DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, OCTOBER 13, 1878,
BY C.H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"For the hope which is laid up for you in Heaven, of which you heard
before in the Word of the Truth of the Gospel." Colossians 1:5.
THREE Divine Graces should be always conspicuous in Christians–faith,
love and hope. They are each mentioned by Paul in the opening verses of
the Epistle from which our text is taken. These lovely Graces should be
so conspicuous in every Believer as to be spoken of and, consequently,
heard of even by those who have never seen us. These flowers should
yield so sweet a perfume that their fragrance may be perceived by those
who have never gazed upon them. So was it with the saints at Colosse.
Paul says, "We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ
Jesus and of the love which you have to all the saints, for the hope
which is laid up for you in Heaven."
May our characters be such as can be reported of without causing us to
blush–but that can never be the case if these essential virtues are
absent. If these things are in us and abound, we shall not be barren or
unfruitful. But if they are lacking, we are as withered branches. We
should, therefore, be rich in faith, which is the root of every Grace
and, to this end, we should daily pray, "Lord, increase our faith." We
should strive to be full even to overflowing with love, which is of God
and makes us like unto God. And we should also abound in hope, even
that heavenly hope which causes a man to purify himself in readiness
for the inheritance above. See to it that neither of these three Divine
Sisters are strangers to your souls, but let Faith, Hope and Love take
up their abode in your hearts!
Note, however, the special character of each of these Graces as it
exists in the Christian. It is not every faith and love and hope that
will serve our turn, for of all precious things there are counterfeits!
There is a kind of faith in all men, but ours is faith in Christ Jesus,
faith in Him whom the world rejects, whose Cross is a stumbling block
and whose doctrine is an offense. We have faith in the Man of Nazareth
who is also the Son of God. We have faith in Him who, having made
atonement by His own blood once and for all, is now exalted at His
Father's right hand. Our confidence is not placed in ourselves, nor in
any human priest nor in the traditions of our fathers, nor in the
teachings of human wisdom, but ONLY in Christ Jesus. This is the faith
of God's elect.
The love of Christians, too, is also special, for while a Christian man
is moved by universal benevolence and desires to do good unto all men,
yet he has a special love unto all the saints and these the world loves
not because it loves not their Lord. The true Believer loves the
persecuted, the misrepresented and despised people of God for Christ's
sake. He loves them all, even though he may think some of them to be
mistaken in minor matters. He has love to the babies in Grace as well
as to the grown saints–and love even to those saints whose infirmities
are more manifest than their virtues! He loves them not for their
station, or for their natural amiability, but because Jesus loves them
and because they love Jesus. You see the faith is in Christ Jesus, but
the love extends beyond Christ, Himself, to all those who are in union
with Him.
Hope takes a still wider sweep and includes the eternal future in its
circuit. Thus do our Graces increase in range as well as in number. Our
hope, too, upon which we are to speak this morning, is special, because
it is a hope which is laid up for us in Heaven. It is a hope,
therefore, which the worldling cares not one whit about! He hopes that
tomorrow may be as this day and yet more abundant, but he cares nothing
for the land where time has ceased to flow. He hopes for riches or he
hopes for fame–he hopes for long life and prosperity–he hopes for
pleasure and domestic peace. The whole range of his hope is within the
compass of his eyes!
But our hope has passed beyond the sphere of sight, according to the
word of the Apostle, "What a man sees, why does he yet hope for? But if
we hope for what we see not, then do we, with patience, wait for it."
Ours is a hope which demands nothing of time or earth, but seeks its
all in the world to come! It is of this hope that we are about to
speak. May
the Holy Spirit lead us into a profitable meditation upon it. The
connection of our text seems to be this–the Apostle so much rejoiced
when he saw the saints at Colosse possessing faith, love and hope, that
he thanked God and prayed about them. He saw these seals of God upon
them–these three tokens that they were a really converted people–and
his heart was glad!
