A LIVING HOPE
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead!"—1 Peter 1:3.
In this very comprehensive and beautiful passage, the
apostle Peter, like his brother Paul in the commencement of his epistle to
the Ephesians, introduces his subject by bursting abruptly into a hymn of
thanksgiving. His heart was full to overflowing of wonder, gratitude and
love, and he could not content himself with a mere cold formal statement of
the marvelous grace of God. He first ascends to the source of the
blessings he was about to enumerate, and finds it only in the
abundant mercy of God.
There is no attribute of God on which as sinners, we so
much depend as upon mercy; and there is no one attribute therefore, about
which so much is said in Scripture as this. Mercy is the spring and
fountainhead of the blessings here enumerated, our regeneration and adoption
into the family of God; our heavenly inheritance; and our preservation to
the vast and eternal possession.
It is the living hope, however, that is the subject of
our present remarks. To this we are "begotten," that is, we are first made
children, and then, as such, being endowed with an eternal inheritance, we,
as children, being entitled to it, through the work of Christ, hope for it.
And to this we are begotten "by the resurrection of Christ." In an earlier
part of this work I have shown that hope must be preceded by faith, and is
founded upon faith. We must first believe that there is a heaven, and that
it is obtainable by us, or we cannot hope for it; and if we do believe, we
must of necessity hope. Whatever therefore produces faith, and strengthens
it—must beget hope as well. The resurrection of Christ is the sum and
substance of all the evidence of the divinity of his mission, of the truth
of his doctrines, and of course of the gospel of our salvation. It is a
cloud of witnesses in itself, and therefore believing this great fact, we
are, through the grace of God, brought to hope. But more than this, the
resurrection of Christ is the proof and pledge of ours. Believing in his
resurrection, we believe our own; for he rose not as a private
individual—but as our representative. Thus our faith is confirmed,
established, supported by his resurrection, and we are begotten to a living
hope.
But I intend now to dwell on this characteristic of our
hope, as "a LIVING" one. True personal religion is the opposite of
any unregenerate state, which is, a state of spiritual death; the
unconverted sinner is "dead in trespasses and sins." Hence true religion is
spiritual life. It is a living, moving, active principle in man's soul. He
has been quickened from a death of sin to a life of holiness. His religious
exercises are not the motions of an automaton—but the self-moved actions of
a living being. His soul is alive to God, to Christ, to holiness, to heaven.
Now, just as in the tree, each branch, and leaf, and fruit, lives by
the principle of vegetable life in the root; and as in the body, the
principle of animal life diffuses its influence into each and all the
members and organs; as the foot moves, the hand works, the eye sees, and the
tongue speaks by the principle of animal life—so, as regards true religion,
all its graces act from the spiritual life in the soul. Faith is a living
faith, hope is a living hope, love is a living love. The apostle, it is
true, speaks of a dead faith—but this indeed is no faith at all; so we may
speak of a dead hope, which is none at all. If there be in reality a hope,
it must be a living one.
Nearly all the people in Christian lands profess to have
hope—but in multitudes of cases it is a dead one; it breathes not, moves
not, speaks not; it neither makes them holy nor happy; it neither animates
to duty, restrains from sin, nor supports under suffering. It is a mere
profession. Is it not much to be feared that this is all that many
professors of religion, many members of our churches, have in this day? I
would not be uncharitable—but I must express my apprehensions, fearful as
they are, that large numbers in this day of 'easy profession', have nothing
but a dead faith and a dead hope. Their profession, instead of being the
coat of a spiritually living man, is the shroud of a dead one. Judging from
their conduct, we must conclude that they have neither desire nor
expectation of eternal life.
Christian professor, let me ask you—what does your hope
do for you? Consider that true hope is not a desire fixed on a trifle, which
must be a trifling desire, exciting no emotion, producing no action,
awakening no concern. True hope is desire of salvation, of eternal life, of
immortal glory. Can such an expectation, if it really exist, lie dormant in
the soul, an ineffective, inoperative thing, producing no joy, no concern,
no activity? Impossible! Let every one, therefore, solemnly ask himself this
simple question—What does my anticipation of heaven do for me? Is it alive
in me? Does it move? Does it act? Does it stimulate me to duty, restrain me
from sin, comfort me in trouble? Are my character and conduct in any degree
those of a man who has fixed his eye, his heart, his expectation on eternal
life? If not, my hope is a dead one—a name and a delusion.
In opposition to this, the hope of a really converted man
is a living one. The word signifies a vigorous, active, spirit-stirring
principle—as opposed to the cold, faint belief of Heathenism. It is an
earnest desire and confident expectation of everlasting life. This desire
and expectation is such as employs the thoughts and kindles the affections.
It acts on the soul, as regards spiritual and eternal objects—just as
earthly desires and expectations do towards their objects. If a man is
looking forward with confident expectation of some great earthly good, some
cherished object which is to influence all his future life—it is uppermost
in his mind, it engages his heart, it employs his tongue, it stimulates his
activity. If he receives some lesser good, "Oh," he says, "but I have
something far greater to come!" If he has sustained a loss, he replies, "I
shall soon have ample compensation for this!" If he is in trouble, he cheers
his mind with the anticipation of the expected good. If solicited to engage
in any project which would divert his mind from this, he exclaims, "No! I
cannot allow anything to interfere with my one great object!" This is a
living hope. And so is it with the man who has really set his heart upon
salvation and eternal life.
I am ready to admit that it is with spiritual life as it
is with natural—it may exist in various degrees. There may be
vitality where there is not vivacity. There may be life so feeble as
scarcely to be perceived or felt—and there may be vitality in such vigor as
to give rise to the expression, "He is full of life!" In reference to the
two terms, "living" and "lively," a hope may, in a very modified sense, be a
living one, yet not a lively one; and on that account I am almost ready to
prefer the adverb of our translators to the proposed substitute. The
original comprehends both.
There are many who are spiritually alive—but not very
lively. They have desires—but how lukewarm. They have hope—but how uncertain
and fluttering. They do not give up the idea of their being Christians, and
reaching heaven at last—but amid what doubts and fears these expectations
are indulged. In duty, how backward; in spirit, how worldly; in trouble, how
disconsolate. How deficient in spirituality and heavenly-mindedness. O, you
half-hearted, worldly-minded, lukewarm professors, I call upon you "to
strengthen the things which remain, and are ready to die!" You have only
that measure of life which is next akin to death, and is in peril of
becoming such!
Believers, be contented with nothing short of a lively—as
well as living expectation—which shall be an unfailing source of both
consolation and holiness; which lifts up your head and keeps it up, when
passing through the rivers of affliction; which remains, when everything
else is gone; which opens a fountain amid broken cisterns; which lives in
death, and exhibits heaven to the eye in the dark valley; and which judgment
and eternity do not destroy—but only consummate. Let the full tide of
spiritual life be poured into this—as one of the many channels through which
its holy stream is to flow!