"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptable, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away." (I Peter, chapter 1, verses 3 & 4)

All men know what hope is. It is the blest sweetener of man's bitter cup on earth. It is that which mitigates his pain with the prospect of relief, and soothes his sorrows with the prospect that he shall be glad again. Poets have sung the pleasures of hope; orators have dilated on them, in words of burning eloquence; philosophers have enumerated them, with a warmth which their speculations but seldom exhibit. Hope is undoubtedly the chief ingredient in every human being's enjoyment. Those who have the greatest share of present happiness, would feel life to be but a sad blank, were they bereft of hope: - did not something whisper to their souls, to-morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant. And amid all the ills which chequer our lot, - amidst the pains which afflict the body, and the sorrows which distress the mind, hope sustains the sufferers, and exhibits visions of future happiness, above and behind the clouds and the darkness of present woes. However diversified may be men's condition, and how dissimilar their tastes, all are held up, and cheered onward, by hope. The mere worldling hopes, and rejoices in hoping, that his possessions shall be hereafter greater than they are now. He is by no means satisfied with their present amount; greater, though it may be, than he can legitimately employ, - he pants after more, and hopes that much more shall yet be his. The captive pining in a dungeon, hopes that some day he shall be liberated. The wanderer in a land far off from his home and his friends, hopes that his eyes shall yet again behold the spot where the objects of his affection dwell, and embrace there those from whom distance separates him.

But the Christian has a higher, and a better hope than any of these: and consequently, the enjoyment which he derives from it, is higher and deeper, - more intense, and more substantial. He is begotten again unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. He has a hope full of immortality. He is saved by hope. He has a good hope, through grace.

That we may perceive the preciousness of this hope, let us first look at the condition in which man finds himself now, and thus we shall better understand how he feels, as hope carries forward his mind towards the future.

1. Man is in his present state, far from happy. However successful his worldly enterprizes may often be, and however attached to him may sometimes be the friends and relatives who gather around him, the mind is often ill at ease. It never has all that it wishes. The eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with hearing. And then, all temporal possessions are very uncertain; all earthly joys are temporary and transient. Riches take them wings and fly away. Death breaks in on the domestic circle, and changes the tabernacles of gladness into houses of mourning. In short, man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upwards. Why is this? Because man is a sinner, - because he is by nature corrupt, and because the imaginations of his heart are only evil continually. Human guilt is the cause of all human sorrow. From the fountain of sin, flow directly or indirectly the manifold streams of misery which deluge earth's surface, and render it a vale of tears. Sin makes man miserable now, and it exposes him to the danger of being infinitely more miserable hereafter. God hath denounced a curse againt sin. There is a day of retribution coming, when all shall receive according to their works, - when the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the people who forget God. Now, when a man first feels himself to be a sinner, he must feel also that he merits damnation - and then when he thinks of the future, he trembles; he is miserable, because he dares not hope. Bad as his condition now may be, he sees reason to dread, that it will be much worse, when he comes to stand before his Judge. The more he looks at himself, and the better he understands his condition - the more he contemplates God, and the better he understands His character, the more does he feel driven to despair, till he sees nothing before him but a certain, fearful looking for of judgement, and fiery indignation.

It is when man is in this state, when convictions of guilt make him tremble lest he perish, that the Gospel of Jesus Christ comes to his relief, and inspires hope, - a lively hope, a hope full of immortality.

2. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. He assumed our nature, laboured, and suffered, and died, that he might make happy the wretched, and pour the healing balm of hope into the bleeding bosom of despair. He came to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself, - to change the curse into a blessing, - and open the kingdom of heaven to all who heartily trust in him. By His Holy Spirit, applying the gospel to the soul, he dissipates fears, mitigates perplexities, and turns the grief of the mourner into gladness. He offers a free and full salvation, and provides a covering, - even his own righteousness - which covers all man's unworthiness; he offers eternal life to as many as will come unto him, and receive it at his hands. The Christian is one who receives these good news; who with the heart believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth maketh confession unto salvation. He is one who has awaked from the slumber of indifference, and cried earnestly for mercy to pardon. He is one who flees for refuge to the hope set before him in the gospel, and cries unto Christ, "Lord save me, I perish." This he has been persuaded, and constrained, and enabled to do, by the grace of God working in him. He has been begotten again unto this lively hope. Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto him, but the God and Father of our Lord Jesus hath by his abundant mercy delivered him, at once from condemnation, and from despair: given him peace, through Jesus Christ, and gladdened his soul with the prospect of an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled and everlasting.

Thus, the Christian's hope is a good hope, and it is a hope through grace.

3. The Christian's hope is a good hope. It is an expectation of good things; of things so good, that eye hath not seen them, ear hath not heard them, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive them. Christ Jesus has risen from the dead; and this fact inspires the confidence that his people shall rise also. If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring to him. The hope of this resurrection to everlasting life, the hope of glory, the hope of sitting with the glorified Redeemer on his throne, cheers and sustains the disciple amid all the tribulations of his lot. If we suffer with Christ, we shall also reign with him. Our risen Lord is preparing mansions for his people, and he will come again to receive them unto himself, that where he is, there they may be also. And in the mansions above, there is perfect happiness. All tears are wiped from all eyes. The blest inhabitants hunger no more, neither do they thirst any more. Theirs is an inheritance incorriptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away.