All the faithful ministers of Christ rejoice to see their people
adorned with the jewels of faith, love and hope, for these are their
ornaments for the present and their preparation for the future. This I
believe to be the connection, but yet from the form of the language it
is clear that the Apostle intended to state that their love to the
saints was very much produced in them by the hope which was laid up in
Heaven. You notice the word, "for," which stands there–"The love which
you have to all the saints for," or on account of, or because of, "the
hope which is laid up for you in Heaven." There can be no doubt that
the hope of Heaven tends greatly to foster love to all the saints of
God! We have a common hope–let us have a common affection! We are on
our way to God–let us march in loving company! We are to be one in
Heaven–let us be one on earth! One is our Master, one is our service,
one is our way and one is our end–let us be knit together as one man!
We all expect to see our Well-Beloved face to face and to be like He.
Why should we not, even now, love all those in whom there is anything
of Christ? Brethren, we are to live together forever in Heaven–it is a
pity we should quarrel! We are forever to be with Jesus Christ,
partakers of the same joy, of the same glory and of the same love–why
should we be scant in our love to each other? On the way to Canaan we
have to fight the same enemy, to publish the same testimony, to bear
the same trials, and to fly to the same Helper–therefore let us love
one another! It were not difficult to show that the hope which is laid
up in Heaven should be productive of love among the saints on earth.
This connection of my text with the clause immediately before it does
not at all prevent its being regarded in the sense which I first
mentioned, namely, that it was a subject for joy with the Apostle that
the Colossians had faith, love and hope, for he would rejoice, none the
less, because their faith was fostered by their hope. It commends these
sweet Graces, that they are so wonderfully intertwisted with each other
and dependent upon one another. There would be no love to the saints if
there were not faith in Christ Jesus! And if there were not faith in
Christ Jesus there would be no hope laid up in Heaven! If we had no
love, it would be certain that we had no true faith. And if we had no
hope, faith would be assuredly absent.
If we entertain one of the Graces we must receive her sisters, for they
cannot be separated. Here are three brilliants set in the same golden
setting and none must break the precious jewel. "Now abides faith, hope
and love, these three," and blessed is he who has them abiding in his
own heart! Now we will let faith and love stand by for a little while
and we will talk about hope, the hope mentioned in our text; the hope
which is laid up for you in Heaven. First, it is a very marvelous hope.
Secondly, it is a very secure hope. And thirdly, it is a very
powerfully influential hope. May the Holy Spirit bless these three
thoughts to us all.
I. First, then, we speak of our hope which is laid up for us in Heaven
as A VERY MARVELOUS HOPE and it is so if we only consider that it is a
great act of Grace that sinners should have a hope at all! That when
man had broken his Maker's Law there should remain a hope for him is a
thought which should make our hearts leap with gratitude! Do you not
recollect when you felt it to be so? When sin lay heavily upon your
conscience, Satan came and wrote over the lintel of your door, "NO
HOPE," and the grim sentence would have stood there to this day had not
a loving hand taken the hyssop and, by a sprinkling of precious blood,
removed the black inscription. "Remember that at that time you were
without Christ, having no hope and without God in the world."
That was our condition once and it is a marvelous thing that it should
be thoroughly changed and that assurance should have taken the place of
despair! In our carnal estate many false hopes, like will-o'-the-wisps,
danced before us, deceived us and led us into bogs of presumption and
error–we had no hope. This is a dreadful condition for a man to be in!
It is, indeed, the very worst of all. Never is the storm so terrible as
when in the howling of the winds the man distinctly hears the words,
"No hope." Yet into the thick darkness of NO HOPE we once steered our
course and each time we tried to rely upon good works, outward
ceremonies and good resolutions, we were disappointed anew and the
words rung into our souls with dread monotony, "No hope, no hope,"
until we wished we could lie down and die!
Now, though we are sinners, we have a hope! Ever since by faith we
looked to Jesus on the Cross, a hope full of glory has taken possession
of our hearts! Is not this a marvelous thing? More marvelous still, is
it that our hope should venture
to be associated with Heaven! Can there be Heaven for such as we are?
