afide all thoughts about our happiness in another world, and to take the fwing in carnal lufts and pleafures; faying, there is no hope, but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart. But eternal glory and happiness being what God has prepared and promifed, what is to be had through Chrift, and that by finners, even the chief of them, there is hope in Ifrael concerning this thing; and the leaft encouragement given to a fenfible finner, hope lays hold upon; and it improves every hint and circumstance to its own advantage; fuch a foul putteth his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope; and as the poffibility and probability of happiness appear to him, so in proportion his hope rifes. 5thly, It is of things certain, which have a real being, and which are folid and substantial; and which not only faith is the fubftance of, but they are really laid up in heaven, are in the hands of Christ, and shall certainly be enjoyed; and of which the hoping chriftian has no reason to doubt: and there is not only a certainty in the object of hope, but there is fuch a firmness and stability in the grace itself, that the foul in the lively exercise of it rejoices in hope of the glory of God; and which is fo fure unto him, that he is even faid to be already faved by hope". 6thly, True hope is always attended with faith: these two graces go together; where the one is the other is; they are wrought by the fame hand, and at the same time, in regeneration; and are more or lefs exercised together; though the one may be at fome times more visible in its exercife than the other; and there may be hope when faith is fcarcely discernible; yet faith is at the bottom, and is the fubftance of things hoped for; and without which there would be no hope; and fome of the acts of these graces are fo fimilar, fo much like to one another, that they are scarcely to be difcerned and distinguished from each other; and therefore are put for one another: So what is called trusting in Chrift, Eph. i. 12. is in the Greek text hoping in Chrift; and thefe two are joined together in Jer. xvii. 7. I proceed, Secondly, To fhew the original of this grace, that it is of God, and a gift of his; for this clause, and good hope through grace, is in connection with the words preceding, and our Lord Jefus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath given both everlasting comfort and good hope. As faith, fo hope, is not of ourselves, it is the gift of God; and what is faid of the one is true of the other, that all men have it not. Hope is not to be found naturally in men; nor is it in any natural man, in a man that is in a state of unregeneracy; fuch may exVOL. I. • Jer. xviii. 12. 3 M i Ephes. ii. 8. z Thefs. iii. 2. prefs prefs it, but not experience it; it is too commonly and too profanely said,. "As I hope to be faved;" when fuch who use the phrase know not what a good hope through grace is; it is the character of God's own people before converfion, that they are without hope, as well as without God and Chrift in the world: This is a grace which is wrought in the foul in regeneration by the Spirit of God, and is one of his fruits; it is implanted by him, and grows up under his influence; it is through him believers wait for the hope of righteoufnefs by faith; and it is through his power they abound in the exercise of it: No man has it till he is born again; for he is, of abounding grace, begotten to it: Bleed be the God and Father of our Lord Jefus Chrift, which, according to his abundant mercy, bath begotten us again to a lively hope, by the refurrection of Jefus Chrift from the dead'; by which it appears, as well as from our text, that God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ have a concern in the production of a good. and lively hope; that it is owing to the abundant mercy of the one, and the refurrection of the other, who was raised and glorified that our faith and hope might be in God"; and that it is not until a man is regenerated; whatever hope he has before, is not a lively one, and fo not a good one: The gofpel is the ordinary means by which it is ingenerated, and therefore may be called the hope of the gospel"; and certain it is, that the gospel being good news, and glad tidings of good things, of peace, pardon, righteoufnefs, and falvation by Chrift, tends greatly to encourage and promote hope; its doctrines being doctrines of grace, and its promifes being free, abfolute, and unconditional, are calculated for this purpose, and greatly ferve it; from these the heirs of promise have strong confolation, who flee to Christ and lay hold on the hope fet before them; the promises. they are heirs of, and which yield them comfort, encourage their hope in Chrift, who is fet before them, in the gospel, as the object of it; and, generally speaking, it is a word of promise which the holy Spirit brings home and applies to the Soul, which