and Sanctification through Him; and which faith and hope were the treasured inmates of his own bosom, and in his estimation infinitely surpassed in value all the riches and honours of this present fleeting existence. Therefore not only did he faithfully lay before them The Gospel or DIVINE Revelation, as Emanating from The SON of GOD, but by a patience and perseverance, peculiarly becoming a Minister of That Gospel, put forth every labour of love towards a confirmation of a right and vital faith in It by Others, sparing no pains and seeking every occasion to enlighten the understandings and enlarge the hearts of those, with whom he was in communion; that they might in spirit and in truth become also Members of the Family of CHRIST, and be Partakers of the peace experienced, and of the Glories Reserved hereafter for the Redeemed in CHRIST JESUS ever desirous of imparting some new Spiritual Gift, to the end of establishing them in the faith, which animated his own heart, that they might be Sharers also in all the consolations of Godliness-Rom. i. 11, 12. VERSES 9 to 12.-For ye remember, Brethren, our labour and travail; for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you The Gospel of GOD. Ye are Witnesses, and GOD also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe, as ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a Father doth his Children, that ye would walk worthy of GOD, Who hath Called you unto His Kingdom and Glory. The Apostle boldly and confidently appeals to the Converts he addresses, to do justice to the conduct he observed to them, his conscience bearing witness that that conduct was to the utmost of his power in furtherance of The Gospel of JESUS CHRIST, and in exemplification of the zeal and devotedness that characterize His faithful Followers, whose meat and drink it is to do The Will of their Heavenly MASTER; and That Will most prominently is the Salvation of Souls, and their preparation for the Sanctities of Heaven. Night and day, that is, availing himself of every possible opportunity, when Others could or would come to him for instruction, or when he could get to them,to lay open the truths of his great and momentous Mission; and not only was the Spiritual care of Immortal Souls thus unceasingly his object; but, that his bodily necessities might not be supplied at Others' expense, he labored in his handicraft calling as a Tent-Maker, in the spirit of a generous independence, to gain his own livelihood, and doubtless to minister out of his gains, small as might be the fruits of his manual industry, to the alleviating the wants of the poorer Brethren. Not only does the Apostle challenge the strictest scrutiny into his principles and practice, as a Dispenser of DIVINE Truths, but he also adverts to the Omniscience of The DEITY, and consents to be Judged by that Infallible Attribute of The OMNIPOTENT, insisting that, in the spirit of a true and lively faith in the Mediation of CHRIST, he proclaims the Vast Boon, which Man owes to That Intercession, even an Inheritance in The Kingdom of GOD, and the Glories that are inseparable from The DIVINE Presence and Favour. And This Call is Universal, for-Come unto me All that travail and are heavy laden! is the Encouraging Challenge of The MESSIAH. The purity, the disinterestedness and persevering toil of Paul are insisted on by him, as known to those he addresses, and as designating the salutary influence, that Christianity had obtained over his own heart; all which efforts were directed by prayer and exhortation, and as with the fondness of an earthly Parent, towards the Rescue of Souls from the power and prevalence of Satan and of sin, and the advancing them in the way of Righteousness and Holiness of Life, in adoption of that faith in CHRIST, which worketh by love towards Him, Who so Loved us, as to Give Himself a Ransom for our Souls. After This Great Example, St. Paul, though the HOLY GHOST Witnessed to him, that in every city bonds and afflictions awaited him, yet said, None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the Ministry which I have received of The LORD JESUS, to testify the Gospel of the Grace of GOD; for I have not shunned to declare all the Counsel of GOD-Acts xx. 23, 24, 27. At the same time ministering to the necessities of Some by the labour of his hands- 34, 35. With the Word of DIVINE Truth on our tongue, O may we foudly and faithfully cherish Its Influence on our hearts, that we may exhibit to the Eye of The ALMIGHTY that consistency of character and conduct, and that regulation of our thoughts as well as deeds, which can alone justify to us the hope of His Mercy and Acceptance through CHRIST JESUS, Who is The Way, and The Truth, and The Life, and in Whose Favour is Life Eternal. In every ministration towards the spread of The Gospel, there should be the spirit of Parental or