It seems almost presumptuous for a sinner who so richly deserves Hell
even to lift up his eyes towards Heaven. He might have some hope of
"purgatory" if there were such a region, but a hope of Heaven–is not
that too much? Yet, Brothers and Sisters, we have no fear of Hell or of
"purgatory" now–we expect to taste the joys laid up in Heaven! There
is no "purgatory" for anyone and there is no Hell for saints–Heaven
awaits all believers in Jesus. Our hope is full of glory, for it has to
do with the Glory of Christ, whom we hope to behold. Do you expect
then, you who were black with lust, that you shall sit among the
angels? "Yes, that we do," says the Believer, "and nearer to the Throne
than they!"
And you who have plunged into every form of uncleanness, do you expect
to see God, for none but the pure in heart can behold Him? "Yes, that
we do," say they, "and not only to see Him, but to be like His Son,
when we see Him as He is." What a Divine hope is this! Not that we
shall sit down on Heaven's doorsteps and hear stray notes of the songs
within, but that we shall sing with the happy choir! Not that we shall
have an occasional glance within the gates of pearl and feel our hearts
hankering after the unutterable joys within the sacred enclosure, but
we shall actually and personally enter into the halls of the palace and
see the King in His beauty in the land which is very far off! This is a
brave hope, is it not? Why, she aspires to all that the best of saints
have received! She looks for the same vision of Glory, the same ecstasy
of delight–she even aspires to sit upon the Throne of Christ,
according to the promise, "To him that overcomes will I grant to sit
with Me on my Throne, even as I also overcame and am set down with my
Father on His Throne."
Hope reckons to be among the overcomers and to partake in their
enthronement! This is marvelous hope for a struggling Believer to
entertain! Yet it is not presumption, but confidence warranted by the
Word of God! Is it not a miracle of love that such poor creatures as
ourselves should be enabled thus to hope in God? This hope is the more
marvelous because it is so substantial. In our text the Apostle
scarcely seems to be speaking of the Grace of hope, since that can
hardly be said to be laid up in Heaven, but dwells in our bosoms. He
rather speaks of the objective of hope and yet it is clear that in his
mind the Grace of hope as well as the objective must have been
intended, because that which is laid up in Heaven is not a hope except
to those who hope for it! It is clear that no man has a hope laid up in
Heaven unless he has hope within himself.
The truth is that the two things–the Grace of hope and its
objective–are here mentioned under one term, which may be intended to
teach us that when hope is worked in the heart by the Holy Spirit, it
is the thing hoped for, even as faith is the thing believed, because it
realizes and secures it. Just as faith is the substance of things hoped
for and the evidence of things not seen, so is hope the substance of
the thing it expects and the evidence of the thing it cannot see. Paul,
in this case, as in many others, uses language rather according to the
theological sense which he would convey than according to the classical
usage of the Greek tongue. The words of a heathen people must be
somewhat strained from their former use if they are to express Divine
Truth and Paul does thus stretch them to their utmost length in this
case.
The hope of the true Believer is so substantial that Paul even speaks
of it as though it were the thing itself and were laid up in Heaven!
Many a man has a hope of wealth, but that hope is a different thing
from being wealthy. There is many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip,
says the old proverb, and how true it is! A man may have a hope of old
age, yet he may never reach even middle life, and thus it is clear that
the hope of long life is not, in itself, longevity. But he that has the
Divine hope which grows out of faith and love has a hope which shall
never be disappointed, so that the Apostle speaks of it as being
identical with the thing hoped for and describes it as laid up in
Heaven! What a marvelous hope is this which long before its realization
is treated as a matter of actual attainment and spoken of as a treasure
reserved in the coffers of Heaven!
One marvelous point about our hope is this–it is the subject of Divine
Revelation. No one could ever have invented this hope–it is so
glorious as to baffle imagination! The prince of dreamers could never
have dreamed it, nor the master of the art of logic have inferred it by
reason. Imagination and understanding are both left on the ground,
while the Bible idea of Heaven soars upward like a strong-winged angel.
