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[0:00] As the Lord should be pleased to help me, I will ask your attention to the subject you will find in the chapter we read together, the epistle to the Hebrews, chapter 6, and I will read the last three verses.

[0:23] The epistle to the Hebrews, chapter 6, verses 18 to 20.

[1:00] The text was brought to me as I listened a little to the last hymn in your poem.

[1:30] I was in the meeting this morning and as I found my thoughts being diversed a little from the subject this morning and turned into this way of hope.

[1:42] And I found that in my meditations recently there has been that which has led me into some understanding of the blessedness of this grace which is given, this grace of hope.

[2:01] It is something which as we use the word in a natural sense, we do not truly give it a spiritual connotation.

[2:12] We think of the word hope sometimes in a very negative way. Whereas wherever we see it in the scriptural context, it is a word with a positive sound.

[2:25] We do find one or two spiritual references where we shall see them to be negative. And I may have to bring them before you.

[2:37] But when we look at such a word as this, and particularly for the moment in its context, we must see that I began partway through the paragraph.

[2:49] I shall not stop for more than a moment upon the opening things. Two immutable things. There was God and his word. God who declared, He is unchangeable, and his word is spoken, and must be performed.

[3:08] We have two immutable things. Yet, we have, as it were, two promises given to Abraham. Surely, blessing, I will bless thee, and multiplying, I will multiply thee.

[3:23] We could perhaps follow those two blessings into a different sense of their fulfillment. When we find that the promise also given to Abraham was that in his seed should all the world, the people of all nations, be blessed.

[3:42] That there should be a blessing which would extend far beyond Abraham's descendants. And, oh, we could look at this for some time.

[3:54] And we could dwell upon it, these immutable things. Unchangeable. Why unchangeable? Because, as we have thought a little already this morning, they are in an eternal purpose.

[4:08] And a purpose which, decreed in heaven, must be brought to pass. Yet, as we look at such a word as this, we are brought immediately to continue.

[4:25] What is it in which we hope? And the apostle was using those things which were certain, those things which were sure, as what one of our hymn writers would call the foundation of hope.

[4:42] And he began with this word of God. God himself and his word. And I want to dwell just a minute in this 18th verse, and then we shall have to dwell a little longer in the 19th.

[4:58] That we might have a strong consolation. This morning, I think, as I began, and we thought a little of God giving those words of comfort, those words of blessing, in the midst of dark places, in the midst of those things which, according to the circumstance, would seem to be, as a cloud-filled sky, the sun shone.

[5:29] And from time to time, the Lord was pleased to give those words of hope, comfort, promise, expectation, which encouraged, strengthened, and cheered his people.

[5:44] And we find the same thing in the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. For, he said, in the world ye shall have tribulation, but, be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

[6:01] Yes, we find something which comes into a very close parallel. And again, as we look at the word, this 18th verse, we find that the apostle, Paul, we believe, in this epistle to the Hebrews, implied that there was a need, a spiritual need, a need within, a need which was in the experience of the souls of the Lord's people.

[6:33] And you can see it here, which we might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge. Now, to flee for refuge, there is a suggestion in it.

[6:50] We do not flee for refuge except that there is danger. Some of you who have perhaps spent more of your lives in the city than I have, you can go back into 40, 50 years ago, and there were times when, in the very literal sense, we fled for refuge.

[7:13] We took shelter. But, in the times when there was no danger, we took no shelter. We walked about and carried on as was possible with, as far as it was possible, in our customary manner, with no immediate apprehension of the danger.

[7:35] but, when the times of warnings were given, there was the apprehension of the danger and the appropriate action was taken.

[7:46] And, in a sense, it was to flee for refuge. But, oh, to see this in the spiritual sense. Paul, having given much of the understanding to these persecuted Hebrews of the grace of God, the fulfillment of all the promises of God manifested in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, having opened up much of the fulfillment of the things of old, of the sacrifice, the priesthood, yet he was still in the midst of it, but the implication was there, and the sense of need was given.

