Sermon 1438. The Hope Laid Up In Heaven

(No. 1438)

DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, OCTOBER 13, 1878,

BY C.H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"For the hope which is laid up for you in Heaven, of which you heard before in the Word of the Truth of the Gospel." Colossians 1:5.

THREE Divine Graces should be always conspicuous in Christians-faith, love and hope. They are each mentioned by Paul in theopening verses of the Epistle from which our text is taken. These lovely Graces should be so conspicuous in every Believeras to be spoken of and, consequently, heard of even by those who have never seen us. These flowers should yield so sweet aperfume that their fragrance may be perceived by those who have never gazed upon them. So was it with the saints at Colosse.Paul says, "We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of yourfaith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you have to all the saints, for the hope which is laid up for you in Heaven."

May our characters be such as can be reported of without causing us to blush-but that can never be the case if these essentialvirtues are absent. If these things are in us and abound, we shall not be barren or unfruitful. But if they are lacking, weare as withered branches. We should, therefore, be rich in faith, which is the root of every Grace and, to this end, we shoulddaily pray, "Lord, increase our faith." We should strive to be full even to overflowing with love, which is of God and makesus like unto God. And we should also abound in hope, even that heavenly hope which causes a man to purify himself in readinessfor the inheritance above. See to it that neither of these three Divine Sisters are strangers to your souls, but let Faith,Hope and Love take up their abode in your hearts!

Note, however, the special character of each of these Graces as it exists in the Christian. It is not every faith and loveand hope that will serve our turn, for of all precious things there are counterfeits! There is a kind of faith in all men,but ours is faith in Christ Jesus, faith in Him whom the world rejects, whose Cross is a stumbling block and whose doctrineis an offense. We have faith in the Man of Nazareth who is also the Son of God. We have faith in Him who, having made atonementby His own blood once and for all, is now exalted at His Father's right hand. Our confidence is not placed in ourselves, norin any human priest nor in the traditions of our fathers, nor in the teachings of human wisdom, but ONLY in Christ Jesus.This is the faith of God's elect.

The love of Christians, too, is also special, for while a Christian man is moved by universal benevolence and desires to dogood unto all men, yet he has a special love unto all the saints and these the world loves not because it loves not theirLord. The true Believer loves the persecuted, the misrepresented and despised people of God for Christ's sake. He loves themall, even though he may think some of them to be mistaken in minor matters. He has love to the babies in Grace as well asto the grown saints-and love even to those saints whose infirmities are more manifest than their virtues! He loves them notfor their station, or for their natural amiability, but because Jesus loves them and because they love Jesus. You see thefaith is in Christ Jesus, but the love extends beyond Christ, Himself, to all those who are in union with Him.

Hope takes a still wider sweep and includes the eternal future in its circuit. Thus do our Graces increase in range as wellas in number. Our hope, too, upon which we are to speak this morning, is special, because it is a hope which is laid up forus in Heaven. It is a hope, therefore, which the worldling cares not one whit about! He hopes that tomorrow may be as thisday and yet more abundant, but he cares nothing for the land where time has ceased to flow. He hopes for riches or he hopesfor fame-he hopes for long life and prosperity-he hopes for pleasure and domestic peace. The whole range of his hope is withinthe compass of his eyes!

But our hope has passed beyond the sphere of sight, according to the word of the Apostle, "What a man sees, why does he yethope for? But if we hope for what we see not, then do we, with patience, wait for it." Ours is a hope which demands nothingof time or earth, but seeks its all in the world to come! It is of this hope that we are about to speak. May

the Holy Spirit lead us into a profitable meditation upon it. The connection of our text seems to be this-the Apostle so muchrejoiced when he saw the saints at Colosse possessing faith, love and hope, that he thanked God and prayed about them. Hesaw these seals of God upon them-these three tokens that they were a really converted people-and his heart was glad!