The eternal hope had to be revealed to us–we should never have known
it, otherwise, for the Apostle says, "Of which you heard before in the
Word of the Truth of the Gospel." That a sinful man should have a hope
of enjoying the perfect bliss of Paradise is a thing not to be thought
of, were it not that the Lord has promised it!
I say again, imagination's utmost stretch could never had reached to
this and neither could we have had the presumption to suppose that such
a bliss could be in store for men so unworthy and undeserving had we
not been assured
thereof by the Word of God! But now the Word of God has opened a window
in Heaven and bid us look therein and hope for the time when we shall
drink of its living fountains of waters and go no more out forever.
This is marvelous and it is even more marvelous to think that this hope
came to us simply by hearing. "Of which you heard before in the Word of
the truth of the Gospel." "Faith comes by hearing" and hope comes by
faith–and so the Divine hope of being in Heaven came to us by
hearing–not by working, not by deserving, not by penance and
sacrifice, but simply by listening diligently unto the Divine Word and
believing unto life!
We heard that the pierced hands of Jesus had opened the kingdom of
Heaven to all Believers and we believed and saw a way of entrance into
the holiest by His blood! We heard that God had prepared, for them that
love Him, joys indescribable and we believed the message, trusting in
His Son. Our confidence is in the Word which we have heard, for it is
written, "Hear and your soul shall live." And we find that by hearing,
our confidence is strengthened and our heart filled with inward
assurance and joyful expectation–therefore do we love the Word of God
more and more! Will we not prize to the uttermost that sacred Word
which has brought us such a hope? Yes, that we will–till we exchange
hearing for seeing–and the message of Jesus for Jesus, Himself! We
will always lend a willing ear to the testimony of Jesus!
This hope is marvelous, once more, because the substance of it is most
extraordinary. Brothers and Sisters, what is the hope which is laid up
for us in Heaven? It would need many a sermon to bring out all the
phases of delight which belong to that hope! It is the hope of victory,
for we shall overcome every foe and Satan shall be trod under our feet.
A palm of victory is prepared for our hands and a crown for our heads.
Our life struggle shall not end in defeat, but in complete and eternal
triumph, for we shall overcome through the blood of the Lamb! Nor do we
hope for only victory– but in our own persons we shall possess
perfection. We shall one day cast off the slough of sin and shall be
seen in the beauty of our new-born life. Truly, "it does not yet appear
what we shall be," but when we think of the matchless Character of our
Lord Jesus, we are overjoyed by the assurance that "we shall be like
He."
What an honor and a bliss for the younger Brethren to be like the
Firstborn! To what higher honor could God Himself exalt us? I know not
of anything which could surpass this! Oh, matchless joy to be as holy,
harmless and undefiled as our own beloved Lord! How delightful to have
no propensity to sin remaining in us nor trace of its ever having been
there! How blissful to perceive that our holy desires and aspirations
have no weakness or defect remaining in them! Our nature will be
perfect and fully developed in all its sinless excellence! We shall
love God as we do now, but oh how much more intensely! We shall rejoice
in God as we do now, but oh what depth there will be in that joy! We
shall delight to serve Him as we do now, but there will, then, be no
coldness of heart, no languor of spirit, no temptation to turn aside.
Our service will be as perfect as that of angels! Then shall we say to
ourselves without fear of any inward failure, "Bless the Lord, O my
soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name." There will be no
recreant affection then! No erring judgment, no straying passion, no
rebellious lust! There will remain nothing which can defile, or weaken,
or distract! We shall be perfect, altogether perfect. This is our
hope–victory over evil and perfection in all that is good! If this
were all our hope it would be marvelous, but there is more to be
unfolded. We expect to enjoy security, also, from every danger. As
there will be no evil in us, so there will be none around us or about
us to cause us alarm. No temporal evil such as pain, bereavement,
sorrow, labor, or reproach shall come near us!
