A Discourse of Christian Religion, Part 1 · Chapter 5
CHAP. V.
Thirdly; Let us labour to come under the Power of this Christian Hope.
WHether I shall Prophesie good to you, or evil, from this Text, I know not, it is according to the frame the Word finds you in, which I am now to deliver to you. If in this life only you have hope in Christ, you are of all men and women the most miserable. But I hope better things of you, of every one of you, tho I thus speak; knowing that you all have immortal Souls, that cannot always live upon the Bodies portion; I am jealous over you with a Godly Jealousie, and would provoke you to give a reason of the hope that is in you; not so much to satisfie me, as to satisfie your selves: Give such a Reason as may satisfie your own Consciences: And this is all I aim at.
All of us must be either under Hope, or under fear, or in a dead, stupid, senseless frame: I will suppose you are all under some hope of Eternal Glory; for rruly I see little else appear in the Faces of Professors. They all hope to be Saved and go to Heaven; I am not willing to weaken your Hopes, nor disturb you in them, unless I see cause: And truly I wish, that this Hope do not prove a presumptuous Confidence in some, arising from carnal security. But be it what it will, let us look into the matter, it may be while I am speaking of the Power of Hope, some of you may be made sensible of the weakness of your Hope.
Hope hath powerful influences upon the Mind of a man, makes strong impressions, and gives a sense of it self unto those that have it: we can't but take notice of our own Hopes: Many pretend to this Hope, say they have it, who have it not: They are willing to deceive themselves, to flatter their own Souls, to think better of their State than it is; but can give no reason that will hold, why they think so: And yet they will not be persuaded otherwise; they take it ill to be suspected by those who see further into their State than they do; till a through conviction of Sin and Wrath come upon them, they will never be otherwise minded. But then all their Hopes vanish, their Light goes out in utter Darkness, their Spiders Web breaks and becomes vain when they lay any stress upon it; their Hope is as the giving up of the Ghost, which makes them ashamed, fills them with Confusion of Face. Whereas a true lively Christian Hope, will carry us through Death it self, Prov. 14. 32. This Hope in the Text is not an empty name, but a real thing, a real Grace, and hath real effects that may be felt, and will be felt by those who are under the Power of it. You know what it is to be in fear, how discompos'd and cast down, how perplexed and troubled, how pale and wan. By the contrary frame, you may know what it is to be under the Power of Hope, which is so reviving, and begets such strong consolation, Heb. 6. 18. It is a blessed hope, Tit. 2. 13. It will comfort us in a Dungeon, there we may sing as prisoners of hope, Zech. 9. 12. It is an helmet to receive all Blows, securing the head from hurt, Ephes. 6. 17. It is an anchor to keep the Soul steady in a tempestuous season, Heb. 6. 19. Great is the patience of Hope, 1 Thes. 1. 3. It bespeaks a troubled Soul, as Psal. 42. Why art thou cast down, O my soul, why art thou disquieted within me: Hope thou in God. There is little comfort for a Christian in this world, if the hope of eternal life be cut off, 1 Cor. 15. 19.
First, The usual Effects of this Hope, when it is in any other Power, are these:
1. Hope of Glory, and an earnest expectation of the coming of Christ, are joyned together, and indeed they are almost the same: Waiting for his Coming; looking for and hastning to the Coming of the Day of the Lord: Christ was called the hope of Israel, Acts 28. 20. Because our Fathers looked for his first Coming; and so he is now called the Hope of Glory, because the Saints do so earnestly look for his second Coming. 1 Cor. 17. 2 Pet. 3. 12.
