O ! what inestimable blessings are these ! Say, then,
whether those who have preached unto you the word of life have not reason to bless God for you, as the " seals of their ministry," and as destined to be " their joy and crown of rejoicing in the presence of that Saviour " whom they have preached unto youf? ]
2. Have we not encouragement, also, to " pray for you?"
[What will not God confer on those for whom he has already done so much? Surely there is not any thing which Omnipotence can effect, that shall not be bestowed upon you, in answer to the prayer of faith. See what Paul prayed for
in behalf of the Colossianss That same prayer would
I offer for you, and entreat all of you to offer for yourselves. " Open your mouths wide, and God will fill them." " Be not straitened in yourselves ; for ye are not straitened in him." Only ask in faith ; and " according to your faith it shall be done unto you."]
3. Is there not, however, ground for lamentation, on account of some amongst you ?
[Would to God I could say that the change here de- scribed had been wrought on all ! But there are many of you, I fear, who still remain in your unconverted state ; and who, notwithstanding the Gospel has so long been ministered unto you, are yet strangers to the faith, and love, and hope, which it forms in the hearts of those who truly receive it ; yes, and whose tempers and dispositions are widely different from the fruits which the Gospel is sent to produce. Dear brethren, I pray you study the Gospel more : pray over it more : beg of God to make it " the rod of his strength," and to effect by it in you all that it wrought in the Colossian Church, and all that it is ordained to work in all the world ]
f 1 Thess. ii. 19, 20. s ver. 9—14.