The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-12-28

some have TRANSPORTED their hopes in the
stately form of knowledge, and others
have adorned them with the robes OF
virtue. One of the miseries of old age is
that it is sometimes without hope; the
golden wand has dropped from its nerve
less grasp; it can no longer transform
the present and beckon the future; the
future wears the rigid features of the
hard and prosaic present; Hope is dead,
devoured by regret. Yet it is not always
thus. In some, old age retains the magic
power and magnifes its little space of
time into an immense future, and glorifes
it with thousand fond fancies.
The hopes we entertain shew what we
are. Our day dreams indicate our char
acter. When idly musing, on what do
our thoughts instinctively dwell? What
castles in the air do we build? What
pictures of felicity does our imagination
paint? These are the structures of our
hopes; they bear the impress of our ma
ture. Hope weaves the glittering web
of the future from the materials which
our own mind supplies. The scenes into
which this magician transports us are
congenial to us-whether they be scenes
of virtue or vice, of sordid or noble de-
lights. Thus may we try ourselves by
the hopes we indulge. Thus does Hope
assert its all-embracing power.
Christianity has not overlooked this
great faculty of the soul. On the con-
trary, it has appropriated Hope to itself.
God announces Himself as the Z" God of
Hope" The Scriptures are full of the
testimonies to the grandeur and purify
ing power of hope. The gospel concen-
trates the shaken and scattered hopes of
men in one firm and solid point The
world embracing fulness of hope which
it unfolds is unknown beyond its sphere
Hope, as here displayed, includes the
prospect of state wherein all needs shall
be supplied, all wants satisfied, all the
hindrances of life and results of sin re-
moved, raising upon the basis of Scrip
ture promise, and the facts of redemption,
future full of bliss in contrast with the
unsatisfying present.
Let us then estimate the character of
Hope as it is unfolded in the gospel, that
we may distinguish it from the common
hopes of men, and by contrast discern
something of its pure and exalted quail
tiles.
The basis is different. On what do our
hopes ordinarily rest? On the dictates
of judgment, the suggestions of magma
ton, the desires of the heart, or the i'm
polling power of the will. But all these
may be fallacious and thus mislead our
hopes. We are liable to error in all
these faculties; the conclusion of reason
may be false, the fancy is "a fond, delu-
sive faculty." our hearts are deceitful,
and our will, hayward. Hence hope
trusting to them, builds its house on the
sand.
The men and women we see around us,
with broken fortunes, blighted health,
bereaved hearts, and burdened lives, pro-
claims that man walketh in vain show.
How many born to family, fortune, and
fame, are now but parasites on society
See that idle, worthless, drinking NUS
ance to all his acquaintancees; do you
know that once he possessed the favors
of fortune, and that fair prospects spread
their charms before him? Or yonder
woman with neglected person, and shat
tered nerves, the slave of opium-can
you believe it that she was once radiant
bride before whose eager eyes her future
life was mirrored in the rainbow hues of
hope? But why seek these extreme in
stances? Most of us know from expe-
rience the bitterness of disappointment.
Most Of US can say in anguish of soul, as
we recall the hopes of former days, and
compare them with the realities of the
present:
Human hopes have oft deceived me-"
In striking contrast with this uncertain
tenure, the blessings of the gospel are
made secure. They repose upon firm
basis-viz: the promises of God, with
whom there is no variableness, neither