriety be introduced, as furnishing us with a most
instructive, encouraging, and consolatory view of the foundation of the
Christian's hope. I mean the language of Isaiah 28:16, "So this is what the
Sovereign Lord says—See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious
cornerstone for a sure foundation—the one who trusts will never be
dismayed." That this applies to Christ is certain, by its being so used by
the apostle Peter. There may be also an allusion by the apostle, in this
passage, to Psalm 118:22—"The stone rejected by the builders has now become
the cornerstone."* The force of the metaphors in all these passages is much
enhanced by the statements of modern travelers in relation to the immense
stones which the ancients were accustomed to place in the foundations of
their temples and walls, some of which are remaining to the present day. In
Robinson's 'Palestine', mention is made of this in reference to the walls of
Jerusalem, in which he conjectures is still found some of the masonry of the
very temple built by Solomon, consisting of vast blocks—and in the
foundations of the temple at Balbec, now for ages in ruins, stones have been
found measuring seventy feet long by fifteen thick.
* The English readers will perceive in this case, as in
many others, a verbal difference between the quotation in the New Testament
and the original passage in the Old Testament, in explanation of which it
may be observed that the writers of the former generally quote the
Septuagint or Greek version of the Jewish Scriptures, and sometimes they
give neither the Hebrew nor Greek in exact words—but in the way of substance
or paraphrase.
John Howe, one of the greatest of the Nonconformist
divines, published a wonderful treatise under the title of "The Living
Temple." His design is to represent the soul of man as originally created to
be a temple for an indwelling deity—by the fall reduced to ruins—and
restored by the mediation of Christ. A long passage from this extraordinary
production of sanctified genius will be acceptable to every reader, and
manifest the intellectual majesty of its author. Speaking of the original
temples, he says—"The stately ruins are visible to every eye, that bear on
their front, yet extant, this doleful inscription, 'HERE GOD ONCE DWELT.'
Enough appears of the admirable frame and structure of the soul of man to
show the divine presence did reside in it at one time. But there is more
than enough of vicious deformity to proclaim that God is now withdrawn and
gone. The lamps are extinct, the altar overturned, the light and love are
now vanished—the one of which did once shine with so heavenly brightness,
the other burn with so pious fervor. The golden candlestick is displaced and
thrown away as an useless thing, to make room for the throne of the Prince
of darkness. The sacred incense, which sent rolling up in clouds its rich
perfumes, is exchanged for a poisonous, hellish vapor—and instead of a sweet
savor there is a stench. The lovely order of the house is turned into
confusion; the beauties of holiness into reeking impurities; the house of
prayer into a den of thieves—and that of the worst and most horrid kind, for
every lust is a thief, and every theft sacrilege. Continual rapine and
robbery are committed upon holy things. The noble powers of the soul, which
were designed and dedicated to divine contemplations and delight, are
alienated to the service of the most despicable idols, and employed unto
vile imaginations and embraces—to behold and admire lying vanities, to
indulge and cherish lust and wickedness. What, have not the enemies done
wickedly in the sanctuary? How have they broken down the carved work
thereof, and that too, with axes and hammers, the noise whereof was not to
be heard in the building? Look upon the fragments of that beauteous
sculpture which once adorned the palace of the great king; the relics of
holy notions; the lively prints of some undefaced truth; the lovely ideas of
things, the yet legible precepts that relate to practice. Behold, with what
accuracy the broken pieces show themselves to have been engraved by the
finger of God, and how now they lie torn and scattered—one in this dark
corner, another in that, buried in heaps of dirt and rubbish! You come amid
all this confusion as into the ruined palace of some great prince, in which
you see here the fragments of a noble pillar, there the shattered pieces of
some beauteous imagery—all lying useless and neglected among heaps of dirt.
He who invites you to take a view of the soul of man, says to you, 'Behold
the desolation'—all things filthy and destroyed. Why is it thus? The faded
glory, the darkness, the disorder, the impurity, the decayed state in all
respects of this temple too plainly show the great Inhabitant is gone."