[8:31] For the Israelite of old, with the sin offering to bring, there was a sense of need, and that need was fulfilled in the acceptance of the sacrifice by the grace of God through the earthly priesthood.

[8:52] Yet, for the believer brought into the knowledge of Jesus Christ, oh, how much greater was that sense of fulfillment when they were brought to see one who had looked upon a sinful church, a sinful chosen people, and had shed that precious atoning blood for it.

[9:17] Here is the basis of the thought that is behind you, that a fled for refuge, not a temporal refuge, not a thing which was to be seen as in the ordinary course of life, it was spiritual.

[9:32] There was a fear, a fear of that which was the wrath of God, and a looking to, a fleeing to, the precious atoning blood of Jesus Christ, that reconciliation which he had wrought.

[9:48] There was too, in the thought of every one that had heard the word of God, had heard the preaching of the apostles, and those that had been made to continue in the work of the dissemination of the gospel, of the grace of God in Christ Jesus, every one had been brought into that knowledge that there was no other way.

[10:19] There was but one to whom they could turn, to whom they could look. And oh, as they were brought into that knowledge, sometimes we find the illustrations are very simple, the one so often brought into our thoughts, whose heart the Lord opened, and what did she hear?

[10:40] She heard the word of Paul, and what did Paul preach? Jesus Christ and him crucified, and what did he set forth? That he came to save sinners.

[10:52] And oh, there was brought into the heart of Lydia that sense that she was a sinner, a sinner in need of a refuge, and the refuge was set before her.

[11:06] And oh, we have in a few words, imperfect, incomplete, some idea of this thought in the heart of the apostle, that we might have a strong consolation, that there might be something that worked in the very heart and soul that was real, tangible, a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge.

[11:35] Yes, there was a leaning, there was a resting. We find a different sense of the thing that is set before us, perhaps one of those hymns, which is incomplete in our book, gives to us some idea of the thought behind it.

[11:57] It was on Christ, the solid rock, that the people set their hopes. On Christ, the solid rock, I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, pled for refuge, to take shelter, to rest upon that which is sure, a strong consolation, that which must be seen as given of God, the provision of heaven, of God in heaven, for a need which was so great that none but God, the Father, and God the Son, could fulfill it.

[12:37] The more we look at such a word as this, the more we are brought to see that in the manifestation of the grace of God, whatever words are used, we shall find that every one will lead us unto Jesus, that we might have strong conservation, who have fled for refuge.

[13:04] We must leave that for a moment, we may need to come back to it. Then the apostle continues to lay hold upon the hope set before us.

[13:15] We are brought to see the manner of this which is to have fled for refuge, to lay hold upon the hope that is set before us.

[13:27] Sometimes we have to think of this word hope in a very different sense. Here we see it as perhaps a beginning of the grace of God.

[13:40] Now I do not think that I can prove this for the moment scripturally. I am conscious that it was one of my early visits to you, the first one or two of my visits.

[13:51] We consider some words that come from the fifth chapter of Romans Romans. And we find that here hope is fairly high in the list of experiences.

[14:09] Not only so, but we glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, patience experience, and experience hope.

[14:20] And hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us. We find here that Paul, again, setting forth that which is of hope, he puts it as some little way up this ladder of gracious instruction, that which has been brought into the heart by the instruction of the Spirit of God, both in the things which are taught, and in the things through which the Lord's people are caused to live.

[15:02] Paul could speak about this from a very practical viewpoint, in his own experience, and in his own hope. He knew what it was.

[15:13] He was not speaking of that to which he was strange. It was to him experimentally proved. He knew this truth. But, as we look into this, the hope that is set before us, there is something here that is particular, a hope set before us.

[15:39] One of the hems that came into my thoughts, as this verse was in my meditation, was one of Miss Steele's, and she just uses one line, and she puts it like this, my hope, my trust, my life, my Lord.

[15:59] And I thought that when she was brought into such a place as this, she had put hope in the place where perhaps in my own thought, I had put it a beginning, a beginning of that gift of grace, of God, in the heart, to lay hold upon the hope set before us.

