HOPE IN CHRIST JESUS
" Now abideth—hope." -I Corinthians 13:13 [KJV] Gospel faith and Christian hope are twin graces in the heart: they are inseparable. Faith exists not without hope. Hope has no being without faith. Such as a man’s faith is, such is his hope. They both flow from God’s word, as light and heat from the sun. Take away a word spoken, and faith has no being. Without a promise made, hope has no existence. Faith receives and takes possession of Christ, as set forth in the word: hope expects all promised blessings, comforts, and joys in Him, with Him, and from Him, according to the word. “The word of God liveth and abideth for ever” (1 Peter 1:23.) Jesus, Who is the essential Word, “is our hope” (1 Timothy 1:2.) He is the cause of our hope; the object of our hope; and the life of our hope. Therefore, our hope abideth. Yea, though all in nature fails; all in sense forsakes us; and all, as to outward appearances, are against us;—though corruptions rage and foam, and lift