But let us now glance at a few of the beauties of the
apostle's vivid description of this basis of our immortal hopes.
Behold, says God, "I lay in Zion a stone." This
declaration is worth worlds, since it imports that the whole work of
man's redemption is of God's planning, executing, and proposing! It is
no matter of human device or angelic suggestion; the wondrous conception
sprang up in the intellect and heart of God, or rather was there from all
eternity. "God so loved the world as to give his only begotten Son, that
whoever believes on him, should not perish—but have eternal life." "He who
spared not his own Son—but freely gave him up for us all, how shall he not
with him also freely give us all things?" In building our hope on Christ, we
are resting it where God has directed us to place it. It was God who sent
Christ. It was God who qualified him for his work. It was God who sustained
him through it. It was God who raised him from the dead. It was God who set
him at his own right hand. All, all is divine—and therefore all is secure.
None can be lost who place themselves on that foundation, which God himself
has laid. Let the believer rejoice in his security. Noah was not more safe
in the ark which was built under divine direction, when God shut him in,
than the Christian is who has trusted his eternal all to Christ. God
guarantees his safety. He may boldly say, "Lord, I am where you have
directed me to place my foot. I have laid hold of your hand, and I cannot
perish, unless you let me go—which you have promised never to do."
And then dwell upon that word, "a stone"—not sand,
which may shift; not earth, which may sink; not wood, which may rot—but a
stone, and not a small, inconsiderable stone, which may be crushed—but a
rock. So Christ said to Peter, "On this rock will I build my church."* In
Christ there is everything to constitute an all-sufficiency to bear the
hopes of his universal church. A man resting his weary limbs, and building
his hope of repose and safety on the mightiest mountain in our globe, may as
rationally fear that the granite mass would sink beneath his weight, as the
man who is building upon Christ may fear that the basis of his expectations
would fail him. This, and this only, is rock, and all besides is sand, or
mud, clay, or stubble.
* That it was not Peter's person—but Peter's confession,
that is—the truth of Christ's Messiahship, that our Lord meant—is evident
from his singularly striking change of words. Peter is from the Greek word
petros, which signifies merely a stone—but petra, which is the term our Lord
uses in reference to the foundation his church, signifies a rock. As if he
had said, "I build it not on you, Peter, for you are but a stone—but upon
the rock of my divine mission."
This stone is elect, chosen by infinite wisdom for
the purpose, and altogether suitable for it. The wise master-builder is
careful not only to choose a good kind of stone for his foundation—but the
best of its kind. This word is evidently intended as a translation of the
Hebrew phrase, a "tested stone." All things among men are chosen
after trial. Experiments are made, when great weights are to be suspended,
or great pressure endured, whether the material employed will be
sufficiently strong for the purpose. In the present case there needed no
tentative process. The Lord Jesus was accurately known to his Divine Father
to be every way suitble for his work. As man, he was perfect, and had no
sins of his own to atone for, and had a body given to him to offer up in
sacrifice; while as God, he gave to this act of sacrifice an infinite value.
Millions upon millions have ventured to build their hopes on this
foundation; and have ever found it sufficient! All the hosts of hell, all
the powers of darkness, infidels, heretics, and philosophers—have endeavored
to subvert it—but it has defied their efforts. Not the slightest chip of
this indestructible basis have they detached from the mighty mass. Let the
enlightened Christian say if he has not tried it and found it sufficient.
Let the dying believer testify and say if he does not find enough in the
prospect of eternity. Let the palm-bearing multitude, which no man can
number round the throne, bear witness, if it has not been found upon trial,
enough for their safety.
It is a chief corner stone; it is the stone in the
angle of the building, on which the two walls meet and unite, and which,
therefore, gives compactness and strength to the edifice. It is in Christ
that Jew and Gentile are associated; it is in him that all meet and become a
building fitly framed and compacted together.
Another quality mentioned is, that this stone is "precious."
