A Round of Delights

DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 11, 1877,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"Now the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that
you may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans
15:13.

THIS is one of the richest passages in the Word of God. It is so full
of instruction that I cannot hope to bring out even so much as a tenth
of its teaching. The Apostle desired that the Roman Christians might be
in the most delightful state of mind, that they should be filled with
joy and peace and that this should lead on to yet further expectations
and create an abundance of hope in their souls. See, dear Friends, the
value of prayer, for if Paul longs to see his friends attain the
highest possible condition, he prays for them! What will prayer not do?
Whatever you desire for yourself or for another, let your desire be
prepared like sweet spices and compounded into a supplication–then
present it to God and the benediction will come.

I gather, also, from Paul's making this state of happiness a subject of
request unto God, that it is possible for it to be attained. We may be
filled with joy and peace in believing and may abound in hope! There is
no reason why we should hang our heads and live in perpetual doubt. We
may not only be somewhat comforted, but we may be full of joy! We may
not only have occasional quiet, but we may dwell in peace and delight
ourselves in the abundance of it. These great privileges are
attainable, or the Apostle would not have made them the subjects of
prayer. Yes, and they are possible for us, as the meaning of the
Epistle to the Romans was not exclusively for the Romans, so this text
belongs to us, also. The words still rise to Heaven as the prayer of
the Apostle for us, upon whom the ends of the earth are come, that we,
also, may be filled with joy and peace and abound in hope through the
Holy Spirit.

The sweetest delights are still grown in Zion's gardens and are to be
enjoyed by us–and shall they be within our reach and not be grasped?
Shall a life of joy and peace be attainable and shall we miss it
through unbelief? God forbid! Let us, as Believers, resolve that
whatever privilege is to be enjoyed we will enjoy–whatever lofty
experience is to be realized, we will, by God's gracious help, ascend
to it, for we wish to know to the fullest the things which are freely
given to us of God. Not, however, in our own strength will we thus
resolve, for this condition of faith, joy and peace must be worked in
us by God alone.

This is clear enough in the text, for it is the God of Hope who, alone,
can fill us with joy and peace. And yet again, our hope which is to
abound will only abound through the power of the Holy Spirit. The fact
that the happy condition described is sought by prayer is a plain
evidence that the blessing comes from a Divine source and the prayer
itself is so worded that the doctrine is prominently presented to the
mind. So, Brothers and Sisters, while we resolve to obtain everything
of privilege that is obtainable, let us set about our efforts in Divine
power, not depending upon our resolutions, but looking for the power of
the Holy Spirit and the energy of the God of Hope.

I shall need you to follow me while I notice, concerning the blessed
state of fullness of joy and peace, first, from where it comes.
Secondly, what it is, taking its delights in detail. And then, thirdly,
what it leads to. We are to be filled with joy and peace that, "we may
abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit."

I. If there is, then, such a condition as being divinely filled with
all joy and peace in believing, FROM WHERE DOES IT COME? The answer is,
it comes from "the God of Hope." But in order that we may see how it
comes, let us look a little at the chapter in which we find our text,
for the connection is instructive. To know joy and peace through
believing, we must begin by knowing what is to be believed–and this we
must learn from Holy Scripture, for there God is revealed as the God of
Hope. Unless God had revealed Himself, we could not have guessed at
hope, but the Scriptures of Truth are windows of hope to us.

Will you kindly read the 4th verse of the chapter and note how
strikingly parallel it is to our text–"For whatever things were
written before, were written for our learning, that we, through
patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." See, then, the
God of Hope is revealed in Scripture with the design of inspiring us
with hope! If we would be filled with faith, joy and peace, it must be
by believing the Truths of God set forth in the Scriptures. Before we
have any inward ground of hope, God Himself, as revealed in the Bible,
must be our hope. We must not ask for joy, first, and then found our
faith upon it, but our joy must grow out of our faith–and that must
rest only upon God.