All the faithful ministers of Christ rejoice to see their people adorned with the jewels of faith, love and hope, for theseare their ornaments for the present and their preparation for the future. This I believe to be the connection, but yet fromthe form of the language it is clear that the Apostle intended to state that their love to the saints was very much producedin them by the hope which was laid up in Heaven. You notice the word, "for," which stands there-"The love which you have toall the saints for," or on account of, or because of, "the hope which is laid up for you in Heaven." There can be no doubtthat the hope of Heaven tends greatly to foster love to all the saints of God! We have a common hope-let us have a commonaffection! We are on our way to God-let us march in loving company! We are to be one in Heaven-let us be one on earth! Oneis our Master, one is our service, one is our way and one is our end-let us be knit together as one man!

We all expect to see our Well-Beloved face to face and to be like He. Why should we not, even now, love all those in whomthere is anything of Christ? Brethren, we are to live together forever in Heaven-it is a pity we should quarrel! We are foreverto be with Jesus Christ, partakers of the same joy, of the same glory and of the same love-why should we be scant in our loveto each other? On the way to Canaan we have to fight the same enemy, to publish the same testimony, to bear the same trials,and to fly to the same Helper-therefore let us love one another! It were not difficult to show that the hope which is laidup in Heaven should be productive of love among the saints on earth.

This connection of my text with the clause immediately before it does not at all prevent its being regarded in the sense whichI first mentioned, namely, that it was a subject for joy with the Apostle that the Colossians had faith, love and hope, forhe would rejoice, none the less, because their faith was fostered by their hope. It commends these sweet Graces, that theyare so wonderfully intertwisted with each other and dependent upon one another. There would be no love to the saints if therewere not faith in Christ Jesus! And if there were not faith in Christ Jesus there would be no hope laid up in Heaven! If wehad no love, it would be certain that we had no true faith. And if we had no hope, faith would be assuredly absent.

If we entertain one of the Graces we must receive her sisters, for they cannot be separated. Here are three brilliants setin the same golden setting and none must break the precious jewel. "Now abides faith, hope and love, these three," and blessedis he who has them abiding in his own heart! Now we will let faith and love stand by for a little while and we will talk abouthope, the hope mentioned in our text; the hope which is laid up for you in Heaven. First, it is a very marvelous hope. Secondly,it is a very secure hope. And thirdly, it is a very powerfully influential hope. May the Holy Spirit bless these three thoughtsto us all.

I. First, then, we speak of our hope which is laid up for us in Heaven as A VERY MARVELOUS HOPE and it is so if we only considerthat it is a great act of Grace that sinners should have a hope at all! That when man had broken his Maker's Law there shouldremain a hope for him is a thought which should make our hearts leap with gratitude! Do you not recollect when you felt itto be so? When sin lay heavily upon your conscience, Satan came and wrote over the lintel of your door, "NO HOPE," and thegrim sentence would have stood there to this day had not a loving hand taken the hyssop and, by a sprinkling of precious blood,removed the black inscription. "Remember that at that time you were without Christ, having no hope and without God in theworld."

That was our condition once and it is a marvelous thing that it should be thoroughly changed and that assurance should havetaken the place of despair! In our carnal estate many false hopes, like will-o'-the-wisps, danced before us, deceived us andled us into bogs of presumption and error-we had no hope. This is a dreadful condition for a man to be in! It is, indeed,the very worst of all. Never is the storm so terrible as when in the howling of the winds the man distinctly hears the words,"No hope." Yet into the thick darkness of NO HOPE we once steered our course and each time we tried to rely upon good works,outward ceremonies and good resolutions, we were disappointed anew and the words rung into our souls with dread monotony,"No hope, no hope," until we wished we could lie down and die!