Brotherly or Sisterly affection, towards every Individual addressed by it, to win the Soul to CHRIST, holding out the encouragement of the Inestimable Riches of DIVINE Love, as the Inducement to a grateful conformity to The DIVINE Will; as in another Epistle the same Apostle writes, I beseech you that ye walk worthy of the Vocation, wherewith ye are Called; with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing One Another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of The SPIRIT in the bond of peuce Eph. iv. 1, 3. Called as we all are to be Saints, let us seek to be sanctified in CHRIST JESUS, that we may be Found in Fellowship with Him, as the Apostle recommends-1 Cor. i. 2, 8, 9. How will the Glory of The Heavenly Kingdom, Which Awaits the Redeemed in CHRIST JESUS, Surpass the utmost range of Human imagination! and when once entered upon let us consider, that It shall know no end; but that the Perfect Happiness experienced in It will be increasing in Eternity, and be consummated in Holiness. VERSES 13 to 16.-For this cause also thank we GOD without ceasing, because when ye received the Word of GOD, Which ye heard of us, ye received It not as the word of Men, but, as It is in truth, the Word of GOD, Which effectually Worketh also in you, that believe: for ye, Brethren, became Followers of the Churches of GOD, which in Judea are in CHRIST JESUS: for ye also have suffered like things of your own Countrymen, even as they have of the Jews, who both killed The LORD JESUS, and their own Prophets, and have persecuted us: and they please not GOD, and are contrary to all Men; forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be Saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the Wrath is come upon them to the uttermost. The gratitude of the Soul to The CREATOR of Body and Soul should be the ceaseless exercise of every heart rightly estimating its truest interest and highest privileges, and still more for That Transcendant Proof of DIVINE Love, in the Redemption of the Soul from a State destitute of the SPIRIT of Grace, consequent on the rejection of Its Guidance, and Which Redemption is Offered to the true Believer, through the Incarnation and Sacrifice of The SON of GOD. To Such as rest in That Means of Grace and hope of Salvation, what loftier cause of exultation can secondarily arise, than in being Permitted to be the willing Instrument of Salvation and Sanctification to Others, by laying open, to their understandings for reception, The DIVINE Revelation, from Which the Glories of an Hereafter, of endless Happiness amidst Perfect Holiness, arise to the Spiritualized hope. The reception of DIVINE Truth in the meekness and singleness of heart, that become a Creature of DIVINE Mercy and Favour, is a source of extreme delight to the zealous Minister of GOD's Word; and lamentable on the other hand is it, when, in the arrogance of Spiritual pride, or in the effrontery of sensual propensity, That Word is scorned or rejected, and the Offer of Salvation set at nought. Our SAVIOUR, to the Encouragement of those, who seek to bring Others to the knowledge of The Gospel and The Way of Salvation, said, He that receiveth you, receiveth Me; and he that receiveth Me, receiveth Him That Sent Me-Matt. x. 40. And St. Peter exhorts to be mindful of the Words, which were spoken before by the holy Prophets-2 Pet. iii. 2. Let us bear in mind that the Word of The LORD, Which by The Gospel is Preached to us, Endureth for ever-1 Pet. i. 25. And That Word, The Word of Truth, unto Which we are Begotten, (James i. 18,) when It is Suffered to Take possession of the will and affections, Worketh powerfully and irresistibly to the pulling down of all the strongholds of Satan and of sin; Producing the fruits of righteousness and holiness of life, in conformity with The DIVINE Will and Appointment. The Apostle mentions the Churches of GOD, thereby doubtless meaning the Congregations of faithful Followers of CHRIST.Such was the rancorous spirit of Persecution in the sceptical Jews, that far beyond the Confines of Judea, and indeed wherever the Doctrines of Christianity were taught, even in Heathen Lands, both the Ministers of The Gospel and their Hearers were opposed, insulted, and tyrannized over with the view of suppressing That Light, Which had Come into the World, and Which Alone could Guide the footsteps of Mankind to endless Peace: thus superadding to the crime surpassing all other Human crime in the Crucifying The LORD of Life, the spirit of destruction and of extermination towards the Great End of His Advent to Earth, in Atonement for Human transgression, through all the succession of Generations from Adam to the Last of his Descendants. These early Enemies of The MESSIAH'S KINGDOM on Earth sought, by every diabolical suggestion, to extinguish the Light, Which Shone forth upon a benighted World, when