FULL ASSURANCE OF HOPE
"Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil." -Hebrews 6:19 [KJV]
Anchors, you know, are made of different sizes. You may walk in the Queen's Dockyard, and there you may see anchors for a boat, and anchors for a three-decker. Yet all anchors are made in the same way, and are designed for the same purpose; and the little anchor that holds the boat is as useful and as much an anchor as that which holds the three-decker.
So
spiritually. There is hope in the heart of the babe. But the hope in the
heart of a babe is but as the anchor of a boat; yet it holds that babe
as firmly as the anchor holds the boat to which it is moored. But as the
Lord increases hope, He increases the size of the anchor; and as the
vessel and its anchor always bear a proportion to each other, so when He
enlarges the size of the anchor He increases the size of the ship. Nay
more, as He increases the size of the ship, He increases its burden, for
these two are proportionate.
Thus hope takes a more vigorous hold
within the veil; it enters more deeply into the presence of God; it
takes a firmer grasp of covenant engagements, electing love, the
immutability of God's purposes, and the unchangeable nature of the great
eternal I AM. Have you not felt at times your hope sweetly enlarged, so
that it almost attained to the "full assurance of hope?" Scarcely a
cloud remained between you and God; and you believed you should ride
triumphantly into the haven of bliss and peace; and having these blessed
sensations in your heart, you could part with life itself at that
moment to fall into the embrace of your God.
-preacher J.C. Philpot (1802-1869 A.D.)
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