All will be security, peace, rest, and enjoyment. No mental evil will
intrude upon us in Heaven. No doubts, no staggering difficulties, no
fears, no bewilderments will cause us distress. Here we see through a
glass darkly and we know in part–but there we shall see face to face
and know even as we are known! Oh, to be free from mental trouble! What
a relief will this be to many a doubting Thomas! This is a marvelous
hope! And then no spiritual enemy will assail us. No world, no flesh,
no devil will mar our rest above. What will you make out of it, you
tried ones? Your Sabbaths are very sweet now on earth, but when they
are over, you have to return to yon cold world again. But there your
Sabbath shall never end and your separation from the wicked will be
complete!
It will be a strange sensation for you to find no Monday morning, no
care to be renewed, no toil to be encountered, no harness to be buckled
on afresh! But above all, no sin to be dreaded, no temptation to be
escaped! Heaven is so peaceful that the storms of earth are unknown
there. The stirrings of the flesh are never felt and the howls of the
dogs of Hell are never heard. All is peace and purity there–perfection
and security forever! With this security will come perfect rest–"Yes,
says the Spirit, for they rest from their labors." Heavenly rest is
quite consistent with continual service, for,
like the angels, we shall rest on the wing and find it rest to serve
God day and night. But there you shall not toil till the sweat dampens
your face, neither shall the sun burn you, nor any heat! No weary limb
nor fevered brain shall follow upon the blessed service of Heaven.
Heaven is a paradise of pleasure and a palace of glory! It is a garden
of supreme delights and a mansion of abiding love! It is an everlasting
Sabbatismos, a rest which never can be broken, which evermore remains
for the people of God! It is a kingdom where all are kings, an
inheritance where all are heirs! My soul pants for it! Is not this a
charming hope? Did I not say well when I declared it to be marvelous?
Nor is this all, Brothers and Sisters, for we expect to enjoy in Heaven
a happiness beyond compare! Eye has not seen it, nor ear heard it, nor
has the heart conceived it–it surpasses all carnal joy! We know a
little of it, for the Lord has revealed it unto us by the Spirit, who
searches all things, even the deep things of God. Yet what we know is
but a mere taste of the marriage feast–enough to make us long for
more, but by no means sufficient to give us a complete idea of the
whole banquet!
If it is so sweet to preach about Christ, what must it be to see Him
and be with Him? If it is so delightful to be ravished by the music of
His name, what must it be to lie in His bosom? Why, if these few
clusters of Eshcol which are, now and then, brought to us are so sweet,
what will it be to abide in the vineyard where all the clusters grow?
If that one bucketful from the well of Bethlehem tasted so sweetly that
we scarcely dared to drink it, but poured it out before the Lord as a
thank-offering, what a joy will it be to drink at the wellhead without
stint forever! O to be eternally at the right hand of God where there
are pleasures forevermore! This is our hope and yet there is more, for
we have the hope of everlasting fellowship with Christ! I would give
10,000 worlds, if I had them, to have one glimpse of that dear face
which was marred with sorrow for my sake!
But to sit at my Lord's feet and look up into His countenance and hear
His voice, and never, never grieve Him, but to participate in all His
triumphs and glories forever and forever–what a Heaven will this be!
Then shall we have fellowship with all His saints in whom He is
glorified and by whom His image is reflected. And thus shall we behold
fresh displays of His power and beams of His love. Is not this
surpassing bliss? Said I not well when I declared that ours is a
marvelous hope? Had I eloquence and could pile on good words–and could
a poet assist me with his sweetest song–to tell of the bliss and joy
of the eternal world, yet must preacher and poet both confess their
inability to describe the Glory to be revealed in us! The noblest
intellect and the sweetest speech could not convey to you so much as a
thousandth part of the bliss of Heaven!
There I leave the first head. It is a very marvelous hope!
II. Secondly, let us remark that IT IS A MOST SECURE HOPE. It is so
according to the text, because it is laid up or secured. The recent
calamities which have occurred in connection with the Glasgow City Bank
will make businessmen very careful where they lay up their treasures,
but no one can entertain any fear of the safety of that which God
Himself takes under His charge! If your hope is laid up with Him it
becomes sinful to doubt its security. It is "laid up," the text says,
and this means that it is hidden in a safe place like a treasure which
is well secured.