How true! Yes, inestimably precious. "The Deity filling his human nature
with all manner of grace in its highest perfection, made him infinitely
precious and excellent. Not only was he thus precious and excellent in
himself—but he is of precious virtue, which he lets forth and imparts to
others; of such virtue that a touch of him is the only cure of spiritual
diseases. Men tell of strange virtues of some stones—but it is certain that
this precious stone has not only virtue to heal the sick—but even to raise
the dead!" Dead bodies he raised during his abode upon earth, and dead souls
he does still raise, by the power of his word. Precious is Christ to his
Heavenly Father; precious to all angels in glory; and who can better tell of
his infinite value than those who have built upon it their immortal hopes,
and find continually how happy those are, who believe in him.
And shall I forget the other property, so strange, so
seemingly unnatural, "a living stone?" What a conspicuous place in
the Scripture does that word LIFE sustain—and especially in connection with
our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ and life seem to be almost equivalent terms—"I
am the life," he said, more than once; he is the living vine, the
living head, living bread, and living water, and here
is a living stone—than which nothing seemed farther from vitality.
Had there been discovered a stone of such mysterious power, that whatever
dead substances were placed upon it should immediately be made alive—what a
wonder it would be in God's universe! Here, in a figurative sense, is the
very thing. Here is a living stone, which not only has life
itself—but imparts life to all brought into contact with it!
Our translators have unnecessarily and unwisely
interpreted the original, in application to Christ, by a participle, and in
application to believers, by an adverb, calling Christ the living
stone, and Christians lively stones; whereas it is the same word in the
original in both places. They have thus marred the beauty, and weakened the
force of the passage. It is the Spirit's design to represent believers not
only as lively—but as living—and deriving all vitality from their connection
with Christ.
Now after this description of, and enthusiastic praise
upon, the foundation of his hope—let the believer exult, as he well may, in
his security. Let him see the force of the apostle's exhortation, "Rejoice
in hope." Let him take the lamp and go down and survey the basis of his high
and glorious expectations, and repose with confidence on the foundation
which God has laid in Zion.
If this be, as we know it is, the only ground on which we
can depend for everlasting life—how vain and ruinous are all those refuges
of lies to which so many betake themselves against the wrath to come. It
is a dreadful thing to be deceiving ourselves in a matter of such tremendous
importance as that of eternal life. I will, therefore, with the
intention of guarding men against this fatal error, point out some of the
PREVAILING MISTAKES
on this subject.
Some are buoying up their expectations with a vague
reliance on the GOODNESS of God. They have
taken up false, because partial, views of the character of God; and abusing
the apostle's declaration "that God is love," misinterpret this sublime
description of deity, as if it implied that pure and infinite benevolence
could never consign his creatures to eternal misery. We might fairly ask how
they know that God is merciful; and if they answer that Scripture declares
it, they should recollect that the same Scripture tells them "he will by no
means clear the guilty," that if there be a thousand promises to the
penitent believer—there are a thousand threatenings against the impenitent
unbeliever. We know nothing of God's goodness—but from the same source as we
know of his justice.
If we look to God's Providence we see, indeed, in our own
comforts many proofs and displays of his kindness—but we see also in our
discomforts many displays of his justice. If criminals, why so many
enjoyments; if favorites, why so many sufferings? Justice, if God is a
perfect moral being, must be as essential an attribute of his nature as
mercy. And "as no perfection of the divine character can be manifested in a
manner incompatible with any other perfection, even though no revelation had
been given on the subject, it must have been, to say the least of it, so
exceedingly doubtful whether such an exercise of benignity as the pardon and
salvation of a sinner, be reconcilable with righteousness, as to make it, in
the highest degree, irrational to rest a hope of final happiness on such an
unsound supposition." (John Brown)
Such people merge all God's other attributes in his
mercy. They cannot claim originality for this idea. Its authorship belongs
to the "father of lies." Satan said so before them. It is the identical
doctrine that damned the world. The serpent said to the woman, "You shall
not surely die." Do not rest your hope on such a baseless speculation!
