What does the Bible say about hope?

This is described as waiting for something that is not seen but which has been promised. Rom. 8:24-25. Blessed is the man whose hope the Lord is; though troubles arise he will not cease to bear fruit. Jer. 17:7-8. There is nothing vague in the Christian's hope: it is an anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast, because the Lord Himself is his hope, and Christ in him is the hope of glory. Col. 1:27; 1 Tim. 1:1; Heb. 6:18-19. The coming of the Lord, and not death, is a blessed part of the Christian's hope. 1 Thess. 4:13-18; 1 John 3:2-3.

Hope on, perfectly or steadfastly. Diligence and sobriety are here followed with confidence. Hope unto the end signifies fully, perfectly, the full assurance of hope (Heb. 6:11); hope which maketh not ashamed. Be it remarked that the New Testament sense of hope is never uncertainty, but immature or deferred certainty. Confidence, therefore, characterizes it as much as expectation; and thus, instead of being in doubt and uncertainty, in quietness and in confidence is our strength. The world has its hopes, but they are so steeped in uncertainty that the word hope has become almost synonymous with doubt; whereas the believer is so confident as to that which constitutes his hope, that he can say, "If we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." (Rom. 8:25.) "The grace that is to be brought unto us at the revelation of Jesus Christ" we surely see not. With patience then we wait for it, because our hope is steadfast and blessed. He will surely come, He will not tarry; and oh, what tides of blessing will His presence usher in! "The grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ."

Hope is spoken of in Scripture in several different aspects. Even in this world we see how hope enters into human life. The heart of man is constantly buoyed up by hope. In all trials there is the hope that they will come to an end. Men hope that business will improve, that their position will be bettered. In this Island [Jersey] those who cultivate the vine hope for a fine crop of grapes. The warrior hopes for victory. The seaman, to reach port in safety. Many are hoping against hope that there may be peace among the nations. The criminal lives in hope for the time when his sentence shall have become a thing of the past. Hundreds are hoping for heaven. But hope in all earthly things is uncertain, and may end in disappointment. The hope we find in Scripture has no uncertainty about it, tho' alas! unbelief has introduced uncertainty into it, by hopes of mercy and of heaven at last, founded on a false basis.

“For we are saved in hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” Hope is an essential part of Christian character — “an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast” (Heb. 6:19), not a matter of indefinite uncertainty: if it were so, we should not wait with patience, but with doubts and fears. Faith gives the certainty that hope shall be fulfilled — when, we know not, but faith also makes us content to wait patiently. This is true “patience of hope.”

There are two leading principles in the soul of the Christian, which make God the special object. These are "faith and hope." There is a marked distinction, and yet an intimate connection, between these two principles. Faith takes what God has given; hope expects what He has promised. Faith rests in holy tranquility in God's statements about the past; hope goes forth in active longings after the future. Faith is a recipient; hope an expectant. Now, it will be found that, in proportion to the vigour of faith, will be the vigour of hope. If we be not "fully persuaded that what God has promised, He is able also to perform," we shall know but little of the power or energy of hope. If faith be wavering, hope will be flickering. On the contrary, if faith be strong, hope will be strong also; for faith, while it nourishes and strengthens the persuasion, imparts strength and intensity to the expectation. Thus, the soul, in the happy exercise of the above principles, is like a climbing plant which, striking its roots downward into the soil, sends forth its tendrils along the nearest wall or tree. So the soul finds its root in the eternal record of God, while it sends forth the tendrils of an imperishable hope to grasp tenaciously the faithful promise of God; and, we may say, the deeper the root, the stronger the tendril.

"For we are saved by hope;" or "in hope" as it would be more exactly rendered. The meaning is, we have not yet entered into the enjoyment of all that is implied in being "saved." We have the salvation of our souls now; we receive it by faith. We have the forgiveness of sins, the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, the first-fruits of the Spirit. We are now the children of God; but we are saved in hope, as well as in present possession. We have not all the salvation now. Our bodies are still mortal; we are still amid a world where the curse remains, where the usurper rules, and where one universal groan resounds. But in hope we are saved from all this. In hope we have the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body, our manifestation as the sons of God, and the deliverance of all creation into the liberty of the glory which shall then be revealed in us. "But hope that is seen is not hope; for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." Well may we pray with the apostle, "The Lord direct our hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ."

(V. 24). The redemption of the body is a matter of hope, and in this sense we are "saved in hope". The hope does not imply any uncertainty, but only that the blessing is not yet manifested. "Hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man sees, why doth he yet hope for?"

The Christian's hope is heavenly; therefore it is said to enter into "that within the veil." Within the veil was the holiest of all, typical of the third heaven; that is, the immediate presence of God. That within the veil was the ark of the covenant, typical of Christ. Now Christ is entered into the immediate presence of God, and that on our behalf. He is entered as Forerunner and as High Priest. Our hope being centred in Him acts as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast. Our hope has anchored itself already in the glorified Lord Jesus. We are already anchored to the Person and the place, to whom and to which we are going. It is as though an outgoing Atlantic liner found herself securely attached to New York by an anchor pitched in New York harbour, before ever she had got clear of the English Channel!

Now hope is something more than knowledge of doctrine. Hope is a living, active energy of the soul. Many know, as a Scripture truth, what they call the Lord's second coming; but for the heart to be going out to Him in bridal, fervent expectation is another thing! Hence it does not say in Scripture, He that hath the knowledge of the doctrine, but "He that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure." (1 John 3:3.) This hope, then, is eminently sanctifying and practical, enabling us to detach ourselves from that which is impure; for when hope is true and lively in the soul, the eye of the heart is fixed on its desired object. The affections thus become occupied with our blessed and adorable Lord Jesus, and therefore separated from what is unsuitable to Him.

It is with the future that hope has to do. "Hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man sees (or possesses) why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see (or possess) not, then do we with patience wait for it." This is true of all hope: it is of the Christian's hope that it is affirmed; but it is true of hope, whatever be its character or its object. At least thus much is true, that what we hope for is that which we possess not at present. And it is thus that hope becomes such a stimulus to exertion, such a solace in affliction, such a light amid surrounding darkness, such a stay when no other stay remains. Extinguish hope, and happiness is gone. Let the faintest glimmering of hope remain, and man's misery is not complete. Poor unconverted sinner! It is the most dismal feature in the misery of that hell towards which thou art hastening, that there is no hope there. False hopes may flatter and deceive thee, till thou art cast into that pit of darkness; but once there, no single ray of hope, true or false, will ever penetrate the eternal gloom. The Lord awaken thee, ere it be too late, to a sense of the awful prospect that awaits thee, if thou shouldst live on, and die, in sin and unbelief!