great noise, and the elements melt with fervent heat, and the earth and the works also that are therein are burnt up," will all the contemners of the Messiah wail because of his wrath and fiery indignation f. It is indeed in the former sense only that this can be a sign to convince the world at present; but in the latter sense it will hereafter be a demonstration to the whole universe, that all which had been spoken of Christ was true.]
To encourage an earnest expectation of the Mes- siah, the prophet declares,
II. The blessedness of those that believe on him —
The subjects of the Messiah's kingdom are charac- terized as " calling upon his name " —
[To call upon Christ is, to give him all that honour and worship that are due to the Supreme Being. This was done by the first martyr, Stephen, and by all the Christian Church g. It was that which rendered them so odious to the Jewsh, and so distinguished among the Gentiles1. And, at this hour, it justly describes all those who are endued with the Spirit. All, without exception, regard Christ as the only source of life and salvation, and depend on him for daily supplies of grace and strength: "the life which they now live in the flesh, is altogether by faith in the Son of God."]
Nor shall any of that description ever experience the calamities that were foretold as coming on the ungodly world —
[The " deliverance" mentioned in the prophecy before us, doubtless referred primarily to the escape of the Christians from Jerusalem, while the Jews, hemmed in on every side, were reduced to the greatest miseries. But we must extend our views to a more important deliverance, even from sin and Satan, death and hell: it is from these that the sincere follower of Christ will be saved, while all who reject him will perish under the displeasure of an incensed God. In this view St. Paul quotes the very words before us, expressly applying them to Christ as the object of our worship, and confining the
it is not always easy to determine to which of the two his expressions are to be referred.
f 2 Pet. hi. 10. with Rev. i. 7.
e Acts vii. 59. and 1 Cor. i. 2. h Acts ix. 14, 21.
1 Pliny, in his letter to the Emperor Trajan, stating for his infor- mation the conduct of Christians, says, " they met on certain days before it was light to sing a hymn to Christ as God."