is the ground and foundation of its hope: Hence fays David, Remember the word unto thy fervant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. Indeed whatsoever is written in the fcriptures is written for our ufe, profit, and learning, that we through comfort of them might have hope"; and there are many. things which, under a divine bleffing, ferve to cultivate and increase this grace; as the confideration of the power and faithfulness of God in his promises; the free grace and mercy of God difplayed in falvation by Chrift; the fufferings, death, refurrection, and interceffion of Chrift; and prefent experiences and a recollection of paft ones; for experience worketh hope: But then the caufe, means, motives and encouragements of it, all fhew it to be of the grace of God, and a gift of his. And which may further appear, by, part of Thirdly, Explaining in what sense it is through grace. Grace is the fpring and fource of it; it comes to us from and through the grace of God; it is a that grace, which the God of all grace is the donor of; it is a part of the fulnefs of grace which is in Chrift the Mediator, and is had of him; it is a part of that grace which the spirit of grace operates, and is the author of in conversion. Grace alfo is the object of it. The words may be literally rendered from the original text, and good hope, ev gaun, "in grace," and fo the phrafe is the fame with hoping in the mercy of God': the mercy of God in Chrift is the ground and foundation of hope; and is not only the motive and encouragement to it, let Ifrael hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy'; but is the thing itself, which hope is converfant with: the fenfible finner, or hoping chriftian, hopes in the pardoning, justifying, and adopting grace of God, through Chrift; he hopes that the good work of grace is begun in him; and he hopes and believes it will be performed until the day of Chrift; he hopes for larger measures of grace from Chrift, to enable him to do his will and work, to oppose his own corruptions, to withstand Satan's temptations, and to discharge his duty to God and man; he hopes the grace of Chrift will be fufficient for him, or that a fufficient. fupply of it will be given him, to carry him through all the trials and difficulties of life; he hopes that his covenant-God and Father will supply all his need out of his riches in glory by Chrift, and that God will give him perfevering grace to hold on and out unto the end; he hopes for grace to be brought to him at the appearance of Chrift; and he hopes for glory, which is the perfection of grace. Moreover, a good hope through grace is an hope that is exercised through the grace of God; that is to fay, that a man hopes for fuch and fuch things, and that he fhall have them; not through any merits of his own, or through works of righteoufnefs done by him, but through the grace and mercy of God. Thus for instance, ft, Let the thing hoped for be falvation, as David fays, Lord, I have hoped for thy falvation: this the fenfible foul knows is not by works, but by grace; and therefore he hopes for it, not through the one, but through the other: he is well affured that God faves and calls men, not according to their works, but according to his own purpose and grace; that it is not by works of righteousnefs they have done they are faved, but according to the mercy of God through the blood of Christ, and washing of regeneration; and that they are faved by grace, and not merit, to prevent boasting in the creature; and therefore he hopes for it in this way, and in this only and it is its being by grace which encourages him to hope for it; for were it by works, he should for ever despair of obtaining it. He observes, that it is freely wrought out by Chrift, who came into the world 3 M 2 world having falvation, and is become the author of it; that it is already done,. Christ on the crofs faid, it is finished", and now he is on the throne, he says, it is done, and fo compleatly done, that nothing is wanting in it, nor can any thing be added to it; and therefore the man that is acquainted with all this, hopes for it through the grace of Christ, that has wrought it, without any works. of his he further obferves, that Chrift came to feek, and to fave loft finners; yea, that it is a truth to be depended on, and is worthy of his acceptation and the acceptation of others, that Chrift came into the world to fave the chief of finners; and that the worst and vileft have been washed, cleanfed, fan&tified, and justified, in the name of the Lord Jefus, and by the Spirit of our God; and therefore he hopes for falvation through the fame grace and favour that has been shown to them, though he has been as bad as they, and may think himself worse; he takes notice that Chrift is lifted up in the miniftry of the word, as the brazen ferpent was lifted up on the pole, that whoever looks to him and