2. This Hope and Prayer go together. The Schools tell us, that Petitio is Interpretativa spei; we cannot better express our Hopes, than by wishing, Praying, and earnest breathing after what we Hope for. Would you know, whether you shall enter into Glory, and be Eternally Saved? If you have the Spirit of Prayer, you will certainly be Saved: But mistake not the gift of Prayer (which may be nothing but words) for the grace of Prayer, that lies in the inward earnestness of the heart, sometimes in Groans that are unutterable: If you can pray inwardly in the frame of your Hearts, with Fervency and Affection in the Name of Christ, this is Praying in the Holy Ghost; let your words be never so few, and your expressions never so broken and imperfect, if the desire of your Souls be after Christ, it is laid down as an infallible Mark of your title to Heaven. Gal. 4. 6, 7. Because you are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore we are no more servants but Sons; and if sons, then heirs of God through Christ. The Spirit of Prayer is a convincing Evidence to those that have it, or else the Spirit of God would miss of his end, if he did not assure us by that assuring act which is put forth for that very purpose: Therefore be much in Prayer. If you are not in that measure of lively Hope as you would, be much in Prayer for Hope. Saints can't but Pray much under Hope. Hope invites to Prayer, and disposes to it, if it be but to tell God what we Hope for, which we cannot do but under some present renewed Acts of Hope, which possibly we may not perceive in our selves. Yet however, Pray under all your despondencies for Hope, that God would raise it, and kindle it in you. Though you pray but faintly, weakly, through fear and diffidence, yet pray on: God usually comes in with strengthning Grace in the time of Prayer: He saith to the fearful Soul, Fear not; there is a sudden reviving, a shedding abroad of the Love of God in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. We may be under dismal apprehensions of of the Wrath of God in the beginning of Prayer, and yet conclude with rejoying and triumphing in his Grace towards us. There are many instances of this in the Psalms. Faith, if it be right, knows not how to conclude a Prayer, till it hath taken some hold of Christ for relief; we cannot say Amen, till then, we cannot come to the conclusion till then; and then the Soul rises up in a comfortable frame under some Hope of Mercy.
Thus Hope is raised, nourished, and increased in us by earnest fervent Prayer.
3. Hope of Glory and Mortification of Sin go together. He that hath this hope, saith the Apostle, purifies himself as God is pure, 1 Joh. 1. 3. Every Sin in any measure Mortified, brings on a further degree of Glory upon us, and leaves a deeper impression of the Image of God upon the Soul; you resemble him more, which brings you nearer to your Heavenly State, when you shall be exactly like him.
4. Hope of Glory, and Chearfulness under all outward Afflictions, go together. 2 Cor. 4. 16, 17, 18. We faint not, because of that far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory. You should always hold fast the rejoycing of your hope firm unto the end, Heb. 3. 6. Gird up the loyns of your mind, be sober, and hope unto the End; for the Grace that is to be brought unto you at the Revelation of Jesus Christ, 1 Pet. 1. 13. We are often assaulted by Temptations, outward Afflictions, and inward Desertions are ready to sink our hope: We say sometimes as the Church did, Lament. 3. 18. My strength and my hope is perished from the Lord. Our hopes seems to be plucked up even by the roots, as a tree that is removed, Job. 19. 10. yet revives again, and springs up as God turns his face towards us, filling us with joy and peace in believing; then we abound in hope tbrough the power of the Holy Ghost. Rom. 15. 13.
Directions how to get under the Power of this Cristian Hope; for a Power it hath, and it is nothing to us, till we come under that Power.
1. Labour to understand your Hopes; What it is you look for from Christ, how great the inheritance is. A Minor under Age, who is born to a great Estate, is little affected with it, till he comes to know what he is Heir to; what Houses, Mannors and Lordships belong to him, then he counts himself rich indeed: The Apostle prays for this, Ephes. 1. 17, 18. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give to you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightned, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the Glory of his inheritance in the Saints. Did you know what a rich, Glorious Inheritance is reserved for you, this would mightily raise, quicken, strengthen your Hope: You would count your Hope something then, and rejoyce more in it.
That is the First Direction; Labour to understand your Hopes: Read over the Inventory of God's Gifts bequeathed to you in the Covenant of Grace, till you can say, This is mine, and that is mine, and all is mine through Christ.
2. Call over former experiences. What God hath already done for you. Experience begets Hope, as in Jacob, Gen. 32. 10, 11, 12. With my staff did I come over this Jordan, and now I am become two Bands; Lord, I am not worthy of the least of thy mercies, deliver me from the hand of my Brother Esau: Thou that hast done such great things for me, go on and deliver me. Be not afraid of present danger, but remember what the Lord hath done for you; suppress all discouraging thoughts that may arise in thee. Deut. 7. 17, 18, 19. If thou shalt say in thine heart, these Nations are more than I, how shall I dispossess them? Thou shalt not be afraid of them, but shall well remember what the Lord thy God did to Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt Thou shalt not be afrighted at them, for the Lord thy God is among you, and he will put out these Nations by little and little, v. 21, 22 We complain, things go on but slowly, there is little done; God chuses to do things by little and little; consider what hath been done, and don't make it less than it is; it may seem little in comparison of what shall be, yet in it self, as it is, 'tis very great. And therefore let us argue as David did, 1 Sam 17 37. Psal. 3. 7, 8. Psal. 9. 10, 11. Psal 143 5, 6, 7, 8. so Jehosaphat, 2 Chron. 20. 7, 9, 12. so Paul, 2 Cor. 1. 10. God that hath delivered, and doth deliver, and we trust will yet deliver. The remembrance of what God hath done, and doth do, will strengthen our Hope in him for the future.
