2. There is a rational hope, which is built upon solid grounds, pro- babilities, or certainties.
[1.] There is a rational probable hope. For hope is sometimes taken for a probable expectation ; 1 Cor. xi. 7, ' Hopeth all things. ' It mean- eth there, not a divine, but a charitable, prudential hope ; we hope well of others whose hearts we know not, as long as nothing appeareth to
VeR. 24.] SERMONS UPON ROMANS VIII. 207
the contrary ; charity goeth upon probabilities, therefore hopeth all things : 2 Cor. i. 7, ' Our hope of you is steadfast, that as you have been partakers of the sufferings of the gospel, so shall ye be also of the con- solation ; ' so towards God : 1 Cor. ix. 10, ' He that plougheth, plough- eth in hope ;' a man hath no promise of a good crop ; but the ordinary providence of God giveth him a probable hope of success. In temporal things, when we know not what the event will be, such a kind of hope we have. There is no express promise ; but such is the Lord's power and goodness commonly exercised in his providential government, that we have no reason to despair, and say it shall not be ; yea, much reason to believe that God will give success to our endeavours, for his glory in the world, considering what hath usually befallen his servants in like cases ; though we cannot draw a firm and certain argument from thence, yet it is probable, for the most jjart it is so. But in matters that con- cern eternal life, somewhat of this hope may be observed ; as before conversion, when we begin to be serious and seek after God, we cannot say certainly God will give us converting and saving grace ; we must follow God, though we know not what will come of it, as Abraham did, Heb. xi. 8. There the rule in such cases is, I must do what he hath commanded ; God may do what he pleaseth ; yet it is some comfort that we are in a probable way. Nay, after conversion, such hope men may have as to their own interest in eternal salvation ; they cannot say heaven is theirs, or that God will certainly keep them to his heavenly kingdom ; yet they dare not quit their hopes of heaven for all the world, nor cease to walk in the way of salvation ; it is probable they are God's children.
[2.] There is a firm and certain hope, when we have assurance of things hoped for, by the promises and offers of the gospel : as Acts xxiv. 15, ' I have hope towards God that there shall be a resurrection both of the just and unjust.' Without this hope a man cannot be a christian.
We must certainly expect the promised blessing to be given to those that are capable and duly qualified ; and all that are enlightened by the Spirit do see it and expect it, and positively conclude, that ' verily there is a reward for the righteous,' Ps. Iviii. This hope is the life of religion, and doth excite us to look after it by due and fit means ; their eyes are enlightened with spiritual eye-salve, tliat they get a sight of the world to come : Eph. i. 18, ' The eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints ; ' and if they believe the gospel, it cannot be otherwise. I am certain there is such a thing : Col. i. 5, ' For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel.' There this truth is made known ; all that close with the gospel receive it, and by it is this blessed hope of glory wrought in us.
3. There is a twofold certain hope ; one sort necessary, the other very profitable, but not absolutely necessary to the life and being of a christian ; the first sort is the fruit of faith, the second the consequent of assurance. The first grounded merely upon the offers of the gospel, propounding the chiefest good to men, to excite their desires and endeavours ; the other is grounded on the sight of our own qualification, as well as the offers of the gospel ; the one is antecedent to all acts of
208 ' SERMONS UPON ROMANS VIII. [SeR. XXXII.
holiness, the other followeth after it. An antecedent hope there must needs be, before the effect of ihe holy life can be jiroduced ; for since hope encourageth and aiiimateth all human endeavours, no man will engage in a strict course displeasing to flesh and blood, but he must have some hope ; and this hope the conditional offers of the gospel doth beget in us, nnd all serious creatures have it that mind their proper happiness. Rejoicing in hope is the same with ap-)(rjv inrocrTdaeo3<;, Heb. iii. 6, 14 ; it is the first taste we have of the pleasures of the world to come. Keep up this gust and taste, and you are safe.