2 Thess. ii. 16, 17. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and 'work.
IN reading the epistles of St. Paul, we cannot but be struck with the devout and grateful manner in which he introduces, at all times, the mention of Jehovah's name. He almost invariably combines with it some of those perfections which God has displayed in the Gospel of his Son ; and expatiates upon them, either as the theme of his adoring grati- tude, or as the foundation of all his hopes. And not unfrequently does he unite the Lord Jesus Christ with the Father, as equally entitled to our adoration
with the Father himself, and equally deserving our
entire confidence. In the passage before us, both
these things are conspicuous : and, that we may
bring them clearly before you, we shall endeavour to
shew,
I. What a Benefactor we have —
Hear what " God, even our Father, has done for
us"-
[Desperate, even as the state of the fallen angels, was the
state of man, through the fall of Adam But God,
" who passed by the angels that sinned," was pleased, of his unbounded mercy and grace, to make provision for the re- covery of man, by the gift of his only-begotten Son, to die in
his place and stetid In truth, " he loved us with an
everlasting lovea ;" and, in due season, called us, by his grace, to the knowledge of his dear Son, and enabled us to believe in him; and thus " gave us a good hope" of re-possessing the inheritance which we had forfeited13 O what "con- solation" does this afford us! Verily, it is "strong consola- tion0," yea, and "everlasting consolation" too: for not only
will it abide with us under all possible afflictions but,
when all the things of time and sense shall have passed away, and been utterly forgotten, it shall remain for ever, with un- abated vigour, on our souls ]
But in all this " the Lord Jesus Christ himself has also borne his part" —
[He willingly undertook our cause ; and never ceased from his labours, till he could say, " It is finished." Truly he "loved us, and gave himself for usd:" and, by the opera- tions of his grace upon our souls, and his promises that " none shall ever pluck us out of his hands," he has " made us to abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost, and has filled us with all joy and peace in believinge." Whilst, therefore, we make our acknowledgments to God the Father, we must with equal gratitude trace all our blessings to his only clear Son, by whose transcendent merits alone, and through whose almighty agency, they all flow down unto us ]
In this intercessory prayer to our heavenly Bene- factor, we see,
II. What benefits we may yet further hope for at his hands —
a Jer. xxxi. 3. b 1 Pet. i. 3, 4. c Heb. vi. 18.
ri Gal. ii. 20. e Rom. xv. 13.