T. Austin-Sparks · 1 of 5

A New Hope

In the first letter of Peter, and the first chapter, at verse 3: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy begat us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who by the power of God are guarded through faith."

"A living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ...".

In the letter to the Colossians chapter 1, here again we must read a whole section. At verse 24: "I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His body's sake, which is the church; whereof I was made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which was given to you-ward, to fulfil the word of God, even the mystery which has been hid from all ages and generations, but now hath it been manifested to His saints, to whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the nations, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory; whom we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ."

"This mystery among the nations, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory".

A Living Hope - the Hope of Glory

We have to put these two fragments together to understand the real meaning of the 'hope' referred to. To Peter, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus was an experience which opened for him an entirely new prospect. The context of that clause, 'a living hope', gives us just a little of the prospect that the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead had brought to Peter: "An inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away" - that is what opened up for him with the resurrection of Christ. To Paul, the resurrection of Christ was the very heart of the mystery which had been hid from all generations, but is now revealed.

We look first at Peter in this connection. As Peter sits down to write this letter to the "elect scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia" he finds himself caught up at once in a doxology: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." And perhaps of all men, Peter had cause for a doxology over the resurrection of Jesus!

But we take Peter as representative of all those who had become followers of the Lord Jesus in the days of His flesh; not only of the twelve, but evidently quite a large number beyond the twelve. There were the seventy and, beyond the seventy, many more who followed Jesus and had some attachment to Him. Peter can be taken as, in a very real sense, representative of them all.

We are thinking at this moment particularly of the effect of the Cross upon him, and upon them all; the utter devastation, and then the despair, that the Cross of the Lord Jesus brought upon them all. For we are told that they were "all scattered abroad". And we know how, even before the Cross became an actuality, any reference to it brought a terrible reaction. From time to time the Lord did just make some mention of the coming death, and, as He did so, many went away and "followed no more with Him". Then again, others said, "This is a hard saying; who can hear it?" Apparently off they went as well. The very thought and prospect of the Cross was impossible of acceptance. When it came to Peter, as the very centre of that whole company, he is found most vehemently denying any association with Christ, just because of the Cross. A terrible denial and they all shared that, if not in word and in the same form of expression, for it says, "they all forsook Him and fled". And He had said to them: "You will all leave Me, you will all leave Me" and it became true.

Then we meet them after His crucifixion. We meet those two on the Emmaus road, the very embodiment of despair. For them, everything had gone and was shattered. All their hopes, and their hope, were eclipsed - "We, we had trusted...", or "We had hoped that it had been He that should redeem Israel." Now, everything was gone, and the hope laid in His grave. We meet Thomas, from time to time and we know what Thomas thought about the Cross. He again was in the grip of an awful despair and hopelessness: loss of faith and loss of assurance.

As we move through those forty days after the resurrection, we find the Lord repeatedly having to upbraid them because of their unbelief; rebuke them. "They believed not," it says, "Some doubted". We can see what a shock the Cross had been. And I have not used too strong a word when I have said that the Cross was nothing less than a devastation for every follower of the Lord Jesus. And right at the heart of them all was Peter; we could say that it was all concentrated in him; it must have been in view of what he had done. Put yourself in his place if you can, and see whether you would have any more hope for anything, or for yourself. No!

Now, that is where it all is. But forty days, forty days of appearances, and disappearances; coming and going; a build-up, steady, of the fact that He was arisen; overcoming day by day that despair and that unbelief, building up a new hope. But even after forty days of that kind of thing, the most vital thing is still lacking. You might think, 'Well, given all that, given all that, they've enough, they have enough to go on'. But no. The most vital thing, even at that point, is still lacking. What is it? It is Christ within! All that, yes, but not Christ within yet. Hence the restraint: "Tarry ye in Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high... Don't move yet. You really have not yet got the vital thing, the essential thing with all that you have. The thing is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christ in you!"

