Acts 24:15 And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead… The hope that there shall be a resurrection of the dead is here described as a "hope toward God." It is hope pre-eminently resting upon God. For - I. IT IS THE INSTINCTIVE HOPE TOWARD GOD OF OUR NATURE GIVEN BY HIM. The deep-seated instincts of nature are necessarily among the strongest moral arguments of which we can take cognizance. II. IT IS THE HOPE TOWARD GOD THAT COMES OF THE CONCLUSIONS OF OUR TRAINED REASON, A REASON GIVEN ALSO BY HIM. Reason's arguments upon certain highest subjects, by themselves, may easily be uncertain and fallacious. But as guides on the way to other arguments, and as supports of other arguments, they are often very significant, very suggestive, very helpful. And it is so to a high degree in this instance. III. IT IS THE HOPE OF THE CHRISTIAN HEART TOWARD GOD. It is the end of the gospel to him who believeth. If this hope fall through, all falls through. The Christian's deception becomes an absolutely typical and leading instance of deception for the whole world's whole length of history; and the Christian's disappointment the keenest of all disappointments - his collapse making him the most miserable of all men. IV. The hope that this resurrection shall include all - the "unjust as the just" IS A HOPE TOWARD GOD NESTING EMPHATICALLY ON THE TESTIMONY OF HIS OWN REVELATION, AND CONTRIBUTED TO LARGELY BY CERTAIN ASPECTS OF HIS JUSTICE WITH. WHICH THAT REVELATION MAKES US FAMILIAR. In this theme the mystery of unfathomable depths of unsearchable wisdom is before us. It enwraps the height of highest hope, the deepest things of fear. - B. Parallel Verses KJV: And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust. |
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