(2) It is a hope that assures us of the triumph of righteousness in the earth. — Everywhere, the Apostles saw men " rise on stepping stones of their dead selves " to higher things, to a new life, lifted out of the grave of an unholy career into a noble and saintly manhood. How was it accomplished? It was due, not to the memory of a dead hero, worshipped and idealized, but to the vivifying power, the transfiguring energies of the ever-living Christ, with whom by faith they were united.
•[f Now an old man, I dream dreams of great hope, when I plead with those who will carry forward what my own generation has left unattempted or unaccomplished to welcome the ideal which breaks in light upon them, the only possible ideal for man, even the fullest realization of self, the completest service of others,
^ R. W. Church, Pascal and other Servians, 193.
I PETER I. 3 47
the devoutest fellowship with God : to strive towards it untiringly even if it seems " to fade for ever and for ever as we move." The world is ruled by great ideals ; the soul responds to them. If they are neglected or forgotten they reassert themselves, and in this sense truth prevails at last. Without an ideal there can be no continuity in life ; with it even failures become lessons. To a "surrendered soul" there can be no discouragement; for, as we have been truly told, " discouragement is the disenchantment of egoism." But we are God's ministers ; and the highest which we can imagine for men, for nations, for humanity falls short of God's will for His creatures, and of the resources which He offers to us for its accomplishment.^
(3) It is the hope of a life to come. — Man needs a hope resting on something beyond this scene of sense and time. And God has given him one, by the Eesurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Our Lord indeed taught, in the plainest language, the reality of a future life. " In my Father's house are many mansions : I go to prepare a place for you." " Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal." " These shall go away into everlasting punishment : but the righteous into life eternal." " God is not the God of the dead, but of the living : for all live, unto him."
Passages of this kind from among the very words of Christ might be multiplied : but in teaching that man would live after death, our Lord was teaching only what, with various degrees of distinctness, pagans and Jews had taught before Him. He contributed to the establishment of this truth in the deepest convictions of men, not merely many lessons taught in words, but a fact, palpable to the senses. When, after saying that He would rise from the grave, He rose. He broke the spell of the law of death. He made it plain, within the precincts of the visible world, that a world unseen and eternal awaits us hereafter. His Eesurrection converted hopes, surmises, speculations, trains of inference, into strong certainties. " Because I live ye shall live also " was a saying which faith, under the guidance of reason, would henceforth inscribe upon Christ's empty grave. For that He had risen was not a secret whispered to a few ; it was verified by the senses of five hundred witnesses ; and, in face of a
^ Westcott, Lessens from Work, 300.
48 A LIVING HOPE
jealous and implacable criticism which would fain have silenced its eloquent protestation, established the fact that there is a world beyond the grave, in which Christ is King,
^ In a Scottish valley, beside a little brook, where there was no kindly soil, a Highlander once planted a tree. Of course it wilted and drooped. But suddenly, to the surprise of every one, it took a new start in life, and bore rich fruit. What was the source of its new life ? That was the query put by all who knew it. An examination revealed the secret. With a marvellous vegetable instinct it sent out a shoot which ran along and over a narrow sheep bridge and rooted itself in the rich loam on the other side of the brook. From this rich loam it drew its new life. Even so, the Eesurrection of Jesus Christ bridges the Eiver of Death that flows between earth and Heaven.^
Sweet Hope is soveraigne comfort of our life : Our joy in sorrow and our peace in strife ; The dame of beggars and the queene of kings : Can these delight in height of prosperous things Without expecting still to keep them sure ? Can those the weight of heavy wants endure Unless persuasion instant paine allay, Eeserving spirit for a better day? Our God, who planted in His creature's breast This stop, on which the wheeles of passion rest, Hath rays'd, by beames of His abundant grace, This strong affection to a higher place. It is the second vertue which attends That soule whose motion to His sight ascends. Eest here, my miud, thou shalt no longer stay To gaze upon these houses made with clay : Thou shalt not stoope to honours or to lands, Nor golden balles, where sliding fortune stands ; If no false colours draw thy steps amisse, Thou hast a palace of eternal blisse, A paradise from care and feare exempt, An object worthy of the best attempt. Who would not for so rich a country fight ? Who would not runne that sees a goal so bright ? 0 Thou, Who art our Author and our End, On whose large mercy chains of hope depend ; Lift me to Thee by Thy propitious hand, For lower I can find no place to stand.^