The DAY-SPRING from On High Arose upon it; they being actuated by the same hateful and perverse purpose as had been their Forefathers, when rejecting the Messages from A GOD of Peace and Love, and when cruelly sacrificing the Prophets, the Appointed Ambassadors of The KING of Heaven, Sent with the Guidance of The HOLY SPIRIT, and through the Interceding Love of The SON of GOD, to proclaim the Way of Mercy in the Will of The ALMIGHTY, and to exhort to the Worship of JEHOVAH as The Only True GOD. For, as said St. Stephen in his powerful appeal to the consciences of the Jews of his day, Which of the Prophets have not your Fathers persecuted? and they have slain them, which shewed before of the Coming of The JUST ONE; of Whom ye have been now the Betrayers and Murderers; who have received the Law by the disposition of Angels; and have not kept It-Acts vii. 52, 53. And as recorded in the early Jewish Annals, The LORD GOD of their Fathers Sent to them by His Messengers, Rising up betimes and Sending, because He had Compassion on His People and on His Dwelling-Place: but they mocked the Messengers of GOD, and despised His Words, and misused His Prophets, until the Wrath of The LORD Arose against His People-2 Chron. xxxvi. 15, 16.The Injunction of our Blessed SAVIOUR, after His Resurrection, to His Disciples, immediately before His Ascension, was to go and teach all Nations; but these Pharisaical Zealots, amidst the pride of their hearts and the deep prejudice of their minds, opposed themselves to every Spiritual and charitable communing with the Gentiles thus acting alike in contradiction to the Good Pleasure of A Gracious GOD, and in suppression of the next highest duty incumbent on us, as all equal in the Sight of GOD-the Love of our Neighbour-forbidding to speak even to the Heathen in exposition of the Law and The Gospel, by Which Salvation might be made Known to them, and Its Inestimable Benefits be brought within their understanding and adoption; for as recorded in the Acts, The Jews, which believed not, moved with envy, (at Paul's preaching that JESUS was the CHRIST, which Some believed, and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief Women not a few,) took unto them certain Fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a Company, and set all the City on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the People; and at an after time the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the Judgment-seat, characterizing him as a pestilent fellow-Acts xvii. 2 to 5, xviii. 12. To have filled up the measure of sin, is to be subject to irretrievable Condemnation. Our SAVIOUR, in His Remonstrance with the Scribes and Pharisees, whose hearts were fully open to His All-discerning Spirit, Said, Woe unto you! because ye build the tombs of the Prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the Righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our Fathers, we would not have been Partakers with them in the blood of the Prophets; Wherefore, (Added JESUS) ye be Witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the Children of them, which killed the Prophets; fill ye up then the measure of your Fathers! ye Serpents, ye Generation of Vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of Hell? Wherefore, behold, I Send unto you Prophets, and wise Men and Scribes; and some of them ye shall kill and crucify, and some of them shall ye scourge in your Synagogues, and persecute them from City to City; that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the Earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, Son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the Temple and the Altar-Matt. xxiii. 29 to 35. VERSES 17 to 20.-But we, Brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavoured the more abundantly to see your face with great desire: wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us for what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the Presence of our LORD JESUS CHRIST at His Coming? For ye are our glory and joy. The Spirit of true Christianity is ever operative, not in presence only, but in absence also; its thoughts and the kindliest feelings of its heart are in exercise towards the eternal welfare of the Human Soul, and every effort is made by it to spread and confirm the vast Truths, on which, through The Gospel of CHRIST, that Welfare depends; no labour of body or of mind, no personal sacrifice being withheld, where any, the faintest hope, can be cherished of the labour not being altogether in vain. But amidst the anxious zeal for the diffusion of DIVINE Light, and the ceaseless efforts towards its accomplishment, we must ever bear in mind that Satan, that Spirit of all evil, is not less active and persevering, by every artifice and machination, to stay our progress or circumvent its aim; and if happily frustrated