El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-07-18
Baptist Church.

At the Baptist church yesterday
morning the pastor had for his text
1--WE are saved by hope '-Rom. VIII:
"a. He spoke in part as follows:
Life must have some incentive. else
there can be little real activity. Even
the labor of purest love is not unm1nd-
full of precious reward in store. Rob
one CT this expectancy and you take
away the stimulus for labor. Hold
out a promise of reward worthy of his
effort, get him to appropriate it by
faith that constantly looks expecting
some day to receive the reward and
your man will move heaven and earth,
if need be, to realize this promise. 1t
is this faith crystaliZed INTO eXpecta-
ton that is here called hope and IS
mentioned as means of our salvation.
Without this hope salvation In its be-
ginning or it's end is impOs sible. Not
that hope is the life giving power.
Jesus alone can save But just as
steam, the motive power that moves
the great machinery plant: must have
an engine to work through, so Jesus
must have an engine to work through,
so Jesus must have hope to work
through before he can save the soul.
Salvation in it's beginning means
deliverance from the condemnat
and guilt of sin. The first work of
hope Is to appropriate the promises
that Jesus has made in regard to
forgiveness and justification. BY
leaning on these promises with con-
fident expectation to receive all that
Jesus has promised we receive the
divine life along with forgiveness and
justification. This is but the begin
ming, the Tina prospective spS eternis OF
await the full realization. This comes
inn mt
only in the goal of perfect and eternal
bliss. In this attainment the heaven
of the scripture is but a transfer to diff
erent,environment.. There we shall be
loosed from human limitations and i'm
perfections so that our advance into
higher attainment will be Infinitely
greater. But in fact we can get much
of heaven here on earth. Each new
I'M tits progress OF Salvation
is little heaven in itself. And the |
heaven of eternity will be large to us
just in proportion to the number OF
smaller heavens we attain to here
on earth. But if we would realize much
of our salvation on earth we must have |
q big hope. Attainment in salvation |
is no child's play. There are conflicts |
with evil that will press as hard. |
There are demands for service that |
will require sacrifices hard to make. |
All of these call for study, meditation,
deep confessions and |
prayer. Let the pilot of hope stand at
the wheel as our bark passes through !
these stormy waters.and he will land US
safe in the heaven of attainment. But |
allow this pilot to leave his post and |
ship-wreck is the inevitable. Confidence
in the outcome of spiritual labOrs is |
as necessary as it is in secular effort.
Would you attain the heaven of per-
lection? Keep your eye on the star OF
hope and then, in this age of reason
few men escape an attack of scepticism.
We cannot fathom the mystery OF the
Trinity. We cannot understand the
doctrine of the atonement. We cannot !
reconcile the sovereignty OF God and
the freedom of man. We cannot har-
monte the love and judgments of God,
even as they appear in human affairs,
we cannot understand the new birth.
Think on these things. and but for the
lamp of hope reason would hastily
brush them all aside. and life would be
Dne impenetrable darkness from which
there could be no absolutiOn. Let the
lamp of hope be kept burning, and
though the fusilades OF rstionalism,
skepticism and infidelity be shOwered
in torrents upon us. we shall have q
patient waiting. until by and by the
clouds shall break and the mist shall |
be driven away, as the light Of heaven
shines in to rescue US from the impeDd-
ing doom.