And that, dear friends, is why the apostles were so particular, so particular as to converts receiving the Holy Spirit before ever they felt assurance about their conversion. Yes, there were all the reports, no reason to believe that they were false reports, mere rumours, things happening in Samaria. Had not the Lord said that they should be witnesses unto Him in Samaria? The report comes back of things happening, of people turning to the Lord, real conversions taking place in large numbers. Why not be satisfied with the report? It is a good report, and there is surely no reason to doubt it. But no, the apostles are not just satisfied with that. They sent down from Jerusalem, and when they were come down, they laid their hands upon them that "they might receive the Holy Spirit". You see again and again that happened. For them, things were not really settled until they were sure that Christ was on the inside, that Christ was in them, which is saying the same thing as 'receiving the Holy Spirit', the Spirit of Jesus. And that, I say, is why the Lord said, "Tarry; don't move yet", that is why the apostles were so meticulous on this matter of receiving the Holy Spirit.

And again, that is why the Holy Spirit gave evidences in those times, that He had come within. We believe that this book of the Acts, is a book of fundamental principles for the dispensation. And when principles are being laid down in the first instance, God always bears them out with mighty evidences that they are true principles and these are governing things for all time. God puts His seal upon them. So, when they received the Spirit, there were the evidences of the Spirit. They spake with tongues; mighty things happened. It was clear to all without any doubt whatever that the Spirit was on the inside, Christ had entered in. That universal Christ transcending all human language, that Christ of Heaven transcending all earthly things; He'd come in, the evidences were given.

There is no mistaking it, no mistaking it, this matter of Christ within is the fundamental essential of Christianity. You may have the mightiest facts - the mightiest facts of His birth, His marvellous life, His death, His resurrection. I say these are the mightiest of facts, you may have them all, and they may all be impotent, until He is inside! That's a tremendous statement, but it's borne out, you see, by at least this threefold truth: Tarry - don't move yet, the essential has not taken place after all! Make sure, leave nothing to chance, let it not just be an emotional revival in Samaria! Whatever there may seem to be on the outside to prove that something has happened, make sure that it has got inside! Make sure that Christ is in, the Holy Spirit is in! Make sure. For you may have so much, as we are going to see as we go on, you may have so much, and then, that vital thing being lacking, there is nothing; calamity, as with them.

This mighty hope, dear friends, does not rest just upon historic ground - that is, the ground of the historic Jesus. This mighty hope rests upon inward reality: Christ in you! That's super-historic! That's where we have to go to Paul for the full, full meaning, the "mystery which hath been hid from all generations". It's been there for all generations! The mystery has been hid from all generations but is now made known, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Now, what we have said is but a general approach to the matter. It has to be broken up. And so again, we will take Peter and the others whom he undoubtedly represents.

Firstly, then, the hopelessness, ultimately, of a merely outward association with Christ, however sincere. There is no question about the sincerity of Peter or of any of these followers. They were sincere; there was a devotion to Jesus, their motives could not be called into question, it was all well-meant. There's no doubt about it. They had left all and followed Him. And to follow Jesus of Nazareth in those days involved them in a considerable amount of trouble, at least with the high-up people, and the prevailing system. There was something in their association with Him that undoubtedly meant something.

And look, while perhaps they were not able to see and understand, while they were not in the full light of who He was, the fact of who He was, was present with them. For instance, there is the fact of the incarnation: the fact of it that this One amongst them was God incarnate, was the Son of God, was God come down from heaven to dwell in human form. There's the fact, and they were in closest touch with that fact every day of their lives.

Then, there was the fact of His Personality; and there is no avoiding this, that that was a Personality! I mean, there was a presence where He was that was different, that made itself felt, that registered. He was a very impressive presence, beyond perhaps anyone else with whom they had any association, or of whom they had any other knowledge. There's a mystery about this Man: you cannot fathom Him; you cannot explain Him; you cannot comprehend Him. He is more; He's different. And wherever He comes, His presence has an effect, and a tremendous effect. The fact of His Personality!