3. Converse much with the Scriptures, especially with the Promises, that through Patience and comfort of the Scriptures you may have hope, Rom 15. 4. How did David raise his Hope from the Word of God, Psal. 119. in many places, v 42, 72. and elsewhere in that Psalm? When a man gives his word to us again and again, we believe him, and reckon our selves sure of what we ask, having so many repeated promises that it shall be done. The Word of God is a living Word in this respect, because as often as we mingle it with Faith, it represents God speaking afresh to us in particular: Faith hearing this again and again, is more confirmed. Faith at first came by hearing, and the oftner it hears God speaking in his Word, the more it is strengthned in a lively Hope of all that God hath promised.
4. Look upon it as your Duty to Hope in God. He hath commanded us, because he knows we are apt to doubt and question his Promises. It is not presumption, but Duty to Hope in God, relying upon his free Grace, and not upon our own deserts; which never begets a true humble Christian Hope, but a proud, arrogant Confidence in a mans self: Whereas the fiducial Confidence of Hope is always derived from Faith, Eph. 3. 12.
5thly. and Lastly. Look unto the God of Hope. Live in a constant dependance upon his Spirit to work it in you. It is through the Power of the Holy Ghost we abound in hope, Rom. 15. 13. That we are brought under the Power of a Christian Hope, which arises from such hidden causes, such deep grounds, not known to flesh and blood, that none but God can demonstrate the reasonableness and certainty of our Hope. He knows how to beget us again to a lively Hope by the Resurrection of Christ from the Dead, which is more than a Promise: It is the actual accomplishing of that in another, that makes it credible to us, that God can raise the Dead, and that as he hath raised up Christ, so he will also raise up us at the last Day.
To the former directions add these Two things following.
If you would ground your Hope aright upon Christ within you, so as to come under the Power of it. Then
1. Consider well, whether Christ be indeed in you; whether you have felt the quickning influences of his Spirit in your own Souls. Christ is your life, Col. 3. 4. comp with John 11. 25. Consider then whether he be indeed your Life; use all your Spiritual senses about this; it is no easy matter to understand this Mystery. There are many who lead a Natural, Rational, Moral Life under a Christian Profession, and may be estranged from the Life of God all their Days. You see how Paul distinguishes in the case, lest he should mistake himself, or be mistaken by others. Gal. 2. 20. I live, saith he, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And so may a Saint now say, I understand Gospel Mysteries, yet not I as a man, by the Light of my own Reason, but as a Man in Christ, in the Light of Faith; by which I know, not only that such things are revealed in the Word, but also, that they shall be accomplished unto all those who rely upon Christ: Neither can I give any other reason for their accomplishment, but so it is Written, and thus saith the Lord. This is to speak like a Christian, when we resolve all into Christ, becoming fools in our selves, that we may be wise in him. The Life I now live in the Flesh, saith he, I live by the Faith of the Son of God; take away that Faith, and all my Hope as a Christian vanishes away.
You had need have a true Spiritual Light rightly discerning of Spiritual things, to know that Christ is in you, as your Life; It cannot be known but by Faith. Though Faith be very rational in all its arguings from Gospel Principles, yet Faith it self is not properly an act of Reason, but rather an act above Reason; it carries the Understanding above its Reason, to act my Understanding so, as to assent to that which I have no Natural Reason for: This is the knowledge of Faith; a strange way of knowing, which the world counts Foolishness.
