2 Thessalonians 2:16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which has loved us… More than a thousand years ago a company of refugees, escaping Attila's dreadful devastation of Northern Italy, settled on one of the muddy islands at the head of the Adriatic, and there founded the city of Torcello, and at a later time built up the magnificent commercial empire of Venice. The ruins of the old cathedral still stand in the ruined city, built by those stout-hearted men in a time of struggle and discouragement, as a symbol and stronghold of their religious faith; and in the cathedral the noticeable thing is the openness of the windows and the abundance of sunlight. None of the Gothic windows of the Northern churches or of the gloomy shadows clouding the high-arched ceiling; but all is luminous, bright, and fair, with not even dark colours in the frescoes. It was built by men of sorrows, but they were men who believed in God; and, therefore, while there was fear and depression enough around them, they made their house of worship joyous with all the beauty and cheer of Italian sunshine, and in this spirit they wrung from disaster the beginning of a grand success. The spirit that pervades a man's dally life is the measure of his real religion. He may be careless of sect and ceremony, but if he can carry heavy burdens with a light heart and meet calamities with serene courage, it must be that in the depth of his soul he has real faith, which, like a fountain in an oasis, keeps everything sweet and blooming. He may never put his faith into words, like a great theologian, or build it up into beautiful architecture, like the brave people of Torcello; but, nevertheless, it is known and read of all men in the beauty and courage of his life, which may be more eloquent than, any body of divinity and more impressive than cathedral or stately music. For courage and cheerfulness are, after all, the sincerest possible confession of man's real belief that all things are working together for good, and that Divine Providence is ever changing the darkness into light. Good hope through grace — I. HOPE. No man since the Fall can be satisfied with the present. Here is always either some evil pressing on us, some capacity of enjoyment unfilled, or some desire for the perpetuity of what we possess, which passes beyond the present into the future. This expectation and desire of future good is hope. Its object is the unseen. This hope is — 1. The spring of all activity. 2. With regard to sinners under the sentence of the law, and in prospect of eternity, it is indispensable to any rational peace. II. GOOD HOPE, i.e., well founded, and directed towards what is truly good. 1. Some men are insensible and indifferent with regard to their destiny. This state of mind is — (1) Irrational. (2) Unsatisfying. (3) Precarious. (4) Destructive. 2. Others have a hope, but it is not good. It is founded on — (1) The general mercy of God. (2) Their relation to the Church. (3) The assumption that all are to be saved. (4) Spurious religious experience. (5) The assumption of goodness.The general basis of a false hope is error either as to the purpose of God in reference to the punishment of sin, or as to the conditions on which exemption from sin is promised, or as to our having fulfilled or experienced those conditions. 3. A good hope is therefore — (1) A hope founded on the truth, on the promise of God and the work of Christ. (2) One which we have a right to entertain, i.e., which is the genuine fruit of the Spirit; not an unauthorized anticipation on our part, but one which is inseparable from faith. (3) One which has for its object the infinite blessings of redemption, sometimes Christ's coming, sometimes the resurrection, sometimes the glory of God. Towards this the whole creation looks forward with earnest expectation. III. THROUGH GRACE, i.e., a hope which God graciously gives, and gives in the exercise of His grace. God gives us this hope: — 1. In that He promises to us the blessings which are the object of the hope. 2. Because He produces in our minds the exercise of our hope. IV. EVIDENCE THAT A HOPE IS GOOD. 1. That it has a Scriptural foundation; i.e., that it rests on the promise of God clearly revealed in His Word. 2. That it has Scriptural blessings for its objects; not earthly good or millennial prosperity, but conformity to Christ, and the enjoyment of Him forever. 3. That it sanctifies the soul, makes us pure even as He is pure (1 John 3:3). 4. That it is the fruit of faith. V. THIS HOPE. 1. Is a helmet. 2. Is an anchor. 3. Is to the soul what wings are to the eagle.It elevates it above the world, raises it to heaven, fells us with its spirit. (C. Hodge, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, |
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