as respects ourselves, yet is he only the more strenuous to infatuate the minds of those, on whom we seek to impress the way of Righteousness and Holiness of Life; and if then baffled in his hateful purpose, what unspeakable gratification is yielded to the Christian, who thus reaps the fruit of his labour of love; in the language of the Text, not only confirming the hope, and implanting a joy, but constituting the very Crown of rejoicing-leading the Soul to look forward Prophetically to the Advent of CHRIST in the Fulness of His Kingdom, when He shall Speak the Glory of His Praise to Those, who have turned Many to Righteousness, and opened the Gates of Heaven through faith to Believers.The joys so experienced will be reciprocated, and mutually sympathized in; and what conceivable delight of the purest attainable nature on Earth can be brought to the heart, in comparison with the full Fruition of The SAVIOUR's Love, amidst the Dispensation of His Eternal and Celestial Blessings! In another Epistle, St. Paul, addressing the Converts in another Division of Greece, says, Ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even, as ye also (he adds) are ours in the Day of The LORD JESUS-2 Cor. i. 14; and to another Class of Correspondents he writes, in the fervour of his faithful and affectionate heart, addressing them thus, My Brethren, dearly beloved, and longed for, my joy and crown; and thus he pours forth his Pastoral and Paternal admonition, Stand fast in The LORD, my dearly Beloved!--Phil. iv. 1. -In the Contemplation of That SAVIOUR's Love, in the Great Day of the Ministration of His Judgment, St. Jude commends every Generation of CHRIST's Followers, as well those of his own time, as in all continuous Succession from that to the end of time, unto Him, Who is Able to Keep them from falling, and to Present them faultless before the Presence of His Glory, with Exceeding Joy-Jude 24. CHAPTER III. VERSES 1 to 3.--Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left at ▲ So unwearied and persevering, and inconsiderate of Self-indulgence, is the real spirit of Christianity, when in full possession of the heart of Man, that no personal privation is allowed to be resisted, where a Spiritual benefit to Others can reasonably be calculated upon, as the effect of yielding to it. Thus Paul, a Stranger in a Land that was strange, with the continued experience of opposition to his principles by many of those whom he addressed, and mis-interpretation of his benign motives, consented to be separated from the chief Object of his earthly comfort, the Associate of his bosom confidence, and the zealous and able and devoted Servant of his will, and Fellow-Labourer within his arduous field of Missionary effort, in the hallowed Cause of his Great MASTER and SAVIOUR, JESUS CHRIST; and therefore spared the amiable and faithful Timothy to bear the message of his Apostolic love, and to impart the Light of The Gospel of CHRIST with increased efficacy, and confirm the faith of All, to whom he was sent, by the continuing proofs of the influence It had had on the heart and life of Paul himself, and the growing success of his able and indefatigable preaching elsewhere the Word of GOD. In the Acts the interesting Narrative is given of St. Paul's invitation of Timothy to Athens, and of the Apostle's courage to proclaim The ONE True GOD, and JESÚS CHRIST, Whom He Sent, to the Philosophical and most exalted Associated Body amongst the Greeks, then at the Queen of their Cities. And they, that conducted Paul, brought him unto Athens, and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timotheus, for to come to him with all speed, they departed: now, while Paul waited for them at Athens, his Spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the City wholly given to idolatry; therefore disputed he in the Synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout Persons, and in the Market daily with them, that met with him. Then certain Philosophers of the Epicureans and of the Stoicks, encountered him: and Some said, What will this Babbler say? Other Some, He seemeth to be a Setter forth of strange Gods; because he preached unto them JESUS, and the Resurrection: and they took him and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is? for thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean: (for all the Athenians and Strangers, which were there, spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing.) Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' Hill, and said, Ye Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious! for as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, 'To the Unknown GOD! Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you !--Acts xvii. 15 to 23. And with the Wisdom, which is from Above, did he set forth the Great Doctrine of the Salvation, by JESUS |