Our Apostle sets us an example of how to use the Scriptures, for in
this chapter he searches out the Truth from Moses, David and Isaiah,
and then places one text with another and gets a clear view of the
testimony of God. What is very much to our point, he sees in those
Scriptures that to us Gentiles, God has of old been set forth in the
Scriptures as the God of Hope. Before it seemed as if salvation were of
the Jews and of the Jews, alone, and we were shut out. But now, on
turning to the Old Testament itself, we discover that God had spoken
good things concerning us before we knew Him. There was always hope for
the Gentiles–and though Israel perceived it not–Patriarchs and kings
and Prophets full often spoke words which could not be interpreted
otherwise.

"In you and in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed"
is a promise which leaped over the bounds of Canaan! As, then, by
searching, the Apostle found in the Word of God hope for the Gentiles,
so will the most heavy laden and burdened spirit discover sources of
consolation if the Bible is diligently read and faithfully believed.
Every promise is meant to inspire the Believer with hope–therefore use
it to that end. Use the written Word as the source of comfort and do
not look for dreams, excitements, impressions or feelings. Faith deals
with the Scriptures and with the God of Hope as therein revealed and
out of these it draws its fullness of joy and peace. Beloved, if you
desire to get faith in Christ, or to increase it, be diligent in
knowing and understanding the Gospel of your salvation as set forth in
the Word of God.

"Faith comes by hearing," or by reading the Word of God. How shall you
believe that which you do not know? Do not, at once, make an effort to
believe before you are instructed. First know what God has revealed.
See how He has displayed to you the hope of everlasting life and then
believe with all your heart the testimony of God. Every promise and
Word of God must be to you a foundation most sure and steadfast whereon
to build your hope. Let your anchor grasp and hold to each revealed
Truth of God, whatever your feelings may be.

We begin, then, by saying that fullness of joy and peace comes to us
from the God of Hope as He reveals Himself in Holy Scriptures. As it is
written, "Hear, and your soul shall live," so do we find that we must
hear if our soul is to rejoice. Now, it so happens that the Scriptures
were not only written that the Gentiles might have hope, but that they
might have joy. I ask you to notice the passages quoted by the Apostle,
for at least the last three of them call us to joy. Thus in verse 10,
Moses says, " Rejoice, you Gentiles, with His people." If there is any
joy for the elect nation, it is for us, also, who believe. If there is
any joy for Israel, redeemed out of Egypt, led through the Red Sea, fed
with manna and brought to the borders of Canaan, that joy is for us,
also!

If there is any joy for the Jews over the burnt offering. If any joy at
the paschal supper. If any delight at the Jubilee. All that joy may be
shared by us, for thus says the Lord, "Rejoice, you Gentiles, with His
people." Joy in their joy! Again, David says (verse 11), "Praise the
Lord, all you Gentiles; and laud Him, all you people." Now, where there
is praise, there is joy, for joy is a component element of it! They
that praise the Lord aright, rejoice before Him. Go, you Gentiles, when
David bids you, and unite with Israel in praising God! He bids you take
full possession of the joy which moves the favored nation to magnify
the Lord!

Again, Isaiah says, "There shall be a root of Jesse, and He that shall
rise to reign over the Gentiles; in Him shall the Gentiles trust," or,
as it should be translated, "hope." Now, hope is ever the source ofjoy!
So, then, in the Scriptures we see God is the God of Hope. And on
further search we see that the hope of the Gentiles permits them to
rejoice with His people. In fact, we see that God Himself is the hope
of all those who know Him–and the consequent source of joy and peace.
Again, then, I am brought to this, that, to begin with, the joy and
peace which we all desire to obtain must be sought through a knowledge
of the God of Hope as He is revealed to us in the Scriptures. We must
begin with that sure Word of testimony where we do well if we take heed
as unto a light that shines in a dark place.