Others go still further in their presumption, and
rest their hopes even upon the
JUSTICE of God. They may possibly be not
only free from vice—but living in the practice of many virtues. They may
present a striking contrast to the infidels and profligates around them, by
all the moralities and decorum of conventional goodness. But having
altogether incorrect notions of the spirituality, extent and obligations of
the moral law, as the rule of human conduct—and false notions of themselves
as regards the state of their hearts—they imagine that their good deeds so
far counterbalance their bad ones, that it would be unjust for God to
destroy them. Their expectations of salvation rest, then, upon their own
doings, and they seek to be justified by their works. Instead of resting
exclusively upon the righteousness of Christ—they go about to establish
their own righteousness. With the fig-leaf apron of their own good deeds,
and, as they suppose, better intentions—they seek to cover their moral
nakedness, and avert the stroke of divine justice.
Not a few, and especially those who are called to endure
the privations of poverty, and the various ills often connected with it, are
indulging the vain idea that
having SUFFERED so much in this life, they shall be exempted from all
suffering in the eternal world, and shall,
like Lazarus, be carried by a convoy of angels to heaven. What inadequate
views does such a mistake evince of the evil nature of sin, the justice of
God and the multitude of their transgressions. No! A life as long as that of
Methuselah, spent in all the destitution and disease of Job upon the
ash-heap, would be no atonement for sin, and afford no ground to depend upon
for salvation.
Church relationships and privileges ,
ever since the time of the Jews, who cried, "The temple of the Lord, the
temple of the Lord, are we," have constituted a false basis of hope to
multitudes. They have been much more anxious to find the true church, than
the true Savior—and have made, in fact, the church their savior! This is the
pernicious and destructive error of the followers of Anti-Christ. Theirs is,
in their opinion, the true church—and all that are in the true church are
safe. The church guarantees the safety of her children, and the poor deluded
creatures are satisfied with her promise. And are there not multitudes in
other churches, besides that of Rome, who are indulging in the same fatal
delusion? They have been made Christians, they suppose, by baptismal
regeneration—have been acknowledged such by confirmation—have been sealed by
the Sacrament, and are thus brought within the 'true church'—so they falsely
think.
And how many, in voluntary unestablished churches, are
relying upon their public profession and union with the church. Alas, alas!
in how many cases is a hollow
and inconsistent profession, the sole ground
of dependence for eternity! How many have no other evidence that they are
true Christians, than their profession that they are such, backed by the
admission of those who have received them to fellowship and the table of the
Lord. This admission is considered and used by them as a certificate of
saving religion, the badge of discipleship, which, as it has received the
seal of the minister of the church on earth, will not be disputed as a
passport to the church in heaven! I pen these lines with a deep and
sorrowful conviction that I am describing the melancholy condition of large
numbers in all our churches, who find their counterpart in those of whom our
Lord speaks, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the
kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in
heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in
your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?'
Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you
evildoers!'" Matthew 7:21-23.
These dreadful words should sound through the whole
church with the solemnity and impressiveness of an alarm bell. What a
salutary fear and trembling they should awaken! To what a close and anxious
examination they should lead! Mistaken professors are going by myriads to
the bottomless pit! Myriads and myriads are walking to eternity over the
rotten plank of a 'formal and insincere profession', which will break
beneath their feet and let them fall into the burning gulf below! I will
never cease to sound the note of warning to these deluded professors. For
not only is it a dreadful thing to go down to the pit with a lying
profession, but a possible thing! Not only is it a possible case, but a
common one! "MANY will say to Me on that day!"
Perhaps there is a still more subtle, if not more
dangerous deception than even this, and that is, the case of
those who are relying upon the
religious exercises of their own minds for their salvation.
They renounce all dependence upon their external works—but are relying upon
their internal state. Some are laying hold of their orthodoxy, the clearness
of their views, the correctness of their knowledge, the scripturalness of
their opinions. Sound doctrine we know is important, it is the source of all
pious feeling, and all holy conduct—but apart from pious feeling and holy
conduct, will no more save us than correct notions of astronomy or
geography. It is not the 'doctrine about Christ' we are to depend upon—but
Christ himself! Then there is with some, a reliance upon 'their act of
faith'. It is a faith in their own belief, rather than a belief in Christ,
they look to. Their object of faith is their own faith. Their faith does not
lead them to Christ—but stands between them and Christ. They forget that we
are not saved for our faith—but by it.