[16:20] Oh, you will say, for there is something more than hope in such a thing, there is faith to lay hold. Faith that is the gift of God, and surely hope is the gift of God.

[16:32] I find that there are times when the two graces are almost inseparable, and we find this of all the graces that the Lord gives, that there must be, as it were, an overlapping, there must be an affinity between them, one will lead to the other, and one will strengthen the other, but as we look at this word, to lay hold upon the hope, the hope, then this word comes set before us, and we need to think about this, to lay hold upon the hope, then the apostle goes one stage further in this hope.

[17:15] He said, which hope we have, which hope we have. There is a definite ring about it.

[17:26] There is perhaps an indefinite ring about the very thought of hope. It is something that we have not yet obtained, not yet achieved. It is something that has not yet in its completeness being given to us.

[17:43] We cannot see it as love, our consideration this morning, as one of those gifts of God which is eternal. The gift of love we know to be eternal.

[17:56] It began in eternity, it will continue throughout eternity. There will be no diminution, no alteration of it, if any change, save only to increase.

[18:10] But, when we think of this hope, we see it as one of those gifts of grace which is incomplete in itself, but will be very precious to us in its experience.

[18:25] We hope, the hope set before us, a hope which is given to our hearts, our souls, and leads our hearts, our souls, to see the source of that hope, and leads us to hope in that which is set before us to an end.

[18:44] Not that the hope in itself, any more than faith in itself, is something with which we can be satisfied. It is only that which faith and hope lead us to that will bring us into spiritual satisfaction.

[19:02] We shall know that hope will be brought to an end in realization. We shall not know this grace of hope in heaven, because there will be no need for it, any more than we shall need the grace of faith in heaven, because we shall see.

[19:23] And if we see that which we hope for, or if we have that which we hope for, then hope is no longer necessary. But hope is that which leads us to continue seeking, to continue looking, to continue hoping.

[19:42] Yes, it is the very grace that is given of God, and the hope is set before us. We need to look for a moment on what this hope is.

[19:55] On what do we base our hope? Now, we need to be careful here. I find that there is a terrible tendency in my own soul to base my hope on those things which perhaps I might think of as spiritual evidences.

[20:16] Yes, in a sense, it is not wrong. But in a sense, it is something which can lead us into a danger.

[20:28] Oh, if we begin to base our hope upon the things which have been brought, as it were, into our hearts, we find that we take our hopes from those things which are sure.

[20:44] And oh, we shall find that when we base our hopes on the evidences of our soul's experience, good though these experiences and evidences might have been, we find that we are resting upon that which, in a sense, will separate our souls from the certainty of the things which are in Christ Jesus.

[21:11] Now, I may need to put this a little more carefully, for I believe that the things which are given in our soul's experience are given of God, but they are given, as it were, of stepping stones in which there is a hope of more, of progress.

[21:30] Just as the manna was given day by day, it was experimental. The Israelites, without doubt, they received the manna on the first of the appropriate days of the week, not on the Sabbath day, but as they went out on the day that succeeded the Sabbath, they gathered the manna.

[21:53] And they could say, here is an evidence that is of the grace of God toward us. But on the next day, there was a necessity for them to gather more.

[22:06] So if we begin to rest on past experience, we are in the danger of resting on that which has served its purpose in the grace of God, and our spiritual appetite will become blunted, and our souls will become starved.

[22:28] We need that our hope should be centered, and Paul leads us straight there. Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul. And where is that hope?

[22:39] It is in Christ. It is in Jesus Christ. And oh, our hopes must ever be centered there. Bless God, praise him, that you have evidences, that you have experiences, that you can set up an Ebenezer, a Hillmizer, that you have those times of remembrances, they are blessings to us, but they are not to be rested on, but they are to be seen as places of evidence, places that the Lord has shown to us.

[23:10] We may look back upon them, and we may say, there was the beginning, and there he blessed me, and there he brought me into a closer knowledge of himself. But oh, we should come to here, where we are.

[23:24] And what do we find as we come to where we are? That we live in hope. A hope that is based, yes, on previous grace, truly.