Supernatural truths don't rise up into our Minds, as the product and consequent of our Reason; this is humane knowledge according to our Logick. But all supernatural truths are let down through the Word by the Spirit of God into our Understandings; they are too deep, too mysterious and profound to be conveyed to our Understandings by the ordinary course of Reason: And therefore God opens another door, and lets them into the Soul by Faith. Thus he writes his Law in our Hearts, puts his Truth into our inward parts; Where is the Scribe? Where is the Wise? Where is the Disputer of this World? How doth God confound the Wisdom of the Wise, from whom he hides these things, which he reveals to Babes and Sucklings: Poor humble Souls, they have the knowledge of the Heavenly Mysteries, and the World knows not how they came by it. Whence hath this man this wisdom, and this knowledge, having never learned? say they of Christ, Matth. 13. 54. comp. with John 7. 15. They wonder'd that any, not brought up in their Schools, should be more knowing than themselves. It is an astonishment to the World, to consider what knowledge poor humble Saints have of things, which they do in no wise understand.
2. Have a care of too gross conceptions of Christ within you. You must understand the Text Spiritually: As Reason brings Natural things into your Minds, and gives you an Intellectual Vision of them; So Faith brings Heavenly things into your Minds, and gives you a Spiritual Vision of them. Christ is first known to us by Faith: There is no knowing him but by Believing in him; no coming to him, no seeing of him, but as the Soul moves towards him in the Light of Faith. God shines in our hearts, saith the Scripture, the Light of the knowledge of his Glory in the face of Jesus Christ; and this Light of knowledge is Faith. When we Believe, we know Christ, we See him, we Come to him, we Rely upon him, Rejoyce in him, we Love and Obey him; all the actings of the Soul towards Christ, they are from Faith, representing him to us out of the Word. And when we believe the Report of the Gospel concerning him, we are persuaded, and must be persuaded of the Truth of that which by a present Act of Faith we do Believe: There goes no more to your knowledge, persuasion, and satisfaction, than real Believing. Faith in its own Nature, is all Evidence; though Flesh and Blood do contradict this Evidence, seek to cast clouds over it, yet those doubts that arise, they come not from Faith, but Unbelief that accompanies it more or less in every act we perform.
The more Faith, the more Hope; the more Unbelief, the less Hope. Hope will be in a proportion to the degree of our Faith: The Spirit works Faith in us, and then shews us Christ in the Light of it. Christ is let into the Soul by Faith, there he is, and there he dwells, transforming us into his own Image by our Faith in him. As Faith works by Love, so the Spirit works by Faith; I mean by our Faith in him. The Spirit knows how to improve our Faith in Christ, to draw arguments from thence, to bring us to any thing which the Gospel calls for.
I am persuaded I speak to many who have Christ within them, who would not quit their Interest in him for Ten thousand Worlds; if so, you must fetch the reason of this from your Hope in Christ: What! Not part with Christ upon any terms, and yet Hope for nothing from him; not part with Christ upon any terms, and yet get nothing by him! He doth not offer himself to you upon these terms, but that ye may be enriched by him in all things. You dishonour Christ, and forget your Faith, when you don't Hope for great things from him. I Beseech you, Sirs! Bethink your selves a little of your standing in Christ; what hold you have taken of Eternal life in him; and don't after all say, I have no Hope. Neither would I have you content your selves in bare saying you have Hope: But stir it up, act it, shew it, rejoyce in it daily. Hope to the end, that others may see, how happy you count your selves in Jesus Christ; tell every one you meet, That Christ in you, is your hope of Glory. We often Preach and Hear of Faith and Hope, but we practice those Graces at leasure. Sermons of Faith and Hope, don't beget these Graces in us, nor draw them out into act: Pray consider of this; were our hearts changed under the Preaching of the Word, into a frame suitable to it, this would be a token for good unto us, that the Lord is indeed among us. If Sermons of Hope did end in lively actings of Hope, we should all go home Rejoycing, Blessing and Praising of God for his abundant Mercy towards us. Great Hopes can't easily be forgotten; we naturally run into our Hopes; we are fond of them, they present themselves to our Thoughts continually, have easy access to us, they take up our Minds daily, making pleasing representations to us of the Good that is coming towards us: I would leave you under the Contemplation of these things. Did we converse more with our Hopes of Heaven and Glory, this would keep sorrow from our hearts, and cause us always to rejoyce in the Lord. Here is a present Cordial for the Poorest, the most Afflicted and Disconsolate Soul. How uncomfortable soever your present circumstances may be, if you would get up into this Hope, what happy Men and Women would you be! you would count your selves happy, and be filled with joy unspeakable, and full of Glory. None of your wants would pinch you, you would be lifted up above the afflicting sense and smart of any outward Cross that may now lye heavy upon you: All your Afflictions would be light, if compared to this Eternal weight of Glory, which weighs down all troubles, and doth wonderfully alleviate and moderate all your Griefs. You may be AS sorrowful in the Judgment of others, and yet always rejoycing in your own Spirits from the Power of Hope.