believes on him fhould not perish, but have everlasting life; he is encouraged by the gospel-declaration that whoever believes in him shall be saved; and by the gospel instruction given to a fenfible finner in his cafe, believe on the Lord Jefus Chrift, and thou fhalt be faved; which he confiders as wonderful difplays of the grace of God in Chrift, through which he is enabled to hope in him. 2dly, Let it be the pardon of fin he is hoping for: As fin is the first thing the Spirit of God convinces a man of, it is the pardon of it that he in the first place feeks after; and when he understands the right way in which it is to be had, he hopes for it; not through his tears, humiliations, and repentance, but. through the grace of God ftreaming in the blood of Jefus: He finds that God only can forgive fin, against whom it is committed; that this is his fole prerogative, which he exercises in a free and fovereign manner; that he has promifed, in covenant to his people, that he will be merciful to their unrighteoufness, and their fins and their iniquities will he remember no more; that he has proclaimed his name in his gospel, a God pardoning iniquity, tranfgreffion and fin*; and that there is none like him on that account; and therefore he is greatly encouraged to turn to the Lord, who will abundantly pardon, and to hope in his mercy: He understands by the facred writings, that God fet forth his Son to be the propitiation for fin; and that he fent him forth in the fulness of time to shed his blood for the remiffion of it, there being no remiffion without fhedding of blood; and that he has exalted him at his right hand, to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance unto Ifrael, and forgiveness of fins; and therefore he hopes for it through him, feeing with him there is mercy and plenteous redemption: And though he obferves that forgiveness of fin is through the blood of Chrift, yet John xix. 39. z Heb. viii. 12. w Rev. xxi. 6. according y · A&s xvi. 3.1. according to the riches of divine grace, and comes through the tender mercy of our God; and therefore he hopes for it, not according to his own merit, but according to the multitude of God's tender mercies. The gofpel declaration, that whosoever believes in Chrift, fhall receive remiffion of fins; and the many inftances of pardoning grace and mercy, even fuch that have been great finners, and whofe fins were attended with aggravated circumstances; as David, who was guilty of murder and adultery; Manaffeb, of most abominable crimes; Peter, of denying his Lord and Mafter; Saul, the perfecutor, the blafphemer, and the injurious perfon; and the notorious finner fpoken of, who loved much because much was forgiven her; all these engage to the exercife of hope for pardon, through the free grace and mercy of God. 3dly, Let it be eternal life which is the thing hoped for, as that is; in hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lye, promifed before the world began, fays the apostle; hence eternal glory and happiness being the object of hope, is called the bleffed hope, and the hope which is laid up in heaven. Now, eternal life is the gift of God, through Jefus Christ our Lord; it is that kingdom which it is our heavenly Father's good pleafure to give unto his children; it is what he of his rich grace has prepared for them, and promifed to them, calls them unto, makes them meet for, and beftows upon them: Not only the promise of eternal life, but that itfelf is put into Chrift's hands for them; and he has power to give it to as many as the Father has given him; and to them he does give it, and they fhall never perish: And fince it is a gift of pure free grace, therefore do fenfible finners, feeking for glory, immortality, and eternal life, hope for it; which they could never expect upon any other foot: And they are the rather encouraged to hope for it, fince God has declared it to be his will, that whoever fees the Son, and believes on him, fhall have it; and because they find the holy Spirit of God is at work upon their hearts, has begun. the good work, which he will finish, and is working them up for that felf-fame thing, eternal life and happiness; wherefore they reafon as Manoab's wife did, that "if the Lord were pleafed to deftroy them, he would never have shewed "them and told them fuch things as he has done, or wrought fuch things in "them;" and hence for grace and through grace they hope for glory; feeing to whom God gives grace, he gives glory; thefe are infeparably connected together; whom he calls and justifies, them he also glorifies. And, one. Fourthly, Such an hope is a good one. There is a bad hope and there is a good There is the hope of the worldly man, who makes gold his hope, and fays to the fine gold, thou art my confidence; he puts his truft in it; and not only places his dependence on it for prefent and future good in this life, but hopes for eternal: |