[23:36] We may have a hope that is rightly founded on evidence. For we may have that assurance in our hearts that God has been gracious, and we may say with Samuel at Ebenezer, hitherto hath the Lord helped us.

[23:54] Remember where you put the evidence, and where you put the emphasis. Hitherto hath the Lord helped us. Oh, what a blessing this is. We find this blessing to be a blessing of comfort, a blessing of help, and a blessing which leads to hope.

[24:13] There is the implied hope in the very words. We may say, hitherto, because hope in our hearts leads us to look henceforth.

[24:28] And oh, we may come into a word that perhaps could have properly been quoted to you this morning, whom once he loves, he never leaves, but loves them to the end.

[24:40] We hope what in? We hope, in this case, in the word of God. We hope, perhaps, in this morning's text. We could find it in our hearts to find a lively hope when the Lord speaks such a word to us, but it will be an ongoing hope.

[24:59] We shall hope in the truth of the word of God, because we know it to be sure. We shall hope in the continued application of it, because we know that he is unchangeable, and we shall look constantly and continually for the fresh evidences of it according to his will.

[25:21] Hope. Hope in Jesus. Hope in Christ. Yes, I think I can get the quotation right. If I'm careful with it, I found I had to look the hymn up to get it correctly.

[25:39] We found one that gives to us faith in Jesus, can repel the darts of sin and death, and faith gives victory over hell, but who can give us faith?

[25:49] Hope in Christ, the soul revives, supports the spirits when they droop. Hope celestial comfort gives, but who can give us hope?

[26:03] The next verse shows us, well-grounded hope he sends from heaven. hope. Now, consider this hope, well-grounded, well-grounded in what?

[26:16] Again, Paul shows it to us, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, the hope set before us, the hope in that which is wrought in and through and by Christ Jesus.

[26:31] Jesus. Now, my friends, you will find when your hope is brought here, your hope again will come into Mr.

[26:41] Moe's hymn, my hope is based on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. And you will find this, I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but holy rest rest in Jesus' name.

[26:58] Oh, you will find when you are brought into the reality of this hope, you will find it to be a hope which, by the grace of God, wrought in your hearts, will be, as it were, the link that draws your soul to heaven.

[27:18] And, of course, we think of the Lord Jesus as being in heaven, whither the forerunner is for us entered. It is that which is as a link between our soul and our heavenly destination by grace.

[27:37] It is not to be seen as anything less than this, or as anything more. We find this hope is given as a link.

[27:51] Yes, an anchor, more particularly, perhaps, an anchor chain. The implication is there. The anchor must be, of course, the immutability of God, the work of Jesus Christ, that atonement which is his, all that he has wrought, the satisfaction of the law, the satisfaction of the justice of our holy God.

[28:19] And oh, we can see so many things which are in Christ Jesus, which are certain and which are sure. And yet, until such time as we are brought into the fullest of realization of their gracious application, we have to live with this chain of hope by which we hold on to them.

[28:44] Yes, by which we hold on to them. and this hope he sends from heaven. It is not something which grows from our own hearts.

[28:56] It is a grace which is given, just as faith is. Faith is given. Grace of faith and grace of hope are gifts of God.

[29:08] They are those things which are given for our souls held. Which hope is set before us that we might have a strong consolation to reverse the order of the text.

[29:24] Not wrongly. This hope is set before us that we might have a strong consolation in the refuge which is revealed. Now, we need to look a little farther.

[29:36] it was impossible for God to lie. We might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.

[29:51] Two implications. Who have fled for refuge. Yes, the thought was precious to a Hebrew because there was given to them the illustration that was constantly before them.

[30:09] All Hebrews who were truly brought up in the knowledge of the goodness of God to them as he brought them into their own land so long before.

[30:20] And although things were very different in their times, they still looked back. They still looked back upon those provisions. And to flee for refuge had a particular implication.

[30:32] to any Hebrew because he would think of an avenger of blood. And he would think of a place appointed. The instinct of his spirit would be immediately stimulated to think of a place of refuge and the need for it.