We find it hard to lay up our valuables safely in this world because
thieves break through and steal. The iron safe, the strong room and all
sorts of inventions are employed to preserve them from felonious grips,
but when God becomes the Guardian of our treasure, He lays it up where
none can touch it and neither man nor devil can steal it. Our hope is
laid up just as crowns and wreaths were laid up at the Grecian games
for those who won them–no one could snatch them away from their
rightful owners. The rewards were safely retained for the winners, to
be distributed when the contest was over. You see not as yet your hope,
Beloved, but it is laid up–it is hidden with Christ in God and made as
safe as the Throne of God Himself.
Notice the next word, it is laid up, "for you." It is something to have
your hope laid up, but it is much better to have it laid up for
yourself. "Laid up for you." That is, for you whose faith is in Christ
Jesus and who have love to all the saints. There is a crown in Heaven
which will never be worn by any head but yours! There is a harp in
Glory that will never be touched by any fingers but yours. Make no
mistake about it, it is laid up for you in Heaven! It is "reserved in
Heaven for you who are kept by the power of God, through faith unto
salvation." "For you"– "Fear not, little flock; for it is your
Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Lay the stress there
and get honey out of it. "Laid up for
you."
Where is it laid up? The next word tells us. "Laid up for you in
Heaven," "where," says the Savior as though He were expounding the
text, "neither moth nor rust does corrupt." This means that no process
of decay will cause your treasure to become stale and worn out! No
secret moth will eat the garments of Heaven's courtiers and no rust
will tarnish the brightness of their crowns. Our Lord adds, "Nor do
thieves break through nor steal." We cannot imagine a burglar's
breaking through the walls of Heaven! We could not imagine Satan
himself undermining the bastions of the New Jerusalem, or leaping over
the bulwarks which guard the city of the Great King! If your hope is
laid up in Heaven it must be perfectly safe.
If your hope lies in the bank, it may break–if it lies in an empire,
it may melt away. If it lies in an estate, the title-deeds may be
questioned; if it lies in any human creature, death may bereave you. If
it lies in yourself, it is altogether deceitful! But if your hope is
laid up in Heaven, how secure it is! Be glad and bless the Lord. To
show how secure is our hope, the Apostle tells us that we have an
indisputable certificate and guarantee for it. He says, "We heard of it
in the Word of the Truth of the Gospel." Notice these three emphatic
words–"In the Word of the Truth of the Gospel." First, "In the Word."
What word is that? Man's word? Man's words are so much wind! But this
is God's Word, the same Word that made Heaven and earth! A Word of
power which cannot fail and of Truth which cannot lie.
You first hear of this blessed hope through the Word of God and that
Word is the best of evidence. You know how a person will say, "My word
for it"?–Here you have God's Word for it! We take a good man's word
freely and will we not take God's Word much more readily? You have the
Word of God for the sure hope that believers in Christ Jesus shall be
blessed forever–is not this security enough? Our text goes on to say,
"the Word of the Truth." So, then, it is not a word of guess,
conjecture, or of probable inference, but of Infallible Truth! My
Brothers of the modern school, my wise Brothers, have a word of
excogitation, outcome and development–but the word the Apostle
preached was "the Word of the Truth"–something positive, dogmatic and
certain!
Ugly as the word may sound, the Lord grant that we may never be ashamed
of the thing called dogmatism, nowadays, which is none other than faith
in God's Truth! We believe the Word of God not only to be true, but to
be "the Word of the Truth." "Let God be true and every man a liar."
There may be other true things in the world, but God's Word is the
essence of Truth, the Truth beyond all things else that may be true,
for He has said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My Word shall
never pass away." The Apostle says in another place, "All flesh is as
grass and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass
withers, and the flower thereof falls away; but the Word of the Lord
endures forever. And this is the Word which by the Gospel is preached
unto you."
