This article has been triggered by the slogan on a T-shirt I saw recently. Printed on the T-shirt were the words, “NO HOPE”. Perhaps it was qualified by other words on the garment, which was too far away for me to read them.
Perhaps the slogan was not intended to be serious, but it does represent the outlook of many people who feel altogether discouraged by the difficulties they are experiencing. The devil will often use such feelings of discouragement to tempt people to escape from their situation by taking their own lives. We must remember that the Saviour made it plain that the evil one has been a murderer from the beginning, and he has not ceased that evil activity, as he goes about “seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet 5:8).
When the going becomes difficult, many people encourage themselves by saying, Things cannot get any worse. But one’s circumstances may indeed get worse. How thankful people should be that they are not in a lost eternity, that they are still alive and may yet obtain mercy from God. Paul speaks of those who are “without hope” and he links that situation with being “without God” and “without Christ” (Eph 2:12). It is the state of all who have not been born again, though many have a hope that is not a “good hope through grace” (2 Th 2:16).
But the Ephesian Christians to whom Paul was writing had been brought near to God “by the blood of Christ”. As John Calvin expressed it, commenting on Ephesians 2:13, “The blood of Christ has taken away the quarrel which existed between them and God, and from being enemies had made them sons”. They had been delivered from their sins through the death of Christ. He had died in their place; He had endured the punishment that they deserved because of their sins; He had taken their guilt and borne it away. So they were no longer without hope; they could expect God’s blessing throughout the rest of their lives in this world.
Even in view of death, they did not need to be without hope; Christ had gone before them; He had ascended to heaven; He had gone to prepare a place for them. And when death would remove them from this world, the
prospect was not at all hopeless, for He had gone before them and would welcome them to eternal glory in these terms: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord” (Mt 25:21).
If hopelessness involves mental illness, of course medical help should be sought. But the medical help does not take away the need for the gospel – and for the gospel to be blessed to the sufferer’s soul. What encouragement there is in the fact that God is merciful, that He is kind to those who are in need, even in desperate need. God in infinite mercy has provided deliverance for the guilty, to those who can have no hope in themselves, who cannot earn the forgiveness of even one sin. But the provision that God has made is free; it is, emphatically, “without money and without price” (Is 55:1). Though it may seem altogether discouraging to emphasise human inability in the realm of salvation, the fact that God is ready to show mercy should take away completely any discouragement that the sinner may feel.
What is more, while no sinner is able to save himself or herself, Jesus Christ is altogether able to deliver sinners completely from the wrath to come. Every sinner who trusts in Him – who will obey the gospel call, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31) – will find that Christ’s sacrifice is completely sufficient to take away all his guilt. And His obedience to the whole law of God was fully accepted by God the Father as perfect and so is put to the account of every believing sinner. How this should encourage the hope of the believer! It is certain that all who trust in the Saviour that God has appointed will be brought to heaven; they will be brought there because the Saviour’s work is perfect. He will never forsake those who put their trust in Him.
To confirm that Christ has provided a complete salvation we may refer to the verse, “He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Heb 7:25). This is because Christ has “an unchangeable priesthood”; His appointment to that office is permanent. Yes, He finished His work at Calvary in offering up Himself as a sacrifice that satisfied divine justice, on behalf of those whom He represented there. But His high-priestly work is not finished.
His work of intercession continues. As the Old Testament high priest brought the blood of the sacrifice into the most holy place on the Day of Atonement in Israel, so the Great High Priest of the New Testament age is continually presenting the merits of His work of redemption before His Father in heaven. This is Christ’s intercession. What encouragement this continual intercession should bring to the believer! How it should keep hope alive, even in the direst of circumstances! How it should give absolute
certainty to all the promises, such as: “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Heb 13:5).
No doubt there are many in this generation who really are convinced that there is no hope for them. But let us remember that the gospel is a suitable message for those who have no hope. It points them, if they come in contact with the gospel, to an all-powerful Saviour who “is able to save to the uttermost”. There is no limit to what He can do in the salvation of a sinner, no matter how hopeless such an individual’s situation may seem to be, not least to themselves.
It was 500 years ago, in 1525, that William Tyndale’s translation of the New Testament into English was first published. It was the first to be translated directly from the original Greek (the translation associated with John Wycliffe was from Latin). Tyndale continued his work of translation until 1535, when he was living as an exile in Antwerp. He was betrayed to the authorities and sentenced to death. No doubt he had, by grace, a good hope of his soul being brought to heaven, but we have a record of his hope for the spread of the gospel. He was allowed to pray briefly before he was strangled and his body burned. One petition has been preserved: “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes”. And the eyes of Henry VIII were opened to the extent that he permitted the Bible in English to circulate in his kingdom.
As the earlier part of this article was being written, the members of the Scottish Parliament were debating the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill, which would allow patients to request medical assistance to end their own life. This would be permitted if the person had a terminal illness and if two doctors had confirmed that the patient was mentally fit to make the decision. Such a patient would have no hope of experiencing any good during future days. Instead of committing their remaining days in this life to a gracious God, the patient would be seeking to take control of the time and manner of their death – probably without any thought of what lies beyond; one MSP saw the Bill as “giving a person bodily autonomy”, rejecting the teaching of Scripture that God is ruling in all our circumstances.
Those who make use of this option, if the Bill is passed into law, would be displaying their lack of hope in God at a particularly solemn time – when they are so close to eternity. But how irresponsible it would be if parliamentarians in Scotland – or those in Westminster legislating on a similar ungodly proposal for England and Wales – were to give authority to doctors to make available to patients the wherewithal to kill themselves.
Sadly, MSPs voted in favour of the Bill by 71 votes to 56, but there are further stages in the procedure and further votes before the Bill can become law. May the Lord prevent it!