06/12/2026 -The Nature of Our Hope” – pgs. 297-299
“… If my hope of perfection and immortality has been instilled in me by God, then it ha to be fulfilled, for the Lord never would inspire a hope that would put His people to shame. The true God has never given mankind a false hope. That could never happen. The God of hope, who has taught you to expect salvation from sin and all its effects, will do for you according to the expectation that He Himself has inspired. Therefore, be very confident and patiently wait for the joyful Day when the Lord will appear.
This hope operates within us in a holy manner, as every gracious and holy thing that comes from God must do. It purifies us, as John said: “And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (1 John 3:3). We are so certain of this inheritance that we prepare for it by putting off all things that are contrary to it and putting on all things that suit it. We try to live in the prospect of glory.
How often it has occurred to me (and I imagine, to you) to say, regarding something, “How will this look in the Day of Judgment?” We have acted generously or consecrated ourselves, not because we cared anything about what people would think of it but because we looked at it in the light of the coming glory. Our greatest motivation is that a crown of life is reserved for us that will never fade. This blessed hope makes us feel that it is shameful for us to sin, shameful that princes and princesses of the royal bloodline should play in the mire like children of the gutter. Instead, we willingly live as those who are destined to live forever in inexpressible light. We cannot walk in darkness, for we are to live in a splendor that makes the sun seem pale. We are to be immersed in the fellowship of the Trinity. Should we, therefore, be the slaves of Satan or the servants of sin? God forbid! This blessed hope draws us toward God and lifts us out of the pit of sin.”
Soli Deo Gloria!