Note the next word, "The Word of the Truth of the Gospel," or of the
Good News. That is to say, the sum and substance of the Good News is to
be found in this glorious hope! If you extract the essence of the
Gospel and get the Truth of God, which is the central germ of the glad
tidings, you come at that blessed hope most sure and steadfast which
enters into that within the veil. Now, then, before your God-created
hope can fail, the Word of God will have to be broken! But the Word of
God cannot be broken! The Truth of God will have to fail, but the Truth
of God abides forever and is by force of its own Nature eternal! And
the Gospel will have to be disproved, but that cannot be, since the
Glory of God is made to hang upon it!
You have heard it, then, "in the Word of the Truth of the Gospel." What
better assurance do you need? Hold to it and rejoice in it and you
shall never be ashamed of your hope!
III. I close by saying that IT IS A MOST POWERFULLY INFLUENTIAL HOPE.
Brothers and Sisters, I have
already said to you that this hope is the parent and nurse of love
because the text says, "The love which you have to all the saints for
the hope which is laid up for you in Heaven." Now, that is no trifling
fountain of action which leads believing hearts to love, since love is
always a working Grace! Oh, for more love in this distracted world!
Whatever in this world promotes Christian love is to be admired and,
since the hope that we shall be forever together before the Throne of
God lifts us above the little disagreements of society and makes us
affectionate to each other, it is a thing to cultivate with care.
Love is one part of the powerful operation of hope upon ourselves, but
hopefulness affects others, also. Where the hopefulness of saints is
conspicuous, it leads ministers and gracious people to give thanks to
God. Paul says, "We give thanks to God and the Father, praying always
for you since we heard of your hope." I do not know a greater delight
that a minister can have than the thought of all his people entering
the bliss of Heaven and of his meeting them all there! We
hardly have time to know each other here below. We have loved each
other in the Lord and we have strived together in the service of
God–and some of us are old fellow-soldiers. Now, after many years of
Christian warfare, how pleasant it will be to dwell together above the
world without end!
Some have gone home whom we dearly loved and would almost have detained
if we could. And there are others among us who in the order of Nature
will soon be translated–happy are we because we cannot long be
separated! The age of some among us prophesies their speedy departure
and foreshadows that they will soon go over to the majority– but it is
a most blessed reflection that all of us who are in Christ shall meet
together above. We shall have ample room and space enough for
fellowship when we have reached eternity–and what will our joy be
then! Perhaps some of you will say to me when we converse in heavenly
language– "You remember talking to us concerning the blessed hope on
that fine Lord's-Day morning, but you did not know much about it! We
said then, 'The half has not been told us,' but now we perceive you did
not tell us the one-hundredth part! Still we were glad to share in the
joy of what little we did know and in the blessed hope of knowing so
much more." Oh yes, dear Friends, because the hope of Heaven in us
helps to make other people thank God on our account, it is a sweet
Grace and mightily influential–and the more we have of it the better!
Moreover, hearing of their hope led the Apostle to pray and, if you
will follow me in reading the words which succeed the text, you will
see what he desired for his friends at Colosse. In the ninth verse you
will see what he prayed for. He says, "For this cause we, also, since
the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to desire that
you might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and
spiritual understanding." Having believed in Jesus and loving His
people, you are going to Heaven and so Paul says, "I desire that you be
filled with the knowledge of His will," and well may he so desire,
since to do that will is the joy and business of Heaven! Is not our
prayer, "Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven"? Brethren, let
us learn the will of the Lord now and so be educated for the skies!
Here we are to go through our apprenticeship that we may be able to
take up our freedom as citizens of the New Jerusalem. Here we are at
school, preparing to take our degree above, among the instructed saints
of God! Are we to enter Heaven ignorant of what the will of the Lord
is? Surely we ought to know something of the ways of the place and
something of the rules of the court! This part of our life below is
intended to be a prelude to our life above–a preparation for
perfection! Here below we undergo the tuning of the instruments. It is
not meet that there should be discordant scrapings and screwing of
strings in Heaven! No, let us do all that here! Let us have our harps
tuned below so that when we reach the orchestra of the skies we may
take our right place and drop into the right note directly. A good hope
should make you eager to know the will of the Lord! It should purify
you even as Christ is pure and make you anxious to begin the perfect
service of Heaven while yet you linger below!