[30:54] Who have fled for refuge. Who have looked upon the urgency of the need. and have taken the urgency of action by reason of a spirit of hope and a spirit of need that had been wrought within the soul.

[31:16] Go back to the original illustration, to the origin of the illustration, and think of the poor man who having unwittingly done that which had put him at risk from the avenger of blood, he immediately began to flee.

[31:37] There was no hesitation, there was no debate on the matter, no setting things in order before he went on his way, there was urgency, and the urgency was such that there was no delay.

[31:53] Who have fled for refuge, and the apostle is putting it in such a way before us, to see our need of Jesus Christ to be as great as the need of one who had incurred the wrath and the ability of the avenger of blood to take his life away.

[32:19] There was in his heart the sense of urgency which was second to none, and all he could do was to flee, and to flee for refuge. Lord, we find this in our own souls sometimes.

[32:35] In times past, it seemed that the Lord often led his people into that sense of urgency, that sense of need.

[32:47] Oh, sometimes I read the gracious experiences of those who have been taken home, and as I look into them, I almost instinctively make a comparison.

[33:02] I am thankful for some little understanding of the need of refuge and being brought by the Spirit of God to seek after it. And oh, I am thankful that in my own soul's experience this was given in measure.

[33:18] But, oh, I wonder sometimes as to whether we are so spiritually blind as we look within that we are not in the same sense of urgency as it would seem that many people have been in the time since the Word of God was written.

[33:42] Oh, I think of the wonder of those who were brought to say when they listened to the ministry of the Apostle Peter, Men and Brethren, what shall we do? They were pricked in their hearts.

[33:53] They knew of the realization within of their offense before God. They knew because the Spirit of God had worked in them that as they were standing before God it was as guilty sinners.

[34:14] And oh, when they heard this they were pricked in their hearts. and said to Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?

[34:26] Oh, if you ever found in your own soul's experience that you are brought into a place like this, what shall we do? It is a good thing to come into.

[34:37] It is a good thing to find in the soul's experience. It is when Jesus is set before us. Oh, you will say we are not standing as those Jews were a few days, just six weeks or so after the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[35:00] We were not among those that shouted, crucify him, not this man but Barabbas. We don't need to be brought into such a place as this where they were pricked in their heart and had to say, men and brethren, what shall we do?

[35:17] Are you sure of this? Think of another hymn for just a moment. I know that hymns are not scripture, but so often they set in very gracious words the things which the scripture sets forth.

[35:32] Think of a hymn writer who said, the soldier pierced his side, his true, but we have pierced him through and through. For what reason was the Lord Jesus crucified?

[35:45] Not because of Pilate's condemnation, not even because of the hatred of the high priests and the Pharisees and the scribes. It was in the purpose of God and it was for sin.

[36:00] He suffered for sinners. But oh my friends, not one of us can plead that we are not sinners. And when we look and we see the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross, there is no question about it, that if grace is given, it is because our sins, not worry about the others for the moment, our sins, your sins, my sins, nailed him there.

[36:33] And we have to say, men and brethren, what shall we do? But then, Paul gives us the answer, Peter gave the answer to those in front of him, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.

[36:52] Oh, I find the words to be of grace, the words to be of comfort, to flee for refuge, to lay hold upon the cross of Jesus Christ.

[37:05] Let another hymn writer put the words into our hearts, nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling. Here is our refuge, here is the hope set before us, the hope in the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[37:22] Now, I had thought to come about this in a little different way, and we must continue for a few moments, and look a little further. Which hope we have.

[37:34] Oh, there is blessing here. There is the blessing of the assurance of the apostle. That blessing which he was able to set forth these precious truths with such facility, remember, there was the Holy Spirit's gracious dictation, there was the knowledge of the need wrought in his heart by the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of God using him for that purpose of the encouragement and strengthening of the people of his time, and for the people of all the time of the day of grace.

[38:09] And, as the words were given, which hope we have. And, oh, he was speaking, we are not given a list of those in the front, as some of the epistles have, but he was speaking to those who had been brought into the knowledge of Jesus Christ, who had been brought into hope.

