Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1917-05-16
having NO HOPE
Aliens From Christ Are Without
Hope and Without God in the
WorId.-Eph. 2:12.

sYe were at that time separate
from Christ, alienated from the COM
monwealth of Israel, and strangers
from the covenants Of the promise,
having no hope, and without God in
the world" "-Ephesians 2:12, r. V.
These words describe the appalling
condition of the Ephesians before they
were saved, but wish to impress upon
you just three words in this dark pic
ture: Having no hope" Better be
without anything else than be without
hope. We may be in great present dis
tress but if we have good and sure
hope for the future, it matters little.
We may have great present prosperity,
but if we have no good hope for the
future, it is of little worth.
Three Glasses.
There are three classes who have no
hope.
First of all, the man who denies or
doubts the existence Of a personal
God, wise, mighty loving Ruler OF
the universe, has no hope. Mans only
rational foundation for hope for the
future Is the existence of an intelli-
gent benefcent and omnipotent God,
ruling nature and the affairs of men.
The man who denies the truth OF
the Bible has no hope.
The only conception Of God that
gives man a good basis for expecta-
ton for the life that now is or the life
which Is to come is found in the Bible.
The man who believes in the Bible
but does not accept and confess the
Christ the Bible presents as his own
personal Saviour and Master, has no
hope. Have you accepted the Christ
of the Bible as your own personal
Savior, and are you confessine him be-
fore the world as your Lord, and are
you proving that to be an honest con-
fession by doing as he says? The
Bible holds out absolutely no hope to
any except those who accept the Sd
vior whom it is its main purpose to re.
veal.
Have No Hope.
We see, then, that the atheist and
the agnostic have no hope; that the
infdel and skeptic have no hope; that
the orthodox believer in the Bible who
rejects Christ as personal Savior and
Lord has no hope. In what sense have
they no hope?
They have no hope for the life that
now is, no well-founded and sure ex'
pectation of blesSedneSs for the life
that now is. In the first place, they
have no guarantee of continued pros
perity. They may be very prosperous
today, they may have perfect health,
comfortable income, hosts of friends,
every earthly thing that heart would
desire; but unless they are right with
God unless they have accepted his
Son Jesus Christ and therefore have
right to claim the promise of the
Bible as their own, there is absolutely
no guarantee that these things which
they now possess will continue to be
theirs "a hours. A thousand things
may occur to change it all.
Life Is So Uncertain.
1t takes but one little snip of the
shears Of fate to sever the cord of life.
OF course, if a man is true Christian
this fact has no terrors for him; for
what men call death is simply depart
ing to be with Christ, (which is very
far better" No man out of Christ has
good hope for the next ten minutes.
But infinitely worse than this is the
fact that they have no hope for the
life that is to come. This earthly life
is but a brief span at the very long.
est.
But eternity is long; how it stretches
out! The farther we look ahead the
longer it stretches out. 1t is an awful
thing to have no hope for eternity.
The man out Of Christ has no hope OF
blessedness after death. No, there is
no light in the grave for the Christless
man. There is no hope of glad reunion
with friends who have gone or who
may go. The believer loses his
friends, but he does not sorrow as
those who have no hope.
Which Will You Take?
Friends, which DO you prefer, the
no hope of one who is out of Christ,
or the glorious hope of the one who
has received Christ as his Savior, sur
rendered to him as his Lord and Mas
ter, and confessed him as such before
the world? You have your choice.
Everyone has his choice. Which will
you take?-Rev. R. A. Torrey, DID.
What Fear Means.