THE Scripture says, “We are saved by hope," or "in hope" (Rom. 8:2424For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? (Romans 8:24)), for while we are saved from our sins, and from the wrath which is to come, we are not yet saved from sorrow, or suffering, or death. Further, we are saved for a bright and glorious end. The glory is yet to come, and for this glory the believer waits, and he hopes for the day when it will be revealed. He does not hope for what he has, for example, the forgiveness of his sins, or his justification, since these are his present possession, according to grace, and “for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?” He hopes for the fulfillment of the promises of God respecting the future.
We may justly say, that he who most fully realizes the favors which are now his, through God's salvation, most fully values those blessings of salvation which are laid up for him; and which will be made good and enjoyed when the salvation is revealed.
Let us set side by side some of the present and the future blessings of salvation which are the portion of the believer, remembering that the future is as certain as the present with God, and that whether present or future Favors all go to form the salvation of God For man.
Past, present, and future, however different in our eyes, are all as one in the mind of the eternal God. His salvation is one great whole, and all who are saved, are saved according to the fullness of the salvation of God. This salvation is made secure to us for time and eternity in Christ. It is unchangeable in all its parts in Him;
“We shall be saved from wrath through Him."
When we speak of the hope of salvation, it no sense is an uncertainty suggested. Hope built upon man, or earthly things, has o necessity in it an element of uncertainty, but hope that is built upon God's word is absolutely certain. A hope that can never 134 put to shame is highly encouraging an strengthening. There is no such thing as hoping against hope in the hope of salvation no, but an anticipation which will be abundantly realized.
This hope enables the believer to hold u] his head before every foe. And to this he is exhorted as a good soldier of his Lord," putting a...for an helmet the hope of salvation"(1 Thess. 5:88But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. (1 Thessalonians 5:8)). If we had hope only in this life we should be of all men most miserable, but we have a grand prospect of glory before us, which shall never fail. All that we have received is but an installment of what is laid up for us. There will be deeper peace, richer joy by and by, than we ever knew here. Our circumstances will he perfect according to the standard of divine dove, and in this salvation all shall equally participate, even the poorest and the simplest together with the greatest, whether the thief, who found the Savior at his the eleventh hour, or martyrs, prophets, and apostles.