Then the Apostle prays, "that you might walk worthy of the Lord unto
all pleasing." Is it not fit that you who are to rise to Enoch's Heaven
should walk as he did and have this testimony that you please God? You
are going to dwell at God's right hand where there are pleasures
forevermore–would you not wish to do all you can to please your Lord
before you see Him? You are a son or daughter of a King! You have not
put on your glittering array as yet–your crown is not yet on your
head–but surely you wish to behave yourself as becomes one who is
foreordained for so much honor and glory! If a son is in a distant
country and is coming home, he begins to think, "What can I take home?
What can I do to please the beloved father whom I am soon to see?"
Begin, Beloved, to see what you can do to please God because you are so
soon to enter into His pleasure and dwell with those that wear white
robes, "for they are worthy"!
Next he says, "Being fruitful in every good work." Why, if there is to
be such a rich reward of Grace, let us bear all the gracious fruit we
can! And if the time of working is so soon to be over, let us be
instant in every holy labor while yet the season is with us! Who wants
to go into Heaven empty-handed? Who wishes to spend the time of his
sojourning here in idleness? Oh no! Let us seek to be fruitful to the
Glory of God that so we may have an abundant entrance into the kingdom!
The Apostle further adds, "Increasing in the knowledge of God." If I am
going to dwell with God, let me know something of Him. Let me search
His Word and see how He has revealed Himself. Let me endeavor to have
fellowship with Him and His Son, Jesus, that I may know Him. How can I
enter Heaven as a total stranger to Him who is the King of it? Is not
the knowledge of God as necessary as it is desirable?
Those who have a good hope of Heaven will not rest without knowing the
Lord, from the least even to the greatest of them. If anyone were to
make you a present of a great estate, no matter in what country it
might be situated, you
would feel an interest in the land and its neighborhood–and before
nightfall you would be found enquiring about the place! No matter how
rustic the neighborhood or remote the locality, you would set your
thoughts towards it if you knew the estate to be yours. As a usual
thing, one of the driest documents in all the world is a rich man's
will. If you have ever heard one read you will know how it proses on
and on in that rigmarole fashion dear to lawyers! But if you are
present when it is read to the family, please notice how, "my son
John's" eyes clear up when it comes to the clause which concerns
himself and how even the aged countenance of "my faithful servant Jane"
brightens when her small legacy is mentioned! Everyone is on the alert
when his own interests are affected. Even so, he that has a hope in
Heaven and an interest in Christ's great Testament will, at once, take
an interest in Divine things and will desire to increase in the
knowledge of God.
Once again, the Apostle says, "strengthened with all might, according
to His glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with
joyfulness." A hope of Heaven is a mighty strengthener for bearing the
ills of life and the persecutions of the adversary. "It will soon be
over," says a man who looks for Heaven and, therefore, he is not
overweighted with grief. "It is an ill lodging," said the traveler,
"but I shall be away in the morning." Well may we be strengthened with
all might by the hope of Heaven! It is but reason that the exceeding
weight of Heaven should cast into the shade this light affliction which
is but for a moment! You will say, "But have you not worked this part
of the chapter into your subject without any guarantee?"
No. Here is my guarantee in the next verse–"Giving thanks unto the
Father which has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the
saints in light." I have been following the evident track of the
Apostle's thoughts. The Lord gives us a hope of glory and then He gives
us a meetness for it and that meetness is largely worked in us by the
Holy Spirit through the instrumentality of our hope. Cultivate, then,
your hope, dear Brothers and Sisters! Make it to shine so plainly in
you that your minister may hear of your hopefulness and joy! Cause
observers to take note of it because you speak of Heaven and act as
though you really expected to go there! Make the world know that you
have a hope of Heaven! Make worldlings feel that you are a believer in
eternal Glory and that you hope to be where Jesus is!
Often surprise them as they see what they call your simplicity, but
what is, in truth, only your sincerity while you treat as matter of
fact the hope laid up for you in Heaven! The Lord grant it for Jesus
Christ's sake. Amen.