Colossians 1:5

You love, he says, the saints not out of human calculations, but in hope of future blessings; or else: we thank God that you are to inherit incorruptible blessings. For it is not laid up on earth, where it would be subject to corruption, but …

Bodily discipline performed in stillness purifies the body of the matter within it. But the discipline of the mind humbles the soul, filters out her crass notions of things that perish and draws her from the state where the thoughts are passionately engrossed and toward …

For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven,....

(1.) He gives thanks for their faith in Christ Jesus, that they were brought to believe in him, and take upon them the profession of his religion, and venture their souls upon his undertaking. Besides the general love which is due to all men, there is a particular love owing to the saints, or those who are of the Christian brotherhood, 1 Pet. ii.

What is laid out upon believers in this world is much; but what is laid up for them in heaven is much more. And we have reason to give thanks to God for the hope of heaven which good Christians have, or their well-grounded expectation of the future glory. Their faith in Christ, and love to the saints, had an eye to the hope laid up for them in heaven.

THREE Divine Graces should be always conspicuous in Christians—faith, love and hope. They are each mentioned by Paul in the opening verses of the Epistle from which our text is taken. These lovely Graces should be so conspicuous in every Believer as to be spoken of and, consequently, heard of even by those who have never seen us. These flowers should yield so sweet a perfume that their fragrance may be perceived by those who have never gazed upon them. So was it with the saints at Colosse. Paul says, "We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you have to all the saints, for the hope which is laid up for you in Heaven." May our characters be such as can be reported of without causing us to blush—but that can never be the case if these essential virtues are absent. If these things are in us and abound, we shall not be barren or unfruitful. But if they are lacking, we are as withered branches. We should, therefore, be rich in faith, which is the root of every Grace and, to this end, we should daily pray, "Lord, increase our faith." We should strive to be full even to overflowing with love, which is of God and makes us like unto God. And we should also abound in hope, even that heavenly hope which causes a man to purify himself in readiness for the inheritance above. See to it that neither of these three Divine Sisters are strangers to your souls, but let Faith, Hope and Love take up their abode in your hearts! Note, however, the special character of each of these Graces as it exists in the Christian.

THREE Divine Graces should be always conspicuous in Christians—faith, love and hope. They are each mentioned by Paul in the opening verses of the Epistle from which our text is taken. These lovely Graces should be so conspicuous in every Believer as to be spoken of and, consequently, heard of even by those who have never seen us. These flowers should yield so sweet a perfume that their fragrance may be perceived by those who have never gazed upon them. So was it with the saints at Colosse.

For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven - That is, “I give thanks that there is such a hope laid up for you.” The evidence which he had that this hope was theirs, was founded on the faith and love to the saints which he heard they had evinced. He fully believed that where there was such faith and love, there was a well-founded hope of heaven. The word “hope” here is used, as it often is, for the thing hoped for.