[38:29] And, surely the same thing can be said, if the Holy Spirit was to speak through the word to us, which hope we have. Just think of the comparison for a minute.

[38:42] Take your minds to Paul again, speaking to the Ephesians, that at that time, ye were without hope, without God, having no hope, strangers to the covenants of grace.

[39:01] Are you there? Are you in such a place as that? Without hope? Separated from God? Strangers to the covenants of promise?

[39:13] There is no middle ground. There is no middle ground. ground. We used to be told at home that in the warfare of the soul, there is no neutrality.

[39:30] And I think we must see that if we are not in this one place, which is in the 19th verse, which hope we have, we have got to be as those who were without God and without hope.

[39:45] Those things go together. Now, the hope is set before us. And oh, the hope is set before us throughout the whole of the Word of God.

[39:59] Yes, we see it particularly as we look into the Gospel, and our hope is in Jesus Christ, hope in Christ, as the hymn writer showed to us a few moments ago.

[40:11] Yet, when we look at such a world as this, which hope we have, there will need to be a testing, there will need to be a trying of our state.

[40:23] The psalmist said, let us search and try our ways. The psalmist said again, search me, O God, and try my thoughts, and see if there will be any evil way in me.

[40:38] And we need to look within, we need that grace to be given, to look within which hope we have. hope. And oh, there's a very simple test for it.

[40:50] A test which is oh so simple that sometimes, in my own soul, I have wondered when there have been times which seem to be of darkness, of hopelessness, and yet they come.

[41:05] They come into times of darkness and hopelessness. The thought is this, in what, in whom is our hope based?

[41:17] I thought of Jeremiah in a dark time, we thought of him in a dark time this morning, but in his lamentation, he came into a place where he said, my strength and my hope is perished from the Lord.

[41:33] He had known hope, and it seemed that hope had been taken away. And oh, when we think of Jeremiah, we perhaps have a sympathy with him, if not an empathy, we can sympathize, we cannot enter into the depths of his feelings, his circumstances, his time.

[41:54] Then he said, remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall, my soul has been still in remembrance and is humbled in me.

[42:05] This I recall to my mind, and suddenly, as it were, there was a lifting up. He said, and therefore have I hope. My hope is perished, and the Lord led him to look upon the way he had been brought, and he could see, as it were, the hand of God.

[42:23] And then he said, and therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord's mercies, we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. Then he said, it is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.

[42:42] And then, a little later, he said, he putteth his mouth in the dust. This is man. If so be, there may be hope. Yes, there will need to be a turning from all that is within, that there might be a looking unto Jesus.

[43:01] And there we shall find our hope. And there we shall find our hope is a blightly hope. The psalmist, in a different time, was brought into a similar thought.

[43:15] The psalmist who found himself to be cast down. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? Why art thou disquieted within me? I like the psalmist with his soliloquy, Hope thou in God, for he shall yet say thee.

[43:35] Oh, there was, in the psalmist's thought, there was hope. But, do we come into such a place as this? And the psalmist also had another psalmist had another word.

[43:48] Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. Now, when you come here with any of these dear men of God in former times, look upon the word, you say, but you warned us against evidences.

[44:05] Oh, the word of God is a continuous evidence. It is that which is given. I find that the word of God speaks again and again. I told you the word this morning had been blessed to my soul.

[44:19] I remember the place and the time when the Lord spoke it into my soul's experience. And, I find that each time I am enabled and I turn to it with some trembling at times, especially when I feel it to be laid upon my mind in the ministry, lest I should find as it were a separation from it.

[44:40] But I find that then the word of the Lord, the word of the Lord is brought again and again into a renewed strength. The word in which thou hast caused me to hope.

[44:53] There's a place here, yes, of evidence truly, but a place that will bring you into the place of the psalmist. You will be looking unto the Lord and you will be pleading with him, Lord, thou saidst.

[45:09] Oh, here is a place of hope, rightly so, and an evidence rightly used, an evidence that can be used before God. Lord, thou hast said.

