I entreat them to seek ‘a good hope’ while it can be found. A good hope is within the reach of any man, if he is only willing to seek it. It is called emphatically in Scripture, a ‘good hope through grace.’
It is freely offered, even as it was freely purchased: it may be freely obtained, ‘without money and without price.
Our past lives do not make it impossible to obtain it, however bad they may have been.
Our present weaknesses and infirmities do not shut us out, however great they may be.
The same grace which provided mankind with a hope, makes a free, full, and unlimited invitation:—’Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely;’—’Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find.’ (Rev. 22:17; Matt. 7:7.)
The Lord Jesus Christ is able and willing to give ‘a good hope’ to all who really want it. He is sealed and appointed by God the Father to give the bread of life to all that hunger, and the water of life to all that thirst.
‘It pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell.’ (Coloss. 1:19.)
In Him there is pardon and peace with God, bought by the precious blood which He shed upon the cross.
In Him there is joy and peace for any believer, and a solid, well-grounded expectation of good things to come.
In Him there is rest for the weary, refuge for the fearful, a cleansing fountain for the unclean, medicine for the sick, healing for the broken-hearted, and hope for the lost.
Whosoever feels labouring and heavy-laden with sin, whosoever feels anxious and distressed about his soul, whosoever feels afraid of death and unfit to die,—whosoever he is, let him go to Christ and trust in Him.
This is the thing to be done: this is the way to follow. Whosoever wants ‘hope,’ let him go to Christ.”
–J.C. Ryle, Old Paths: Being Plain Statements of Some of the Weightier Matters of Christianity (London: Charles J. Thynne, 1898), 113–114.
It is freely offered, even as it was freely purchased: it may be freely obtained, ‘without money and without price.
Our past lives do not make it impossible to obtain it, however bad they may have been.
Our present weaknesses and infirmities do not shut us out, however great they may be.
The same grace which provided mankind with a hope, makes a free, full, and unlimited invitation:—’Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely;’—’Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find.’ (Rev. 22:17; Matt. 7:7.)
The Lord Jesus Christ is able and willing to give ‘a good hope’ to all who really want it. He is sealed and appointed by God the Father to give the bread of life to all that hunger, and the water of life to all that thirst.
‘It pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell.’ (Coloss. 1:19.)
In Him there is pardon and peace with God, bought by the precious blood which He shed upon the cross.
In Him there is joy and peace for any believer, and a solid, well-grounded expectation of good things to come.
In Him there is rest for the weary, refuge for the fearful, a cleansing fountain for the unclean, medicine for the sick, healing for the broken-hearted, and hope for the lost.
Whosoever feels labouring and heavy-laden with sin, whosoever feels anxious and distressed about his soul, whosoever feels afraid of death and unfit to die,—whosoever he is, let him go to Christ and trust in Him.
This is the thing to be done: this is the way to follow. Whosoever wants ‘hope,’ let him go to Christ.”
–J.C. Ryle, Old Paths: Being Plain Statements of Some of the Weightier Matters of Christianity (London: Charles J. Thynne, 1898), 113–114.