There must be belief in God as revealed in the Word, even though as yet
we see no change within ourselves, nor any conceivable internal ground
in our nature for hope or joy! Blessed is he who has not seen and yet
has believed–he who can hang upon God without the comfort of inward
experience is on the high road to being filled with joy and peace! The

Apostle, in the text, leads us through the Scriptures to God, Himself,
who is personally to fill us with joy and peace, by which I understand
that He is to become the great Object of our joy! As Israel in the Red
Sea triumphed in the Lord, even so do we joy in God by our Lord Jesus
Christ.

Like David, we say, "Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God, my
exceeding joy." And with Isaiah we sing, "I will greatly rejoice in the
Lord; my soul shall be joyful in my God." When first the Lord looked
upon us through the windows of His Word we began to hope. By-and-by His
good Spirit caused our hoping to grow into believing. And since then,
as our knowledge of the Lord has increased, our believing has risen to
fullness of joy! Our God is a blessed God, so that to believe in Him is
to find rest unto the soul and to commune with Him is to dwell in
bliss! Beloved, when you think of God, the Just One, apart from Christ,
you might well tremble, but when you see Him in Jesus, His very justice
becomes precious to you as "the amazing crystal," and you learn to
build it into the foundation of your joy!

The holiness of God, which before awed you, becomes supremely
attractive when you see it revealed in the Person of Jesus Christ your
Lord! How charming is "the glory of God in the face of Christ." As for
the love of God, as you see it set forth in this Book and in His Son,
it inspires you with every sacred passion. As for His eternal
Immutability, it becomes the groundwork of your peace, for if He
changes not, then all His promises will stand sure to you and to all
His people from generation to generation. His power, which was once so
terrible in the thunder and in the storm, now becomes delightful to you
as you see it yoked to the promise that the promise may be fulfilled
and behold it concentrated in the Man, Christ Jesus, that His purposes
may be achieved.

In fact, there is no attribute of God, there is no purpose of God,
there is no deed of God, there is no aspect under which God is seen,
but what becomes the object of the Christian's joy when he has seen Him
and believed in Him as revealed in the Scriptures! To the Believer, God
is his sun, his shield, his portion, his delight, his all! His soul
delights herself in the Lord. At first he hoped in God that, perhaps,
He would smile upon him. He turned to the Scriptures and he found,
there, many a cheering declaration and these he knew to be true and,
therefore, he believed God that He would do as He had said! And now not
only has his hope become faith, but his faith has budded and blossomed
and brought forth the almonds of joy and peace.

You see, then, how the Lord is the Author of all our holy gladness. Our
God is, however, called the God of Hope, not only because He is the
Object of our hope and the ground of our joy and peace, but because He
it is that works hope and joy in us. No joy is worth having unless the
Lord is the beginning and the end of it. And no joy is worth receiving
unless it springs from hope in Him. He must breathe peace upon us, or
else the storm-tossed waters of our spirit will never rest–nor is it
desirable that they should–for peace without God is stupefaction, joy
without God is madness and hope without God is presumption!

In true Believers their hope, faith, joy and peace are all of Divine
workmanship. Our spiritual raiment is never homespun–we are Divinely
arrayed from head to foot. This blessed name of "God of Hope" belongs
to the New Testament and is a truly Gospel title. Livy tells us that
the Romans had a god of hope, but he says that the temple was struck by
lightning and in a later book he adds that it was burned to the ground.
Exceedingly typical this is of whatever hope can come to nations which
worship gods of their own making. All idol hopes must perish beneath
the wrath of the Most High! The god of unenlightened human nature is
only sufficiently enlightened to discover its sin and is the God of
Terror! In fact, to many, the Lord is the God of Despair.

But when you turn to the Revelation of God in Scripture, you find Him
to be a God whose gracious Character inspires hope and from then on you
turn away from everything else to fix your hope on God alone. "My soul,
wait you only upon God, for my expectation is from Him." God, in Christ
Jesus, has ceased to be the dread of men and has become their hope! Our
Father and our Friend, we look for all to You! And, blessed be God, the
hope which He excites is a hope worthy of Him! It is a God-like hope–a
hope which helps us to purify ourselves. At first we hope in God for
cleansing from every sin and then for acceptance here and hereafter. We
hope for pardon through the Atonement which is in Christ Jesus and when
we have it, we hope for sanctification by the Spirit.

