Ver. 12.-Hope in Ol1rist. "Who first hoped in Christ." Hope, as one of the great springs of human action, is to be distinguished from simple foresight or simple expectation; for the one may be a foresight of evil, the other an expectation of coming misfortune. Hope, on the contrary, is the expectation of future good. We do not hope for mistake, or for misfortune, or for pain; we hope for what will fill our future with brightness. "Hope is the noblest offspring, the first born, the last buried child of fore- seeing and forecasting man." Hope is often illusive, but the hope of the gospel is real on account of its deep, strong, and immutable foundations. I. JESUS CHRIST IS THE TRUE FOUNDATION OF OUR HOPE. So strongly linked with it, indeed, that he is expressly called "our Hope" (1 Tim. i. 2), and " the Hope of glory " (CoL i. 27). To have hope in Christ is a higher thing than to have hope directed towards Christ. What is there in the person or work of Ch1;st to awaken or snstain our hope,? 1. In his atonement there is a foundation laid for the hope of pardon in the heart of the chiefest of sinners. 2. In his present work as our High Priest and latercessor there is a foundation laid for the hope of purification. 3. Christ in us- " dwelling in us by faith "-is the assurance of our hope; for it is Christ in us who is the Hope of glory. 4. Christ is the Pattern of our hope, for when he shall appear, we hope to be like him, being "predestinated to be conformed to his image." 5. The climax of our hope will be reached at his appearing, for that is the blessed hope of the Church. We are "to hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. i. 13). II. THE soUR0E OF ouR HOPE IN CHRIST. We are predestinated thereunto (eh. i. 11). It is the "God of hope" who causes us "to abound in hope" (Rom. xv. 13); it is he who gives us "a good hope through grace "-not of nature or man's merits, for it is ascribed to his "abUDdant mercy" as the spring of it (1 Pet. i. 3); and he gives us "the patience and comfort of the Scriptures, that we may have hope" (Rom. xv. 4). III: IT IS A filGH PRIVILEGE '1'0 HAVE AN EARLY HOPE IN CHRIST. "Who first hoped in Christ." This was the great privilege of the Jews. The Gentiles were last, not first, in their enjoyment of Christ. The Apostle Paul deemed Andronicus and Junia highly favoured, because "they were in Christ before him" (Rom. x:vi. 7). It mnst always be subject of pious regret that we had not an earlier experience of Christ; for we should thus have been preserved from many sins and follies; we should have had such a fuller enjoyment of his gospel, and we should have had many more opportunities of doing good.-T. C.
Ver. 13.-The means of salvation. "The Word of truth, the gospel of your salrn- tion.'' This double title is significant because the faith which cometh by hearing has a relation at once to the understanding and to the will. The Word of truth is to satisfy the understanding; the gospel of salvation is to satisfy the will, which embraces Christ as he is freely offered in the gospel. It is the "Word of truth "-not cunningly devised fables or illusory dreams of men; for it comes from the God of truth, it has Christ the Truth for its substance, and the Spirit of truth applies it by imparting a true spiritual discernment of its meaning. It is" the gospel of your salvation;" for it is" the power of God to salvation to every one that believeth" (Rom. i. 16). Therefore we ought nil "to take heed what we bear" (Mark iv. 24), and to ponder one of the signs of a godly character," He that is of God henreth God's words" (John viii. 47). I. THE SCRIPTURES ARE NECESSARY TO OUR BELIBVING. "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" (Hom. x. 17). "Receive with meekness the ingrafted Word, which is able to save your souls" (Jns. i. 21). Not but that in some extra- ordinary cases God seems to have converted men without the agency of preaching or of the written \Vord-Divine mercy suddenly coming into contact with men that were not seeking for it, a!!d found in qunrters where it might least be expected. It is very doubtrnl, however, whether in cases of tb.is sort, the Word of G,,d, once learned but long 2:? THE EPISTLE TQ THE, EPHESIANS. [OR, I. 1-28,
f"Tgc>tten, may not hav<'l been revived ·by the Spirit of God as the Ill<!ans of salvation, The 8c.riptures "make wi:;,e unto salvation" (2 Tim. iii, 15), and souls need to be nourished 111p with the words of faith an,i good doct.rine, even with· the wholesome words of our Loru. Jesus Christ. The 1.111.rable of the sower shows the uses of the seed (Matt. xiii.). IL Tm;; SPIRIT OF Gon IS ~.:CESSARY TO THE DUE RECEPTION OF THE WORD, Thus the ~ 0~ oi GuJ i8 ~ed. the sword of the Spirit (eh. vi. li; Heb. iT. 12), which he holds m his ~d as ~n instrument -of power. We are "~rn again, not of corruptible seed, but ~f. mco:rupti.ble,_ b;r th~ Word of God" (1 Pet. i. 23): The influence of the Holy Spmt is uniformly distinguished from that of the truth itself; because it is necessary t-0 t~e reception of the truth (1 Cor. ii. 12-15). It is true that _faith cometh by hear~ng, bnt there is a hearing which brings no faith; therefore the Spirit is needed to give effect to the truth. "Open thou mine eyes, that I may see wondrous things out of thy Law." Men see by the light, yet the eyes of the blind are not opened by the light. The Spirit must give efficacy to the Word, that it may save the soul. · Ill. WE OUGHT TO STUDY THE SCRIPTURES IN A RIGHT SPIRIT. 1. Reverently, because they are the Word of God, and not the word of man. 2. Meekly (Jas. i. 21),.with'li humble and submissive temper. 3. In faith (Heb. iv. 2); for else, the study were utterly unprofitable. 4. Prayerfully (Ps. :s:, li); for the Lordi will thus prepare the heart. 5. Practically (Matt. vii. 24, 25), that our life may be a comment. upon the Word.-T. C.