Now, though we are sinners, we have a hope! Ever since by faith we looked to Jesus on the Cross, a hope full of glory hastaken possession of our hearts! Is not this a marvelous thing? More marvelous still, is it that our hope should venture

to be associated with Heaven! Can there be Heaven for such as we are? It seems almost presumptuous for a sinner who so richlydeserves Hell even to lift up his eyes towards Heaven. He might have some hope of "purgatory" if there were such a region,but a hope of Heaven-is not that too much? Yet, Brothers and Sisters, we have no fear of Hell or of "purgatory" now-we expectto taste the joys laid up in Heaven! There is no "purgatory" for anyone and there is no Hell for saints-Heaven awaits allbelievers in Jesus. Our hope is full of glory, for it has to do with the Glory of Christ, whom we hope to behold. Do you expectthen, you who were black with lust, that you shall sit among the angels? "Yes, that we do," says the Believer, "and nearerto the Throne than they!"

And you who have plunged into every form of uncleanness, do you expect to see God, for none but the pure in heart can beholdHim? "Yes, that we do," say they, "and not only to see Him, but to be like His Son, when we see Him as He is." What a Divinehope is this! Not that we shall sit down on Heaven's doorsteps and hear stray notes of the songs within, but that we shallsing with the happy choir! Not that we shall have an occasional glance within the gates of pearl and feel our hearts hankeringafter the unutterable joys within the sacred enclosure, but we shall actually and personally enter into the halls of the palaceand see the King in His beauty in the land which is very far off! This is a brave hope, is it not? Why, she aspires to allthat the best of saints have received! She looks for the same vision of Glory, the same ecstasy of delight-she even aspiresto sit upon the Throne of Christ, according to the promise, "To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with Me on my Throne,even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father on His Throne."

Hope reckons to be among the overcomers and to partake in their enthronement! This is marvelous hope for a struggling Believerto entertain! Yet it is not presumption, but confidence warranted by the Word of God! Is it not a miracle of love that suchpoor creatures as ourselves should be enabled thus to hope in God? This hope is the more marvelous because it is so substantial.In our text the Apostle scarcely seems to be speaking of the Grace of hope, since that can hardly be said to be laid up inHeaven, but dwells in our bosoms. He rather speaks of the objective of hope and yet it is clear that in his mind the Graceof hope as well as the objective must have been intended, because that which is laid up in Heaven is not a hope except tothose who hope for it! It is clear that no man has a hope laid up in Heaven unless he has hope within himself.

The truth is that the two things-the Grace of hope and its objective-are here mentioned under one term, which may be intendedto teach us that when hope is worked in the heart by the Holy Spirit, it is the thing hoped for, even as faith is the thingbelieved, because it realizes and secures it. Just as faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of thingsnot seen, so is hope the substance of the thing it expects and the evidence of the thing it cannot see. Paul, in this case,as in many others, uses language rather according to the theological sense which he would convey than according to the classicalusage of the Greek tongue. The words of a heathen people must be somewhat strained from their former use if they are to expressDivine Truth and Paul does thus stretch them to their utmost length in this case.

The hope of the true Believer is so substantial that Paul even speaks of it as though it were the thing itself and were laidup in Heaven! Many a man has a hope of wealth, but that hope is a different thing from being wealthy. There is many a slip'twixt the cup and the lip, says the old proverb, and how true it is! A man may have a hope of old age, yet he may never reacheven middle life, and thus it is clear that the hope of long life is not, in itself, longevity. But he that has the Divinehope which grows out of faith and love has a hope which shall never be disappointed, so that the Apostle speaks of it as beingidentical with the thing hoped for and describes it as laid up in Heaven! What a marvelous hope is this which long beforeits realization is treated as a matter of actual attainment and spoken of as a treasure reserved in the coffers of Heaven!

One marvelous point about our hope is this-it is the subject of Divine Revelation. No one could ever have invented this hope-itis so glorious as to baffle imagination! The prince of dreamers could never have dreamed it, nor the master of the art oflogic have inferred it by reason. Imagination and understanding are both left on the ground, while the Bible idea of Heavensoars upward like a strong-winged angel. The eternal hope had to be revealed to us-we should never have known it, otherwise,for the Apostle says, "Of which you heard before in the Word of the Truth of the Gospel." That a sinful man should have ahope of enjoying the perfect bliss of Paradise is a thing not to be thought of, were it not that the Lord has promised it!