Our hope never ceases to rise higher and higher and to receive
fulfillment after fulfillment–and we know that it shall continue to do
so till we rise to dwell at His right hand forever and ever. He who
grasps this hope has a soul-satisfying portion for which a man might
well be content to suffer a thousand martyrdoms if he might but abide
in it! It is a hope which only God could have contrived for man–a hope
founded in Himself–a hope presented to the sons of

men in Christ Jesus because His sacrifice has been presented and
accepted. It is a hope which God alone can inspire in men, for even if
they hear the Gospel they do not find hope till He comes in power to
their souls! It is a hope which always adores God and lies low at His
feet, never dreaming of being independent of Him. It is a hope which
lays her crown at His feet and takes Him to be her Lord forever and
ever. This is the hope which is the mother of our joy and peace–and
only as it is worked in us by the Lord can we be truly happy and
restful.

II. Secondly, let us enquire, WHAT IS THIS BLESSED STATE OF MIND of
which we have spoken a little? Let us look into the words. He says,
"That the God of Hope may fill you with all joy and peace in
believing." This is a state of mind most pleasant, for to be filled
with joy is a rare delight, reminding one of Heaven. It is, however, a
state as safe as it is pleasant, for the man who has the joy which God
gives him may be quite easy in the enjoyment of it. The best of the
world's joy is but for a season–while you are enjoying it you fear it
will soon be over–and what then? Earth's best candles will soon burn
out. The day of this world's mirth will end in a night of misery!

These thoughts mar and sour all fleeting joys. But the joy which God
gives has no afterthought about it. It is wholesome and safe and
abiding. We may drink our full without being sickened, yes, revel in it
without worry. At the same time it is most profitable joy, for the more
a man has of this joy the better man he will be. It will not soften him
and render him effeminate, for it has a singular strengthening power
about it. There is, doubtless, a tonic influence in sorrow, but holy
joy is, also, exceedingly invigorating, for it is written, "The joy of
the Lord is your strength." The more happy we can be in our God, the
more thoroughly will the will of Christ be fulfilled in us, for He
desired that our joy might be full.

The more you rejoice in God, the more you will recommend true religion.
The more full of delight you are, especially in trying times, the more
you will glorify God! Few things are at the same time both pleasant and
profitable, but holy joy and peace possess that double excellence.
Fullness of spiritual joy is both the index and the means of spiritual
strength. I commend this state, therefore, to you! I trust that we
shall not be so unbelieving as to be afraid of Heaven's own
consolations, nor so unreasonable as to decline to be filled with joy
and peace when they may be had by believing.

Now, notice, that it is a state which has varieties in it. It is joy
and peace–and it may be either. Sometimes the Believer is full of joy.
Joy is active and expressive. It sparkles and flashes like a diamond.
It sings and dances like David before the Ark. To be filled with holy
joy is a delicious excitement of the sweetest kind! May you often
experience it until strangers are compelled to infer that the Lord has
done great things for you! Nevertheless, the flesh is weak and might
hardly endure continuous delight and so there comes a relief, in the
lovely form of peace, in which the heart is really joyous but after a
calm and quiet manner.

I have seen the ringers make the pinnacles of a Church tower reel to
and fro while they have made the joy bells sound out to the fullest.
And then they have played quietly and let the fabric settle down again.
Even thus does joy strain the man, but peace comes in to give him rest.
In this peace there is not much to exhilarate, not much which could
fittingly be spoken out in song–but silence, full of infinite
meaning–becomes the floodgate of the soul. You seek not the exulting
assembly, but the calm shade and the quiet chamber. You are as happy as
you were in your joy, but not so stirred and moved. Peace is resting
joy–joy is dancing peace! Joy cries hosanna before the Well-Beloved,
but peace leans her head on His bosom.

