Y <'Ts 5-8.-Tlu .spn ,t and method ef apoatolic lal,ow-, The apostle set.a it forth !I.C.~l'r t W<' aspecrs J_ J\ F:GATJ\'F:L,. "For 11either at a,,y tim~ were we found using words of flattery, as yf Ji.c.o,.. 1101 " cloak "' covPtousness, Gn,l is witness; nor seekin!:! glory of men." I. Ttu a7•-stl, a11a' hu co/leup .. es did not attem7,t tu win their way by flattery, either hr settiD§! fortL hil-,'.l view, "' li11nwt nature, or by holding men's rersons in admiration !or tht sake of advantagt. for their gospel ten<'led rather to humble man and subdue l,is pridP Flattery is a gros, dishunour both to God and man, for it implies untruth[ul- ness ar>d rna:v beconw fatal in its results to easily deluded sinners. The apostle appealei k th• Thessaloniam in confirmation of his statement. 2. They did not use :nei? positim. a: a duak <if covetousne&, as God could testify, who knows the heart. 'J 'h, apostle n,igh1 sa: now a} he afterwards said to the elders of Ephesus, 11 I coveted r11 n,ar.'E silve!, i.or gold. no~ apparel.~ The false teachers were charg,•able with cove- w,.snes.., fo1 11 througl. CLveruus1,1;sr sl,all they with feign1·d words make merchandise o! yo~," (Z Pet ii. 1, 3). Ho" empLatically the apostle insists upon ministers of the l!ospe'. being free fron this vice l "N,:,t greeliy of filthy lncre." 3. They were notfond of min-glnry. "Nor seeking glory of met, neither frorr. _mu, nor from others, when we mighl have been burdensomt. as apostleb of Christ," or might have stoorl on their dignity ae a1..:>stles of Christ. There ib no allusion here to his claim to ministerial support, but mthe .. to the positio1 of mag;...sterial dignity he might have assumed, with all its pomp i,ncl peremptorinesF and sternness His spirit at Thessalonica wae not that of lordship C'Ve: God's heritage. 11 PosITIVELY. "But we were gentlr in tht midst of you, as when a nurse cherisheth l..e~ ewr children.' 1. They were gentk in their intercourse with their converts; unas- suming aud mild, wit! no hau2hty or imperiow; airs, cballenging honour and homage. They act.ed iu the very spirit of the good Shepherd. Loug afrerwards the apostle could rt,m;nc one of his present colleagues that "the servant of the Lord must not strive, but l,( ,..r,tl,, to al: men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose 11iemselve•" (2 Tin.,. i1. 24-26). This gentleness, which is at once a fruit of the Spirit (C.-ia.' v. 22~ anc a characteristic of the "wisdom from above" (Jas. iii. 17), becomes all t111 me.rt in.pressive when it is linked with the highest strength of character. 2. Tltey 1re1, most ajfPctionatt ir. their intercourBe with their converts. "Even so, being alfec- 1 iuIJatc!y O.l'sirous of you. we were well pleased to impart to yon, not the gospel of Goe. 01Jly_ btit alsc our own souls, because ye were become very <lt'ar to us." (1) 'l'heir y<-a ,,,ir,g love 1r11.~ manifest: (a) In their impa1ting the goBpel to the•"· As their spiritual pal('J , s they travailed in birth till Christ was formed in them, anil then they red them there:.fte1 witb the. sincere milk of the \Vord. (b) In their readine~s t" risk their lives for t Le sAht- o! theil chil<lreL in the faith. They verily carried their lives in their hands. (2_' Thi, apottolic solicitude on their behalf sprung out of their deep love for the Tl1e&S:,lo1..1am,, ru- beinc: at once the trophies of their ministry, and as being pre-eminently cioci.lt iu thei, attitude toward the gospel and its preachers. There iH hardly any str!>nger tit: in this world than that which links together a spiritual father and hie coLvea... -1 (;
Ver. ~.-.A retrospect oj his rhsirderested and self-sacrificing labours. He next recall& tht- circumst&nces of his ardent and laborious miuistry amon~st them. "For ye remember, brethren, our labour a11d travail: workiug llight and day, that we migh1 not b11rdt-n any of you, we prnaclred 111110 you the gospel of God." J. T11K KINlBTBY OF THE APO~TLE WAS ALWAYS LABORIOUS. He could say to the Corinthians that" he had approved l,irnseif as the minister of God in labour11;" that" in oa. u. 1-20.J THE lt'IR~T EPISTLE TO THE THl<:SSALONIANS. 88