1. The Believers Hope is from GOD▪ Therefore 'tis a sure Hope. If we spea• of the Object of the Believers Hope, or th• Future Happiness he Hopes for, which (as was said) is called his Hope, it i• from God as the Author of it; and ti• therefore called the Glory of God: Rom▪ 5.2. We rejoice in hope of the Glory of Go• ▪ He has prepared that Glory for all true Believers on Jesus Christ. At the La•• ⟨p. 193⟩Day, he will say unto them, Come ye Blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you, from the Foundation of the World, Mat. 25.34 The Believer hopes for nothing less than a Kingdom. One of the Ancients says, that the Primitive Christians were often speaking of a Kingdom; and expressing their joyful hopes that they should in God's time Enjoy it: which made their Enemies Look on them as a Fanatical sort of People: But their Faith assured them that God had prepared such a Kingdom for them. And he likewise prepares them for it. Therefore does the Scripture speak of Vessels of Mercy, which he has afore prepared unto Glory, Rom 9.23. He that has wrought us for the self same thing is God, who also has given unto us the Earnest of the Spirit, • Cor. 5 5. That self same thing, is the blessedness of heaven; a Building of God, •n House not made with hands Eternal in the Heavens, which they shall enjoy when Mortality shall be swallowed up of Life. God has made an Heaven for us, and he makes us fit for that Heaven. He has ⟨p. 194⟩made us Meet to be partakets of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light. We have not wrought this Meetness in our selves; but it is GOD that has done it, by a Work of Regeneration on our Souls; and by giving his Spirit to us, as a Pledge of what he has prepared for us. Then is our Hope sure and certain, and we cannot miss of Heaven. Or, if we speak of the Grace of Hope which is wrought in the Souls of Believers, that also is from God. There are three Graces in which Christianity does Eminently consist, viz. Faith, Love, and Hope; of all which the Apostle speaks in this with the preceding Verse. Where GOD gives Faith, he gives those Other Graces also. All Grace is from him: And the Grace of Hope in particular is so. Hence he is styled the God of Hope, as being not only the Object, but the Author of this Grace. It is by the Power of the Holy Spirit, that this Grace is wrought i• Believing Souls.
1. The Believers Hope is from GOD▪ Therefore 'tis a sure Hope. If we spea• of the Object of the Believers Hope, or th• Future Happiness he Hopes for, whic• (as was said) is called his Hope, it i• from God as the Author of it; and ti• therefore called the Glory of God: Rom▪ 5.2. We rejoyce in hope of the Glory of Go• ▪ He has prepared that Glory for all tru• Believers on Jesus Christ. At the La•• ⟨p. 193⟩Day, he will say unto them, Come ye Blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you, from the Foundation of the World, Mat. 25.34 The Believer hopes for nothing less than a Kingdom. One of the Ancients says, that the Primitive Christians were often speaking of a Kingdom; and expressing their joyful hopes that they should in God's time Enjoy it: which made their Enemies Look on them as a Phanatical sort of People: But their Faith assured them that God had prepa•ed such a Kingdom for them. And he •ikewise prepares them for it. Therefore does the Scripture speak of Vessels of Mercy, which he has afore prepared unto Glory, Rom 9.23. He that has wrought us for the self same thing is God, who also has given unto us the Earnest of the Spirit, • Cor. 5 5. That self same thing, is the blessedness of heaven; a Building of God, •n House not made with hands Eternal in the Heavens, which they shall enjoy when Mortality shall be swallowed up of Life. God has made an Heaven for us, and he makes us fit for that Heaven. He has ⟨p. 194⟩made us Meet to be partakets of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light. We have not wrought this Meetness in our selves; but it is GOD that has done it, by a Work of Regeneration on our Souls; and by giving his Spirit to us, as a Pledge of what he has prepared for us. Then is our Hope sure and certain, and we cannot miss of Heaven. Or, if we speak of the Grace of Hope which is wrought in the Souls of Believers, that also is from God. There are three Graces in which Christianity does Eminently consist, viz. Faith, Love, and Hope; of all which the Apostle speaks in this with the preceding Verse. Where GOD gives Faith, he gives those Other Graces also. All Grace is from him: And the Grace of Hope in particular is so. Hence he is styled the God of Hope, as being not only the Object, but the Autho of this Grace. It is by the Power of the Holy Spirit, that this Grace is wrought i Believing Souls.
