Our Hope
BY J. C. RYLE "Good hope through grace." 2 Thess. 2:10 "The hope of the ungodly shall perish." Job 8:13 "For what is the hope of the godless, when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?" Job 27:8
BY J. C. RYLE
"Good hope through grace." 2 Thess. 2:10
"The hope of the ungodly shall perish." Job 8:13
"For what is the hope of the godless, when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?" Job 27:8
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
It is not enough to have the good opinion of others about the state of<br />
our souls. We may be told by others on our death beds, to "keep up our<br />
spirits," and "not to be afraid." We may be reminded that we have "lived<br />
good lives—or had a good heart—or done nobody any harm—or not<br />
been so bad as many." And all this time our friends may not bring<br />
forward a word of Scripture, and may be feeding us poison! Such<br />
friends are miserable comforters. However well meaning, they are<br />
downright enemies to our souls. The good opinion of others, without<br />
the warrant of God's Word, will never make up a good hope.<br />
If a man would know the soundness of his own hope, let him search<br />
and look within his heart for some text or doctrine, or fact out of God's<br />
book. There will always be some one or more on which your soul hangs,<br />
if you are a true child of God. The dying thief in London, who was<br />
visited by a City Missionary, and found utterly ignorant of Christianity,<br />
laid hold on one single fact in a chapter of Luke's Gospel which was read<br />
to him, and found comfort in it. That fact was the story of the penitent<br />
thief. "Sir," he said, when visited the second time, "are there any more<br />
thieves in that book from which you read yesterday?" The dying Hindu<br />
who was found by a missionary on a roadside, had grasped one single<br />
text in the First Epistle of John, and found in it peace. That text was the<br />
precious saying, "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son, CLEANSES us from<br />
all sin." (1 John 1:7.) This is the experience of all true Christians.<br />
Unlearned, humble, poor, as many of them are, they have got hold of<br />
something in the Bible, and this causes them to hope. The hope which<br />
"takes not ashamed" is never separate from God's Word.<br />
People wonder sometimes that ministers press them so strongly to read<br />
the Bible. They marvel that we say so much about the importance of<br />
preaching, and urge them so often to hear sermons. Let them cease to<br />
wonder, and marvel no more. <strong>Our</strong> object is to make you acquainted with<br />
9 of 33