“The Lord Jesus CHRIST, our HOPE” (1 Tim 1:1). Charles Spurgeon tells of visiting with the Earl of Shaftsbury who had taken his dying daughter to Menton on the French Riviera in hopes of her regaining some strength. Spurgeon writes: “That day he was particularly cast down about the general state of society. He thought that the powers of darkness in this country were having it all their own way, and that, before long, the worst elements of society would gain power and trample out all virtue. Looking up into his face, I said to him, ‘And is our Lord dead? Do you believe that while He lives the devil will conquer Him?’ He smiled, and we walked along the Mediterranean, communing together in a far more hopeful tone. The Lord liveth and blessed be my Rock! As long as the Lord lives, our hope lives also.” “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet 1:13).