“More hope in his word,” (“More Holiness Give Me”, Phillip Paul Bliss). After Jesus Christ miraculously fed five thousand with a couple of loaves and fishes, His popularity seemed to reach a fever pitch. Crowds and crowds of excited people were ready to make Him a king on the spot, never mind what Christ thought about the idea. But when Christ explained that He wouldn’t be handing out free food on a daily basis, most turned their backs on Him fast enough almost to give the Savior whiplash. “Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.” (John 6:67-68). Jesus Christ had the words of eternal life. What does that mean? “Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.” (John 7:16-17) “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3). By receiving and studying in our minds and hearts and going forth with faith to put into practice the principles of truth and righteousness and do the doctrine contained in the words that Jesus gives us, we can come to know that His doctrine is of God and we can come to know God, and this is life eternal. The words of Jesus Christ don't just speak of or explain or teach about eternal life. They lead us directly to eternal life. Would not such words give us hope? Christ's word and His doctrine are not always easy to understand and are often even harder to follow with diligence and faithfulness and patience. Sometimes doing God's will and getting to know Him better can mean cutting off some of the most precious and dear parts of ourselves. So often such sacrifices hardly seem worth it. But the words of Christ are leading us through the only safe path in a treacherous and slippery swamp of bad and worse choices. When this path is still very hard, we can have hope that had we heeded not Christ's words, we would have surely stumbled into a worse and more painful path, without even the consolation that our sacrifices will eventually turn out to have been for the good. Every time we receive Christ’s word in our heart with real intent to do the doctrine that it contains, we have the promise that we will know our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ a little better, and for that small moment, we will experience the joy and peace of eternal life. The eternities piercing through our veil of tears is hope. Hope is nothing more or less than a glimpse of eternal life, and so it makes perfect sense that we will find more hope in Christ's words, because He has the words of eternal life.