I say again, imagination's utmost stretch could never had reached to this and neither could we have had the presumption tosuppose that such a bliss could be in store for men so unworthy and undeserving had we not been assured

thereof by the Word of God! But now the Word of God has opened a window in Heaven and bid us look therein and hope for thetime when we shall drink of its living fountains of waters and go no more out forever. This is marvelous and it is even moremarvelous to think that this hope came to us simply by hearing. "Of which you heard before in the Word of the truth of theGospel." "Faith comes by hearing" and hope comes by faith-and so the Divine hope of being in Heaven came to us by hearing-notby working, not by deserving, not by penance and sacrifice, but simply by listening diligently unto the Divine Word and believingunto life!

We heard that the pierced hands of Jesus had opened the kingdom of Heaven to all Believers and we believed and saw a way ofentrance into the holiest by His blood! We heard that God had prepared, for them that love Him, joys indescribable and webelieved the message, trusting in His Son. Our confidence is in the Word which we have heard, for it is written, "Hear andyour soul shall live." And we find that by hearing, our confidence is strengthened and our heart filled with inward assuranceand joyful expectation-therefore do we love the Word of God more and more! Will we not prize to the uttermost that sacredWord which has brought us such a hope? Yes, that we will-till we exchange hearing for seeing-and the message of Jesus forJesus, Himself! We will always lend a willing ear to the testimony of Jesus!

This hope is marvelous, once more, because the substance of it is most extraordinary. Brothers and Sisters, what is the hopewhich is laid up for us in Heaven? It would need many a sermon to bring out all the phases of delight which belong to thathope! It is the hope of victory, for we shall overcome every foe and Satan shall be trod under our feet. A palm of victoryis prepared for our hands and a crown for our heads. Our life struggle shall not end in defeat, but in complete and eternaltriumph, for we shall overcome through the blood of the Lamb! Nor do we hope for only victory- but in our own persons we shallpossess perfection. We shall one day cast off the slough of sin and shall be seen in the beauty of our new-born life. Truly,"it does not yet appear what we shall be," but when we think of the matchless Character of our Lord Jesus, we are overjoyedby the assurance that "we shall be like He."

What an honor and a bliss for the younger Brethren to be like the Firstborn! To what higher honor could God Himself exaltus? I know not of anything which could surpass this! Oh, matchless joy to be as holy, harmless and undefiled as our own belovedLord! How delightful to have no propensity to sin remaining in us nor trace of its ever having been there! How blissful toperceive that our holy desires and aspirations have no weakness or defect remaining in them! Our nature will be perfect andfully developed in all its sinless excellence! We shall love God as we do now, but oh how much more intensely! We shall rejoicein God as we do now, but oh what depth there will be in that joy! We shall delight to serve Him as we do now, but there will,then, be no coldness of heart, no languor of spirit, no temptation to turn aside.

Our service will be as perfect as that of angels! Then shall we say to ourselves without fear of any inward failure, "Blessthe Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name." There will be no recreant affection then! No erring judgment,no straying passion, no rebellious lust! There will remain nothing which can defile, or weaken, or distract! We shall be perfect,altogether perfect. This is our hope-victory over evil and perfection in all that is good! If this were all our hope it wouldbe marvelous, but there is more to be unfolded. We expect to enjoy security, also, from every danger. As there will be noevil in us, so there will be none around us or about us to cause us alarm. No temporal evil such as pain, bereavement, sorrow,labor, or reproach shall come near us!

