Ye1. 8 -How tAe Ward is sounrled forth. I. THE NEED OF BOUNDING FORTH THE OOSPEL. This is a fine expn·s~i"n, "60unded forth;" not merely whispered in the ear, Lut proclai111ed far and wi<i,•, with a fulnei;s, a richness, and a power that command aue111ion. S11ch is the procla11,alioo that the royal message of the gospel deserves. l. The gospel comes from God. It is not like the composition of an obscure man. If God opens hie mouth, surely his words must be worthy of publi~hing in trumpet-notes. :2. The gospel is/or all men. It is not a secret doctrine for the cultured few. All the world needc il, all the world has a right to ha,·c it. Therefore it should spread ove,· wi<ie territories and penetrat-3 to remote districts. The alarm-hell must be resonant, the hugle-call must be dear and piercing, the shepherd's voice must be high and full tl,at the wandering 6heep may hear it and return to the fold. 3. The gospel is conflicted ',y otl,,er vuices. Men are preoccupied. The din of the world renders them deaf to the uie,;sage from heaven. The world will not lie in wle111n stillness to hear the angels siug. The souud uf the gospel mu6t go forth so that Jeaf ears shall be unstopped, and walls of prejudice fall flat like thuse of old Jericho at the trumpet-notes oflsracl's priests. IL TaE M:ETHOD OF SOUNDING FORTH '1'111'- GOSPEL. 1. It mw;t be 11ounded by livin_q n,en. A wriLteu gu,pel is not euough. Ku11l must ~tir soul. 2. It must be sounded OD. L 1-10.j nm 1"11:ST ~PISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS. t5
in tM C011duct of Oltristians. It woulcl scrm that St. Pan) was think'n·~ rather of the influence of the heroic l'11rluranco of the Thcssalonians and of their spiritnal pruspcrity thnn of the missionary In.hours of evangelists sent out by them, for be writes of how they became an ensa111ple to all that helieve in Macednni;i. and in Achaia, and bow in ,·very place their faith lo God-ward was gone forth. The loudest, clearest, most eloquent, most uuanswemble proclamation of the gospel is the unconscious testimonv of Christian living. 3. It may be sounded forth with redoubled energy from tM midst of a.Dliction. 'l'he troubles endured by the 'fhessalonians tested and revealed their faith, and so led to the foll er proclamation of the gospel. "The blood of the in arr yrs is the seed ot the Church." Men never preach Christ so perfectly as when they die for him. The torch that kindled Latimer's fagots at Oxford kindled a glorious fire of reformation throughout England. 4. It can be sounded forth with greatest effect from central positions. TheHsalonica was the capital of Macedonia. What bap1•ened there was not done in a comer. Christian testimony witnesse,l at this great centre would spread far and wide. It is our duty to establish Christian influences in promint'nt places. While not boasting of our own doings, and not letting our left hand know what our right hand doeth, we should still not hide our candle under a bushel, but so let onr light shine before men that we may glorify our Father which is in heaven, and re,nem- ber that, if a city which is set on a hill cannot be hid, it is most important that the light of the gospel should shine from such a place.-W. F. A.
Vers. 9, 10.-The great change. The Thessalonians were converted heatheDL To them the blessedness of the gospel would be largely measured by its cor.trast with the darkness of paganism. In Christendom the language descriptive of the acceptance ol the spiritual blessings of the gospel would, of course, be different. But little else than ~he lauguage; and with the essential, spiritual signification of it, even this would scarcely need altering. St. Paul regarJs the great change in two aspects, present anJ future. I. 'l'HE PRESENT ASPECT OF THE GREAT CHANGE. "Ye turned unto God from idols, to serve a living and true God." 1. It is emancipation from an evil service and enlist- ment in a good service. In the old condition a man is a servant, of idols, of sin, of passion, of the world, of Satan. He thinks himself free, but he is really a rniserable slave. In the changed condition the Christian is freed from this thraldom. But be is not the less a servant. He no longer serves in hard bondage. Love is his clrnin, aud free devotion his service. Still be serves. 2. It is the giving up of death and falsehood •ind the acceptance of tNth and life. (1) The idol is lifeless. All worldly, siuf rl living is a devotion to lifeless gods, to mere material thi11gs that perish in the using. The Christian serves a living God, who can give vital gm.Ge, accept loving devoti11u, and commune with his people. (2) The idol is false. I,iolatry is a lie. All earthly things when exalted into gods become unreal and only mock thdr devotees. Gudis rnal, and he only can be rightly served in spirit aud in truth. We come to reality, to fac·, t,, truth, wheu we come to God. II. THE FUTURE ASl'ECT OF THE GREAT CHANGE. 1. It consists in a tu.rn ing f1·u111 wrath. Whether we anticipate it with fear, or delude onrseh·cs in the dream u evading it, or sirnpl_v ignore it with stolid indifference, the liict remains that for all "' us, while in our sins, there is a certain lookiu~ for of judgmcut. It we are children uf oin we must be children of wrath. It is no small blessiug to b0 able to face the l'uture and to see that reasonably and righteously all the horror of Divi11c wrath is gone i11 the free pardon of sin. It is like turning one's face from the loweri11g thunder- cloud to the silver light of sumise. 2. It leads on to an anticipatiu" of the coming ylory of Christ. All the early Christians were much occupied with this .111ticipation, but none more eo th1m the Thcssalonio.us. The ho[Je of the Parousri\ is an ~ver- rccurrent theme in the two l•:pistlcs of St. Paul to this Chur~h. His own miuJ rnn,t 11lso have been very full of it when he wrote theso letters. In their immediate expect,t- tiuu-at lmst, as for as a visible appearance an,\ triumph of Christ \\c\s conccrned-:-tl,,, tirst Christians were dis:1ppoinkd. But the grl'at pr"mises still cheer us as we 1rn1t 1"1 the glory that is rcserl'cd in the future. 'l'hc LJ,, rHian couverstuu thus no_t mere!)' rusults in a delivernucc fru111 wrnth; it inspires a graud hope and promises a nc-h glor) in the days to comc,--W. F. A. :!tl THE FIRST EPISTLE TO 'l'HE THESSALONIANS. [cH. u. 1-20.