In the midst of bereavements and sickness we may scarcely be able to
rejoice, but we may be at peace. When faith cannot break through a
troop with her sacred joy, she stands still and sees the salvation of
God in hallowed peace. We work with joy and rest with peace. What a
blessing it is that when we come to die, if we cannot depart with the
banners of triumphant joy all flying in the breeze, we can yet fall
asleep safely in the arms of peace. How pleasant a life do they lead
who are not the subjects of any great excitement, but maintain calm and
quiet communion with God. Their heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.
They neither soar nor sink, but keep the even tenor of their way.

It is a state of mind, then, which admits of variations, and I really
do not know which to choose out of its two forms. I should not like to
be without joy and yet I think there is something so solid about peace
that I might almost give it the preference. I think I love the quiet
sister the better of the two. That famous text in Isaiah–"They shall
mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and
they shall walk and not faint" looks somewhat like an anti-climax. It
would appear to place the greatest, first, and then the less–and then
the least–but it is not so. The mounting up

with wings as eagles must always be more or less temporary–we are not
eagles and cannot always be on the wing. The Lord renews our strength
like the eagles and this shows we are not always up to the eagle's
mark.

Well, though it is a grand thing to be able to fly, it is a better
thing to be able to run! This is more like a man, involves less danger
and is more practically useful. It is good to run, but even that is not
the best journey pace! It is best of all to walk, for this is a steady,
persevering pace in which to move. "Enoch walked with God." This is
God's pace, who even when He makes clouds, His chariot is described as
walking upon the wings of the wind. We read of the walk of faith and
the walk of holiness, for walking is practical and is meant for every
day. You young people, I like to see you run and I am glad to take a
turn at it myself, but, after all, steady, sober, unwearied walking is
the best. To walk without fainting is a high experimental attainment
and is none the less valuable because at first sight there seems
nothing striking about it. Walking is the emblem of peace and running
and mounting up with wings as eagles are the emblems of joy.

But, Beloved, this blessed state is, also, a compound, for we are bid
at one and the same time to receive both wine and milk–wine
exhilarating with joy and milk satisfying with peace. "You shall go out
with joy, and be led forth with peace." You shall lie down in the green
pastures of delight and be led by the still waters of quietness. Our
heart may be as an ocean, gloriously casting upward its spray of joy
and lifting up its waves on high in delight, as one claps his hands for
joy. And yet, at the same time, as down deep in the coral caverns all
is still and undisturbed, so may the heart be quiet as a sleeping babe.
We see no difficulty in understanding both lines of the hymn–

"My heart is resting, O my God, I will give thanks and sing."

We rest and praise–as trees hold to the earth by their roots and
perfume the air with their blooms–as morning comes without the sound
of a trumpet and yet awakens the music of birds by its arising. Ours is
no froth of joy–there is solid peace beneath our effervescence of
delight. Happy are we to have learned how to combine two such choice
things–

"Joy is a fruit that will not grow

In nature's barren soil.

All we can boast, till Christ we know,

Is vanity and toil.

But where the Lord has planted Grace, And made His glories known, These
fruits of heavenlyjoy and peace Are found, and there alone."

Now, I need you to lay stress on the next observation I am about to
make because I began with it and wish to leave it upon your minds as
the chief thought. The joy and peace here spoken of are through
believing. You come to know the God of Hope through the Scriptures
which reveal Him. By this you are led to believe in Him and it is
through that believing that you become filled with joy and peace!

It is not by working, nor by feeling that we become full of joy! Our
peace does not arise from the marks, evidences and experiences which
testify to us that we are the sons of God, but simply from believing.
Our central joy and peace must always come to us, not as an inference
from the internal work of the Spirit in our souls, but from the
finished work of the Lord Jesus and the promises of God contained in
the Scriptures. We must continue to look out of self to the written
Word wherein the Lord is set forth before us. And we must rest in God
in Christ Jesus as the main basis of our hope–not depending upon any
other arguments than those supplied by the Bible, itself. I will show,
by-and-by, how we shall afterwards reach to a hope which flows out of
the work of the Spirit within us, but at the first, and, I think,
permanently and continuously, the main ground of the surest joy and
truest peace must come to us through simply believing in Jesus Christ.