It may be some will say, How can this be? Were we never so high in these Hopes, yet we should grow weary and restless under them, because all is put off to the Resurrection, till the Coming of Christ; and who can tell when that will be? Hope deferred makes the heart sick; we may faint under our desires before they come to pass, Prov. 13. 10.
I Answer; In worldly hope it is so; worldly hope is not so strengthned, is not so established, hath not that overcoming Power and Virtue in it, as this Christian Hope hath; for these Two Reasons:
1. Because of the firm Assurance we have of the certain Accomplishment of our Hopes; which cannot be said of any outward, humane, worldly hope. As Christians, we know our hope will not make us ashamed, Rom. 5. 5. comp. with Rom. 8. 38, 39. A Christian knows his Hope is founded upon immutable Promises, and this doth strangely animate the Power of a Christian Hope.
2. We cannot flag in our Christian Hope, because of the present satisfaction it gives us: Wordly Hope is but a lank thing, promises fair, but hath little present influence upon the minds of men to give them any real satisfaction; but a Christian Hope doth give present satisfaction: There is always something in hand, some pledges, some earnest of all that is to follow; and this is sufficient for our present occasions, to serve the turn till we have finished our Pilgrimage here below. They that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength; they shall mount up as with eagles wings; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint, Isa. 40. 31. There is a strange Strength and Virtue in a Christian Hope. The Hope of a Christian is a feeding Hope, a Soul-satisfying Hope; there is no languishing under it, it feeds upon the present overflowings of the Promise. Tho the thing it self is not yet brought forth out of the Promises, yet the Actings of Faith and Hope do cause a strange present overflowing from the Promise, that drops into the heart like Oil to refresh it: I say, the Promises are continually dropping in fresh Comforts, giving us fresh Tastes of the Love and Goodness of God. Now under this satisfaction, our expectation is raised; and this again heightens our present satisfaction; we have enough now, are full, are rich, have all our hearts can now hold; and yet we do see more a coming, with a further Capacity, Skill, and Wisdom to improve it. I shall see him, but not now, Numb. 24. 17.
The Soul cannot bear more of God in this world, than what comes in by Faith and Hope; and tho we are satisfied in our present state, yet we wait for a change. The Husbandman is satisfied to see the Seed sown, coming up in the green tender blade; but the joy of Harvest is another thing, Nothing but the full Fruition of all that good you are capable of to Eternity, can swallow up our Faith and Hope, which will be continually reaching out after those things which are before, till we have attained them. In Heaven there will be no need of Hope; but prize it while you live upon the earth, at a distance from your Heavenly Countrey.
If you would know, Whether indeed you are under the Power of Christian Hope, then try the Strength of it in your selves, What it doth in you; How it supports and comforts you.
1. Under all delays of Providence in fulfilling the Promises, can you wait the Lord's leisure, and not make haste, but patiently wait for what you yet see not? this is a sign of Hope in Power, Rom. 8. 25.
2. Doth your Hope support you, not only under delays, but when God seems to act contrary to his Promises, to let out his Anger against you? It is no easie matter for us to turn towards God by Faith and Hope, when God turns away in Anger from us, hiding his face. It was well said of the Prophet, I will wait for the Lord, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.
3. When things seem desperate as to all second causes in the judgment of man, can you then count upon the Truth and Certainty of the Promise? And
4. When you are actually surprized with Fears, what doth Hope do then? Doth it check your fears? Doth it raise you above them? Psal. 56. 3. What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In the 4th. verse it is read thus, What time I am afraid, I will not fear: A brave Resolution: I will not fear what man, what flesh can do unto me: What is man? What is flesh to the great God of Heaven and Earth? What time I am afraid, I will not fear. If God be for me, it matters not who is against me.
When you can thus reason your selves out of all your carnal fears, it is a sign you are under the Power of Christian Hope. When Grace doth master that sinful Passion that is contrary to it, that is Grace in Power, reigning Grace; it keeps Sin under, it shall not have dominion over us.