All will be security, peace, rest, and enjoyment. No mental evil will intrude upon us in Heaven. No doubts, no staggeringdifficulties, no fears, no bewilderments will cause us distress. Here we see through a glass darkly and we know in part-butthere we shall see face to face and know even as we are known! Oh, to be free from mental trouble! What a relief will thisbe to many a doubting Thomas! This is a marvelous hope! And then no spiritual enemy will assail us. No world, no flesh, nodevil will mar our rest above. What will you make out of it, you tried ones? Your Sabbaths are very sweet now on earth, butwhen they are over, you have to return to yon cold world again. But there your Sabbath shall never end and your separationfrom the wicked will be complete!

It will be a strange sensation for you to find no Monday morning, no care to be renewed, no toil to be encountered, no harnessto be buckled on afresh! But above all, no sin to be dreaded, no temptation to be escaped! Heaven is so peaceful that thestorms of earth are unknown there. The stirrings of the flesh are never felt and the howls of the dogs of Hell are never heard.All is peace and purity there-perfection and security forever! With this security will come perfect rest-"Yes, says the Spirit,for they rest from their labors." Heavenly rest is quite consistent with continual service, for,

like the angels, we shall rest on the wing and find it rest to serve God day and night. But there you shall not toil tillthe sweat dampens your face, neither shall the sun burn you, nor any heat! No weary limb nor fevered brain shall follow uponthe blessed service of Heaven.

Heaven is a paradise of pleasure and a palace of glory! It is a garden of supreme delights and a mansion of abiding love!It is an everlasting Sabbatismos, a rest which never can be broken, which evermore remains for the people of God! It is akingdom where all are kings, an inheritance where all are heirs! My soul pants for it! Is not this a charming hope? Did Inot say well when I declared it to be marvelous? Nor is this all, Brothers and Sisters, for we expect to enjoy in Heaven ahappiness beyond compare! Eye has not seen it, nor ear heard it, nor has the heart conceived it-it surpasses all carnal joy!We know a little of it, for the Lord has revealed it unto us by the Spirit, who searches all things, even the deep thingsof God. Yet what we know is but a mere taste of the marriage feast-enough to make us long for more, but by no means sufficientto give us a complete idea of the whole banquet!

If it is so sweet to preach about Christ, what must it be to see Him and be with Him? If it is so delightful to be ravishedby the music of His name, what must it be to lie in His bosom? Why, if these few clusters of Eshcol which are, now and then,brought to us are so sweet, what will it be to abide in the vineyard where all the clusters grow? If that one bucketful fromthe well of Bethlehem tasted so sweetly that we scarcely dared to drink it, but poured it out before the Lord as a thank-offering,what a joy will it be to drink at the wellhead without stint forever! O to be eternally at the right hand of God where thereare pleasures forevermore! This is our hope and yet there is more, for we have the hope of everlasting fellowship with Christ!I would give 10,000 worlds, if I had them, to have one glimpse of that dear face which was marred with sorrow for my sake!

But to sit at my Lord's feet and look up into His countenance and hear His voice, and never, never grieve Him, but to participatein all His triumphs and glories forever and forever-what a Heaven will this be! Then shall we have fellowship with all Hissaints in whom He is glorified and by whom His image is reflected. And thus shall we behold fresh displays of His power andbeams of His love. Is not this surpassing bliss? Said I not well when I declared that ours is a marvelous hope? Had I eloquenceand could pile on good words-and could a poet assist me with his sweetest song-to tell of the bliss and joy of the eternalworld, yet must preacher and poet both confess their inability to describe the Glory to be revealed in us! The noblest intellectand the sweetest speech could not convey to you so much as a thousandth part of the bliss of Heaven!

There I leave the first head. It is a very marvelous hope!

II. Secondly, let us remark that IT IS A MOST SECURE HOPE. It is so according to the text, because it is laid up or secured.The recent calamities which have occurred in connection with the Glasgow City Bank will make businessmen very careful wherethey lay up their treasures, but no one can entertain any fear of the safety of that which God Himself takes under His charge!If your hope is laid up with Him it becomes sinful to doubt its security. It is "laid up," the text says, and this means thatit is hidden in a safe place like a treasure which is well secured.

