recommends and indeed urges as with authority, to obey them, that have rule over us, and to submit ourselves; for (adds he) they watch for your Souls, as they that must give account: that they may do it with joy, and not with grief— xiii. 17.—St. Paul had many Comforters amidst his conflicts, and, where disappointments met him from ungrateful and ungenerous Natures, from whom very opposite returns were due as a recompence for his zealous labour for their Souls' endless and incalculable wealth, from other Sources assistance under his necessities arose; as in the instance of Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus; in that of Epaphroditus, who for the work of CHRIST was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to supply Others' lack of service towards Paul-Phil. ii. 25 to 30. So Phebe is eulogized as having been a Succourer of Many and of the Apostle alsoRom. xvi. 1, 2. In his Letter to the Thessalonians he thus writes on behalf of those, who were Fellow-Workers with him in the same high office of Christian Charity; We beseech you, Brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in The LORD, and admonish you; and to esteem them in love for their works' sake-1 Thess. v. 12, 13.

very highly

VERSES 19, 20.-The Churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in The LORD, with the Church, that is in their house! All the Brethren greet you! Greet ye One Another with an holy kiss!

The Churches at that day had no reference to Buildings, but to Communities of Faithful Believers in CHRIST JESUS, who were baptized in the Name of The FATHER and of The SON and of The HOLY GHOST; and who held their meetings when and where they could; but especially observing the first day of the week, as peculiarly The LORD's Day, being commemorative of the Resurrection of The Incarnate DEITY, Whence their confidence and Consolation arose, that confirmed their hope in the All-Sufficiency of His Atoning and Reconciling Mediation to Insure their Resurrection to a Life of Glory and Endless Blessedness. Aquila and Priscilla are thus nobly distinguished for their philanthropy and Christian zeal, in the Apostle's Epistle to the Romans. Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my Helpers in CHRIST JESUS, who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the Churches of the Gentiles-Rom. xvi. 3, 4. Aquila and Priscilla Paul took with him from Corinth; and left them at Ephesus, where they met the eloquent Apollos, who, though mighty in the Scriptures, had not then known the Truth, as It is in JESUS, until he was instructed by them in the Way of The LORD; and being fervent in The SPIRIT, he spake and taught diligently the Things of The LORD, knowing only the baptism of John, and after he had spoken boldly in the Synagogue, in the hearing of Aquila and Priscilla, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the Way of GOD more perfectly; and when he was disposed to pass into Achaia the Brethren wrote, exhorting the Disciples to receive him, who, when he was come, helped them much, which had believed through Grace; for he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly, shewing by the Scriptures that JESUS was CHRIST-Acts xviii. 18, 24 to 28.- -The Apostle elsewhere sends his greetings to the Church in the house of Aquila and Priscilla-Rom. xvi. 3, 5. Thus whether present or absent the Apostle's example and precept encourage the observance of the most unfeigned feeling of regard and Spiritual earnestness for the well-being and well-doing of Others, grounding all in the Love of CHRIST and in the Assurance of the Fellowship of The HOLY SPIRIT. The greeting with a holy kiss is a figure of the most chastely fond affection, seeking the Soul's union in CHRIST JESUS.

VERSES 21 to 24.-The Salutation of me, Paul, with mine own hand. If any Man love not The LORD JESUS CHRIST, let him be anathema maran-atha! The Grace of our LORD JESUS CHRIST be with you! My love be with you All in CHRIST JESUS! Amen.