[45:22] You can hope in his word. Yes, the apostle puts it so positively, and I do love positive religion.

[45:35] Yes, I told you that this hope which is set before us is something which is good. It is not something which is tentative. It is like faith.

[45:48] Now, faith must be of necessity and exercise, but we cannot see faith as something which is negative, something which is impositive. If it is God's gift, it is that which will lead us, that which will encourage us, will strengthen us.

[46:06] Hope likewise, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul. The anchor chain, as I told you. And then the apostle puts it so well, so both sure and steadfast.

[46:19] A double positive, sure and steadfast. And I think we have to see that the sure means that the negatives are taken out, and the steadfast means that the positives are put in.

[46:32] Think of it like this, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee a negative that is taken out. You've no need to fear that the Lord will withdraw because he is immutable.

[46:45] Sure, steadfast, we have to see that which is positive, it was founded upon a rock, it could not fall. Or as the Lord might put it in a different sense, certainly.

[47:02] I quoted it this morning, I believe, in prayer, and it's one of those words which I find to be so beautifully positive in the affirmation of God.

[47:13] It is not something that I look upon as an evidence in my soul, I look upon it as a word of God, certainly, the Lord said, I will be with thee. Something which is steadfast, there is a place to rest upon, so that the negatives of our unbelieving souls are taken from us, we are shown that the word of God is sure, and the positives of the word of God are given to us, steadfast, both sure and steadfast.

[47:45] And where does it lead us? It leads us that our thoughts, our souls, our hopes, lead us into heaven itself, and they lead us within the veil.

[47:57] And then the apostle gives to us the infinite glory of it. If your hope is based on Jesus, his blood, his righteousness, then whether the forerunner is for us entered.

[48:11] The forerunner, he who has gone before, John the Baptist was the forerunner for the Lord Jesus Christ. And when it comes to ascending into heaven, in the sense of a resurrected body, the Lord Jesus, the forerunner, is for us entered.

[48:35] Oh, and we think of it like this, even Jesus. Here, my friends, your thoughts, your hopes, your aspirations, your faith, and you will come with Miss Steele again.

[48:50] My hope, my life, my Lord, my trust, my Lord. And here, you will find your anchor is sure.

[49:04] When, as you are brought by the grace of God, to lay hold upon the hope, the hope that is in Christ Jesus, you will find that such a hope can never fail.

[49:19] Another of the hymn writers says, my hope is cast within the veil, and oh, the thought of it is good. To think that that grace which is given, that hope which is wrought in your soul, is as a link between your poor, carnal, heart, feelings, the burden of all the things which are to do with time and with sense, and it lifts up your soul, so that as it were, you become dependent, not upon that which is so undependable in your poor heart and mind, but you depend, your anchor is cast in that which is certain and sure, in he who is unchangeable, Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever.

[50:15] Yes, here you will find your evidence as you look back to Jesus Christ yesterday. Here you will find your comfort, you look to Jesus Christ today, and you will find your hope continuing forever.

[50:31] Your hope will be not, it will be continuing in the word forever, your hope will not be forever because your realization will supersede your hope.

[50:42] But oh, while you're here upon the earth, it is a grace daily to exercise, daily to give thanks for, daily to cause, by the grace of God that it shall lead you, join you, unto Jesus himself.

[51:02] Amen. Amen. Amen. Hymn 245, Tune Missionary Chant 373.

[51:30] Hymn 245, Amen.

[52:03] We collapse through a parad with danger stick on every heart of Jesus quiet such a United Christ who The End The End

[53:31] The End The End The End The End The End The End The Christian Hope Shall Never Fail We Just Upon The Stageless World The End The End The End The End The End The End The End The End The End The End Glories have let sail, the rich and rich shall never fail.

[54:34] Cover, dear Lord, with the mantle of forgiving love, the imperfections of our worship, but now let thy word, thy word of grace, rest in our hearts.

[54:49] Take us each our separate ways in thy care. Remember thy servant, Mr. Crowder, in his journey home from Bournemouth this evening.

[55:02] May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with each one now and forever.

[55:15]  Amen.