Our Hope

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