Whether Paul wrote the whole Letter, or only this conclusion of it, having employed an Amanuensis for the remainder, if a question, cannot lessen its importance. Our SAVIOUR Wrote on the Sand, but neither of the character of His Writing, nor indeed of the Purport of What He then Wrote, have we any record; the style of hand-writing is found in some cases to bespeak the qualities of character, and doubtless amongst the grave Lovers of the Antique, any handwriting of the Apostle, and still more of his adored MASTER, would be sought with avidity and prized invaluably. But, blessings on the art both of writing and of printing, we have Preserved to us, by A Gracious PROVIDENCE, Many at least of the Inestimable Utterances of Him, Who Spake as never Man spoke, and of His Apostles, who bore such treasurable testimony to Those Truths, Which Lay Open to us the Path of Wisdom and Righteousness and Redemption and Sanctification Awful is this imprecation of the Apostle! Love is the most just debt due to The MESSIAH, Who so Loved us, as to Give Himself for us; to withhold love from Him, with the full knowledge of What He has so Done for our Souls, is to insure our own condemnation of our own conduct, when in the Life to Come we shall see Him, as He is, The LORD of Life and Glory to them, who have manifested gratitude towards Him; but when they, who have set at nought His Merciful Mediation, will hear their Sentence Pronounced by Him, Depart from Me! And whither will they have to go? assuredly where Peace and Pleasantness cannot go with them; but shame, and remorse and utter confusion at the bitter fruits of their own infatuated folly, experiencing in the Anathema that Maran-atha which is an endless separation from the Communion with Holiness and Happiness and Heaven. In the warmth of his feelings towards his Correspondents, upon them he invokes the Peculiar Blessing of his beloved SAVIOUR, knowing that within That is Embraced every desirable acquisition; and when he offers in addition the pledge of his own affectionate regard towards them, he does that in and through The REDEEMER's Name, as The SOURCE from Which All Spiritual Good must Flow: terminating with the emphatic and comprehensive word, Amen! as the prayer, that so it may be Permitted to be, and that Truth has been preserved through the entire Communication.In the close of Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians, he writes, Peace be to the Brethren and Love with Faith from GOD, The FATHER, and The LORD JESUS CHRIST! Grace be with all them, that love our LORD JESUS CHRIST in sincerity! Amen-Eph. vi. 23, 24. Rom. xvi. 20.In writing to the Galatians, when remonstrating at the so sudden departure of Some at least from the right Faith, St. Paul adds, though we, or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel, than That, Which we have preached, let him be accursed! And this; in the sacred feeling of his Office, and in the conviction of the infinitely important Interests that depend on the prevalence of Faith in That Gospel of JESUS CHRIST, he repeats, (Gal. i. 8, 9.) aware of what interminable misery they are the Authors or Promoters, who by the spread of their own infidelity involve Others in the same impious courses. See Jude 14. &c.

2ND CORINTHIANS CHAPTER I.

In the following year to that in which his first Letter was addressed to the Corinthian Converts, the Apostle thus renews his communication.

VERSES 1 to 4-Paul, an Apostle of JESUS CHRIST, by the Will of GOD, and Timothy our Brother, unto the Church of GOD, which is at Corinth, with all the Saints, which are in all Achaia, Grace be to you, and Peace from GOD our FATHER, and from The LORD JESUS CHRIST! Blessed be GOD, even The FATHER of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, The FATHER of Mercies, and The GOD of all Comfort: Who Comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them, which are in any trouble, by the Comfort, Wherewith we ourselves are Comforted of GOD!

The ever-uppermost thought of the Apostle was the Honour as well as Service of his Gracious MASTER. In His Name, therefore, he begins, continues and ends his every address and discourse; knowing that through Him and His Mediation the Blessing of Conversion and Regeneration had been and only could be obtained; and that with that Acquisition every right feeling and right conduct would follow, and the hope be cherished, on which a Blissful Eternity depended, as the Fruit of that Faith in The SON of GOD, Who had Reconciled His HEAVENLY FATHER to a Repentant World. Paul again asserts his Especial Calling in the Providence and Appointment of The MOST HIGH, and with all this marked and cherished Distinction, that he felt belonged to him, he yet associates in the credit of his Ministry the youthful and gentle Timothy, and holds him up to reception and favour as a very Brother in the love of CHRIST and Fellow-Labourer in the Spread of His Gospel of Everlasting Truth. Achaia was another name for Greece, and Corinth was at the Isthmus, which connected its Peninsula Division with the Main Land or Continental Part. Consequently this was intended to be disseminated through all the Grecian States, where the Cause of CHRIST had or could obtain a hearing and consideration; and the Salutation with which it is accompanied, in the invocation of DIVINE Grace and Heavenly Peace, is in accordance with That of The SON of GOD, when about to Leave the Earth; My Peace I Give unto you! A Gift of unspeakable Blessing and Consolation to the Soul, that rightly receives It; acknowledging It as Emanating from The FATHER through the Intercession of The SON, and as directly Communicated by The HOLY SPIRIT. The Description of JEHOVAH, The UNITED GODHEAD, as The FOUNTAIN of Mercy, and The SOURCE of all True and Enduring Consolation, is indeed Just, and deserving of the heart's warmest acknowledgment and deepest thankfulness. In every trouble and trial of life, if we flee unto Him with confidence, He will not only Sustain us under them, but Cause an unlooked-for Benefit and Blessing to grow out of them; and by the Manifestation of That Succour and Eventual Consolation, He Renders us the Chosen Instruments of Support to Others under their trials and bereavements, as being led in imitation of our Example to look with faithfulness to DIVINE Mercy for Aid in every time of need; and to rely implicitly on the Wisdom of The DIVINE Dispensations, however grievous they may appear for a time; assured that they will contribute to work out a far more exceeding Weight of Glory, if patiently endured and piously directed.In his opening correspondence with his beloved Timothy, Paul uses a similar designation of his own holy Mission. Paul, an Apostle of JÉSUS CHRIST, by the Commandment of GOD, our SAVIOUR and LORD JESUS CHRIST, Which is our Hope, unto Timothy, my own Son in the Faith, Grace, Mercy and Peace from GOD, our FATHER and JESUS CHRIST our LORD-I Tim. i. 1, 2. Mercy and Grace are indeed the True Offering from GOD through CHRIST JESUS unto All, but the Treasure of