In this respect the Christian's hope transcends every other kind of expectation. He that looks for his portion in this life, must feel that at best, it will be a corruptible and fading portion. The most sanguine cannot dare to hope, that his riches shall be enjoyed for ever; or that his laurels will be always green, or his earthly power permanent. No! Gloomy death shews himself in the back ground of his prospects, and though man, with wilful blindness, may refuse, as he does often refuse, to see him, still he is there. The things which are seen and temporal cannot last alway: man will not be alway permitted to enjoy them. But into the new Jerusalem, the last enemy cannot enter. Among the blessed company who dwell there, he cannot intrude. The portion which the Christian hopes for, is a portion which shall retain all its sweetness, and all its beauty, and all its power to make happy the partaker of it, through endless ages.

Further - The Christian's hope is a good hope, inasmuch as it is sure and certain. It rests on the sure promises of the true and unchanging God. Therefore it cannot be disappointed. All earthly hopes are alloyed with uncertainty. No one can be sure that he shall not fail egregiously in realising his expectations of temporal attainments. The toiling sons of industry, hope that they shall soon accumulate as much as will render labour unnecessary, but this hope is often blasted; and when realised, the degree of happiness that was expected, is still unattained. The man of pleasure gloats his polluted imagination with the indulgences on which his mind is set, - sometimes he is permitted to taste them, but, after all, satiety and disgust are his only rewards. In other cases, the word of the Lord goes forth, that his soul shall be immediately required of him. All hopes based on merely earthly foundations are vain and deceitful. But the lively hope unto which the Christian is begotten again, is a well assured hope, for the Author of it cannot deceive. His promises are all Yea and Amen. The mountains shall depart, and the hills shall be removed, but his kindness shall not depart from his people, neither shall the covenant of his peace be removed. These blessed assurances, and the many like assurances with which the Bible is crowded, communicate peace and gladness, long before the things hoped for can be realised. The Christian enjoys, by anticipation, a foretaste of the happiness of Heaven, - knows that his Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand on the earth, at the latter day. To Him he looks by the eye of faith; and feeling him to be near, he fears no evil. He knows whom he has believed, and is confident that he will keep that which is committed to him, unto the day of his appearing.

4. Such being the Christian's hope, such being its goodness, such its foundation, we would beseech the reader to enquire whether this hope is his, and whether it rests on the only sound foundation, namely, the finished work of Jesus Christ. All men wish to get to Heaven; we may say, all hope to live there evermore. With some alas! this is a very faint and feeble and inoperative feeling; with many, it is an unwarrantable expectation. The scriptural hope, the hope that shall be realised, is a lively emotion. It is a principle mingling with all the feelings of the soul, and with all its purposes. It gives a tone to our estimate of the present, and to our prospective views of the future. It casts its serene radiance amid the clouds of worldly sorrow, and disappointment, and distress here. It makes the sufferings of the present time appear unworthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed. It inspires patience and meek resignation. It also leads to earnest seeking after holiness. Every one that hath this hope in him, purifieth himself even as Christ is pure. It leads to earnestness in preparation for the hoped for inheritance. Where this earnestness in preparing for the better country is wanting in any soul, that soul has not, we may be sure, been begotten again unto the lively hope which the gospel inspires; for it is not becoming meet for the inheritance which the Gospel reveals.

Again - Let every man try and examine the foundation on which his hopes rest. Unless that foundation be Christ, - Christ alone, and Christ everything, - the fabric raised on it will not bear the trial which awaits all flesh. Man is a hell deserving sinner. His works warrant no hope of anything good at the hand of God. All human performances are as filthy rags in the Lord's sight, therefore no hope can be based on them. There are some who hope for mercy at God's hand, because he is so good and compassionate, that, as they think, he cannot punish sin. But let such know, that God's mercy can be tasted only through Christ Jesus. To all who are out of Him - to all who do not depend on Him only, for their pardon and acceptance, and eternal life, God is a consuming fire. He whose hopes are well founded, says, I go forward to the throne, in Christ's name, making mention of his righteousness, even of his only.

Reader - is this the ground of thy hope? Then it is a rock that shall not be moved, Christ hath died and risen again, and he will give eternal life to as many as will believe in him. Hope in him, and thou shalt attain an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading. Hope in him, and he will keep thee by his own power unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.

But what shall we say to those who are strangers to this hope, and have not sought the Saviour? The prospect before them is indeed appalling. For them is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever, unless they seek peace with God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. In the place to which the despisers of the Son of God shall be consigned, there is nought but despair and anguish unutterable, - weeping and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, for ever and ever. Hope is unknown there. Peace is unknown there. Reader, seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near: forsake thy wicked ways, and thine unrighteous thoughts. Turn unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon thee, and to God, and he will abundantly pardon. Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. - Rev. James Forbes

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