Our Hope

and "the image which fell down from Jupiter!" These be the last new
deities invented by poor, weak, idolatrous man! From all such idols let
us keep ourselves with jealous care. Golden as their heads may be—
their feet are no better than clay! They cannot stand—they must,
sooner or later, break down. Miserable indeed are the prospects of
those who worship them! Their hope is not the hope of the Bible—it is
the hope of a dead corpse. Where Christ and the Spirit are their
presence will be felt!
Can anyone in his senses suppose that the apostle Paul would have been
content with Christians who knew nothing of inward feelings? Can we
imagine that mighty man of God sanctioning a religion which a person
might have, and yet experience nothing within? Can we picture to
ourselves a member of one of the Churches he founded, who was
utterly unacquainted with peace, or joy, or confidence towards God, and
was yet approved by the great apostle as a true believer! Away with the
idea! It will not bear reflection for a moment. The testimony of
Scripture is plain and explicit. Talk as people will about enthusiasm and
excitement, there are such things as feelings in religion. The Christian
who knows nothing of them is not yet converted, and has everything to
learn. The cold marble of a Grecian statue may well be unimpassioned.
The dried mummy from Egypt may well look stiff and still. The stuffed
beast in a museum may well be motionless and cold. They are all lifeless
things. But where there is life there will always be some feeling. The
"good hope" is a hope that can be felt.
V. In the last place, a good hope is a hope that is manifested
outwardly in the life. Once more, what says the Scripture? "Everyone
who has this hope in Him purifies himself, even as He is pure." (1 John
3:3.) The man who has a good hope will show it in all his ways. It will
influence his life, his character, and his daily conduct; it will make him
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