Beloved, I know that I have been converted, for I am sure that there is
a change of heart in me. Nevertheless, my hope of eternal life does not
hang upon the inward fact. I rest in the external fact that God has
revealed Himself in Jesus as blotting out the sin of all His believing
people, and, as a Believer, I have the Word of God as my guarantee of
forgiveness. This is my rest! Because I am a Believer in Christ Jesus,
therefore I have hope, therefore I have joy and peace, since God has
declared that, "He that believes in Him has everlasting life." This joy
can only safely come through believing and I pray, Brothers and
Sisters, you never drift away from child-like faith in what God has
said! It is very easy to obtain a

temporary joy and peace through your present easy experience, but how
will you do when all things within take a troublous turn?

Those who live by feeling change with the weather! If you ever put
aside your faith in the finished work to drink from the cup of your own
inward sensations, you will find yourself bitterly disappointed. Your
honey will turn to gall, your sunshine into blackness–for all things
which come of man are fickle and deceptive. The God of Hope will fill
you with joy and peace, but it will only be through believing! You will
still have to stand as a poor sinner at the foot of the Cross, trusting
to the complete Atonement. You will never have joy and peace unless you
do. If you once begin to say, "I am a saint, there is something good in
me," and so on, you will find joy evaporate and peace depart. Hold on
to your believing!

Come back to the text, again, and you will find that this joy and
peace, according to Paul, are of a superlative character, for, after
his manner, Paul makes language for himself. He often manufactures a
superlative by the use of the word "all," as here, "Fill you with all
joy." He means with the best and highest degree of joy! He means with
as much joy as you can hold–with the very choicest and most full of
joys in earth or in Heaven. God give you the joy of joys, the light of
delight, the Heaven of Heaven! Then notice the comprehensiveness of his
prayer. "All joy"–that is joy in God the Father's love, joy in God the
Son's redeeming blood, joy in God the Holy Spirit's indwelling–joy in
the Covenant of Grace, joy in the seal and witness of it, joy in the
promises, joy in the decrees, joy in the doctrines, joy in the
precepts, joy in everything which comes from God! "All joy." Paul also
requests for them all peace–peace with God, peace of conscience, peace
with one another, peace, even, with the outside world, as far as peace
may be. May you all have it.

And now observe the degree of joy and peace which he wishes for
them–"that you may be filled"–and that by the God of Hope, Himself!
God alone knows our capacity and where the vacuum lies which most needs
filling. A man might try to fill us and fail, but God, who made us,
knows every corner and cranny of our nature and can pour in joy and
peace till every portion of our being is flooded, saturated and
overflowed with delight! I like to remember David's words, "The rain,
also, fills the pools," for even thus does the Lord pour His Grace upon
the thirsty soil of our hearts till it stands in pools! As the sun
fills the world with light and enters into all places, even so the God
of Hope, by His Presence, lights up every part of our nature with the
golden light of joyous peace till there is not a corner left for
sadness or foreboding!

This is Paul's prayer and he expects its answer to come to us through
believing and in no other way. He does not ask for mysterious
revelations, dreams, visions, or presumptuous persuasions. He seeks for
us no excitement of fanaticism nor the intoxication of great crowds and
pleasing oratory. Neither does he seek that we may imagine ourselves to
be perfect and all that kind of lumber, but that we may be happy
through simply believing in the God of Hope as He is set forth in the
Bible! I take this Book of God into my hands and say, "Whatever things
are written here were written for my learning, that through patience
and comfort of the Scriptures I might have hope." I do have hope, for I
believe this Book and now I feel joy and peace welling up within my
soul! Brethren, receive this benediction! O Lord, fulfill it in the
heart of every Believer before You!