We find it hard to lay up our valuables safely in this world because thieves break through and steal. The iron safe, the strongroom and all sorts of inventions are employed to preserve them from felonious grips, but when God becomes the Guardian ofour treasure, He lays it up where none can touch it and neither man nor devil can steal it. Our hope is laid up just as crownsand wreaths were laid up at the Grecian games for those who won them-no one could snatch them away from their rightful owners.The rewards were safely retained for the winners, to be distributed when the contest was over. You see not as yet your hope,Beloved, but it is laid up-it is hidden with Christ in God and made as safe as the Throne of God Himself.

Notice the next word, it is laid up, "for you." It is something to have your hope laid up, but it is much better to have itlaid up for yourself. "Laid up for you." That is, for you whose faith is in Christ Jesus and who have love to all the saints.There is a crown in Heaven which will never be worn by any head but yours! There is a harp in Glory that will never be touchedby any fingers but yours. Make no mistake about it, it is laid up for you in Heaven! It is "reserved in Heaven for you whoare kept by the power of God, through faith unto salvation." "For you"- "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's goodpleasure to give you the kingdom." Lay the stress there and get honey out of it. "Laid up for

you."

Where is it laid up? The next word tells us. "Laid up for you in Heaven," "where," says the Savior as though He were expoundingthe text, "neither moth nor rust does corrupt." This means that no process of decay will cause your treasure to become staleand worn out! No secret moth will eat the garments of Heaven's courtiers and no rust will tarnish the brightness of theircrowns. Our Lord adds, "Nor do thieves break through nor steal." We cannot imagine a burglar's breaking through the wallsof Heaven! We could not imagine Satan himself undermining the bastions of the New Jerusalem, or leaping over the bulwarkswhich guard the city of the Great King! If your hope is laid up in Heaven it must be perfectly safe.

If your hope lies in the bank, it may break-if it lies in an empire, it may melt away. If it lies in an estate, the title-deedsmay be questioned; if it lies in any human creature, death may bereave you. If it lies in yourself, it is altogether deceitful!But if your hope is laid up in Heaven, how secure it is! Be glad and bless the Lord. To show how secure is our hope, the Apostletells us that we have an indisputable certificate and guarantee for it. He says, "We heard of it in the Word of the Truthof the Gospel." Notice these three emphatic words-"In the Word of the Truth of the Gospel." First, "In the Word." What wordis that? Man's word? Man's words are so much wind! But this is God's Word, the same Word that made Heaven and earth! A Wordof power which cannot fail and of Truth which cannot lie.

You first hear of this blessed hope through the Word of God and that Word is the best of evidence. You know how a person willsay, "My word for it"?-Here you have God's Word for it! We take a good man's word freely and will we not take God's Word muchmore readily? You have the Word of God for the sure hope that believers in Christ Jesus shall be blessed forever-is not thissecurity enough? Our text goes on to say, "the Word of the Truth." So, then, it is not a word of guess, conjecture, or ofprobable inference, but of Infallible Truth! My Brothers of the modern school, my wise Brothers, have a word of excogitation,outcome and development-but the word the Apostle preached was "the Word of the Truth"-something positive, dogmatic and certain!

Ugly as the word may sound, the Lord grant that we may never be ashamed of the thing called dogmatism, nowadays, which isnone other than faith in God's Truth! We believe the Word of God not only to be true, but to be "the Word of the Truth." "LetGod be true and every man a liar." There may be other true things in the world, but God's Word is the essence of Truth, theTruth beyond all things else that may be true, for He has said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My Word shall neverpass away." The Apostle says in another place, "All flesh is as grass and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. Thegrass withers, and the flower thereof falls away; but the Word of the Lord endures forever. And this is the Word which bythe Gospel is preached unto you."