DIVINE Peace Belongs only to Such as gratefully and faithfully confess the need of Pardon and the indispensableness of Grace. In his after Letter to Timothy he thus in much similarity addresses him, Paul, an Apostle of JESUS CHRIST by the Will of GOD, according to the Promise of Life, Which is in CHRIST JESUS, to Timothy, my dearly beloved Son, Grace, Mercy and Peace from GOD, The FATHER and CHRIST JESUS our LORD-2 Tim. i. 1, 2. The Promise of Eternal Life and Heavenly Blessedness is the Vein of Gold that runs through the Gospel Precepts.- -To be Saints, we must be in CHRIST, as through Him alone we have the Sanctifying Gift of The SPIRIT, the First-Fruits of vital Faith in The Gospel. So St. Paul in his Letter to the Philippians sent, with his own greeting, that of Timotheus to all the Saints in CHRIST, which were at Philippi-Phil. i. 1; and in that to the Colossians, still joining Timothy as a Brother Communicant, he wrote to the Saints and faithful Brethren in CHRIST, which were at Colosse-Col. i. 1, 2; sending to each, as to the Corinthians, Grace and Peace from GOD, our FATHER, and The LORD JESUS CHRIST! See Rom. i. 7. The imprecation of Blessing offered in the Epistle to Corinth, is thus extended admonishly to the Ephesian Converts; Blessed be The GOD and FATHER of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, Who hath Blessed us with All Spiritual Blessings in Heavenly Places in CHRIST-Eph. i. 3. St. Peter thus invokes the same grateful feeling for What has been Graciously Done by DIVINE Concession for the Eternal Welfare of our Immortal Souls, Blessed be The GOD and FATHER of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, Which according to His Abundant Mercy hath Begotten us again unto a lively hope by the Resurrection of JESUS CHRIST from the Dead, to an Inheritance Incorruptible, and undefiled, and That fadeth not away, Reserved in Heaven for all Such, as are Kept by the Power of GOD through Faith unto Salvation1 Pet. i. 3 to 5; and like St Paul he thus illustrates This Intercession as an Antidote against the sorrows, the troubles, the trials and temptations in the Life that is, insisting on that hope of Salvation as such a Cause of rejoicing greatly, though now, or for a season, if need be, we may be in heaviness through manifold temptations, that the trial of our faith may be found unto praise and honour and glory at the Future Appearance of JESUS CHRIST, Whom, though we now see Him not, yet if we believe in and love Him, we shall see Him, as He is, in All His Glory; and so believing we may indeed rejoice with Joy unspeakable at such Prospect of Glory in the Assurance of receiving the End of our Faith, even the Salvation and Sanctification of our Souls-1 Pet. i. 4, 5 to 9.