III. Now thirdly, WHAT DOES THIS LEAD TO? "Lead to?" asks one, "Lead
to, why surely it is enough in itself. What more is needed?" When a man
brings you into a chamber vaulted with diamonds and amethysts, and
pearls and rubies–with walls composed of slabs of gold and the floor
made of solid pavements of silver–we would be astonished if he said,
"This is a passage to something richer, still." Yet the Apostle directs
us to this fullness ofjoy and peace through believing that we may, by
its means, reach to something else– "that you may abound in hope
through the power of the Holy Spirit." How often do great things in the
Bible, like the perpetual cycles of Nature, begin where they end and
end where they begin? If we begin with the God of Hope, we are wound up
into holy joy and peace that we may come back to hope again and to
abounding in it by the power of the Holy Spirit!

First, I notice that the hope here mentioned arises, not out of pure
believing, but out of the joy created in us by our having believed!
Hope led to faith, faith to joy and now joy back, again, to hope. This
is the story as far as I am concerned–I began with believing. I felt
nothing good within me, but I believed in what God revealed concerning
Himself. I saw nothing, but I believed on the ground that God said so.
I soon had joy and peace in my soul as the result of my faith and now,
because of this joy and peace, I hope and expect further blessings!
Though still resting my soul upon the finished work of Jesus, yet hopes
do arise from the work of the Holy Spirit within me! The God who has
caused me,

by believing, to rejoice that the past is all atoned for and who has
given me peace because my sins are forgiven for His name's sake, will
not dash that joy by revoking my pardon!

He who has given me joy because He has quickened me and has, up to this
day, preserved me, will not, I am persuaded, forsake me and suffer me
to perish! Surely He will never leave me, after having done so much for
me! My present joy gives me a hope, most sure and steadfast, that He
will never turn His back upon me. If He did not intend to bless me in
the future, He would not have done so much for me in the past–and He
could not and would not be doing so much for me now. This hope, you
perceive, drinks its life at the fountain of personal experience. The
first hope we ever know comes together with our simply believing the
Word of God. But now there arises in us an abounding of hope which is
the outgrowth of the inward life. Fear is banished, now, for we have
looked to the God of Hope and found acceptance in the Beloved.

Now, therefore, in the chamber where Fear formerly dwelt, Hope takes up
its residence–azure-winged, bright-eyed Hope makes its nest there and
sings to us all the day long! The text speaks of an abounding hope and
if you consider, for a while, you will see that very much hope must
arise to a Christian out of his spiritual joy. If you have once been in
the bosom of Jesus and known His joy, your hope will overflow! For
instance, you will argue–He has pardoned my sins and made me to
rejoice as a forgiven man–will He condemn me, after all? What does the
pardon mean if, after all, the transgressions are to be laid upon me
and I am to suffer for my sins?

The Believer has great joy because God's love is shed abroad in his
soul and he argues that if the Lord loves him so intensely now, He will
not undergo a change and remove His love. He who in love redeemed me by
the blood of His Son will love me eternally, for He changes not! Is not
this a sound argument? Grace enjoyed is a pledge of Glory! Redeeming
love is the guarantee of preserving love! Acceptance with God today
creates a blessed hope of acceptance forever! Faith and joy within the
soul sing to one another somewhat after this fashion–

"His smiles ha ve freed my heart from pain,

My drooping spirits cheered

And will He not appear again

Where He has once appeared?

Has He not formed my soul anew,

And caused my light to shine

And will He now His work undo,

Or break His Word Divine?"

Perfectly assured of the Lord's goodness, the man confronts the future
without fear and, in due time, approaches death without dismay. Since
the Lord has begun to make us like His Son, we conclude that He will
perfect His work and raise us from our graves in the full image of our
Redeemer.

He has already given us to know something of the joy of Christ who
prayed that His joy might be fulfilled in us that our joy might be full
and, therefore, we are sure that we shall bask in the joy of Heaven. We
will, therefore, lie down in peace and rest when our last day on earth
shall come, for we shall rise with Jesus–of this we have no doubt. We
shall enter into the joy of the Lord, for we have entered into it
already! Thus out of peace and joy there grow the noblest of human
hopes. Little enjoyment, like a weak telescope, gives us but a faint
prospect, but great enjoyment is an optic glass of marvelous power and
brings great things near to us.