Note the next word, "The Word of the Truth of the Gospel," or of the Good News. That is to say, the sum and substance of theGood News is to be found in this glorious hope! If you extract the essence of the Gospel and get the Truth of God, which isthe central germ of the glad tidings, you come at that blessed hope most sure and steadfast which enters into that withinthe veil. Now, then, before your God-created hope can fail, the Word of God will have to be broken! But the Word of God cannotbe broken! The Truth of God will have to fail, but the Truth of God abides forever and is by force of its own Nature eternal!And the Gospel will have to be disproved, but that cannot be, since the Glory of God is made to hang upon it!

You have heard it, then, "in the Word of the Truth of the Gospel." What better assurance do you need? Hold to it and rejoicein it and you shall never be ashamed of your hope!

III. I close by saying that IT IS A MOST POWERFULLY INFLUENTIAL HOPE. Brothers and Sisters, I have

already said to you that this hope is the parent and nurse of love because the text says, "The love which you have to allthe saints for the hope which is laid up for you in Heaven." Now, that is no trifling fountain of action which leads believinghearts to love, since love is always a working Grace! Oh, for more love in this distracted world! Whatever in this world promotesChristian love is to be admired and, since the hope that we shall be forever together before the Throne of God lifts us abovethe little disagreements of society and makes us affectionate to each other, it is a thing to cultivate with care.

Love is one part of the powerful operation of hope upon ourselves, but hopefulness affects others, also. Where the hopefulnessof saints is conspicuous, it leads ministers and gracious people to give thanks to God. Paul says, "We give thanks to Godand the Father, praying always for you since we heard of your hope." I do not know a greater delight that a minister can havethan the thought of all his people entering the bliss of Heaven and of his meeting them all there! We

hardly have time to know each other here below. We have loved each other in the Lord and we have strived together in the serviceof God-and some of us are old fellow-soldiers. Now, after many years of Christian warfare, how pleasant it will be to dwelltogether above the world without end!

Some have gone home whom we dearly loved and would almost have detained if we could. And there are others among us who inthe order of Nature will soon be translated-happy are we because we cannot long be separated! The age of some among us prophesiestheir speedy departure and foreshadows that they will soon go over to the majority- but it is a most blessed reflection thatall of us who are in Christ shall meet together above. We shall have ample room and space enough for fellowship when we havereached eternity-and what will our joy be then! Perhaps some of you will say to me when we converse in heavenly language-"You remember talking to us concerning the blessed hope on that fine Lord's-Day morning, but you did not know much about it!We said then, 'The half has not been told us,' but now we perceive you did not tell us the one-hundredth part! Still we wereglad to share in the joy of what little we did know and in the blessed hope of knowing so much more." Oh yes, dear Friends,because the hope of Heaven in us helps to make other people thank God on our account, it is a sweet Grace and mightily influential-andthe more we have of it the better!

Moreover, hearing of their hope led the Apostle to pray and, if you will follow me in reading the words which succeed thetext, you will see what he desired for his friends at Colosse. In the ninth verse you will see what he prayed for. He says,"For this cause we, also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to desire that you might be filled withthe knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding." Having believed in Jesus and loving His people, youare going to Heaven and so Paul says, "I desire that you be filled with the knowledge of His will," and well may he so desire,since to do that will is the joy and business of Heaven! Is not our prayer, "Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven"?Brethren, let us learn the will of the Lord now and so be educated for the skies!

Here we are to go through our apprenticeship that we may be able to take up our freedom as citizens of the New Jerusalem.Here we are at school, preparing to take our degree above, among the instructed saints of God! Are we to enter Heaven ignorantof what the will of the Lord is? Surely we ought to know something of the ways of the place and something of the rules ofthe court! This part of our life below is intended to be a prelude to our life above-a preparation for perfection! Here belowwe undergo the tuning of the instruments. It is not meet that there should be discordant scrapings and screwing of stringsin Heaven! No, let us do all that here! Let us have our harps tuned below so that when we reach the orchestra of the skieswe may take our right place and drop into the right note directly. A good hope should make you eager to know the will of theLord! It should purify you even as Christ is pure and make you anxious to begin the perfect service of Heaven while yet youlinger below!