Perhaps this is the most subtle working of unbelief of
all. People of an imaginative, sensitive, or emotional character, are prone
to rest their hope on their
feelings. Their feelings are the barometer
that indicates their confidence, which rises and falls with emotional
pressure. If lively in prayer, if rapturous in joy, if profuse in tears, if
strong in impression—they are full of hope. But, with the least variation of
feeling—they are all doubt, fear, and despondency. They little consider, for
they little know, how much all this depends upon the state of another
barometer than that which they hang up in their own variable feelings. This
is a very insidious and seductive method of keeping our soul from the true
foundation. There is no more merit in our emotions, than in our actions; and
we have no more warrant to depend upon the former than we have upon the
latter.
Christ outside of ourselves, and apart from ourselves—is
the ONLY foundation. And we must go out of ourselves, and away from
ourselves, to depend upon him. It is for lack of seeing this in the early
stages of religious concern, that so many are kept so long in a state, in
some cases, of delusive peace—and in others, of unrelieved anxiety. And it
is to this also, that real believers, true Christians, are to trace those
perturbations of mind, those alternations of hope and fear, elevations and
depressions, to which, to their great distress, they are so liable. Did they
but keep their eye steadily fixed on Christ, and less microscopically upon
their own feelings—their peace would be less disturbed, and their joy far
more settled and abundant!
And let it here be distinctly understood, and ever
remembered, that nothing can alter, add to, or diminish this foundation.
Could the believer live on earth to the age of Methuselah, could he fill
these nine centuries with the most unblemished holiness, the richest
Christian experience, the most zealous labors, and the most diffusive
charities—all this would not add a single stone, or a particle of strength,
to Christ, the sure foundation. Even then, his dependence for salvation must
be as exclusive and entire upon Christ as at the first moment when he came
to him for pardon; or as that of the dying thief upon the cross, who had not
a single good action on which to place any dependence. And the real
Christian knows and feels this. As he is closing the long series of holy
actions which have filled up his life, as he looks back upon the past now
about to be lost in the eternal future, and is standing upon the threshold
of his "Father's house," and expects every moment the door to open, he
exclaims with gratitude and humility, "Lord Jesus, into your hands I commit
my spirit, for you have redeemed me. My hope—my only hope—is in you"
But there is another thing to be taken into account when
speaking of the foundation of Christian hope, and that is THE PROMISE OF
GOD. How is it we are able to assure ourselves that we can build upon
this basis of the Savior's infinite merits? If I know that an individual has
done something for my future benefit in common with the welfare of many
others, I still want his assurance that I shall reap the advantage of what
he has done. Hence though we believe that Christ died as a ransom for all,
and is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world, yet I need his
positive assurance that I shall reap the advantage of this wondrous work of
mediation. I have it—"He who believes, and whoever believes, shall be
saved." It is not a probability or a 'perhaps'—but a positive certainty. God
has said it. A thousand promises declare it. The skies of the New Testament
are studded with them. They come out upon our view thick and shining like
the stars of heaven on a clear and cloudless night. The design of the death
of Christ was to make an atonement for sin; and God's promise is that each
individual believer, shall partake of the blessed result of these sufferings
of Christ. Here is the ground of our expectation; and in speaking of this
expectation, the promises of God must always be united with the merits of
the Savior.
And even this is not all, for we must have an entire
faith in the power, and unchangeableness, and faithfulness of God to fulfill
his promise. Notwithstanding the atoning death of Christ, notwithstanding
the promise of God, if we could doubt the divine power, fidelity, and
immutability, we would still find we had no solid base on which to rest our
expectations of eternal life. Now again we say—look at your foundation, the
atoning sacrifice of the Son of God, the promise of God, who cannot lie, and
the infinite attributes of the divine nature, and "Rejoice in hope of the
glory of God."
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