Now, because God is only enjoyed fully and securely in heaven's blissful state, therefore it is called ' the hope of glory,' Col. i. 27 ; ' of eternal life,' Tit. iii. 7 ; ' of salvation,' 1 Thess. v. 8. Lastly, The object of hope is the good of the promise, not in hand, but yet to be performed. ' Hope that is seen is not hope ; for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?' Rom. viii. 24. Futurity is intrinsical to hope's object, and distinguisheth it from faith, which gives a present being to the promise, and is * the substance of things hoped for,' Heb. xi. 1. The good of the promise hath a kind of subsistence by faith in the soul ; it brings the Christian and heaven together, as if he were there already; hence they are said by faith to embrace the promise, Heb. xi. 13, as two friends when they meet ; faith speaks in the present tense, 'We are conquerors, yea, we are more than conquerors.' Partial performance of the promise intends hope ; but complete performance ends hope, and SAvallows it up in love and joy. Indeed, either the full performance of the promise, or execution of the threatening, shuts out all hope. In heaven the promise is paid, and hope dismissed, because we have what was looked for ; and in hell the threatening is fully inflicted, and therefore there is no hope to be found among the damned, because there is no possibility of release.
Fourthly. Hope's aid, by whose help, and for whose sake, it expects to obtain the promise, and that is, Jesus Christ. It waits for all in and through him; he is therefore called 'our hope,' 1 Tim. i. 1, because through him we hope for what is promised; by whose death we have leave and liberty to expect good from God, and by whose Spirit we have ability to hope ; so that both the authority and strength to hope come from Christ ; the former by the effusion of his blood for lis, the latter by the infusion of his Spirit into us.
Section II. — Why is the Christian's hope styled a ' hope of salvation ?' A double reason is obvious. First, Because salvation comprehends and takes within its circle the whole object of the Christian's hope. Salvation imports a complete state of bliss, wherein meet eminently the mercies and enjoyments oi all the promises, scattered, some in one, and some in another ; as at the creation, the light which was first diffused thi'ough the firmament, was gathered after- ward into the sun. Cast up the particular sums of all the good things pro- mised in the covenant, and the total they amount unto is — 'salvation.' The ul- tima unitas gives the denomination to the number, because it comprehends all ; so salvation, the ultimate object of the Christian's expectation, and that which comprehends the i-est, denominates his hope. Secondly, It is called a ' hope of salvation,' to distinguish it from the worldling's hope, whose portion (Psalm xvii. 14,) is in this life, and so is his hope also. It is confessed, that many of these pretend to a hope of salvation ; bvit the truth is, they neither have a right to it, nor are they very eager of it. They think themselves so well seated in this world, that if they might have their wish, it should be, that God would not remove them hence. Even when they say, they hope to be saved, their consciences tell them they had rather stay here than part with this world, in hope to mend themselves in the other. They blow up themselves into a hope and desire of salvation, more out of a dread of hell than a liking of heaven. There are none, I think, so mad among them, but had rather be saved than damned ; — live in heaven, than lie in hell ; yet they like this world better than all.
Section III. — The third inquiry is, why hope is compared to a helmet. First. The helmet defends the head, a principal part of the body, from bullet and sword : so this 'hope of salvation' defends the soul, the principal part of man, and the principal faculties of that, whereby no dangerous impression can by Satan or sin be made on it. Temptations may trouble, but cannot hurt, except their darts enter the will, and leave a wound there, by drawing it to some consent and liking of them ; from which this helmet of hope, if it be of the right make, and sits sure on the Christian's head, will defend him. It is hard to draw him into any treasonable practice against his prince, who is both well satisfied of his favour at present, and stands also upon the stairs of hope, expecting assuredly to be called up within a while to the highest preferment that the court can afford, or his king give. No, the weapons of rebellion and treason are usually forged and fashioned by discontent. When subjects take themselves to be neglected and slighted by their prince, think their preferments
AND TAKE THE HELMET OF SALVATION. ^J^