Joy and peace are specimens of Heaven's felicities and set the soul
both hoping and hungering. Having tasted of the grapes of Eshcol, we
believe in the land which flows with milk and honey and long to rest
under the branches which bear such luscious clusters! We have seen the
Celestial City far away, but the light of it is so surpassing that we
have longed to walk its golden streets, yes, and have felt sure of
doing so before long! He who has seen a little of the light of the
morning expects more eagerly the noonday. He who has waded into the
river of joy up to the ankles, becomes eager to enter it still further
till he finds it a river to swim in, "wherein the soul is borne along
by a sacred current of unutterable delight."

Up, you saints, to your Pisgah of joy, for there you shall have a full
view of Canaan which stretches before you and is soon to be yours!
Whatever your joy and peace may be now, you ought to see at once that
they are meant to be only a platform from which you are to look for
something brighter and better–you are filled with joy and peace that
you may abound in hope! Our Apostle rightly adds, "by the power of the
Holy Spirit," for I take it that this is partly mentioned

by way of caution because there are hopes rising out of inward
experience which may turn out to be fallacious and, therefore, we must
discriminate between the hope of Nature and the hope of Grace.

I have heard young people say, "I know I am saved, because I am so
happy." Be not too sure of that. Many people think themselves very
happy and yet they are not saved. The world has a happiness which is a
fatal sign and a peace which is the token of spiritual death.
Discernment, therefore, is needed, lest we mistake the calm before a
storm for the rest which the Lord gives to those who come unto Him.
Hope may arise out of our joy, but we must mind that we do not fix our
confidence in it or we shall have a sandy foundation. The solid Grace
of hope which abides and remains in the soul is born of faith through
the Word of God!

Let me begin again with you lest there should be any mistake. You hear
of the God of Hope and are led to believe in God as He is revealed in
Scripture. So far all is plain sailing. If you believe in the Christ of
God, you obtain joy and peace, but these are results, not causes! You
must not begin with your own joy and peace and say, "My hope of
salvation is built upon the happiness I have felt of late." This will
never do! Begin, first of all, with the Scriptures, not with your
feelings or fancies, nor with your impressions and excitements–these
will be ruinous as a foundation! Begin with God revealed in Christ
Jesus as the God of Hope and let your joy and your peace come from your
believing in Him!

Then afterwards it will be fair enough to draw arguments for the
abounding hope, but it must be by the Holy Spirit. That hope which is
worth having, which springs from inward experience, must still be
worked in us by the Holy Spirit and I will show you how it is natural
that it should be so. We ask ourselves, "How shall I hold on to the
end?" The answer will be suggested by another question, "How have I
held on till now?" I feel, now, a joy and peace because my faith has
been sustained until this day–how have I been preserved up to now? By
the Holy Spirit! Then He is able to keep me to the end!

I feel joy and peace, already, because in some measure sin is conquered
in me. How will my soul be yet further sanctified and sin cast out of
me? Why, by the same Holy Spirit who has already renewed me! I have had
an earnest of what He can do and, therefore, I have an abounding of
hope of what He will do. My joyful experience of His indwelling,
comforting, illuminating and sanctifying power leads me into a full and
confident assurance that He will carry on the work of Grace and present
me complete at the Last Great Day. Beloved, go forward, keeping close
to the groundwork of faith, and you will feel joy and peace in your
hearts!

Expect what you will. "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have
entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for
them that love Him." Expect great things, expect things beyond all
expectation! Your largest hopes shall all be exceeded! Hope and hope,
and yet hope again, and each time hope more and more, but the Lord will
give you more than you have hoped for! When you enter His palace gates
at the last, you will say, "My imagination never conceived it! My
desires never compassed it! My hope never expected it! The glory
surpasses all! The tenth has not been told me of the things which God
had provided for me!" "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say,
rejoice." Amen.
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