Then the Apostle prays, "that you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing." Is it not fit that you who are to riseto Enoch's Heaven should walk as he did and have this testimony that you please God? You are going to dwell at God's righthand where there are pleasures forevermore-would you not wish to do all you can to please your Lord before you see Him? Youare a son or daughter of a King! You have not put on your glittering array as yet-your crown is not yet on your head-but surelyyou wish to behave yourself as becomes one who is foreordained for so much honor and glory! If a son is in a distant countryand is coming home, he begins to think, "What can I take home? What can I do to please the beloved father whom I am soon tosee?" Begin, Beloved, to see what you can do to please God because you are so soon to enter into His pleasure and dwell withthose that wear white robes, "for they are worthy"!

Next he says, "Being fruitful in every good work." Why, if there is to be such a rich reward of Grace, let us bear all thegracious fruit we can! And if the time of working is so soon to be over, let us be instant in every holy labor while yet theseason is with us! Who wants to go into Heaven empty-handed? Who wishes to spend the time of his sojourning here in idleness?Oh no! Let us seek to be fruitful to the Glory of God that so we may have an abundant entrance into the kingdom! The Apostlefurther adds, "Increasing in the knowledge of God." If I am going to dwell with God, let me know something of Him. Let mesearch His Word and see how He has revealed Himself. Let me endeavor to have fellowship with Him and His Son, Jesus, thatI may know Him. How can I enter Heaven as a total stranger to Him who is the King of it? Is not the knowledge of God as necessaryas it is desirable?

Those who have a good hope of Heaven will not rest without knowing the Lord, from the least even to the greatest of them.If anyone were to make you a present of a great estate, no matter in what country it might be situated, you

would feel an interest in the land and its neighborhood-and before nightfall you would be found enquiring about the place!No matter how rustic the neighborhood or remote the locality, you would set your thoughts towards it if you knew the estateto be yours. As a usual thing, one of the driest documents in all the world is a rich man's will. If you have ever heard oneread you will know how it proses on and on in that rigmarole fashion dear to lawyers! But if you are present when it is readto the family, please notice how, "my son John's" eyes clear up when it comes to the clause which concerns himself and howeven the aged countenance of "my faithful servant Jane" brightens when her small legacy is mentioned! Everyone is on the alertwhen his own interests are affected. Even so, he that has a hope in Heaven and an interest in Christ's great Testament will,at once, take an interest in Divine things and will desire to increase in the knowledge of God.

Once again, the Apostle says, "strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and long-sufferingwith joyfulness." A hope of Heaven is a mighty strengthener for bearing the ills of life and the persecutions of the adversary."It will soon be over," says a man who looks for Heaven and, therefore, he is not overweighted with grief. "It is an ill lodging,"said the traveler, "but I shall be away in the morning." Well may we be strengthened with all might by the hope of Heaven!It is but reason that the exceeding weight of Heaven should cast into the shade this light affliction which is but for a moment!You will say, "But have you not worked this part of the chapter into your subject without any guarantee?"

No. Here is my guarantee in the next verse-"Giving thanks unto the Father which has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritanceof the saints in light." I have been following the evident track of the Apostle's thoughts. The Lord gives us a hope of gloryand then He gives us a meetness for it and that meetness is largely worked in us by the Holy Spirit through the instrumentalityof our hope. Cultivate, then, your hope, dear Brothers and Sisters! Make it to shine so plainly in you that your ministermay hear of your hopefulness and joy! Cause observers to take note of it because you speak of Heaven and act as though youreally expected to go there! Make the world know that you have a hope of Heaven! Make worldlings feel that you are a believerin eternal Glory and that you hope to be where Jesus is!

Often surprise them as they see what they call your simplicity, but what is, in truth, only your sincerity while you treatas matter of fact the hope laid up for you in Heaven! The Lord grant it for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.