Thou shalt know that I am the Lord; for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.—Isa. 49:23.

As faith is nothing else but a fixed and steady assurance by which the devout Christian depends perfectly and entirely on the favor and mercy of God promised in Christ Jesus (Heb. 11:1), so hope is a continued and patient waiting for the accomplishment of that promise which is the object of faith, and is nothing else but a patient, constant, and persevering faith.

2. Of this hope St. Paul says, that it “maketh not ashamed” (Rom. 5:5): being, as well as faith itself, founded upon a firm, immovable, and eternal basis. And this is God himself, who never faileth those that wait for him; and for the same reason, the peace, joy, rest, glory, and confidence imparted by hope are eternal. On this foundation, he who hopes stands fixed and secure amidst all the crosses and calamities of life; and though the rains descend, the floods come, and the boisterous winds blow upon him, he is fearless and unmoved, knowing that “his house is built upon a rock.” Matt. 7:25.

3. And as hope is built upon an immovable foundation, and the things of this world are fleeting and uncertain; therefore its rest, its joy, its entire dependence, are in God alone, despising the riches, pleasures, honors, and glories of the world. “They that trust in the Lord, shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever. As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people.” Ps. 125:1, 2.

4. On the other hand, they whose hopes are founded on the transitory riches, honors, and pleasures of this world, are perpetually exposed to all the fears, cares, and calamities of life; [pg 342] lie at the mercy of every blast of inconstant fortune, by which they are tossed to and fro; and depend upon the uncertain will of the world for every quiet moment they enjoy.

5. This can never be learned but under the discipline of the cross. For such is the nature of affliction, that it searches and discovers the inmost recesses of the soul; and shows us whether the hope that is in us be true or false. By this touchstone, we often find that our hopes have not been so much fixed upon God himself, as upon the favors and blessings he bestows; that we have built upon the sand, and idolized the creature, instead of worshipping the Creator. For so great is the blindness of our nature, that we often rest in the creatures, instead of raising our minds from them to the Creator, as he designed. For with this intent God bestows on man so many and great blessings, that by the gifts he may be drawn to the Giver; and learn to know, love, fear, reverence, and hope in God alone. But so great is the corruption of our nature, that we are not disposed to serve God for nought; and we worship him not for his own sake, but for the sake of what he bestows.

6. Upon this account, it is necessary that God should sometimes visit us with crosses and afflictions, and deprive us of his good things which we have abused; that so we may learn to praise, and glorify, and depend on him alone. Nay, we sometimes proceed so far, as to trust in ourselves, and entirely depend on our own power and abilities; then it is that God in mere mercy interposes; and, that we may not grow too proud, breaks us in pieces, humbles, and confounds us, and so empties us of ourselves, that we may be filled with all the fulness of God. This we cannot be, without being first emptied of all that arrogance, pride, and self-conceit, which stand in perfect opposition to the grace of God.

7. Hence hope is a militant virtue, fighting against all that confidence in ourselves, all that self-exaltation upon the score of our own gifts, merit, righteousness, prosperity, honors, and riches, in which the natural man places all his confidence. The business of hope is to oppose and conquer all these delusions of the devil, and to seek rest and peace in God alone.

8. Hence it follows, that hope, like faith and charity, has God only for its object. Whosoever aims at any other mark, or places his hope on any other being, is destitute of any well-founded hope. As all created beings when out of God are nothing; it follows that the hope reposed in them is also nothing. So then, these three virtues, faith, hope, and charity, are in the highest sense spiritual, admitting of no earthly mixture, but are fixed entirely on God, who is their eternal and invisible basis. To this refers that passage of St. Paul, “Hope that is seen, is not hope; for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?” Rom. 8:24. Whosoever, therefore, places his hope upon anything that is visible, has not the invisible God for his support, but rests upon a shadow; and when the visible world, which is his basis, shall sink into nothing, by consequence his hope, that was built upon it, must sink and perish with it.

9. Consider this, O man, and by carefully comparing time with eternity, persuade thyself to entertain a true and saving hope, and to be led into a state of firm and lasting peace. Eternity is unchangeable, ever constant, always the same; but time is nothing but change and revolution. [pg 343] The brightest day declines and ends in darkness, weeks are swallowed up in months, and months in years; the opening spring and fruitful summer sink, by degrees, into a desolate winter; and not only so, but all the elementary bodies are in a state of change, always shifting from one appearance to another; not to mention the continual motions of the heavens. So that this world cannot be the region of rest. For whatsoever is subject to time, is continually passing, and vanishing; in a word, “All is vanity” (Eccles. 1:2), and we shall never rest but in eternity. And though all men, both good and bad, long for peace and tranquillity; yet they, and they only, shall find it, who have learned to lose and resign themselves in Christ, the eternal rest of the soul. And this is not so much the work of labor and study, as of quietness and hope. Isa. 30:15.