VERSES 5 to 12.-For as the Sufferings of CHRIST Abound in us, so our Consolation also Aboundeth by CHRIST; and whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and Salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and Salvation. And our hope of you is stedfast; knowing that as ye are Partakers of the Sufferings, so shall ye be also of the Consolation: for we would not, Brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble, which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure above strength; insomuch that we despaired even of life: but we had the sentence of Death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in GOD, Which Raiseth the Dead; Who Delivered us from so great a death; and doth Deliver in Whom we trust, that He will yet Deliver us; ye also helping together by prayer for us, that for the Gift Bestowed upon us by the means of many Persons, thanks may be given by Many on our behalf: for our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the Grace of GOD, we have had our conversation in the World; and more abundantly to you-ward.

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The Sufferings which CHRIST, as GOD Incarnate, Endured in Atonement for the sins of the whole World, as recorded in His Life, were great, and to Flesh and Blood very trying; but faint indeed is the apprehension in the Human Mind of What The Perfect SPIRIT of The DEITY Within must have Experienced at the

weight and measure of Human depravity in all Ages of the World, which He had to Sustain, and to Compensate for to DIVINE Purity, in Order to Let in the Influence of DIVINE Mercy upon such Portion of the Offenders, as by sincere repentance and a lively faith so sought for Pardon and DIVINE Reconciliation. To a truly Christian Spirit, imbued with the chaste, the pure and Heavenward feelings, that belong to that really Regenerated Character, how sad and sorrowing is it to encounter the debasing, and abandoned profligacy and persevering rejection of the Means of Salvation, which Such of their Fellow-Creatures evince, as go on still in their sensuality and wickedness and infidelity, utterly reckless of consequences, awful beyond utterance and conception as those consequences assuredly will be! To the Believer in CHRIST's All-Sufficient Sacrifice and Oblation of Himself the Effect of Those Interposed Sufferings of The SON of GOD, so Abounding in the Vastness though Mysteriousness of DIVINE Love, is to Fortify the Soul with the Consolation, which nothing else can yield, in the Assurance of that Peace, which the World can neither give nor take away; and of that Hope, which is Full of a Glorious Immortality. Afflictions Visited upon the true Servant of GOD are the Occasion for strengthening the faith of Others, when witnessing the unruffled calmness and pious resignation with which they are borne. The example is followed, and thus its influence beneficially spreads as manifesting the power of faith in the conviction of The SAVIOUR's Triumph over Sin and Death and Hell for the Soul, that seeketh Him and trusteth in His Gospel. And as afflictions are thus heroically endured, how rich must be the feeling at the intermingling with that Joy, which flows in upon the heart, that is renewed in the Spirit of Grace, and sees as in a Vision the Fulfilment of All the Promises of Eventual and Eternal Bliss Embraced in the Promises of The SON of GOD! Every faithful Teacher of the Doctrine of CHRIST knows, that in the same breath, in which he exhorts to the enduring temptation and every trial of life without flinching, he can wing the fondest hope to scenes of Prospective Blessedness beyond the utmost range and soaring of the most Heaven-fed imaginings. Paul, under the strong apprehension of the most imminent peril of threatened and probably violent death from his unabating energy in the proclaiming JESUS as The Only LORD and DISPOSER of Life and Death Eternal, had himself experienced the Power of The DIVINE Promises, Pointing, in the Language of Undying Love, to The Gospel of Peace and Endless Felicity. Nothing but this conviction, it seems from the Apostle's own confession, could have supported him. This effectually did; and so will it support every One, who has faith in It, even under trials and temptations, and sufferings and privations, as great or greater than even Paul endured; for he endured, suffering wrongfully, but in vindication of the Word and Will of The Living GOD; and every trial so endured has its full Recompence of Final Reward in a Participation in The DIVINE FAVOUR. Towards our own and Others' deliverance from afflictions, which are less generally joyous than grievous, as arising from the infatuated rush of Others upon their own hopeless and endless misery, prayer is the instrument to have recourse to, both from the fulness of our own hearts and under the efficacy of a vital faith, as also from the fervent supplications of Others, who through patience and faith inherit the Promises, and are therefore effectually Heard at the Throne of Grace. To withdraw from the World is not of the Dictate of the Word of GOD, except occasionally for meditation and prayer. To fulfil our relative duties we must have our conversation in it, and take part in its business and communications; in all such intercourse Paul's example in the observance of simplicity and godly sincerity, through faith in The Gospel of The SON of GOD, is the just course to pursue, leading, as it undeniably does, to the Countenance and Protection of The GOD of Truth and of all Perfectness.

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